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diff --git a/43043-8.txt b/43043-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 1c06ba4..0000000 --- a/43043-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,12175 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's George Eliot's Life, Vol. I (of 3), by George Eliot - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: George Eliot's Life, Vol. I (of 3) - as related in her Letters and Journals - -Author: George Eliot - -Editor: J. W. Cross - -Release Date: June 29, 2013 [EBook #43043] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GEORGE ELIOT'S LIFE, VOL. I (OF 3) *** - - - - -Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Andrew Templeton, JoAnn -Greenwood and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at -http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -Transcriber's Note: - -This is Volume I of a three volume set: - - Volume I--Unknown - Volume II--Famous - Volume III--Sunset - -A combined index to the entire set is located at the end of Volume III. - -Narrative content written by J. Cross and material quoted from writers -other than George Eliot are interspersed throughout the text. Their -content is placed in block quotes. - -Remaining transcriber's notes are located at the end of the text. - - * * * * * - - - - -GEORGE ELIOT'S LIFE - -VOL. I.--UNKNOWN - - -"OUR FINEST HOPE IS FINEST MEMORY" - - -[Illustration: Portrait of George Eliot. Etched by M. Rajon.] - - - - - GEORGE ELIOT'S LIFE - _as related in her Letters and Journals_ - - ARRANGED AND EDITED BY HER HUSBAND - J. W. CROSS - - WITH ILLUSTRATIONS - - IN THREE VOLUMES.--VOLUME I - - - NEW YORK - HARPER & BROTHERS, FRANKLIN SQUARE - - - - -GEORGE ELIOT'S WORKS. - -_LIBRARY EDITION._ - - ADAM BEDE. Illustrated. 12mo, Cloth, $1.25. - - DANIEL DERONDA. 2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $2.50. - - ESSAYS and LEAVES FROM A NOTE-BOOK. 12mo, Cloth, $1.25. - - FELIX HOLT, THE RADICAL. Illustrated. 12mo, Cloth, $1.25. - - MIDDLEMARCH. 2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $2.50. - - ROMOLA. Illustrated. 12mo, Cloth, $1.25. - - SCENES OF CLERICAL LIFE, and SILAS MARNER. Illustrated. - 12mo, Cloth, $1.25. - - THE IMPRESSIONS OF THEOPHRASTUS SUCH. 12mo, Cloth, $1.25. - - THE MILL ON THE FLOSS. Illustrated. 12mo, Cloth, $1.25. - - -PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. - -HARPER & BROTHERS _will send any of the above volumes by mail, postage -prepaid, to any part of the United States or Canada, on receipt of the -price. For other editions of George Eliot's works published by Harper -& Brothers see advertisement at end of third volume_. - - - - -PREFACE. - - -With the materials in my hands I have endeavored to form an -_autobiography_ (if the term may be permitted) of George Eliot. The -life has been allowed to write itself in extracts from her letters and -journals. Free from the obtrusion of any mind but her own, this method -serves, I think, better than any other open to me, to show the -development of her intellect and character. - -In dealing with the correspondence I have been influenced by the -desire to make known the woman, as well as the author, through the -presentation of her daily life. - -On the intellectual side there remains little to be learned by those -who already know George Eliot's books. In the twenty volumes which she -wrote and published in her lifetime will be found her best and ripest -thoughts. The letters now published throw light on another side of her -nature--not less important, but hitherto unknown to the public--the -side of the affections. - -The intimate life was the core of the root from which sprung the -fairest flowers of her inspiration. Fame came to her late in life, -and, when it presented itself, was so weighted with the sense of -responsibility that it was in truth a rose with many thorns, for -George Eliot had the temperament that shrinks from the position of a -public character. The belief in the wide, and I may add in the -beneficent, effect of her writing was no doubt the highest happiness, -the reward of the artist which she greatly cherished: but the joys of -the hearthside, the delight in the love of her friends, were the -supreme pleasures in her life. - -By arranging all the letters and journals so as to form one connected -whole, keeping the order of their dates, and with the least possible -interruption of comment, I have endeavored to combine a narrative of -day-to-day life, with the play of light and shade which only letters, -written in various moods, can give, and without which no portrait can -be a good likeness. I do not know that the particular method in which -I have treated the letters has ever been adopted before. Each letter -has been pruned of everything that seemed to me irrelevant to my -purpose--of everything that I thought my wife would have wished to be -omitted. Every sentence that remains adds, in my judgment, something -(however small it may be) to the means of forming a conclusion about -her character. I ought perhaps to say a word of apology for what may -appear to be undue detail of travelling experiences; but I hope that -to many readers these will be interesting, as reflected through George -Eliot's mind. The remarks on works of art are only meant to be records -of impressions. She would have deprecated for herself the attitude of -an art critic. - -Excepting a slight introductory sketch of the girlhood, up to the time -when letters became available, and a few words here and there to -elucidate the correspondence, I have confined myself to the work of -selection and arrangement. - -I have refrained almost entirely from quoting remembered sayings by -George Eliot, because it is difficult to be certain of complete -accuracy, and everything depends upon accuracy. Recollections of -conversation are seldom to be implicitly trusted in the absence of -notes made at the time. The value of spoken words depends, too, so -much upon the _tone_, and on the circumstances which gave rise to -their utterance, that they often mislead as much as they enlighten, -when, in the process of repetition, they have taken color from another -mind. "All interpretations depend upon the interpreter," and I have -judged it best to let George Eliot be her own interpreter, as far as -possible. - -I owe thanks to Mr. Isaac Evans, the brother of my wife, for much of -the information in regard to her child-life; and the whole book is a -long record of debts due to other friends for letters. It is not, -therefore, necessary for me to recapitulate the list of names in this -place. My thanks to all are heartfelt. But there is a very special -acknowledgment due to Miss Sara Hennell, to Mrs. Bray, and to the late -Mr. Charles Bray of Coventry, not only for the letters which they -placed at my disposal, but also for much information given to me in -the most friendly spirit. The very important part of the life from -1842 to 1854 could not possibly have been written without their -contribution. - -To Mr. Charles Lewes, also, I am indebted for some valuable letters -and extracts from the journals of his father, besides the letters -addressed to himself. He also obtained for me an important letter -written by George Eliot to Mr. R. H. Hutton; and throughout the -preparation of the book I have had the advantage of his sympathetic -interest, and his concurrence in the publication of all the -materials. - -Special thanks are likewise due to Messrs. Wm. Blackwood & Sons for -having placed at my disposal George Eliot's long correspondence with -the firm. The letters (especially those addressed to her friend the -late Mr. John Blackwood) throw a light, that could not otherwise have -been obtained, on the most interesting part of her literary career. - -To the legal representatives of the late Charles Dickens, of the late -Lord Lytton, and of Mrs. Carlyle; to Mr. J. A. Froude, and to Mr. -Archer Gurney, I owe thanks for leave to print letters written by -them. - -For all the defects that there may be in the plan of these volumes I -alone am responsible. The lines were determined and the work was -substantially put into shape before I submitted the manuscript to any -one. While passing the winter in the south of France I had the good -fortune at Cannes to find, in Lord Acton, not only an enthusiastic -admirer of George Eliot, but also a friend always most kindly ready to -assist me with valuable counsel and with cordial, generous sympathy. -He was the first reader of the manuscript, and whatever accuracy may -have been arrived at, particularly in the names of foreign books, -foreign persons, and foreign places, is in great part due to his -friendly, careful help. But of course he has no responsibility -whatever for any of my sins of omission or commission. - -By the kind permission of Sir Frederic Burton, I have been enabled to -reproduce as a frontispiece M. Rajon's etching of the beautiful -drawing, executed in 1864, now in the National Portrait Gallery, South -Kensington. - -The view of the old house at Rosehill is from a drawing by Mrs. Bray. -It is connected with some of George Eliot's happiest experiences, and -with the period of her most rapid intellectual development. - -For permission to use the sketch of the drawing-room at the Priory I -am indebted to the Messrs. Harpers, of New York. - -In conclusion, it is in no conventional spirit, but from my heart, -that I bespeak the indulgence of readers for my share of this work. Of -its shortcomings no one can be so convinced as I am myself. - - J. W. C. - - CAMDEN HILL, _December, 1884_. - - - - -CONTENTS OF VOL. I. - - - Introductory Sketch of Childhood. Page 1 - - - CHAPTER I. - AUGUST, 1838, TO MARCH, 1841. - - Life at Griff 28 - - - CHAPTER II. - MARCH, 1841, TO APRIL, 1846. - - Coventry--Translation of Strauss 61 - - - CHAPTER III. - MAY, 1846, TO MAY, 1849. - - Life in Coventry till Mr. Evans's Death 106 - - - CHAPTER IV. - JUNE, 1849, TO MARCH, 1850. - - Geneva 150 - - - CHAPTER V. - MARCH, 1850, TO JULY, 1854. - - Work in London--Union with Mr. Lewes 181 - - - CHAPTER VI. - JULY, 1854, TO MARCH, 1855. - - Germany 239 - - - CHAPTER VII. - MARCH, 1855, TO DECEMBER, 1857. - - Richmond--"Scenes of Clerical Life" 273 - - - APPENDIX 349 - - - - -ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOL. I. - - - PORTRAIT OF GEORGE ELIOT. - Etched by M. Rajon _Frontispiece._ - - GRIFF--FRONT VIEW _To face p_. 6 - - GRIFF--WITH THE FARM OFFICES " 12 - - HOUSE IN FOLESHILL ROAD, COVENTRY " 62 - - PORTRAIT OF MR. ROBERT EVANS " 148 - - ROSEHILL " 182 - - - - -GEORGE ELIOT'S LIFE. - - - - -_INTRODUCTORY SKETCH OF CHILDHOOD._ - - -"_Nov. 22, 1819._--Mary Ann Evans was born at Arbury Farm,[1] at five -o'clock this morning." - -This is an entry, in Mr. Robert Evans's handwriting, on the page of an -old diary that now lies before me, and records, with characteristic -precision, the birth of his youngest child, afterwards known to the -world as George Eliot. Let us pause for a moment to pay its due homage -to the precision, because it was in all probability to this most -noteworthy quality of her father's nature that the future author was -indebted for one of the principal elements of her own after-success--the -enormous faculty for taking pains. The baby was born on St. Cecilia's -day, and Mr. Evans, being a good churchman, takes her, on the 29th -November, to be baptized in the church at Chilvers Coton--the parish in -which Arbury Farm lies--a church destined to impress itself strongly on -the child's imagination, and to be known by many people in many lands -afterwards as Shepperton Church. The father was a remarkable man, and -many of the leading traits in his character are to be found in Adam Bede -and in Caleb Garth--although, of course, neither of these is a portrait. -He was born in 1773, at Ellaston, in Staffordshire, son of a George -Evans, who carried on the business of builder and carpenter there: the -Evans family having come originally from Northop, in Flintshire. Robert -was brought up to the business; but about 1799, or a little before, he -held a farm of Mr. Francis Newdigate at Kirk Hallam, in Derbyshire, and -became his agent. On Sir Roger Newdigate's death the Arbury estate came -to Mr. Francis Newdigate for his life, and Mr. Evans accompanied him -into Warwickshire, in 1806, in the capacity of agent. In 1801 he had -married Harriott Poynton, by whom he had two children--Robert, born -1802, at Ellaston, and Frances Lucy, born 1805, at Kirk Hallam. His -first wife died in 1809; and on 8th February, 1813, he married -Christiana Pearson, by whom he had three children--Christiana, born -1814; Isaac, born 1816, and Mary Ann, born 1819. Shortly after the last -child's birth, Robert, the son, became the agent, under his father, for -the Kirk Hallam property, and lived there with his sister Frances, who -afterwards married a Mr. Houghton. In March, 1820, when the baby girl -was only four months old, the Evans family removed to Griff, a charming -red-brick, ivy-covered house on the Arbury estate--"the warm little nest -where her affections were fledged"--and there George Eliot spent the -first twenty-one years of her life. - -Let us remember what the England was upon which this observant child -opened her eyes. - -The date of her birth was removed from the beginning of the French -Revolution by just the same period of time as separates a child, born -this year, 1884, from the beginning of the Crimean War. To a man of -forty-six to-day, the latter event seems but of yesterday. It took -place at a very impressionable period of his life, and the remembrance -of every detail is perfectly vivid. Mr. Evans was forty-six when his -youngest child was born. He was a youth of sixteen when the Revolution -began, and that mighty event, with all its consequences, had left an -indelible impression on him, and the convictions and conclusions it -had fostered in his mind permeated through to his children, and -entered as an indestructible element into the susceptible soul of his -youngest daughter. There are bits in the paper "Looking Backward," in -"Theophrastus Such," which are true autobiography. - -"In my earliest remembrance of my father his hair was already gray, -for I was his youngest child, and it seemed to me that advanced age -was appropriate to a father, as, indeed, in all respects I considered -him a parent so much to my honor that the mention of my relationship -to him was likely to secure me regard among those to whom I was -otherwise a stranger--his stories from his life including so many -names of distant persons that my imagination placed no limit to his -acquaintanceship.... Nor can I be sorry, though myself given to -meditative if not active innovation, that my father was a Tory who had -not exactly a dislike to innovators and dissenters, but a slight -opinion of them as persons of ill-founded self-confidence.... And I -often smile at my consciousness that certain Conservative -prepossessions have mingled themselves for me with the influences of -our Midland scenery, from the tops of the elms down to the buttercups -and the little wayside vetches. Naturally enough. That part of my -father's prime to which he oftenest referred had fallen on the days -when the great wave of political enthusiasm and belief in a speedy -regeneration of all things had ebbed, and the supposed millennial -initiative of France was turning into a Napoleonic empire.... To my -father's mind the noisy teachers of revolutionary doctrine were, to -speak mildly, a variable mixture of the fool and the scoundrel; the -welfare of the nation lay in a strong government which could maintain -order; and I was accustomed to hear him utter the word 'government' in -a tone that charged it with awe, and made it part of my effective -religion, in contrast with the word 'rebel,' which seemed to carry the -stamp of evil in its syllables, and, lit by the fact that Satan was -the first rebel, made an argument dispensing with more detailed -inquiry." - -This early association of ideas must always be borne in mind, as it is -the key to a great deal in the mental attitude of the future thinker -and writer. It is the foundation of the latent Conservative bias. - -The year 1819 is memorable as a culminating period of bad times and -political discontent in England. The nation was suffering acutely from -the reaction after the excitement of the last Napoleonic war. George -IV. did not come to the throne till January, 1820, so that George -Eliot was born in the reign of George III. The trial of Queen Caroline -was the topic of absorbing public interest. Waterloo was not yet an -affair of five years old. Byron had four years, and Goethe had -thirteen years, still to live. The last of Miss Austen's novels had -been published only eighteen months, and the first of the Waverley -series only six years before. Thackeray and Dickens were boys at -school, and George Sand, as a girl of fifteen, was leaving her loved -freedom on the banks of the Indre for the Convent des Anglaises at -Paris. That "Greater Britain" (Canada and Australia), which to-day -forms so large a reading public, was then scarcely more than a -geographical expression, with less than half a million of inhabitants, -all told, where at present there are eight millions; and in the United -States, where more copies of George Eliot's books are now sold than in -any other quarter of the world, the population then numbered less than -ten millions where to-day it is fifty-five millions. Including Great -Britain, these English-speaking races have increased from thirty -millions in 1820 to one hundred millions in 1884; and with the -corresponding increase in education we can form some conception how a -popular English writer's fame has widened its circle. - -There was a remoteness about a detached country-house, in the England -of those days, difficult for us to conceive now, with our railways, -penny-post, and telegraphs; nor is the Warwickshire country about -Griff an exhilarating surrounding. There are neither hills nor vales, -no rivers, lakes, or sea--nothing but a monotonous succession of green -fields and hedgerows, with some fine trees. The only water to be seen -is the "brown canal." The effect of such a landscape on an ordinary -observer is not inspiring, but "effective magic is transcendent -nature;" and with her transcendent nature George Eliot has -transfigured these scenes, dear to Midland souls, into many an idyllic -picture, known to those who know her books. In her childhood the great -event of the day was the passing of the coach before the gate of Griff -House, which lies at a bend of the high-road between Coventry and -Nuneaton, and within a couple of miles of the mining village of -Bedworth, "where the land began to be blackened with coal-pits, the -rattle of hand-looms to be heard in hamlets and villages. Here were -powerful men walking queerly, with knees bent outward from squatting -in the mine, going home to throw themselves down in their blackened -flannel and sleep through the daylight, then rise and spend much of -their high wages at the alehouse with their fellows of the Benefit -Club; here the pale, eager faces of hand-loom weavers, men and women, -haggard from sitting up late at night to finish the week's work, -hardly begun till the Wednesday. Everywhere the cottages and the small -children were dirty, for the languid mothers gave their strength to -the loom; pious Dissenting women, perhaps, who took life patiently, -and thought that salvation depended chiefly on predestination, and not -at all on cleanliness. The gables of Dissenting chapels now made a -visible sign of religion, and of a meeting-place to counterbalance the -alehouse, even in the hamlets.... Here was a population not convinced -that old England was as good as possible; here were multitudinous men -and women aware that their religion was not exactly the religion of -their rulers, who might therefore be better than they were, and who, -if better, might alter many things which now made the world perhaps -more painful than it need be, and certainly more sinful. Yet there -were the gray steeples too, and the churchyards, with their grassy -mounds and venerable headstones, sleeping in the sunlight; there were -broad fields and homesteads, and fine old woods covering a rising -ground, or stretching far by the roadside, allowing only peeps at the -park and mansion which they shut in from the working-day world. In -these midland districts the traveller passed rapidly from one phase of -English life to another; after looking down on a village dingy with -coal-dust, noisy with the shaking of looms, he might skirt a parish -all of fields, high hedges, and deep-rutted lanes; after the coach had -rattled over the pavement of a manufacturing town, the scene of riots -and trades-union meetings, it would take him in another ten minutes -into a rural region, where the neighborhood of the town was only felt -in the advantages of a near market for corn, cheese, and hay, and -where men with a considerable banking account were accustomed to say -that 'they never meddled with politics themselves.'"[2] - -[Illustration: Griff House--Front view.] - -We can imagine the excitement of a little four-year-old girl and her -seven-year-old brother waiting, on bright frosty mornings, to hear the -far-off ringing beat of the horses' feet upon the hard ground, and -then to see the gallant appearance of the four grays, with coachman -and guard in scarlet, outside passengers muffled up in furs, and -baskets of game and other packages hanging behind the boot, as his -majesty's mail swung cheerily round on its way from Birmingham to -Stamford. Two coaches passed the door daily--one from Birmingham at 10 -o'clock in the morning, the other from Stamford at 3 o'clock in the -afternoon. These were the chief connecting links between the household -at Griff and the outside world. Otherwise life went on with that -monotonous regularity which distinguishes the country from the town. -And it is to these circumstances of her early life that a great part -of the quality of George Eliot's writing is due, and that she holds -the place she has attained in English literature. Her roots were down -in the pre-railroad, pre-telegraphic period--the days of fine old -leisure--but the fruit was formed during an era of extraordinary -activity in scientific and mechanical discovery. Her genius was the -outcome of these conditions. It would not have existed in the same -form deprived of either influence. Her father was busy both with his -own farm-work and increasing agency business. He was already remarked -in Warwickshire for his knowledge and judgment in all matters relating -to land, and for his general trustworthiness and high character, so -that he was constantly selected as arbitrator and valuer. He had a -wonderful eye, especially for valuing woods, and could calculate with -almost absolute precision the quantity of available timber in a -standing tree. In addition to his merits as a man of business, he had -the good fortune to possess the warm friendship and consistent support -of Colonel Newdigate of Astley Castle, son of Mr. Francis Newdigate of -Arbury, and it was mainly through the colonel's introduction and -influence that Mr. Evans became agent also to Lord Aylesford, Lord -Lifford, Mr. Bromley Davenport, and several others. - -His position cannot be better summed up than in the words of his -daughter, writing to Mr. Bray on 30th September, 1859, in regard to -some one who had written of her, after the appearance of "Adam Bede," -as a "self-educated farmer's daughter." - -"My father did not raise himself from being an artisan to be a farmer; -he raised himself from being an artisan to be a man whose extensive -knowledge in very varied practical departments made his services -valued through several counties. He had large knowledge of building, -of mines, of plantations, of various branches of valuation and -measurement--of all that is essential to the management of large -estates. He was held by those competent to judge as _unique_ among -land-agents for his manifold knowledge and experience, which enabled -him to save the special fees usually paid by landowners for special -opinions on the different questions incident to the proprietorship of -land. So far as I am personally concerned I should not write a stroke -to prevent any one, in the zeal of antithetic eloquence, from calling -me a tinker's daughter; but if my father is to be mentioned at all--if -he is to be identified with an imaginary character--my piety towards -his memory calls on me to point out to those who are supposed to speak -with information what he really achieved in life." - -Mr. Evans was also, like Adam Bede, noteworthy for his extraordinary -physical strength and determination of character. There is a story -told of him, that one day when he was travelling on the top of a -coach, down in Kent, a decent woman sitting next him complained that a -great hulking sailor on her other side was making himself offensive. -Mr. Evans changed places with the woman, and, taking the sailor by the -collar, forced him down under the seat, and held him there with an -iron hand for the remainder of the stage: and at Griff it is still -remembered that the master, happening to pass one day while a couple -of laborers were waiting for a third to help to move the high, heavy -ladder used for thatching ricks, braced himself up to a great effort, -and carried the ladder alone and unaided from one rick to the other, -to the wide-eyed wonder and admiration of his men. With all this -strength, however, both of body and of character, he seems to have -combined a certain self-distrust, owing, perhaps, to his early -imperfect education, which resulted in a general submissiveness in his -domestic relations, more or less portrayed in the character of Mr. -Garth. - -His second wife was a woman with an unusual amount of natural force; a -shrewd, practical person, with a considerable dash of the Mrs. Poyser -vein in her. Hers was an affectionate, warm-hearted nature, and her -children, on whom she cast "the benediction of her gaze," were -thoroughly attached to her. She came of a race of yeomen, and her -social position was, therefore, rather better than her husband's at -the time of their marriage. Her family are, no doubt, prototypes of -the Dodsons in the "Mill on the Floss." There were three other sisters -married, and all living in the neighborhood of Griff--Mrs. Everard, -Mrs. Johnson, and Mrs. Garner--and probably Mr. Evans heard a good -deal about "the traditions in the Pearson family." Mrs. Evans was a -very active, hard-working woman, but shortly after her last child's -birth she became ailing in health, and consequently her eldest girl, -Christiana, was sent to school, at a very early age, to Miss Lathom's, -at Attleboro, a village a mile or two from Griff, while the two -younger children spent some part of their time every day at the -cottage of a Mrs. Moore, who kept a dame's school close to Griff -gates. The little girl very early became possessed with the idea that -she was going to be a personage in the world; and Mr. Charles Lewes -has told me an anecdote which George Eliot related of herself as -characteristic of this period of her childhood. When she was only four -years old she recollected playing on the piano, of which she did not -know one note, in order to impress the servant with a proper notion of -her acquirements and generally distinguished position. This was the -time when the love for her brother grew into the child's affections. -She used always to be at his heels, insisting on doing everything he -did. She was not, in these baby-days, in the least precocious in -learning. In fact, her half-sister, Mrs. Houghton, who was some -fourteen years her senior, told me that the child learned to read -with some difficulty; but Mr. Isaac Evans says that this was not from -any slowness in apprehension, but because she liked playing so much -better. Mere sharpness, however, was not a characteristic of her mind. -Hers was a large, slow-growing nature; and I think it is, at any rate, -certain that there was nothing of the infant phenomenon about her. In -her moral development she showed, from the earliest years, the trait -that was most marked in her all through life, namely, the absolute -need of some one person who should be all in all to her, and to whom -she should be all in all. Very jealous in her affections, and easily -moved to smiles or tears, she was of a nature capable of the keenest -enjoyment and the keenest suffering, knowing "all the wealth and all -the woe" of a pre-eminently exclusive disposition. She was -affectionate, proud, and sensitive in the highest degree. - -The sort of happiness that belongs to this budding-time of life, from -the age of three to five, is apt to impress itself very strongly on -the memory; and it is this period which is referred to in the Brother -and Sister Sonnet, "But were another childhood's world my share, I -would be born a little sister there." When her brother was eight years -old he was sent to school at Coventry, and, her mother continuing in -very delicate health, the little Mary Ann, now five years of age, went -to join her sister at Miss Lathom's school, at Attleboro, where they -continued as boarders for three or four years, coming, occasionally, -home to Griff on Saturdays. During one of our walks at Witley, in -1880, my wife mentioned to me that what chiefly remained in her -recollection about this very early school-life was the difficulty of -getting near enough the fire in winter to become thoroughly warmed, -owing to the circle of girls forming round too narrow a fireplace. -This suffering from cold was the beginning of a low general state of -health; also at this time she began to be subject to fears at -night--"the susceptibility to terror"--which she has described as -haunting Gwendolen Harleth in her childhood. The other girls in the -school, who were all, naturally, very much older, made a great pet of -the child, and used to call her "little mamma," and she was not -unhappy except at nights; but she told me that this liability to have -"all her soul become a quivering fear," which remained with her -afterwards, had been one of the supremely important influences -dominating at times her future life. Mr. Isaac Evans's chief -recollection of this period is the delight of the little sister at his -home-coming for holidays, and her anxiety to know all that he had been -doing and learning. The eldest child, who went by the name of -Chrissey, was the chief favorite of the aunts, as she was always neat -and tidy, and used to spend a great deal of her time with them, while -the other two were inseparable playfellows at home. The boy was his -mother's pet and the girl her father's. They had everything to make -children happy at Griff--a delightful old-fashioned garden, a pond and -the canal to fish in, and the farm-offices close to the house, "the -long cow-shed, where generations of the milky mothers have stood -patiently, the broad-shouldered barns, where the old-fashioned flail -once made resonant music," and where butter-making and cheese-making -were carried on with great vigor by Mrs. Evans. - -[Illustration: Griff--with the Farm Offices.] - -Any one, about this time, who happened to look through the window on -the left-hand side of the door of Griff House would have seen a pretty -picture in the dining-room on Saturday evenings after tea. The -powerful, middle-aged man with the strongly marked features sits in -his deep, leather-covered arm-chair, at the right-hand corner of the -ruddy fireplace, with the head of "the little wench" between his -knees. The child turns over the book with pictures that she wishes her -father to explain to her--or that perhaps she prefers explaining to -him. Her rebellious hair is all over her eyes, much vexing the pale, -energetic mother who sits on the opposite side of the fire, cumbered -with much service, letting no instant of time escape the inevitable -click of the knitting-needles, accompanied by epigrammatic speech. The -elder girl, prim and tidy, with her work before her, is by her -mother's side; and the brother, between the two groups, keeps assuring -himself by perpetual search that none of his favorite means of -amusement are escaping from his pockets. The father is already very -proud of the astonishing and growing intelligence of his little girl. -From a very early age he has been in the habit of taking her with him -in his drives about the neighborhood, "standing between her father's -knees as he drove leisurely," so that she has drunk in knowledge of -the country and of country folk at all her pores. An old-fashioned -child, already living in a world of her own imagination, impressible -to her finger-tips, and willing to give her views on any subject. - -The first book that George Eliot read, so far as I have been able to -ascertain, was a little volume published in 1822, entitled "The -Linnet's Life," which she gave to me in the last year of her life, at -Witley. It bears the following inscription, written some time before -she gave it to me: - -"This little book is the first present I ever remember having received -from my father. Let any one who thinks of me with some tenderness -after I am dead take care of this book for my sake. It made me very -happy when I held it in my little hands, and read it over and over -again; and thought the pictures beautiful, especially the one where -the linnet is feeding her young." - -It must, I think, have been very shortly after she received this -present that an old friend of the family, who was in the habit of -coming as a visitor to Griff from time to time, used occasionally to -bring a book in his hand for the little girl. I very well remember her -expressing to me deep gratitude for this early ministration to her -childish delights; and Mr. Burne Jones has been kind enough to tell me -of a conversation with George Eliot about children's books, when she -also referred to this old gentleman's kindness. They were agreeing in -disparagement of some of the books that the rising generation take -their pleasure in, and she recalled the dearth of child-literature in -her own home, and her passionate delight and total absorption in -Ćsop's Fables (given to her by the aforesaid old gentleman), the -possession of which had opened new worlds to her imagination. Mr. -Burne Jones particularly remembers how she laughed till the tears ran -down her face in recalling her infantine enjoyment of the humor in the -fable of Mercury and the Statue-seller. Having so few books at this -time, she read them again and again, until she knew them by heart. One -of them was a Joe Miller jest-book, with the stories from which she -used greatly to astonish the family circle. But the beginning of her -serious reading-days did not come till later. Meantime her talent for -observation gained a glorious new field for employment in her first -journey from home, which took place in 1826. Her father and mother -took her with them on a little trip into Derbyshire and Staffordshire, -where she saw Mr. Evans's relations, and they came back through -Lichfield, sleeping at the Swan.[3] They were away only a week, from -the 18th to the 24th of May; but "what time is little" to an -imaginative, observant child of seven on her first journey? About this -time a deeply felt crisis occurred in her life, as her brother had a -pony given to him, to which he became passionately attached. He -developed an absorbing interest in riding, and cared less and less to -play with his sister. The next important event happened in her eighth -or ninth year, when she was sent to Miss Wallington's school at -Nuneaton with her sister. This was a much larger school than Miss -Lathom's, there being some thirty girls, boarders. The principal -governess was Miss Lewis, who became then, and remained for many years -after, Mary Ann Evans's most intimate friend and principal -correspondent, and I am indebted to the letters addressed to her from -1836 to 1842 for most of the information concerning that period. Books -now became a passion with the child; she read everything she could lay -hands on, greatly troubling the soul of her mother by the consumption -of candles as well as of eyesight in her bedroom. From a subsequent -letter it will be seen that she was "early supplied with works of -fiction by those who kindly sought to gratify her appetite for -reading." - -It must have been about this time that the episode occurred in -relation to "Waverley" which is mentioned by Miss Simcox in her -article in the June, 1881, number of the _Nineteenth Century Review_. -It was quite new to me, and, as it is very interesting, I give it in -Miss Simcox's own words: "Somewhere about 1827 a friendly neighbor -lent 'Waverley' to an elder sister of little Mary Ann Evans. It was -returned before the child had read to the end, and, in her distress at -the loss of the fascinating volume, she began to write out the story -as far as she had read it for herself, beginning naturally where the -story begins with Waverley's adventures at Tully Veolan, and -continuing until the surprised elders were moved to get her the book -again." Miss Simcox has pointed out the reference to this in the motto -of the 57th chapter of "Middlemarch:" - - "They numbered scarce eight summers when a name - Rose on their souls and stirred such motions there - As thrill the buds and shape their hidden frame - At penetration of the quickening air: - His name who told of loyal Evan Dhu, - Of quaint Bradwardine, and Vich Ian Vor, - Making the little world their childhood knew - Large with a land of mountain, lake, and scaur, - And larger yet with wonder, love, belief - Towards Walter Scott, who, living far away, - Sent them this wealth of joy and noble grief. - The book and they must part, but, day by day, - In lines that thwart like portly spiders ran, - They wrote the tale, from Tully Veolan." - -Miss Simcox also mentions that "Elia divided her childish allegiance -with Scott, and she remembered feasting with singular pleasure upon an -extract in some stray almanac from the essay in commemoration of -'Captain Jackson and his slender ration of Single Gloucester.' This is -an extreme example of the general rule that a wise child's taste in -literature is sounder than adults generally venture to believe." - -We know, too, from the "Mill on the Floss" that the "History of the -Devil," by Daniel Defoe, was a favorite. The book is still religiously -preserved at Griff, with its pictures just as Maggie looked at them. -"The Pilgrim's Progress," also, and "Rasselas" had a large share of -her affections. - -At Miss Wallington's the growing girl soon distinguished herself by an -easy mastery of the usual school-learning of her years, and there, -too, the religious side of her nature was developed to a remarkable -degree. Miss Lewis was an ardent Evangelical Churchwoman, and exerted -a strong influence on her young pupil, whom she found very -sympathetically inclined. But Mary Ann Evans did not associate freely -with her schoolfellows, and her friendship with Miss Lewis was the -only intimacy she indulged in. - -On coming home for their holidays the sister and brother began, about -this time, the habit of acting charades together before the Griff -household and the aunts, who were greatly impressed with the -cleverness of the performance; and the girl was now recognized in the -family circle as no ordinary child. - -Another epoch presently succeeded, on her removal to Miss Franklin's -school at Coventry, in her thirteenth year. She was probably then very -much what she has described her own Maggie at the age of thirteen: - -"A creature full of eager, passionate longings for all that was -beautiful and glad; thirsty for all knowledge; with an ear straining -after dreamy music that died away and would not come near to her; with -a blind, unconscious yearning for something that would link together -the wonderful impressions of this mysterious life, and give her soul a -sense of home in it. No wonder, when there is this contrast between -the outward and the inward, that painful collisions come of it." - -In _Our Times_ of June, 1881, there is a paper by a lady whose mother -was at school with Mary Ann Evans, which gives some interesting -particulars of the Miss Franklins. - -"They were daughters of a Baptist minister who had preached for many -years in Coventry, and who inhabited, during his pastorate, a house in -the chapel-yard almost exactly resembling that of Rufus Lyon in 'Felix -Holt.' For this venerable gentleman Miss Evans, as a schoolgirl, had a -great admiration, and I, who can remember him well, can trace in Rufus -Lyon himself many slight resemblances, such as the 'little legs,' and -the habit of walking up and down when composing. Miss Rebecca Franklin -was a lady of considerable intellectual power, and remarkable for her -elegance in writing and conversation, as well as for her beautiful -calligraphy. In her classes for English Composition Mary Ann Evans -was, from her first entering the school, far in advance of the rest; -and while the themes of the other children were read, criticised, and -corrected in class, hers were reserved for the private perusal and -enjoyment of the teacher, who rarely found anything to correct. Her -enthusiasm for music was already very strongly marked, and her -music-master, a much-tried man, suffering from the irritability -incident to his profession, reckoned on his hour with her as a -refreshment to his wearied nerves, and soon had to confess that he had -no more to teach her. In connection with this proficiency in music, my -mother recalls her sensitiveness at that time as being painfully -extreme. When there were visitors, Miss Evans, as the best performer -in the school, was sometimes summoned to the parlor to play for their -amusement, and though suffering agonies from shyness and reluctance, -she obeyed with all readiness, but, on being released, my mother has -often known her to rush to her room and throw herself on the floor in -an agony of tears. Her schoolfellows loved her as much as they could -venture to love one whom they felt to be so immeasurably superior to -themselves, and she had playful nicknames for most of them. My mother, -who was delicate, and to whom she was very kind, was dubbed by her -'Miss Equanimity.' A source of great interest to the girls, and of -envy to those who lived farther from home, was the weekly cart which -brought Miss Evans new-laid eggs and other delightful produce of her -father's farm." - -In talking about these early days, my wife impressed on my mind the -debt she felt that she owed to the Miss Franklins for their excellent -instruction, and she had also the very highest respect for their moral -qualities. With her chameleon-like nature she soon adopted their -religious views with intense eagerness and conviction, although she -never formally joined the Baptists or any other communion than the -Church of England. She at once, however, took a foremost place in the -school, and became a leader of prayer-meetings among the girls. In -addition to a sound English education the Miss Franklins managed to -procure for their pupils excellent masters for French, German, and -music; so that, looking to the lights of those times, the means of -obtaining knowledge were very much above the average for girls. Her -teachers, on their side, were very proud of their exceptionally gifted -scholar; and years afterwards, when Miss Evans came with her father to -live in Coventry, they introduced her to one of their friends, not -only as a marvel of mental power, but also as a person "sure to get -something up very soon in the way of clothing-club or other charitable -undertaking." - -This year, 1832, was not only memorable for the change to a new and -superior school, but it was also much more memorable to George Eliot -for the riot which she saw at Nuneaton, on the occasion of the -election for North Warwickshire, after the passing of the great Reform -Bill, and which subsequently furnished her with the incidents for the -riot in "Felix Holt." It was an event to lay hold on the imagination -of an impressionable girl of thirteen, and it is thus described in the -local newspaper of 29th December, 1832: - -"On Friday, the 21st December, at Nuneaton, from the commencement of -the poll till nearly half-past two, the Hemingites[4] occupied the -poll; the numerous plumpers for Sir Eardley Wilmot and the adherents -of Mr. Dugdale being constantly interrupted in their endeavors to go -to the hustings to give an honest and conscientious vote. The -magistrates were consequently applied to, and from the representations -they received from all parties, they were at length induced to call in -aid a military force. A detachment of the Scots Greys accordingly -arrived; but it appearing that that gallant body was not sufficiently -strong to put down the turbulent spirit of the mob, a reinforcement -was considered by the constituted authorities as absolutely necessary. -The tumult increasing, as the detachment of the Scots Greys were -called in, the Riot Act was read from the windows of the Newdigate -Arms; and we regret to add that both W. P. Inge, Esq., and Colonel -Newdigate, in the discharge of their magisterial duties, received -personal injuries. - -"On Saturday the mob presented an appalling appearance, and but for -the forbearance of the soldiery numerous lives would have fallen a -sacrifice. Several of the officers of the Scots Greys were materially -hurt in their attempt to quell the riotous proceedings of the mob. -During the day the sub-sheriffs at the different booths received -several letters from the friends of Mr. Dugdale, stating that they -were outside of the town, and anxious to vote for that gentleman, but -were deterred from entering it from fear of personal violence. Two or -three unlucky individuals, drawn from the files of the military on -their approach to the poll, were cruelly beaten, and stripped -literally naked. We regret to add that one life has been sacrificed -during the contest, and that several misguided individuals have been -seriously injured." - -The term ending Christmas, 1835, was the last spent at Miss -Franklin's. In the first letter of George Eliot's that I have been -able to discover, dated 6th January, 1836, and addressed to Miss -Lewis, who was at that time governess in the family of the Rev. L. -Harper, Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, she speaks of her mother -having suffered a great increase of pain, and adds-- - -"We dare not hope that there will be a permanent improvement. Our -anxieties on my mother's account, though so great, have been since -Thursday almost lost sight of in the more sudden, and consequently -more severe, trial which we have been called on to endure in the -alarming illness of my dear father. For four days we had no cessation -of our anxiety; but I am thankful to say that he is now considered out -of danger, though very much reduced by frequent bleeding and very -powerful medicines." - -In the summer of this year--1836--the mother died, after a long, -painful illness, in which she was nursed with great devotion by her -daughters. It was their first acquaintance with death; and to a highly -wrought, sensitive girl of sixteen such a loss seems an unendurable -calamity. "To the old, sorrow is sorrow; to the young, it is despair." -Many references will be found in the subsequent correspondence to what -she suffered at this time, all summed up in the old popular phrase, -"We can have but one mother." In the following spring Christiana was -married to Mr. Edward Clarke, a surgeon practising at Meriden, in -Warwickshire. One of Mr. Isaac Evans's most vivid recollections is -that on the day of the marriage, after the bride's departure, he and -his younger sister had "a good cry" together over the break-up of the -old home-life, which of course could never be the same with the mother -and the elder sister wanting. - -Twenty-three years later we shall find George Eliot writing, on the -death of this sister, that she "had a very special feeling for -her--stronger than any third person would think likely." The relation -between the sisters was somewhat like that described as existing -between Dorothea and Celia in "Middlemarch"--no intellectual affinity, -but a strong family affection. In fact, my wife told me, that although -Celia was not in any sense a portrait of her sister, she "had Chrissey -continually in mind" in delineating Celia's character. But we must be -careful not to found too much on such _suggestions_ of character in -George Eliot's books; and this must particularly be borne in mind in -the "Mill on the Floss." No doubt the early part of Maggie's -portraiture is the best autobiographical representation we can have of -George Eliot's own feelings in her childhood, and many of the -incidents in the book are based on real experiences of family life, -but so mixed with fictitious elements and situations that it would be -absolutely misleading to trust to it as a true history. For instance, -all that happened in real life between the brother and sister was, I -believe, that as they grew up their characters, pursuits, and tastes -diverged more and more widely. He took to his father's business, at -which he worked steadily, and which absorbed most of his time and -attention. He was also devoted to hunting, liked the ordinary -pleasures of a young man in his circumstances, and was quite satisfied -with the circle of acquaintance in which he moved. After leaving -school at Coventry he went to a private tutor's at Birmingham, where -he imbibed strong High-Church views. His sister had come back from the -Miss Franklins' with ultra-Evangelical tendencies, and their -differences of opinion used to lead to a good deal of animated -argument. Miss Evans, as she now was, could not rest satisfied with a -mere profession of faith without trying to shape her own life--and, it -may be added, the lives around her--in accordance with her -convictions. The pursuit of pleasure was a snare; dress was vanity; -society was a danger. - -"From what you know of her, you will not be surprised that she threw -some exaggeration and wilfulness, some pride and impetuosity, even -into her self-renunciation: her own life was still a drama for her, in -which she demanded of herself that her part should be played with -intensity. And so it came to pass that she often lost the spirit of -humility by being excessive in the outward act; she often strove after -too high a flight, and came down with her poor little half-fledged -wings dabbled in the mud.... That is the path we all like when we set -out on our abandonment of egoism--the path of martyrdom and endurance, -where the palm-branches grow, rather than the steep highway of -tolerance, just allowance, and self-blame, where there are no leafy -honors to be gathered and worn."[5] - -After Christiana's marriage the entire charge of the Griff -establishment devolved on Mary Ann, who became a most exemplary -housewife, learned thoroughly everything that had to be done, and, -with her innate desire for perfection, was never satisfied unless her -department was administered in the very best manner that circumstances -permitted. She spent a great deal of time in visiting the poor, -organizing clothing-clubs, and other works of active charity. But over -and above this, as will be seen from the following letters, she was -always prosecuting an active intellectual life of her own. Mr. Brezzi, -a well-known master of modern languages at Coventry, used to come over -to Griff regularly to give her lessons in Italian and German. Mr. -M'Ewen, also from Coventry, continued her lessons in music, and she -got through a large amount of miscellaneous reading by herself. In the -evening she was always in the habit of playing to her father, who was -very fond of music. But it requires no great effort of imagination to -conceive that this life, though full of interests of its own, and the -source from whence the future novelist drew the most powerful and the -most touching of her creations, was, as a matter of fact, very -monotonous, very difficult, very discouraging. It could scarcely be -otherwise to a young girl with a full, passionate nature and hungry -intellect, shut up in a farmhouse in the remote country. For there was -no sympathetic human soul near with whom to exchange ideas on the -intellectual and spiritual problems that were beginning to agitate her -mind. "You may try, but you can never imagine what it is to have a -man's force of genius in you, and yet to suffer the slavery of being a -girl."[6] This is a point of view that must be distinctly recognized -by any one attempting to follow the development of George Eliot's -character, and it will always be corrected by the other point of view -which she has made so prominent in all her own writing--the soothing, -strengthening, sacred influences of the home life, the home loves, the -home duties. Circumstances in later life separated her from her -kindred, but among her last letters it will be seen that she wrote to -her brother in May, 1880, that "our long silence has never broken the -affection for you that began when we were little ones"[7]--and she -expresses her satisfaction in the growing prosperity of himself and -all his family. It was a real gratification to her to hear from some -Coventry friends that her nephew, the Rev. Frederic Evans, the present -rector of Bedworth, was well spoken of as a preacher in the old -familiar places, and in our last summer at Witley we often spoke of a -visit to Warwickshire, that she might renew the sweet memories of her -child-days. No doubt, the very monotony of her life at Griff, and the -narrow field it presented for observation of society, added -immeasurably to the intensity of a naturally keen mental vision, -concentrating into a focus what might perhaps have become dissipated -in more liberal surroundings. And though the field of observation was -narrow in one sense, it included very various grades of society. Such -fine places as Arbury, and Packington, the seat of Lord Aylesford, -where she was being constantly driven by her father, affected the -imagination and accentuated the social differences--differences which -had a profound significance for such a sensitive and such an -intellectually commanding character, and which left their mark on it. - -"No one who has not a strong natural prompting and susceptibility -towards such things [the signs and luxuries of ladyhood] and has, at -the same time, suffered from the presence of opposite conditions, can -understand how powerfully those minor accidents of rank which please -the fastidious sense can preoccupy the imagination."[8] - -The tone of her mind will be seen from the letters written during the -following years, and I remember once, after we were married, when I -was urging her to write her autobiography, she said, half sighing, -half smiling, "The only thing I should care much to dwell on would be -the absolute despair I suffered from of ever being able to achieve -anything. No one could ever have felt greater despair, and a knowledge -of this might be a help to some other struggler"--adding, with a -smile, "but, on the other hand, it might only lead to an increase of -bad writing." - - -_SUMMARY._ - -NOVEMBER 22, 1819, TO END OF 1837. - - Birth at Arbury Farm--Baptism--Character of father--His first - marriage and children--Second marriage and children--Removal - to Griff--Events at time of birth--Character of country - about Griff--Coach communication--Father's - position--Anecdotes of father--Character of mother--Mother's - family and delicacy--Dame's school--Companionship with - brother--Miss Lathom's school at Attleboro--Suffers from - fear--Father's pet--Drives with him--First books read--First - journey to Staffordshire--Miss Wallington's school at - Nuneaton--Miss Lewis, governess--Books read--Religious - impressions--Charade acting--Miss Franklin's school at - Coventry--Riot at Nuneaton--First letter to Miss - Lewis--Mother's illness--Mother's death--Sister Christiana - married to Mr. Clarke--Relations with brother--Housekeeper at - Griff--Life and studies there. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] The farm is also known as the South Farm, Arbury. - -[2] "Felix Holt"--Introduction. - -[3] See vol. ii. p. 96. - -[4] A Mr. Heming was the Radical candidate. - -[5] "Mill on the Floss," chap. iii. book iv. - -[6] "Daniel Deronda." - -[7] See vol. iii. - -[8] "Felix Holt," chap. xxxviii. p. 399. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - - -In the foregoing introductory sketch I have endeavored to present the -influences to which George Eliot was subjected in her youth, and the -environment in which she grew up; I am now able to begin the -fulfilment of the promise on the titlepage, that the life will be -related in her own letters; or, rather, in extracts from her own -letters, for no single letter is printed entire from the beginning to -the end. I have not succeeded in obtaining any between 6th January, -1836, and 18th August, 1838; but from the latter date the -correspondence becomes regular, and I have arranged it as a continuous -narrative, with the names of the persons to whom the letters are -addressed in the margin. The slight thread of narrative or explanation -which I have written to elucidate the letters, where necessary, will -hereafter occupy an inside margin, so that the reader will see at a -glance what is narrative and what is correspondence, and will be -troubled as little as possible with marks of quotation or changes of -type. - - The following opening letter of the series to Miss Lewis - describes a first visit to London with her brother: - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, 18th Aug. 1838.] - -Let me tell you, though, that I was not at all delighted with the stir -of the great Babel, and the less so, probably, owing to the -circumstances attending my visit thither. Isaac and I went alone (that -seems rather Irish), and stayed only a week, every day of which we -worked hard at seeing sights. I think Greenwich Hospital interested me -more than anything else. - - Mr. Isaac Evans himself tells me that what he remembers - chiefly impressed her was the first hearing the great bell of - St. Paul's. It affected her deeply. At that time she was so - much under the influence of religious and ascetic ideas that - she would not go to any of the theatres with her brother, but - spent all her evenings alone, reading. A characteristic - reminiscence is that the chief thing she wanted to buy was - Josephus's "History of the Jews;" and at the same bookshop - her brother got her this he bought for himself a pair of - hunting sketches. In the same letter, alluding to the - marriage of one of her friends, she says: - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, 18th Aug. 1838.] - -For my part, when I hear of the marrying and giving in marriage that -is constantly being transacted, I can only sigh for those who are -multiplying earthly ties which, though powerful enough to detach their -hearts and thoughts from heaven, are so brittle as to be liable to be -snapped asunder at every breeze. You will think that I need nothing -but a tub for my habitation to make me a perfect female Diogenes; and -I plead guilty to occasional misanthropical thoughts, but not to the -indulgence of them. Still, I must believe that those are happiest who -are not fermenting themselves by engaging in projects for earthly -bliss, who are considering this life merely a pilgrimage, a scene -calling for diligence and watchfulness, not for repose and amusement. -I do not deny that there may be many who can partake with a high -degree of zest of all the lawful enjoyments the world can offer, and -yet live in near communion with their God--who can warmly love the -creature, and yet be careful that the Creator maintains his supremacy -in their hearts; but I confess that, in my short experience and narrow -sphere of action, I have never been able to attain to this. I find, as -Dr. Johnson said respecting his wine, total abstinence much easier -than moderation. I do not wonder you are pleased with Pascal;[9] his -thoughts may be returned to the palate again and again with increasing -rather than diminished relish. I have highly enjoyed Hannah More's -letters; the contemplation of so blessed a character as hers is very -salutary. "That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who, through -faith and patience, inherit the promises," is a valuable admonition. I -was once told that there was nothing out of myself to prevent my -becoming as eminently holy as St. Paul; and though I think that is too -sweeping an assertion, yet it is very certain we are generally too low -in our aims, more anxious for safety than sanctity, for place than -purity, forgetting that each involves the other, and that, as -Doddridge tells us, to rest satisfied with any attainments in religion -is a fearful proof that we are ignorant of the very first principles -of it. O that we could live only for eternity! that we could realize -its nearness! I know you do not love quotations, so I will not give -you one; but if you do not distinctly remember it, do turn to the -passage in Young's "Infidel Reclaimed," beginning, "O vain, vain, vain -all else eternity," and do love the lines for my sake. - -I really feel for you, sacrificing, as you are, your own tastes and -comforts for the pleasure of others, and that in a manner the most -trying to rebellious flesh and blood; for I verily believe that in -most cases it requires more of a martyr's spirit to endure, with -patience and cheerfulness, daily crossings and interruptions of our -petty desires and pursuits, and to rejoice in them if they can be made -to conduce to God's glory and our own sanctification, than even to lay -down our lives for the truth. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, 6th Nov. 1838.] - -I can hardly repress a sort of indignation towards second causes. That -your time and energies should be expended in ministering to the petty -interests of those far beneath you in all that is really elevating is -about as _bienséant_ as that I should set fire to a goodly volume to -light a match by! I have had a very unsettled life lately--Michaelmas, -with its onerous duties and anxieties, much company (for us) and -little reading, so that I am ill prepared for corresponding with -profit or pleasure. I am generally in the same predicament with books -as a glutton with his feast, hurrying through one course that I may be -in time for the next, and so not relishing or digesting either; not a -very elegant illustration, but the best my organs of ideality and -comparison will furnish just now. - -I have just begun the "Life of Wilberforce," and I am expecting a rich -treat from it. There is a similarity, if I may compare myself with -such a man, between his temptations, or rather _besetments_, and my -own, that makes his experience very interesting to me. O that I might -be made as useful in my lowly and obscure station as he was in the -exalted one assigned to him! I feel myself to be a mere cumberer of -the ground. May the Lord give me such an insight into what is truly -good that I may not rest contented with making Christianity a mere -addendum to my pursuits, or with tacking it as a fringe to my -garments! May I seek to be sanctified wholly! My nineteenth birthday -will soon be here (the 22d)--an awakening signal. My mind has been -much clogged lately by languor of body, to which I am prone to give -way, and for the removal of which I shall feel thankful. - -We have had an oratorio at Coventry lately, Braham, Phillips, Mrs. -Knyvett, and Mrs. Shaw--the last, I think, I shall attend. I am not -fitted to decide on the question of the propriety or lawfulness of -such exhibitions of talent and so forth, because I have no soul for -music. "Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he -alloweth." I am a tasteless person, but it would not cost me any -regrets if the only music heard in our land were that of strict -worship, nor can I think a pleasure that involves the devotion of all -the time and powers of an immortal being to the acquirement of an -expertness in so useless (at least in ninety-nine cases out of a -hundred) an accomplishment, can be quite pure or elevating in its -tendency. - - The above remarks on oratorio are the more surprising - because, two years later, when Miss Evans went to the - Birmingham festival, in September, 1840, previous to her - brother's marriage, she was affected to an extraordinary - degree, so much so that Mrs. Isaac Evans--then Miss - Rawlins--told me that the attention of people sitting near - was attracted by her hysterical sobbing. And in all her later - life music was one of the chiefest delights to her, and - especially oratorio. - -"Not that her enjoyment of music was of the kind that indicates a -great specific talent; it was rather that her sensibility to the -supreme excitement of music was only one form of that passionate -sensibility which belonged to her whole nature, and made her faults -and virtues all merge in each other--made her affections sometimes an -impatient demand, but also prevented her vanity from taking the form -of mere feminine coquetry and device, and gave it the poetry of -ambition."[10] - - The next two letters, dated from Griff--February 6th and - March 5th, 1839--are addressed to Mrs. Samuel Evans, a - Methodist preacher, the wife of a younger brother of Mr. - Robert Evans. They are the more interesting from the fact, - which will appear later, that an anecdote related by this - aunt during her visit to Griff in 1839 was the germ of "Adam - Bede." To what extent this Elizabeth Evans resembled the - ideal character of Dinah Morris will also be seen in its - place in the history of "Adam Bede." - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Samuel Evans, 6th Feb. 1839.] - -I am so unwilling to believe that you can forget a promise, or to -entertain fears respecting your health, that I persuade myself I must -have mistaken the terms of the agreement between us, and that I ought -to have sent you a letter before I considered myself entitled to one -from Wirksworth. However this may be, I feel so anxious to hear of -your well-being in every way, that I can no longer rest satisfied -without using my only means of obtaining tidings of you. My dear -father is not at home to-night, or I should probably have a message of -remembrance to give you from him, in addition to the good news that he -is as well as he has been for the last two years, and even, I think, -better, except that he feels more fatigue after exertion of mind or -body than formerly. If you are able to fill a sheet, I am sure both -uncle and you would in doing so be complying with the precept, "Lift -up the hands that hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees." I need -not tell you that this is a dry and thirsty land, and I shall be as -grateful to you for a draught from your fresh spring as the traveller -in the Eastern desert is to the unknown hand that digs a well for him. -"Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel," seems to be my character, -instead of that regular progress from strength to strength that marks, -even in this world of mistakes, the people that shall, in the heavenly -Zion, stand before God. I shall not only suffer, but be delighted to -receive, the word of exhortation, and I beg you not to withhold it. If -I did not know how little you need human help, I should regret that my -ignorance and want of deep feeling in spiritual things prevent me from -suggesting profitable or refreshing thoughts; but I dare say I took -care to tell you that my desire for correspondence with you was quite -one of self-interest. - -I am thankful to tell you that my dear friends here are all well. I -have a faint hope that the pleasure and profit I have felt in your -society may be repeated in the summer: there is no place I would -rather visit than Wirksworth, or the inhabitants of which have a -stronger hold on my affections. - - In the next letter the touch about Mrs. Fletcher's life is - characteristic. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Samuel Evans, 5th Mch. 1839.] - -My dear father is just now so plunged in business, and that of a -fatiguing kind, that I should put your confidence in my love and -gratitude to an unreasonably severe trial if I waited until he had -leisure to unite with me in filling a sheet. You were very kind to -remember my wish to see "Mrs. Fletcher's Life:" I only desire such a -spiritual digestion as has enabled _you_ to derive so much benefit -from its perusal. I am truly glad to hear that you are less -embarrassed with respect to your congregation, etc., than you were -when we saw you. I must protest against your making apologies for -speaking of yourself, for nothing that relates to you can be -uninteresting to me. - -The unprofitableness you lament in yourself, during your visit to us, -had its true cause, not in your lukewarmness, but in the little -improvement I sought to derive from your society, and in my lack of -humility and Christian simplicity, that makes me willing to obtain -credit for greater knowledge and deeper feeling than I really possess. -Instead of putting my light under a bushel, I am in danger of -ostentatiously displaying a false one. You have much too high an -opinion, my dear aunt, of my spiritual condition, and of my personal -and circumstantial advantages. My soul seems for weeks together -completely benumbed, and when I am aroused from this torpid state, the -intervals of activity are comparatively short. I am ever finding -excuses for this in the deprivation of outward excitement and the -small scope I have for the application of my principles, instead of -feeling self-abasement under the consciousness that I abuse precious -hours of retirement, which would be eagerly employed in spiritual -exercises by many a devoted servant of God who is struggling with -worldly cares and occupations. I feel that my besetting sin is the one -of all others most destroying, as it is the fruitful parent of them -all--ambition, a desire insatiable for the esteem of my -fellow-creatures. This seems the centre whence all my actions proceed. -But you will perhaps remember, my dear aunt, that I do not attach -much value to a disclosure of religious feelings, owing probably to -the dominant corruption I have just been speaking of, which "turns the -milk of my good purpose all to curd." - - On 16th March, 1839, in a letter to Miss Lewis, there is a - reference to good spirits, which is of the rarest occurrence - all through the correspondence: - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, 16th Mch. 1839.] - -I am this morning hardly myself, owing to the insuppressible rising of -my animal spirits on a deliverance from sick headache; - - and then the letter continues as to the expediency of reading - works of fiction, in answer to a question Miss Lewis had - asked: - -I put out of the question all persons of perceptions so quick, memories -so eclectic and retentive, and minds so comprehensive that nothing less -than omnivorous reading, as Southey calls it, can satisfy their -intellectual man; for (if I may parody the words of Scripture without -profaneness) they will gather to themselves all facts, and heap unto -themselves all ideas. For such persons we cannot legislate. Again, I -would put out of the question standard works, whose contents are matter -of constant reference, and the names of whose heroes and heroines -briefly, and therefore conveniently, describe characters and ideas--such -are "Don Quixote," Butler's "Hudibras," "Robinson Crusoe," "Gil Blas," -Byron's Poetical Romances, Southey's ditto, etc. Such, too, are Walter -Scott's novels and poems. Such allusions as "He is a perfect Dominie -Sampson," "He is as industrious in finding out antiquities, and about as -successful, as Jonathan Oldbuck," are likely to become so common in -books and conversation that, _always providing_ our leisure is not -circumscribed by duty within narrow bounds, we should, I think, qualify -ourselves to understand them. Shakespeare has a higher claim than this -on our attention; but we have need of as nice a power of distillation as -the bee, to suck nothing but honey from his pages. However, as in life -we must be exposed to malign influences from intercourse with others, if -we would reap the advantages designed for us by making us social beings, -so in books. Having cleared our way of what would otherwise have -encumbered us, I would ask why is one engaged in the instruction of -youth to read, as a purely conscientious and self-denying performance of -duty, works whose value to others is allowed to be doubtful? I can only -imagine two shadows of reasons. Either that she may be able -experimentally to decide on their desirableness for her pupils, or else -that there is a certain power exerted by them on the mind that would -render her a more efficient "tutress" by their perusal. I would not -depreciate the disinterestedness of those who will make trial of the -effect on themselves of a cup suspected poisonous, that they may deter -another from risking life; but it appears to me a work of -supererogation, since there are enough witnesses to its baneful effect -on themselves already to put an end to all strife in the matter. The -Scriptural declaration, "As face answereth to face in a glass, so the -heart of man to man," will exonerate me from the charge of -uncharitableness, or too high an estimation of myself, if I venture to -believe that the same causes which exist in my own breast to render -novels and romances pernicious have their counterpart in that of every -fellow-creature. I am, I confess, not an impartial member of a jury in -this case; for I owe the culprits a grudge for injuries inflicted on -myself. When I was quite a little child I could not be satisfied with -the things around me; I was constantly living in a world of my own -creation, and was quite contented to have no companions, that I might be -left to my own musings, and imagine scenes in which I was chief actress. -Conceive what a character novels would give to these Utopias. I was -early supplied with them by those who kindly sought to gratify my -appetite for reading, and of course I made use of the materials they -supplied for building my castles in the air. But it may be said--"No one -ever dreamed of recommending children to read them: all this does not -apply to persons come to years of discretion, whose judgments are in -some degree matured." I answer that men and women are but children of a -larger growth: they are still imitative beings. We cannot (at least -those who ever read to any purpose at all)--we cannot, I say, help being -modified by the ideas that pass through our minds. We hardly wish to lay -claim to such elasticity as retains no impress. We are active beings -too. We are each one of the _dramatis personć_ in some play on the stage -of life; hence our actions have their share in the effects of our -reading. As to the discipline our minds receive from the perusal of -fictions, I can conceive none that is beneficial but may be attained by -that of history. It is the merit of fictions to come within the orbit of -probability: if unnatural they would no longer please. If it be said the -mind must have relaxation, "Truth is strange--stranger than fiction." -When a person has exhausted the wonders of truth there is no other -resort than fiction: till then, I cannot imagine how the adventures of -some phantom conjured up by fancy can be more entertaining than the -transactions of real specimens of human nature, from which we may -safely draw inferences. I dare say Mr. James's "Huguenot" would be -recommended as giving an idea of the times of which he writes; but as -well may one be recommended to look at landscapes for an idea of English -scenery. The real secret of the relaxation talked of is one that would -not generally be avowed; but an appetite that wants seasoning of a -certain kind cannot be indicative of health. Religious novels are more -hateful to me than merely worldly ones: they are a sort of centaur or -mermaid, and, like other monsters that we do not know how to class, -should be destroyed for the public good as soon as born. The weapons of -the Christian warfare were never sharpened at the forge of romance. -Domestic fictions, as they come more within the range of imitation, seem -more dangerous. For my part, I am ready to sit down and weep at the -impossibility of my understanding or barely knowing a fraction of the -sum of objects that present themselves for our contemplation in books -and in life. Have I, then, any time to spend on things that never -existed? - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, 20th May, 1839.] - -You allude to the religious, or rather irreligious, contentions that -form so prominent a feature in the aspect of public affairs--a -subject, you will perhaps be surprised to hear me say, full of -interest to me, and on which I am unable to shape an opinion for the -satisfaction of my mind. I think no one feels more difficulty in -coming to a decision on controverted matters than myself. I do not -mean that I have not preferences; but, however congruous a theory may -be with my notions, I cannot find that comfortable repose that others -appear to possess after having made their election of a class of -sentiments. The other day Montaigne's motto came to my mind (it is -mentioned by Pascal) as an appropriate one for me--"Que -sais-je?"--beneath a pair of balances, though, by-the-bye, it is an -ambiguous one, and may be taken in a sense that I desire to reprobate, -as well as in a Scriptural one, to which I do not refer. I use it in a -limited sense as a representation of my oscillating judgment. On no -subject do I veer to all points of the compass more frequently than on -the nature of the visible Church. I am powerfully attracted in a -certain direction, but, when I am about to settle there, -counter-assertions shake me from my position. I cannot enter into -details, but when we are together I will tell you all my -difficulties--that is, if you will be kind enough to listen. I have -been reading the new prize essay on "Schism," by Professor Hoppus, and -Milner's "Church History," since I last wrote to you: the former ably -expresses the tenets of those who deny that any form of Church -government is so clearly dictated in Scripture as to possess a divine -right, and, consequently, to be binding on Christians; the latter, you -know, exhibits the views of a moderate Evangelical Episcopalian on the -inferences to be drawn from ecclesiastical remains. He equally -repudiates the loud assertion of a _jus divinum_, to the exclusion of -all separatists from the visible Church, though he calmly maintains -the superiority of the evidence in favor of Episcopacy, of a moderate -kind both in power and extent of diocese, as well as the benefit of a -national establishment. I have been skimming the "Portrait of an -English Churchman," by the Rev. W. Gresley: this contains an outline -of the system of those who exclaim of the Anglican Church as the Jews -did of their sacred building (that they do it in as reprehensible a -spirit I will not be the judge), "the temple of the Lord, the temple -of the Lord, the temple of the Lord" is exclusively theirs; while the -authors of the Oxford Tracts go a step further, and evince by their -compliments to Rome, as a dear though erring sister, and their -attempts to give a Romish color to our ordinance, with a very confused -and unscriptural statement of the great doctrine of justification, a -disposition rather to fraternize with the members of a Church carrying -on her brow the prophetical epithets applied by St. John to the -scarlet beast, the mystery of iniquity, than with pious -Nonconformists. It is true they disclaim all this, and that their -opinions are seconded by the extensive learning, the laborious zeal, -and the deep devotion of those who propagate them; but a reference to -facts will convince us that such has generally been the character of -heretical teachers. Satan is too crafty to commit his cause into the -hands of those who have nothing to recommend them to approbation. -According to their dogmas, the Scotch Church and the foreign -Protestant Churches, as well as the non-Episcopalians of our own land, -are wanting in the essentials of existence as part of the Church. - - In the next letter there is the first allusion to authorship, - but, from the wording of the sentence, the poem referred to - has evidently not been a first attempt. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, 17th July, 1839.] - -I send you some doggerel lines, the crude fruit of a lonely walk last -evening when the words of one of our martyrs occurred to me. You must -be acquainted with the idiosyncrasy of my authorship, which is, that -my effusions, once committed to paper, are like the laws of the Medes -and Persians, that alter not. - -"_Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle._" - - --2 PETER i. 14. - - "As o'er the fields by evening's light I stray - I hear a still, small whisper--Come away; - Thou must to this bright, lovely world soon say - Farewell! - - "The mandate I'd obey, my lamp prepare, - Gird up my garments, give my soul to pray'r, - And say to earth, and all that breathe earth's air, - Farewell! - - "Thou sun, to whose parental beam I owe - All that has gladden'd me while here below, - Moon, stars, and covenant-confirming bow, - Farewell! - - "Ye verdant meads, fair blossoms, stately trees, - Sweet song of birds and soothing hum of bees, - Refreshing odors wafted on the breeze, - Farewell! - - "Ye patient servants of creation's Lord, - Whose mighty strength is govern'd by his word, - Who raiment, food, and help in toil afford, - Farewell! - - "Books that have been to me as chests of gold, - Which, miserlike, I secretly have told, - And for them love, health, friendship, peace have sold, - Farewell! - - "Blest volume! whose clear truth-writ page once known, - Fades not before heaven's sunshine or hell's moan, - To thee I say not, of earth's gifts alone, - Farewell! - - "There shall my new-born senses find new joy, - New sounds, new sights, my eyes and ears employ, - Nor fear that word that here brings sad alloy, - Farewell!" - - I had a dim recollection that my wife had told me that this - poem had been printed somewhere. After a long search I found - it in the _Christian Observer_ for January, 1840. The version - there published has the two following additional verses, and - is signed M. A. E.: - - "Ye feebler, freer tribes that people air, - Ye gaudy insects, making buds your lair, - Ye that in water shine and frolic there, - Farewell! - - "Dear kindred, whom the Lord to me has given, - Must the strong tie that binds us now be riven? - No! say I--only till we meet in heaven, - Farewell!" - - The editor of the _Christian Observer_ has added this note: - "We do not often add a note to a poem: but if St. John found - no temple in the New Jerusalem, neither will there be any - need of a Bible; for we shall not then see through a glass - darkly--through the veil of sacraments or the written - Word--but face to face. The Bible is God's gift, but not for - heaven's use. Still, on the very verge of heaven we may cling - to it, after we have bid farewell to everything earthly: and - this, perhaps, is what M. A. E. means." - - In the following letter we already see the tendency to draw - illustrations from science: - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, 4th Sept. 1839.] - -I have lately led so unsettled a life, and have been so desultory in -my employments, that my mind, never of the most highly organized -genus, is more than usually chaotic, or, rather, it is like a stratum -of conglomerated fragments, that shows here a jaw and rib of some -ponderous quadruped, there a delicate alto-relievo of some fern-like -plant, tiny shells and mysterious nondescripts incrusted and united -with some unvaried and uninteresting but useful stone. My mind -presents just such an assemblage of disjointed specimens of history, -ancient and modern; scraps of poetry picked up from Shakespeare, -Cowper, Wordsworth, and Milton; newspaper topics; morsels of Addison -and Bacon, Latin verbs, geometry, entomology, and chemistry; reviews -and metaphysics--all arrested and petrified and smothered by the -fast-thickening every-day accession of actual events, relative -anxieties, and household cares and vexations. How deplorably and -unaccountably evanescent are our frames of mind, as various as the -forms and hues of the summer clouds! A single word is sometimes enough -to give an entirely new mould to our thoughts--at least, I find myself -so constituted; and therefore to me it is pre-eminently important to -be anchored within the veil, so that outward things may be unable to -send me adrift. Write to me as soon as you can. Remember Michaelmas is -coming, and I shall be engaged in matters so nauseating to me that it -will be a charity to console me; to reprove and advise me no less. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, 22d Nov. 1839.] - -I have emerged from the slough of domestic troubles, or, rather, to -speak quite clearly, "malheurs de cuisine," and am beginning to take a -deep breath in my own element, though with a mortifying consciousness -that my faculties have become superlatively obtuse during my -banishment from it. I have been so self-indulgent as to possess myself -of Wordsworth at full length, and I thoroughly like much of the -contents of the first three volumes, which I fancy are only the low -vestibule of the three remaining ones. I never before met with so many -of my own feelings expressed just as I could like them. The distress -of the lower classes in our neighborhood is daily increasing, from the -scarcity of employment for weavers, and I seem sadly to have -handcuffed myself by unnecessary expenditure. To-day is my 20th -birthday. - - This allusion to Wordsworth is interesting, as it entirely - expresses the feeling she had to him up to the day of her - death. One of the very last books we read together at Cheyne - Walk was Mr. Frederick Myers's "Wordsworth" in the "English - Men of Letters," which she heartily enjoyed. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, 23d Mch. 1840.] - -I have just received my second lesson in German. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, 2d May, 1840, Friday evening.] - -I know you will be glad to think of me as thoroughly employed, as, -indeed, I am to an extent that makes me fear I shall not be able to -accomplish everything well. I have engaged, if possible, to complete -the chart,[11] the plan of which I sketched out last year, by November -next, and I am encouraged to believe that it will answer my purpose to -print it. The profits arising from its sale, if any, will go partly to -Attleboro Church, and partly to a favorite object of my own. Mrs. -Newdigate is very anxious that I should do this, and she permits me to -visit her library when I please, in search of any books that may -assist me. Will you ask Mr. Craig what he considers the best authority -for the date of the apostolical writings? I should like to carry the -chart down to the Reformation, if my time and resources will enable me -to do so. We are going to have a clothing-club, the arrangement and -starting of which are left to me. I am ashamed to run the risk of -troubling you, but I should be very grateful if you could send me an -abstract of the rules by which yours is regulated. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, 21st May, 1840.] - -Our house is now, and will be for the next two months, miserably noisy -and disorderly with the musical operations of masons, carpenters, and -painters. You know how abhorrent all this is to my tastes and -feelings, taking all the spice out of my favorite little epithet, -"this working-day world:" I can no longer use it figuratively. How -impressive must the gradual rise of Solomon's Temple have been! each -prepared mass of virgin marble laid in reverential silence. I fancy -Heber has compared it to the growth of a palm. Your nice miniature -chart, which I shall carefully treasure up, has quite satisfied me -that Dr. Pearson, at least, has not realized my conceptions, though it -has left me still dubious as to my own power of doing so. I will just -(if you can bear to hear more of the matter) give you an idea of the -plan, which may have partly faded from your memory. The series of -perpendicular columns will successively contain the Roman emperors, -with their dates, the political and religious state of the Jews, the -bishops, remarkable men, and events in the several churches, a column -being devoted to each of the chief ones, the aspect of heathenism and -Judaism towards Christianity, the chronology of the apostolical and -patristical writings, schisms, and heresies, General Councils, eras of -corruption (under which head the remarks would be general), and I -thought possibly an application of the apocalyptic prophecies, which -would merely require a few figures and not take up room. I think there -must be a break in the chart after the establishment of Christianity -as the religion of the empire, and I have come to a determination not -to carry it beyond the first acknowledgment of the supremacy of the -Pope by Phocas, in 606, when Mohammedanism became a besom of -destruction in the hand of the Lord, and completely altered the aspect -of ecclesiastical history. So much for this, at present, airy -project, about which I hope never to tease you more. Mr. Harper[12] -lent me a little time ago a work by the Rev. W. Gresley, begging me to -read it, as he thought it was calculated to make me a proselyte to the -opinions it advocates. I had skimmed the book before ("Portrait of an -English Churchman"), but I read it attentively a second time, and was -pleased with the spirit of piety that breathes throughout. His last -work is one in a similar style ("The English Citizen"), which I have -cursorily read; and, as they are both likely to be seen by you, I want -to know your opinion of them. Mine is this: that they are sure to have -a powerful influence on the minds of small readers and shallow -thinkers, as, from the simplicity and clearness with which the author, -by his _beau-idéal_ characters, enunciates his sentiments, they -furnish a magazine of easily wielded weapons for _morning-calling_ and -_evening-party_ controversialists, as well as that really honest minds -will be inclined to think they have found a resting-place amid the -footballing of religious parties. But it appears to me that there is -unfairness in arbitrarily selecting a train of circumstances and a set -of characters as a development of a class of opinions. In this way we -might make atheism appear wonderfully calculated to promote social -happiness. I remember, as I dare say you do, a very amiable atheist -depicted by Bulwer in "Devereux;" and for some time after the perusal -of that book, which I read seven or eight years ago,[13] I was -considerably shaken by the impression that religion was not a -requisite to moral excellence. - -Have you not alternating seasons of mental stagnation and activity? -just such as the political economists say there must be in a nation's -pecuniary condition--all one's precious specie, Time, going out to -procure a stock of commodities, while one's own manufactures are too -paltry to be worth vending. I am just in that condition--partly, I -think, owing to my not having met with any steel to sharpen my edge -against for the last three weeks. I am going to read a volume of the -Oxford Tracts and the "Lyra Apostolica;" the former I almost shrink -from the labor of conning, but the other I confess I am attracted -towards by some highly poetical extracts that I have picked up in -various quarters. I have just bought Mr. Keble's "Christian Year," a -volume of sweet poetry that perhaps you know. The fields of poesy look -more lovely than ever, now I have hedged myself in the geometrical -regions of fact, where I can do nothing but draw parallels and measure -differences in a double sense. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, 26th May, 1840.] - -[14]I will only hint that there seems a probability of my being an -unoccupied damsel, of my being severed from all the ties that have -hitherto given my existence the semblance of a usefulness beyond that -of making up the requisite quantum of animal matter in the universe. A -second important intimation respecting my worthy self is one that, I -confess, I impart without one sigh, though perhaps you will think my -callousness discreditable. It is that Seeley & Burnside have just -published a Chart of Ecclesiastical History, doubtless giving to my -airy vision a local habitation and a name. I console all my little -regrets by thinking that what is thus evidenced to be a desideratum -has been executed much better than if left to my slow fingers and -slower head. I fear I am laboriously doing nothing, for I am beguiled -by the fascination that the study of languages has for my capricious -mind. I could e'en give myself up to making discoveries in the world -of words. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, in London, Whit-Wednesday, June, -1840.] - -May I trouble you to procure for me an Italian book recommended by Mr. -Brezzi--Silvio Pellico's "Le mie Prigioni;" if not, "Storia d'Italia"? -If they are cheap, I should like both. - -I shall have, I hope, a little trip with my father next week into -Derbyshire, and this "lark" will probably be beneficial to me; so do -not imagine I am inviting you to come and hear moaning, when you need -all attainable relaxation. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, 23d June, 1840.] - -Your letter greeted me last night on my arrival from Staffordshire. -The prospectus of Mr. Henslow's work is as marvellous to my ignorant -conceptions as the prophecies of the wonders of the steam-engine would -have been to some British worthy in the days of Caractacus. I can only -gape as he would probably have done. I hope Mr. H. has not imitated -certain show-keepers, who give so exaggerated a representation of -their giantess, on the outside, that the spectators have -disappointment for their cash within. - -If I do not see you, how shall I send your "Don Quixote," which I hope -soon to finish? I have been sadly interrupted by other books that have -taken its scanty allowance of time, or I should have made better haste -with it. Will you try to get me Spenser's "Faery Queen"? the cheapest -edition, with a glossary, which is quite indispensable, together with -a clear and correct type. I have had some treats on my little -excursion, not the least of which was the gazing on some--albeit the -smallest--of the "everlasting hills," and on those noblest children -of the earth, fine, healthy trees, as independent in their beauty as -virtue; set them where you will, they adorn, and need not adornment. -Father indulged me with a sight of Ashborne Church, the finest mere -parish church in the kingdom--in the _interior_; of Alton Gardens, -where I saw actually what I have often seen mentally--the bread-fruit -tree, the fan-palm, and the papyrus; and last, of Lichfield Cathedral, -where, besides the exquisite architectural beauties, both external and -internal, I saw Chantrey's famous monument of the Sleeping Children. -There is a tasteless monument to the learned and brilliant female -pedant of Lichfield, Miss Seward, with a poor epitaph by Sir Walter -Scott. In the town we saw a large monument erected to Johnson's -memory, showing his Titanic body, in a sitting posture, on the summit -of a pedestal which is ornamented with bas-reliefs of three passages -in his life: his penance in Uttoxeter Market, his chairing on the -shoulders of his schoolmates, and his listening to the preaching of -Sacheverel. The statue is opposite to the house in which Johnson was -born--altogether inferior to that in St. Paul's, which shook me almost -as much as a real glance from the literary monarch. I am ashamed to -send you so many ill-clothed nothings. My excuse shall be a state of -head that calls for four leeches before I can attack Mrs. Somerville's -"Connection of the Physical Sciences." - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, July, Monday morning, 1840.] - -I write with a very tremulous hand, as you will perceive; both this, -and many other defects in my letter, are attributable to a very mighty -cause--no other than the boiling of currant jelly! I have had much of -this kind of occupation lately, and I grieve to say I have not gone -through it so cheerfully as the character of a Christian who -professes to do _all_, even the most trifling, duty, as the Lord -demands. My mind is consequently run all wild, and bears nothing but -_dog-roses_. I am truly obliged to you for getting me Spenser. How -shall I send to you "Don Quixote," which I have quite finished? - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, 8th July, 1840.] - -I believe it is decided that father and I should leave Griff and take -up our residence somewhere in the neighborhood of Coventry, if we can -obtain a suitable house, and this is at present a matter of anxiety. -So you see I am likely still to have a home where I can independently -welcome you. I am really so plunged in an abyss of books, preserves, -and sundry _important trivialities_, that I must send you this bare -proof that I have not cast the remembrance of you to a dusty corner of -my heart. Ever believe that "my heart is as thy heart," that you may -rely on me as a second self, and that I shall, with my usual -selfishness, lose no opportunity of gratifying my duplicate. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, 12th Aug. 1840.] - -The Epistle to the Colossians is pre-eminently rich in the coloring -with which it portrays the divine fulness contained in the Saviour, -contrasted with the beggarly elements that a spirit of self-righteousness -would, in some way, mingle with the light of life, the filthy rags it -would tack round the "fine raiment" of his righteousness. I have been -reading it in connection with a train of thought suggested by the reading -of "Ancient Christianity and the Oxford Tracts," by Isaac Taylor, one -of the most eloquent, acute, and pious of writers. Five numbers only -have yet appeared. Have you seen them? If not, I should like to send you -an abstract of his argument. I have gulped it (pardon my coarseness) in a -most reptile-like fashion. I must _chew_ it thoroughly to facilitate its -assimilation with my mental frame. When your pupils can relish Church -history, I venture to recommend the chart lately published by Seeley & -Burnside--far superior in conception to mine--as being more compendious, -yet answering the purpose of presenting epochs as nuclei round which less -important events instinctively cluster. - - Mrs. John Cash of Coventry, who was then Miss Mary Sibree, - daughter of a Nonconformist minister there, and whose - acquaintance Miss Evans made a year or two later in Coventry, - writes in regard to this book of Isaac Taylor's: "In her - first conversations with my father and mother, they were much - interested in learning in what high estimation she held the - writings of Isaac Taylor. My father _thought_ she was a - little disappointed on hearing that he was a Dissenter. She - particularly enjoyed his 'Saturday Evening,' and spoke in - years after to me of his 'Physical Theory of Another Life,' - as exciting thought and leading speculation further than he - would have desired. When his 'Ancient Christianity' was - published in numbers, Miss Evans took it in, and kindly - forwarded the numbers to us. From the impression made on my - own mind by unfavorable facts about 'The Fathers,' and from - her own subsequent references to this work, I am inclined to - think it had its influence in unsettling her views of - Christianity." - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, 17th Sept. 1840.] - -I have thought of you as _the_ one who has ever shown herself so -capable of consideration for my weakness and sympathy in my warm and -easily fastened affections. My imagination is an enemy that must be -cast down ere I can enjoy peace or exhibit uniformity of character. -I know not which of its caprices I have most to dread--that which -incites it to spread sackcloth "above, below, around," or that -which makes it "cheat my eye with blear illusion, and beget strange -dreams" of excellence and beauty in beings and things of only -working-day price. The beautiful heavens that we have lately enjoyed -awaken in me an indescribable sensation of exultation in existence, -and aspiration after all that is suited to engage an immaterial -nature. I have not read very many of Mr. B.'s poems, nor any with much -attention. I simply declare my determination not to feed on the broth -of literature when I can get strong soup--such, for instance, as -Shelley's "Cloud," the five or six stanzas of which contain more -poetic metal than is beat out in all Mr. B.'s pages. You must know I -have had bestowed on me the very pretty cognomen of Clematis, which, -in the floral language, means "mental beauty." I cannot find in my -heart to refuse it, though, like many other appellations, it has -rather the appearance of a satire than a compliment. _Addio!_ I will -send your floral name in my next, when I have received my dictionary. -My hand and mind are wearied with writing four pages of German and a -letter of business. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, 1st Oct. 1840.] - -My dear Veronica--which, being interpreted, is "fidelity in -friendship"--Last week I was absent from home from Wednesday to -Saturday, in quest of the "coy maiden," Pleasure--at least, nominally -so, the real motive being rather to gratify another's feeling.[15] I -heard the "Messiah" on Thursday morning at Birmingham, and some -beautiful selections from other oratories of Handel and Haydn on -Friday. With a stupid, drowsy sensation, produced by standing sentinel -over damson cheese and a warm stove, I cannot do better than ask you -to read, if accessible, Wordsworth's short poem on the "Power of -Sound," with which I have just been delighted. I have made an -alteration in my plans with Mr. Brezzi, and shall henceforward take -Italian and German alternately, so that I shall not be liable to the -consciousness of having imperative employment for every interstice of -time. There seems a greater affinity between German and my mind than -Italian, though less new to me, possesses. - -I am reading Schiller's "Maria Stuart," and Tasso. - -I was pleased with a little poem I learned a week or two ago in -German; and, as I want you to like it, I have just put the idea it -contains into English doggerel, which quite fails to represent the -beautiful simplicity and nature of the original, but yet, I hope, will -give you sufficiently its sense to screen the odiousness of the -translation. _Eccola_: - -QUESTION AND ANSWER. - - "'Where blooms, O my father, a thornless rose?' - 'That can I not tell thee, my child; - Not one on the bosom of earth e'er grows - But wounds whom its charms have beguiled.' - - "'Would I'd a rose on my bosom to lie, - But I shrink from the piercing thorn: - I long, but I dare not its point defy; - I long, and I gaze forlorn.' - - "'Not so, O my child--round the stem again - Thy resolute fingers entwine; - Forego not the joy for its sister, pain-- - Let the rose, the sweet rose, be thine.'" - -Would not a parcel reach you by railway? - - This is the first allusion to the new means of locomotion, - which would, no doubt, be attracting much interest in the - Griff household, as valuation was a large part of Mr. Evans's - business. Long years after, George Eliot wrote: - -"Our midland plains have never lost their familiar expression and -conservative spirit for me; yet at every other mile, since I first -looked on them, some sign of world-wide change, some new direction of -human labor, has wrought itself into what one may call the speech of -the landscape.... There comes a crowd of burly navvies with pickaxes -and barrows, and while hardly a wrinkle is made in the fading mother's -face, or a new curve of health in the blooming girl's, the hills are -cut through, or the breaches between them spanned, we choose our -level, and the white steam-pennon flies along it." - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, 27th Oct. 1840.] - -My only reason for writing is to obtain a timely promise that you will -spend your holidays chiefly with me, that we may once more meet among -scenes which, now I am called on to leave them, I find to have _grown -in_ to my affections. Carlyle says that to the artisans of Glasgow the -world is not one of blue skies and a green carpet, but a world of -copperas-fumes, low cellars, hard wages, "striking," and whiskey; and -if the recollection of this picture did not remind me that gratitude -should be my reservoir of feeling, that into which all that comes from -above or around should be received as a source of fertilization for my -soul, I should give a lachrymose parody of the said description, and -tell you all-seriously what I now tell you playfully, that mine is too -often a world such as Wilkie can so well paint, a walled-in world -furnished with all the details which he remembers so accurately, and -the least interesting part whereof is often what I suppose must be -designated the intelligent; but I deny that it has even a comparative -claim to the appellation, for give me a three-legged stool, and it -will call up associations--moral, poetical, mathematical--if I do but -ask it, while some human beings have the odious power of contaminating -the very images that are enshrined as our soul's arcana. Their baleful -touch has the same effect as would a uniformity in the rays of -light--it turns all objects to pale lead-color. O how luxuriously -joyous to have the wind of heaven blow on one after being _stived_ in -a human atmosphere--to feel one's heart leap up after the pressure -that Shakespeare so admirably describes: "When a man's wit is not -seconded by the forward chick understanding, it strikes a man as dead -as a large reckoning in a small room." But it is time I check this -Byronic invective, and, in doing so, I am reminded of Corinne's, or -rather Oswald's, reproof--"La vie est un _combat_ pas un _hymne_." We -should aim to be like a plant in the chamber of sickness--dispensing -purifying air even in a region that turns all pale its verdure, and -cramps its instinctive propensity to expand. Society is a wide nursery -of plants, where the hundreds decompose to nourish the future ten, -after giving collateral benefits to their contemporaries destined for -a fairer garden. An awful thought! one so heavy that if our souls -could once sustain its whole weight, or, rather, if its whole weight -were once to drop on them, they would break and burst their tenements. -How long will this continue? The cry of the martyrs heard by St. John -finds an echo in every heart that, like Solomon's, groans under "the -outrage and oppression with which earth is filled." Events are now so -momentous, and the elements of society in so chemically critical a -state, that a drop seems enough to change its whole form. - -I am reading Harris's "Great Teacher," and am _innig bewegt_, as a -German would say, by its stirring eloquence, which leaves you no time -or strength for a cold estimate of the writer's strict merits. I wish -I could read some extracts to you. Isaac Taylor's work is not yet -complete. When it is so, I hope to reperuse it. Since I wrote to you I -have had Aimé Martin's work, "L'Education des Mčres," lent to me, and -I have found it to be the real Greece whence "Woman's Mission" has -only imported to us a few marbles--but! Martin is a _soi-disant_ -rational Christian, if I mistake him not. I send you an epitaph which -he mentions on a tomb in Paris--that of a mother: "Dors en paix, O ma -mčre, ton fils t'obeira toujours." I am reading eclectically Mrs. -Hemans's poems, and venture to recommend to your perusal, if unknown -to you, one of the longest ones--"The Forest Sanctuary." I can give it -my pet adjective--exquisite. - -I have adopted as my motto, "_Certum pete finem_"--seek a sure -end.[16] - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, 5th Dec. 1840.] - -Come when you would best like to do so: if my heart beat at all at the -time, it will be with a more rapid motion than the general, from the -joy of seeing you. I cannot promise you more than calmness when that -flush is past, for I am aweary, aweary--longing for rest, which seems -to fly from my very anticipations. But this wrought-up sensitiveness -which makes me shrink from all contact is, I know, not for -communication or sympathy, and is, from that very character, a kind of -trial best suited for me. Whatever tends to render us ill-contented -with ourselves, and more earnest aspirants after perfect truth and -goodness, is gold, though it come to us all molten and burning, and we -know not our treasure until we have had long smarting. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, 21st Dec. 1840.] - -It is impossible, to me at least, to be poetical in cold weather. I -understand the Icelanders have much national poetry, but I guess it -was written in the neighborhood of the boiling springs. I will promise -to be as cheerful and as Christmas-like as my rickety body and -chameleon-like spirits will allow. I am about to commence the making -of mince-pies, with all the interesting sensations characterizing -young enterprise or effort. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, 27th Jan. 1841.] - -Happily, the moody, melancholy temperament has some counterbalancing -advantages to those of the sanguine: it _does_ sometimes meet with -results more favorable than it expected, and by its knack of imagining -the pessimus, cheats the world of its power to disappoint. The very -worm-like originator of this coil of sentiment is the fact that you -write more cheerfully of yourself than I had been thinking of you, and -that, _ergo_, I am pleased. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, 11th Feb. 1841.] - -On Monday and Tuesday my father and I were occupied with the sale of -furniture at our new house: it is probable that we shall migrate -thither in a month. I shall be incessantly hurried until after our -departure, but at present I have to be grateful for a smooth passage -through contemplated difficulties. Sewing is my staple article of -commerce with the hard trader, Time. Now the wind has veered to the -south I hope to do much more, and that with greater zest than I have -done for many months--I mean, of all kinds. - -I have been reading the three volumes of the "Life and Times of Louis -the Fourteenth," and am as eagerly waiting for the fourth and last as -any voracious novel-reader for Bulwer's last. I am afraid I am -getting quite martial in my spirit, and, in the warmth of my sympathy -for Turenne and Condé, losing my hatred of war. Such a conflict -between _individual_ and _moral_ influence is no novelty. But -certainly war, though the heaviest scourge with which the divine wrath -against sin is manifested in Time, has been a necessary vent for -impurities and a channel for tempestuous passions that must have -otherwise made the whole earth, like the land of the devoted -Canaanites, to vomit forth the inhabitants thereof. Awful as such a -sentiment appears, it seems to me that in the present condition of man -(and I do not mean this in the sense that Cowper does), such a -purgation of the body politic is probably essential to its health. A -foreign war would soon put an end to our national humors, that are -growing to so alarming a head. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, 8th Mch. 1841.] - -What do you think of the progress of architecture as a subject for -poetry? - -I am just about to set out on a purchasing expedition to Coventry: you -may therefore conceive that I am full of little plans and anxieties, -and will understand why I should be brief. I hope by the close of next -week that we and our effects shall be deposited at Foleshill, and -until then and afterwards I shall be fully occupied, so that I am sure -you will not expect to hear from me for the next six weeks. One little -bit of unreasonableness you must grant me--the request for a letter -from yourself within that time. - - -_SUMMARY._ - -AUGUST 18, 1838, TO MARCH 8, 1841. - - Letters to Miss Lewis--First visit to London--Religious - asceticism--Pascal--Hannah More's letters--Young's "Infidel - Reclaimed"--Michaelmas visitors--"Life of - Wilberforce"--Nineteenth birthday--Oratorio at - Coventry--Religious objections to music--Letters to Mrs. - Samuel Evans--Religious reflections--Besetting sin - ambition--Letters to Miss Lewis--Objections to - fiction-reading--Religious contentions on the nature of the - visible Church--First poem--Account of books read and studies - pursued--Wordsworth--Twentieth birthday--German begun--Plan - of Chart of Ecclesiastical History--Religious - controversies--Oxford Tracts--"Lyra Apostolica"--"Christian - Year"--Chart of Ecclesiastical History forestalled--Italian - begun--Trip to Derbyshire and Staffordshire--"Don - Quixote"--Spenser's "Faery Queen"--Mrs. Somerville's - "Connection of the Physical Sciences"--Dislike of - housekeeping work--Removal to Coventry decided--"Ancient - Christianity and the Oxford Tracts," by Isaac Taylor, and - Mrs. John Cash's impression of its effect--Determination not - to feed on the broth of literature--Visit to Birmingham to - hear the "Messiah"--Reading Schiller's "Maria Stuart," and - Tasso--Translation of German poem--Depression of surroundings - at Griff--Reading Harris's "Great Teacher," Aimé Martin's - "L'Education des Mčres," and Mrs. Hemans's Poems--Selling - furniture at new house--Sewing--Reading "Life and Times of - Louis XIV."--Removal to Foleshill road, Coventry. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[9] Given to her as a school prize when she was fourteen. - -[10] "Mill on the Floss," chap. v. book vi. - -[11] Of ecclesiastical history. - -[12] The Squire of Coton. - -[13] When she would be thirteen years old. - -[14] Written probably in view of her brother's marriage. - -[15] Visit to Miss Rawlins, her brother's _fiancée_. - -[16] By a curious coincidence, when she became Mrs. Cross, this -actually was her motto. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - - - New circumstances now created a change almost amounting to a - revolution in Miss Evans's life. Mr. Isaac Evans, who had - been associated for some time with his father in the - land-agency business, married, and it was arranged that he - should take over the establishment at Griff. This led to the - removal in March, 1841, of Mr. Robert Evans and his daughter - to a house on the Foleshill road, in the immediate - neighborhood of Coventry. The house is still standing, - although considerably altered--a semi-detached house with a - good bit of garden round it, and from its upper windows a - wide view over the surrounding country, the immediate - foreground being unfortunately, however, disfigured by the - presence of mills and chimneys. It is town life now instead - of country life, and we feel the effects at once in the tone - of the subsequent letters. The friendships now formed with - Mr. and Mrs. Bray and Miss Sara Hennell particularly, and the - being brought within reach of a small circle of cultivated - people generally, render this change of residence an - exceedingly important factor in George Eliot's development. - It chanced that the new house was next door to Mrs. Pears', a - sister of Mr. Bray, and as there had been some acquaintance - in days gone by between him and the family at Griff, this - close neighborhood led to an exchange of visits. The - following extracts from letters to Miss Lewis show how the - acquaintance ripened, and will give some indications of the - first impressions of Coventry life: - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, Saturday evening, April, 1841.] - -Last evening I mentioned you to my neighbor (Mrs. Pears), who is -growing into the more precious character of a friend. I have seriously -to be thankful for far better health than I have possessed, I think, -for years, and I am imperatively called on to trade diligently with -this same talent. I am likely to be more and more busy, if I succeed -in a project that is just now occupying my thoughts and feelings. I -seem to be tried in a contrary mode to that in which most of my -dearest friends are being tutored--tried in the most dangerous way--by -prosperity. Solomon says, "In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in -the day of adversity consider." It seems to me that a transposition, -_vice versâ_, of the admonitions would be equally salutary and just. -Truly, as the prophet of Selwyn has told us, "Heaven is formidable in -its favors." Not that a wise and grateful reception of blessings -obliges us to stretch our faces to the length of one of Cromwell's -Barebones; nor to shun that joyous, bird-like enjoyment of things -(which, though perishable as to their actual existence, will be -embalmed to eternity in the precious spices of gratitude) that is -distinct from levity and voluptuousness. I am really crowded with -engagements just now, and I have added one to the number of my -correspondents. - -[Illustration: House in Foleshill Road, Coventry.] - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, April, 1841] - -The whole of last week was devoted to a bride's-maid's[17] duties, and -each day of this has been partially occupied in paying or receiving -visits. I have a calm in sea and sky that I doubt not will ere long be -interrupted. This is not our rest, if we are among those for whom -there remaineth one, and to pass through life without tribulation (or, -as Jeremy Taylor beautifully says, with only such a measure of it as -may be compared to an artificial discord in music, which nurses the -ear for the returning harmony) would leave us destitute of one of the -marks that invariably accompany salvation, and of that fellowship in -the sufferings of the Redeemer which can alone work in us a -resemblance to one of the most prominent parts of his divinely perfect -character, and enable us to obey the injunction, "In patience possess -your souls." I have often observed how, in secular things, active -occupation in procuring the necessaries of life renders the character -indifferent to trials not affecting that one object. There is an -analogous influence produced in the Christian by a vigorous pursuit of -duty, a determination to work while it is day. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, 28th April, 1841.] - -One of the penalties women must pay for modern deference to their -intellect is, I suppose, that they must give reasons for their -conduct, after the fashion of men. The days are past for pleading a -woman's reason. The truth is, that the hinderances to my writing have -been like the little waves of the brooks that look so lovely just -now--they have arisen one after another close to my side, but when I -have looked back I have found the ripples too insignificant to be -marked in the distance. My father's longer _séjours_ at home than -formerly, and multiplied acquaintances and engagements, are really -valid excuses for me hitherto, but I do not intend to need them in -future; I hope to be a "snapper-up of unconsidered" moments. I have -just been interrupted by a visit from a lass of fourteen, who has -despoiled me of half an hour, and I am going out to dinner, so that I -cannot follow the famous advice, "Hasten slowly." I suppose that you -framed your note on the principle that a sharp and sudden sound is the -most rousing, but there are _addenda_ about yourself that I want to -know, though I dare not ask for them. I do not feel settled enough to -write more at present. How is it that Erasmus could write volumes on -volumes and multifarious letters besides, while I, whose labors hold -about the same relation to his as an ant-hill to a pyramid or a drop -of dew to the ocean, seem too busy to write a few? A most posing -query! - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, Thursday morning, June, 1841.] - -I have of late felt a depression that has disordered the vision of my -mind's eye and made me _alive_ to what is certainly a fact (though my -imagination when I am in health is an adept at concealing it), that I -am _alone_ in the world. I do not mean to be so sinful as to say that -I have not friends _most_ undeservedly kind and tender, and disposed -to form a far too favorable estimate of me, but I mean that I have no -one who enters into my pleasures or my griefs, no one with whom I can -pour out my soul, no one with the same yearnings, the same -temptations, the same delights as myself. I merely mention this as the -impression that obtrudes itself when my body tramples on its -keeper--(a metaphor borrowed from a menagerie of wild beasts, if it -should happen to puzzle you!)--mysterious "connection exquisite of -distant worlds" that we present! A few drops of steel will perhaps -make me laugh at the simple objects that, in gloom and mist, I conjure -into stalking apparitions. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, at Margate, 31st July, 1841.] - -I am beginning to be interlaced with multiplying ties of duty and -affection, that, while they render my new home happier, forbid me to -leave it on a pleasure-seeking expedition. I think, indeed, that both -my heart and limbs would leap to behold the great and wide sea--that -old ocean on which man can leave no trace. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, 3d Sept. 1841.] - -I have been revelling in Nichol's "Architecture of the Heavens and -Phenomena of the Solar System," and have been in imagination winging -my flight from system to system, from universe to universe, trying to -conceive myself in such a position and with such a visual faculty as -would enable me to enjoy what Young enumerates among the novelties of -the "Stranger" man when he bursts the shell to - - "Behold an infinite of floating worlds - Divide the crystal waves of ether pure - In endless voyage without port." - -"Hospitable infinity!" Nichol beautifully says. How should I love to -have a thorough-going student with me, that we might read together! We -might each alternately employ the voice and the fingers, and thus -achieve just twice as much as a poor solitary. I am more impressed -than ever with a truth beautifully expressed in "Woman's -Mission"--"Learning is only so far valuable as it serves to enlarge -and enlighten the bounds of conscience." This I believe it eminently -does when pursued humbly and piously, and from a belief that it is a -solemn duty to cultivate every faculty of our nature so far as primary -obligations allow. There is an exhortation of St. Paul's that I should -love to take as my motto: "Finally, my brethren, whatsoever things are -honest" (you know the continuation)--"if there be _any_ virtue, and if -there be any praise, think on these things." I have had to lament -lately that mine is not a _hard-working_ mind--it requires frequent -rest. I am violently in love with the Italian fashion of repeating an -adjective or adverb, and even noun, to give force to expression: -there is so much more fire in it than in our circumlocutory phrases, -our dull "verys" and "exceedinglys" and "extremelys." I strongly -recommend Hallam to you. I shall read it again if I live. When a sort -of haziness comes over the mind, making one feel weary of articulated -or written signs of ideas, does not the notion of a less laborious -mode of communication, of a perception approaching more nearly to -intuition, seem attractive? Nathless, I love words: they are the -quoits, the bows, the staves that furnish the gymnasium of the mind. -Without them, in our present condition, our intellectual strength -would have no implements. I have been rather humbled in thinking that -if I were thrown on an uncivilized island, and had to form a -literature for its inhabitants from my own mental stock, how very -fragmentary would be the information with which I could furnish them! -It would be a good mode of testing one's knowledge to set one's self -the task of writing sketches of all subjects that have entered into -one's studies entirely from the chronicles of memory. The prevalence -of misery and want in this boasted nation of prosperity and glory is -appalling, and really seems to call us away from mental luxury. O to -be doing some little towards the regeneration of this groaning, -travailing creation! I am supine and stupid--overfed with -favors--while the haggard looks and piercing glance of want and -conscious hopelessness are to be seen in the streets. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, 1st Oct. 1841.] - -Is not this a true autumn day? Just the still melancholy that I -love--that makes life and nature harmonize. The birds are consulting -about their migrations, the trees are putting on the hectic or the -pallid hues of decay, and begin to strew the ground, that one's very -footsteps may not disturb the repose of earth and air, while they give -us a scent that is a perfect anodyne to the restless spirit. Delicious -autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly -about the earth seeking the successive autumns. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, 2d Nov. 1841.] - -I am going, I hope, to-day to effect a breach in the thick wall of -indifference behind which the denizens of Coventry seem inclined to -intrench themselves; but I fear I shall fail. - - This probably refers to the first visit paid by Miss Evans to - Mr. and Mrs. Bray at their house. They had met in the - previous May at Mrs. Pears'; but although they were at once - mutually attracted, the acquaintance does not seem to have - been immediately prosecuted further. Now, however, any time - lost in the beginning was quickly made up, and it is - astonishing how rapidly the most intimate relations were - formed. Mr. Bray was a ribbon-manufacturer, well-to-do at - that time, and had a charming house, Rosehill, with a - beautiful lawn and garden, in the outskirts of Coventry. Only - a part of his time was occupied with his business, and he had - much leisure and opportunity, of which he availed himself, - for liberal self-education and culture. His was a robust, - self-reliant mind. Already, in 1839, he had published a work - on the "Education of the Feelings," viewed from the - phrenological standpoint; and in this year, 1841, appeared - his most important book, "The Philosophy of Necessity." He - always remained a sincere and complete believer in the - science of phrenology. He had married Miss Caroline Hennell, - sister of the Mr. Charles Hennell who published, in 1838, "An - Inquiry Concerning the Origin of Christianity"--a remarkable - book, which was translated into German, Strauss contributing - a preface to the translation. It will be seen from subsequent - letters how greatly Miss Evans was interested in this - book--how much she admired it; and the reading of it, - combined with the association with her new friends--with the - philosophical speculations of Mr. Bray, and with Mrs. Bray's - sympathy in her brother's critical and sceptical - standpoint--no doubt hastened the change in her attitude - towards the dogmas of the old religion. In the Analytical - Catalogue of Mr. Chapman's publications, issued in 1852, - there is an analysis of Hennell's "Inquiry," done by Miss - Evans, which may be inserted here, as giving her idea of the - book eleven years later. - -"The first edition of this work appeared in 1838, when the present -strong current of public opinion in favor of free religious discussion -had not yet set in; and it probably helped to generate the tone of -thought exhibited in more recent works of the same class, to which -circumstances have given a wider fame--works which, like the above, in -considering questions of Biblical criticism and the philosophy of -Christianity, combine high refinement, purity of aim, and candor, with -the utmost freedom of investigation, and with a popularity of style -which wins them the attention not only of the learned but of the -practical. - -"The author opens his inquiry with an historical sketch, extending -from the Babylonish Captivity to the end of the first century, the -design of which is to show how, abstracting the idea of the -miraculous, or any speciality of divine influence, the gradual -development of certain elements in Jewish character, and the train of -events in Jewish history, contributed to form a suitable _nidus_ for -the production of a character and career like that of Jesus, and how -the devoted enthusiasm generated by such a career in his immediate -disciples, rendering it easier for them to modify their ideas of the -Messiah than to renounce their belief in their Master's -Messiahship--the accession of Gentile converts and the destruction of -the last remnant of theocracy, necessitating a wider interpretation of -Messianic hopes--the junction of Christian ideas with Alexandrian -Platonism, and the decrepitude of polytheism, combined to associate -the name of Jesus, his Messiahship, his death and his resurrection, -with a great moral and religious revolution. This historical sketch, -which is under the disadvantage of presenting, synthetically, ideas -based on a subsequent analysis, is intended to meet the difficulty so -often urged, and which might be held to nullify the value of a -critical investigation, that Christianity is a fact for which, if the -supposition of a miraculous origin be rejected, no adequate and -probable causes can be assigned, and that thus, however defective may -be the evidence of the New-Testament history, its acceptance is the -least difficult alternative. - -"In the writer's view, the characteristics of the Essene sect, as -traced by Josephus and Philo, justify the supposition that Jesus was -educated in their school of philosophy; but with the elevated belief -and purity of life which belonged to this sect he united the ardent -patriotic ideas which had previously animated Judas of Galilee, who -resisted the Roman authority on the ground that God was the only ruler -and lord of the Jews. The profound consciousness of genius, a -religious fervor which made the idea of the divine ever present to -him, patriotic zeal, and a spirit of moral reform, together with a -participation in the enthusiastic belief of his countrymen that the -long-predicted exaltation of Israel was at hand, combined to produce -in the mind of Jesus the gradual conviction that he was himself the -Messiah, with whose reign that exaltation would commence. He began, as -John the Baptist had already done, to announce 'the kingdom of -heaven,' a phrase which, to the Jewish mind, represented the national -glorification of Israel; and by his preaching, and the influence of -his powerful personality, he won multitudes in Galilee to a -participation in his belief that he was the expected Son of David. His -public entrance into Jerusalem in the guise which tradition associated -with the Messiah, when he sanctioned the homage of the multitude, was -probably the climax of his confidence that a great demonstration of -divine power, in concurrence with popular enthusiasm, would seat him -triumphantly on the throne of David. No such result appearing, his -views of the divine dispensation with respect to himself began to -change, and he felt the presentiment that he must enter on his -Messianic reign through the gates of suffering and death. Viewing -Jesus as a pretender not only to spiritual but to political power, as -one who really expected the subversion of the existing government to -make way for his own kingship (though he probably relied on divine -rather than on human means), he must necessarily have appeared in a -dangerous light to those of his countrymen who were in authority, and -who were anxious at any price to preserve public tranquillity in the -presence of the Roman power, ready to visit with heavy vengeance any -breach of order, and to deprive them of the last remnants of their -independence; and hence the motives for his arrest and execution. To -account for the belief of the disciples in the resurrection of their -Master--a belief which appears to have been sincere--the author thinks -it necessary to suppose a certain nucleus of fact, and this he finds -in the disappearance of the body of Jesus, a point attested by all the -four evangelists. The secret of this disappearance probably lay with -Joseph of Arimathća and Nicodemus, who were anxious to avoid -implicating themselves with that fermentation of regretful enthusiasm -to which a resort of the disciples to the grave might give rise. -Animated by a belief in the resurrection, which, being more harmless -in the eyes of the authorities than that in a living Messiah, they -were permitted to preach with little molestation; the zeal of the -disciples won many converts; a new impulse was given to their cause by -the accession of Paul, who became the chief missionary of the new -faith, as construed by himself, to the Gentiles; and the concurrence -of the causes indicated above, modifying the early creed of the -apostles, and blending it with trains of thought already prevalent, -bore along Christianity in its conquest over the minds of men until it -became the dominant religion of the Roman world. - -"Having sought to show, in this preliminary sketch, that a belief in -miracles is not entailed on us by the fact of the early growth of -Christianity, the author enters on the inquiry whether the claims of -the evangelical writers on our credence are such as to sustain the -miraculous part of their narratives. The answer is in the negative. He -discusses, first, the date and credibility of each Gospel, and -concludes that while Matthew has many marvellous stories, incongruous -in themselves, and not only unsupported but contradicted by the other -evangelists, he nevertheless presents the most comprehensible account -of the career of Jesus; that in Mark, evidently more remote in time -and circumstances, both from his events and from Jewish modes of -thought, the idea conveyed of Jesus is much vaguer and less -explicable; that in Luke there is a still further modification of his -character, which has acquired a tinge of asceticism; while in John the -style of his teaching is wholly changed, and instead of the graphic -parable and the pithy apothegm, he utters long, mystical discourses in -the style of the first epistle bearing the name of the same -evangelist. Mr. Hennell, however, adheres to the conclusion that the -substance of this Gospel came from the apostle John at an advanced -age, when both the events of his early manhood and the scenes of his -native land lay in the far distance. The writer then enters on a -special examination of the Resurrection and Ascension, and the other -miracles in the Gospels and the Acts, and inquires how far they are -sustained by the apostolic Epistles. He examines the prophecies of the -Old Testament supposed to have been fulfilled in Jesus, and also the -predictions of Jesus himself concerning his death and resurrection; -and, finally, he considers the character, views, and doctrine of -Christ. According to him, an impartial study of the conduct and -sayings of Jesus, as exhibited in the Gospels, produces the conviction -that he was an enthusiast and a revolutionist, no less than a reformer -and a moral and religious teacher. Passages are adduced from the Old -Testament, and from the apocryphal and rabbinical writings, to show -that there is scarcely anything absolutely original in the teaching of -Jesus; but, in the opinion of the author, he manifests a freedom and -individuality in the use of his materials, and a general superiority -of tone and selection, which, united with the devotion of his life to -what he held the highest purpose, mark him to be of an order of minds -occurring but at rare intervals in the history of our race. - -"Shortly after the appearance of this work it was translated into -German through the instrumentality of Dr. Strauss, who, in the preface -he prefixed to it, says: 'Not sufficiently acquainted with German to -read continuously a learned work in that language, the labors of our -theologians were only accessible to him' (the author of the 'Inquiry') -'so far as they were written in Latin, or translated into English, or -treated of in English writings or periodicals: especially he is -unacquainted with what the Germans have effected in the criticism of -the gospels since Schleiermacher's work on Luke, and even the earlier -commentators he knows but imperfectly. Only so much the more -remarkable is it, however, that both in the principles and in the main -results of his investigation, he is on the very track which has been -entered on among us in recent years.... That at certain periods, -certain modes of thought lie as it were in the atmosphere, ... and -come to light in the most remote places without perceptible media of -communication, is shown, not only by the contents, but by the spirit, -of Mr. Hennell's work. No further traces of the ridicule and scorn -which characterize his countrymen of the deistical school; the subject -is treated in the earnest and dignified tone of the truth-seeker, not -with the rancor of a passionate polemic; we nowhere find him deriving -religion from priestcraft, but from the tendencies and wants of human -nature.... These elevated views, which the learned German of our day -appropriates as the fruit of the religious and scientific advancement -of his nation, this Englishman, to whom most of the means at our -command were wanting, has been able to educe entirely from himself.... -An Englishman, a merchant, a man of the world, he possesses, both by -nature and by training, the practical insight, the sure tact, which -lays hold on realities. The solution of problems over which the German -flutters with many circuits of learned formulć, our English author -often succeeds in seizing at one spring.... To the learned he often -presents things under a surprisingly new aspect; to the unlearned, -invariably under that which is the most comprehensible and -attractive.'" - - The reading of Mr. Hennell's book no doubt marks an epoch in - George Eliot's development; but probably there had been a - good deal of half-unconscious preparation beforehand (as - indicated by Mrs. Cash's remarks on Isaac Taylor's work, in - the last chapter), which was greatly stimulated now by the - contact with new minds. The following extract from a letter - to Miss Lewis, dated 13th November, 1841, accurately fixes - the date of the first acknowledgment by herself that her - opinions were undergoing so momentous a change. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, 13th Nov. 1841.] - -My whole soul has been engrossed in the most interesting of all -inquiries for the last few days, and to what result my thoughts may -lead, I know not--possibly to one that will startle you; but my only -desire is to know the truth, my only fear to cling to error. I venture -to say our love will not decompose under the influence of separation, -unless you excommunicate me for differing from you in opinion. -Think--is there any _conceivable_ alteration in me that would prevent -your coming to me at Christmas? I long to have a friend such as you -are, I think I may say, alone to me, to unburden every thought and -difficulty--for I am still a solitary, though near a city. But we have -the universe to talk with, infinity in which to stretch the gaze of -hope, and an all-bountiful, all-wise Creator in whom to confide--he -who has given us the untold delights of which our reason, our emotion, -our sensations, are the ever-springing sources. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, 8th Dec. 1841.] - -What a pity that while mathematics are indubitable, immutable, and no -one doubts the properties of a triangle or a circle, doctrines -infinitely important to man are buried in a charnel-heap of bones over -which nothing is heard but the barks and growls of contention! "Unto -their assembly, mine honor, be not thou united." - - It was impossible for such a nature as Miss Evans's, in the - enthusiasm of this first great change, to rest satisfied in - compliance with the old forms, and she was so uneasy in an - equivocal position that she determined to give up going to - church. This was an unforgivable offence in the eyes of her - father, who was a Churchman of the old school, and nearly led - to a family rupture. He went so far as to put into an agent's - hands the lease of the house in the Foleshill road, with the - intention of going to live with his married daughter. Upon - this, Miss Evans made up her mind to go into lodgings at - Leamington, and to try to support herself by teaching. The - first letter to Mrs. Bray refers to this incident: - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, Jan. 1842.] - -My guardian angel, Mrs. Pears, has just sent for me to hear your kind -note, which has done my aching limbs a little good. I shall be most -thankful for the opportunity of going to Leamington, and Mrs. Pears is -willing to go too. There is but _one_ woe, that of leaving my dear -father--all else, doleful lodgings, scanty meals, and _gazing-stockism_, -are quite indifferent to me. Therefore do not fear for me when I am -once settled in my home--wherever it may be--and freed from wretched -suspense. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Pears, Friday evening, Feb. 1842.] - -Far from being weary of your dear little Henry, his matin visits are -as cheering to me as those of any little bird - - "that comes in spite of sorrow, - And at my window bids good-morrow." - -We have not, perhaps, been so systematic as a regular tutor and pupil -would have been, but we crave indulgence for some laxity. I was really -touched that you should think of _me_ while among friends more closely -linked with you in every way. I was beginning to get used to the -conviction that, ivy-like as I am by nature, I must (as we see ivy do -sometimes) shoot out into an isolated tree. Never again imagine that -you need ask forgiveness for speaking or writing to me on subjects to -me more interesting than aught else; on the contrary, believe that I -really enjoy conversation of this nature: blank silence and cold -reserve are the only bitters I care for in my intercourse with you. I -can rejoice in all the joys of humanity; in all that serves to elevate -and purify feeling and action; nor will I quarrel with the million -who, I am persuaded, are with me in intention, though our dialects -differ. Of course, I must desire the ultimate downfall of error, for -no error is innocuous; but this assuredly will occur without my -proselytizing aid, and the best proof of a real love of the -truth--that freshest stamp of divinity--is a calm confidence in its -intrinsic power to secure its own high destiny, that of universal -empire. Do not fear that I will become a stagnant pool by a -self-sufficient determination only to listen to my own echo; to read -the yea, yea, on my own side, and be most comfortably deaf to the nay, -nay. Would that all rejected _practically_ this maxim! To _fear_ the -examination of any proposition appears to me an intellectual and a -moral palsy that will ever hinder the firm grasping of any substance -whatever. For my part, I wish to be among the ranks of that glorious -crusade that is seeking to set Truth's Holy Sepulchre free from a -usurped domination. We shall then see her resurrection! Meanwhile, -although I cannot rank among my principles of action a fear of -vengeance eternal, gratitude for predestined salvation, or a -revelation of future glories as a reward, I fully participate in the -belief that the only heaven here, or hereafter, is to be found in -conformity with the will of the Supreme; a continual aiming at the -attainment of the perfect ideal, the true _logos_ that dwells in the -bosom of the one Father. I hardly know whether I am ranting after the -fashion of one of the Primitive Methodist prophetesses, with a cart -for her rostrum, I am writing so fast. Good-bye, and blessings on you, -as they will infallibly be on the children of peace and virtue. - - Again about the same date in 1842 she writes to Mrs. Bray: - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, Feb. 1842.] - -A heart full of love and gratitude to you for all your kindness in -thought and act to me, undeserving. I dare say my manner belies my -feelings: but friendship must live by faith and not by sight, and I -shall be a great gainer by leaving you to interpret my mystic -character without any other key than your own goodness. - - The last letter of the series to Miss Lewis also refers to - the difficulties of the situation: - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Lewis, 19th Feb. 1842.] - -I dare say you have added, subtracted, and divided suppositions until -you think you have a sure product--viz., a good quantum, or, rather, -a bad one, of indifference and forgetfulness, as the representation of -my conduct towards you. If so, revise your arithmetic, for be it known -to you that, having had my propensities, sentiments, and intellect -gauged a second time, I am pronounced to possess a large organ of -"adhesiveness," a still larger one of "firmness," and as large of -"conscientiousness"--hence, if I should turn out a very weathercock -and a most pitiful truckler, you will have data for the exercise of -faith maugre common-sense, common justice, and the testimony of your -eyes and ears. - -How do you go on for society, for communion of spirit, the drop of -nectar in the cup of mortals? But why do I say the drop? The mind that -feels its value will get large draughts from some source, if denied it -in the most commonly chosen way. - - "'Mid the rich store of nature's gifts to man - Each has his loves, close wedded to his soul - By fine association's golden links. - As the Great Spirit bids creation teem - With conscious being and intelligence, - So man, his miniature resemblance, gives - To matter's every form a speaking soul, - An emanation from his spirit's fount, - The impress true of its peculiar seal. - Here finds he thy best image, sympathy." - -Beautiful egoism, to quote one's own. But where is not this same ego? -The martyr at the stake seeks its gratification as much as the court -sycophant, the difference lying in the comparative dignity and beauty -of the two egos. People absurdly talk of self-denial. Why, there is -none in virtue, to a being of moral excellence: the greatest torture -to such a soul would be to run counter to the dictates of conscience; -to wallow in the slough of meanness, deception, revenge, or -sensuality. This was Paul's idea in the first chapter of 2d Epistle to -Timothy (I think that is the passage). - -I have had a weary week. At the beginning more than the usual amount -of _cooled_ glances, and exhortations to the suppression of -self-conceit. The former are so many hailstones that make me wrap more -closely around me the mantle of determinate purpose: the latter are -needful, and have a tendency to exercise forbearance, that well repays -the temporary smart. The heart knoweth its own, whether bitterness or -joy: let us, dearest, beware how we, _even with good intentions_, -press a finger's weight on the already bruised. - - And about the same date she writes to Mrs. Bray: - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, end of Feb. 1842.] - -I must relieve my conscience before I go to bed by entering a protest -against every word or accent of discontent that I uttered this -morning. If I have ever complained of any person or circumstance, I do -penance by eating my own words. When my real self has regained its -place, I can shake off my troubles "like dewdrops from the lion's -mane," and then I feel the baseness of imputing my sorrows to others -rather than to my own pitiful weakness. But I do not write for your -forgiveness; that I know I have. I only want to satisfy my indignation -against myself. - - The conclusion of the matter was that Mr. Evans withdrew his - house from the agent's hands, and his daughter went to stay - at Griff, with Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Evans, whence she writes - the following letter to Mrs. Pears: - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Pears, Thursday, Mch. 1842.] - -I have just been climbing up some favorite old hills, or rather -hillocks, and if I could see you I should find myself in high -preparation for one of my thorough chats. Oh, if I could transport -myself to your dining-room, where I guess you and Mr. Pears are -sitting in anticipation of tea--carrying on no "holy war," but at -peace with the world and its opinions, or, if ever you do battle, in -the happy ranks of the majority--I could kiss you into sublime -liberality! How are you and your dear husband and children? It seems a -week of years instead of days since you said to me your kind good-bye, -and as I have tried your magnanimity quite long enough to be assured -that you will not let me hear of you without a beseeching letter from -me, I snatch half an hour from a too short day for the generous -purpose of doubly qualifying myself, first, by pouring out the -contents of my gossip-wallet, and then quietly awaiting the news I -want to hear of you. I have here, in every way, abundant and -unlooked-for blessings--delicacy and consideration from all whom I -have seen; and I really begin to recant my old belief about the -indifference of all the world towards me, for my acquaintances of this -neighborhood seem to seek an opportunity of smiling on me in spite of -my heresy. All these things, however, are but the fringe and ribbons -of happiness. They are _ad_herent, not _in_herent; and, without any -affectation, I feel myself to be acquiring what I must hold to be a -precious possession, an independence of what is baptized by the world -external good. There are externals (at least, they are such in common -thought) that I could ill part with--the deep, blue, glorious heavens, -bending as they do over all, presenting the same arch, emblem of a -truer omnipresence, wherever we may be chased, and all the sweet, -peace-breathing sights and sounds of this lovely earth. These, and the -thoughts of the good and great, are an inexhaustible world of delight; -and the felt desire to be one in will and design with the great mind -that has laid open to us these treasures is the sun that warms and -fructifies it. I am more and more impressed with the duty of _finding_ -happiness. On a retrospection of the past month, I regret nothing so -much as my own impetuosity both of feeling and judging. I am not -inclined to be sanguine as to my dear father's future determination, -and I sometimes have an intensely vivid consciousness, which I only -allow to be a fleeting one, of all that is painful and that has been -so. I can only learn that my father has commenced his alterations at -Packington, but he only appears to be temporarily acquiescing in my -brother's advice "not to be in a hurry." I do not intend to remain -here longer than three weeks, or, at the very farthest, a month; and, -if I am not then recalled, I shall write for definite directions. I -must have a _home_, not a visiting-place. I wish you would learn -something from my father, and send me word how he seems disposed. I -hope you get long walks on these beautiful days. You would love to -hear the choristers we have here; they are hymning away incessantly. -Can you not drive over and see me? Do come by hook or by crook. Why, -Mr. Pears could almost walk hither. I am becoming very hurried, for -most welcome tea is in the vicinity, and I must be busy after I have -imbibed its inspiration. You will write to me to-morrow, will you not? -and pray insist on Mr. Pears writing an appendix. I had a note from -Mrs. Bray this morning, and I liked it better than my breakfast. So do -give me a little treat on Saturday. Blessings on you and yours, as all -forlorn beggars have said from time immemorial to their benefactors; -but real feeling, you know, will sometimes slip into a hackneyed -guise. - - Miss Evans remained for about three weeks at Griff, at the - end of which time, through the intervention of her brother, - the Brays, and Miss Rebecca Franklin, the father was very - glad to receive her again, and she resumed going to church as - before. - - It will be seen from a subsequent noteworthy letter to Miss - Sara Hennell, dated 19th October, 1843, that Miss Evans's - views of the best course to be pursued under similar - circumstances had already undergone considerable - modifications, and in the last year of her life she told me - that, although she did not think she had been to blame, few - things had occasioned her more regret than this temporary - collision with her father, which might, she thought, have - been avoided with a little management. - - In July of this year (1842) Miss Sara Hennell--the gifted - sister of Mrs. Bray--came to Rosehill, and completed the trio - destined to exert the most important influence over the life - of George Eliot. The individual characters of these three - friends, and the relations each bore to their correspondent, - will unfold themselves in the letters. It is only necessary - here to say that the two ladies--Cara and Sara, as they are - always addressed--now became like sisters to Miss Evans, and - Mr. Bray her most intimate male friend, and the letters to - them form an almost unbroken chain during all the remainder - of George Eliot's life. - - To us Miss Sara Hennell is the most important correspondent, - for it is to her that Miss Evans mainly turns now for - intellectual sympathy; to Mrs. Bray when she is in pain or - trouble, and wants affectionate companionship; with Mr. Bray - she quarrels, and the humorous side of her nature is brought - out. Every good story goes to him, with a certainty that it - will be appreciated. With all three it is a beautiful and - consistent friendship, running like a thread through the woof - of the coming thirty-eight years. For the next twelve years, - as will be seen, it is quite the most important thread; and - although later it naturally became very much less important, - it was never dropped except for a moment, in 1854, owing to a - brief misunderstanding of letters, which will appear in its - due place. - - The following letters to Miss Sara Hennell show what was - passing from 30th August, 1842, to April, 1843: - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 30th Aug. 1842.] - -How I have delighted in the thought that there are beings who are -better than their promises, beyond the regions of waking and sleeping -dreams. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, Friday, Sept. 1842.] - -I have not yet accounted for my tardiness in writing, which, I assure -you, is no representation of my usual habit, and has been occasioned -only by a week's indisposition, the foster-parent to the ill-favored -offspring of my character and circumstances, gloom and stolidity, and -I could not write to you with such companions to my thought. I am -anxious that you should not imagine me unhappy even in my most -melancholy moods, for I hold all indulgence of sadness that has the -slightest tincture of discontent to be a grave delinquency. I think -there can be few who more truly feel than I that this is a world of -bliss and beauty--that is, that bliss and beauty are the end, the -tendency of creation; and evils are the shadows that are the only -conditions of light in the picture, and I live in much, much -enjoyment. - -I am beginning to enjoy the "Eneid," though, I suppose, much in the -same way as the uninitiated enjoy wine, compared with the -connoisseurs. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 3d Nov. 1842.] - -I have been in high displeasure with myself, have thought my soul only -fit for limbo, to keep company with other abortions, and my life the -shallowest, muddiest, most unblessing stream. Having got my head above -this slough of despond, I feel quite inclined to tell you how much -pleasure your letter gave me. You observe in your note that some -persons say the unsatisfied longing we feel in ourselves for something -better than the greatest perfection to be found on earth is a proof -that the true object of our desires lies beyond it. Assuredly, this -earth is not the home of the spirit--it will rest only in the bosom of -the Infinite. But the non-satisfaction of the affections and intellect -being inseparable from the unspeakable advantage of such a mind as -that of man in connection with his corporal condition and _terrene_ -destiny, forms not at present an argument with me for the realization -of particular desires. - - The next letter refers to Miss Mary Hennell's[18] last - illness: - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 7th Jan. 1843.] - -I cannot help wishing to tell you, now that you are in trouble and -anxiety, how dear you are to me, and how the recollection of you is -ever freshening in my mind. You have need of all your cheeriness and -energy; and if they do not fail, I think it almost enviable, as far as -one's self is concerned (not, of course, when the sufferer is -remembered), to have the care of a sick-room, with its twilight and -tiptoe stillness and helpful activity. I have always had a peculiarly -peaceful feeling in such a scene. - - Again, after the death of Miss Mary Hennell, there is a - letter to her sister Sara: - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, April, 1843.] - -We always find that our stock of appreciated good can never be really -diminished. When the chief desire of the eyes is taken, we can afford -a gaze to hitherto unnoticed possessions; and even when the topmost -boughs are lopped, a thousand shoots spring from below with the energy -of new life. So it will be with you; but you cannot yet look beyond -the present, nor is it desirable that you should. It would not be well -for us to overleap one grade of joy or suffering: our life would lose -its completeness and beauty. - - Rosehill not only afforded a pleasant variety in the Coventry - life, as most visitors to the town, of any note, found their - way there, but the Brays were also frequently in the habit of - making little holiday excursions, in many of which Miss Evans - now joined. Thus we find them in May, 1843, all going to - Stratford and Malvern, together with Mr. Charles Hennell and - Miss Sara Hennell, for a week; and again, in July of that - year the same party, accompanied by Miss Brabant, daughter of - Dr. Brabant of Devizes, went on a fortnight's tour, visiting - Tenby, among other places. This trip is chiefly memorable - from the fact that it was indirectly responsible for Miss - Evans undertaking the translation of Strauss's "Leben Jesu." - For Miss Brabant (to whom the translation had been confided - by Mr. Joseph Parkes of Birmingham and a group of friends) - became engaged to be married to Mr. Charles Hennell; and - shortly after her marriage she handed the work over to Miss - Evans. - - In the next two letters to Miss Sara Hennell there are - allusions to the approaching marriage, which took place in - London on 1st November, 1843, the Brays and Miss Evans being - present. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 16th Sept. 1843.] - -Many thanks for procuring me the hymns and anthems. I was right glad -to play "Ancient of Ages" again, and I shall like still better to sing -it with you when we meet. That that is to be so soon, and under -circumstances so joyful, are among the _mirabilia_ of this changing -world. To see and re-see such a cluster of not indifferent persons as -the programme for the wedding gives, will be almost too large a -_bonne-bouche_. - -I saw Robert Owen yesterday, Mr. and Mrs. Bray having kindly asked me -to dine with him, and I think if his system prosper it will be in -spite of its founder, and not because of his advocacy. - - The next letter to Mrs. Bray gives a pleasant glimpse of - their studies together, and of the little musical society - that was in the habit of meeting at Rosehill to play - concerted pieces. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, no date, 1843.] - -I only wish you would change houses with the mayor, that I might get -to you when I would. I send you the first part of "Wallenstein," with -the proposition that we should study that in conjunction with the -"Thirty Years' War," as I happen to have a loose copy. We had better -omit the "Lager," and begin "Die Piccolomini." You shall have "Joan of -Arc," my grand favorite, as a _bonne-bouche_ when you have got through -"Wallenstein," which will amply repay you for any trouble in -translating it, and is not more difficult than your reading ought to -be now. I have skimmed Manzoni, who has suffered sadly in being poured -out of silver into pewter. The chapter on Philosophy and Theology is -worth reading. Miss Brabant sent me my "Hyperion" with a note, the -other day. She had put no direction besides Coventry, and the parcel -had consequently been sent to some other Miss Evans, and my choice -little sentimental treasures, alas! exposed to vulgar gaze. Thank you -for the manual, which I have had so long. I trust I did not bestow -those scratches on the cover. I have been trying to find a French book -that you were not likely to have read, but I do not think I have one, -unless it be "Gil Blas," which you are perhaps too virtuous to have -read, though how any one can opine it to have a vicious tendency I am -at a loss to conjecture. They might as well say that to condemn a -person to eat a whole plum-pudding would deprive him of all future -relish for plain food. I have had a visitor ever since Saturday, and -she will stay till Saturday again. I cannot desire that you should -_un_ask Violin and Flute, unless a postponement would be in every way -as agreeable to you and them. If you have them, you will give them -much more pleasure as Piano than I, so do not think of me in the -matter for a moment. Good-bye; and remember to treat your cold as if -it were an orphan's cold, or a widow's cold, or any one's cold but -your own. - - The following is the letter before referred to as containing - an important and noteworthy declaration of opinion on the - very interesting question of conformity: - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 9th Oct. 1843.] - -The first thing I have to say to you is to entreat that you and Mrs. -Hennell will not perplex yourselves for a moment about my -accommodation during the night. I am so well now that a hearthrug -would be as luxurious a couch as I should need, and I defy anything -short of a kettledrum or my conscience to keep me awake after a long -day. - -The subject of your conversation with Miss D---- is a very important -one, and worth an essay. I will not now inflict one of mine on you, -but I will tell you, as briefly as possible, my present opinion, which -you know is contrary to the one I held in the first instance. I am -inclined to think that such a change of sentiment is likely to happen -to most persons whose views on religious matters undergo a change -early in life. The first impulse of a young and ingenuous mind is to -withhold the slightest sanction from all that contains even a mixture -of supposed error. When the soul is just liberated from the wretched -giant's bed of dogmas on which it has been racked and stretched ever -since it began to think, there is a feeling of exultation and strong -hope. We think we shall run well when we have the full use of our -limbs and the bracing air of independence, and we believe that we -shall soon obtain something positive, which will not only more than -compensate us for what we have renounced, but will be so well worth -offering to others that we may venture to proselytize as fast as our -zeal for truth may prompt us. But a year or two of reflection, and the -experience of our own miserable weakness, which will ill afford to -part even with the crutch of superstition, must, I think, effect a -change. Speculative truth begins to appear but a shadow of individual -minds. Agreement between intellects seems unattainable, and we turn to -the _truth of feeling_ as the only universal bond of union. We find -that the intellectual errors which we once fancied were a mere -incrustation have grown into the living body, and that we cannot, in -the majority of cases, wrench them away without destroying vitality. -We begin to find that with individuals, as with nations, the only safe -revolution is one arising out of the wants which their own progress -has generated. It is the quackery of infidelity to suppose that it has -a nostrum for all mankind, and to say to all and singular, "Swallow my -opinions and you shall be whole." If, then, we are debarred by such -considerations from trying to reorganize opinions, are we to remain -aloof from our fellow-creatures on occasions when we may fully -sympathize with the feelings exercised, although our own have been -melted into another mould? Ought we not on every opportunity to seek -to have our feelings in harmony, though not in union, with those who -are often richer in the fruits of faith, though not in reason, than -ourselves? The results of nonconformity in a family are just an -epitome of what happens on a larger scale in the world. An influential -member chooses to omit an observance which, in the minds of all the -rest, is associated with what is highest and most venerable. He cannot -make his reasons intelligible, and so his conduct is regarded as a -relaxation of the hold that moral ties had on him previously. The rest -are infected with the disease they imagine in him. All the screws by -which order was maintained are loosened, and in more than one case a -person's happiness may be ruined by the confusion of ideas which took -the form of principles. But, it may be said, how then are we to do -anything towards the advancement of mankind? Are we to go on -cherishing superstitions out of a fear that seems inconsistent with -any faith in a Supreme Being? I think the best and the only way of -fulfilling our mission is to sow good seed in good (_i.e._, prepared) -ground, and not to root up tares where we must inevitably gather all -the wheat with them. We cannot fight and struggle enough for freedom -of inquiry, and we need not be idle in imparting all that is pure and -lovely to children whose minds are unbespoken. Those who can write, -let them do it as boldly as they like; and let no one hesitate at -proper seasons to make a full _con_fession (far better than -_pro_fession). St. Paul's reasoning about the conduct of the strong -towards the weak, in the fourteenth and fifteenth chapters of Romans, -is just in point. But I have not said half what I meant to say. There -are so many aspects in which the subject might be presented that it is -useless to attempt to exhaust it. I fear I have written very -unintelligibly, for it is rather late, and I am so cold that my -thoughts are almost frozen. - - After Miss Brabant's marriage to Mr. Charles Hennell, Miss - Evans went to stay for a week or two with Dr. Brabant at - Devizes, and some time about the beginning of January, 1844, - the proposition was made for the transfer of the translation - of Strauss from Mrs. Charles Hennell. At the end of April, - 1844, Mrs. Bray writes to Miss Sara Hennell that Miss Evans - is "working away at Strauss six pages a day," and the next - letter from Miss Evans refers to the beginning of the - undertaking. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, Sunday, May, 1844.] - -To begin with business, I send you on the other side the translations -you wished (Strauss), but they are perhaps no improvements on what you -had done. I shall be very glad to learn from you the particulars as to -the mode of publication--who are the parties that will find the funds, -and whether the manuscripts are to be put into the hands of any one -when complete, or whether they are to go directly from me to the -publishers? I was very foolish not to imagine about these things in -the first instance, but ways and means are always afterthoughts with -me. - -You will soon be settled and enjoying the blessed spring and summer -time. I hope you are looking forward to it with as much delight as I. -One has to spend so many years in learning how to be happy. I am just -beginning to make some progress in the science, and I hope to disprove -Young's theory that "as soon as we have found the key of life it opes -the gates of death." Every year strips us of at least one vain -expectation, and teaches us to reckon some solid good in its stead. I -never will believe that our youngest days are our happiest. What a -miserable augury for the progress of the race and the destination of -the individual if the more matured and enlightened state is the less -happy one! Childhood is only the beautiful and happy time in -contemplation and retrospect: to the child it is full of deep sorrows, -the meaning of which is unknown. Witness colic and whooping-cough and -dread of ghosts, to say nothing of hell and Satan, and an offended -Deity in the sky, who was angry when I wanted too much plumcake. Then -the sorrows of older persons, which children see but cannot -understand, are worse than all. All this to prove that we are happier -than when we were seven years old, and that we shall be happier when -we are forty than we are now, which I call a comfortable doctrine, and -one worth trying to believe! I am sitting with father, who every now -and then jerks off my attention to the history of Queen Elizabeth, -which he is reading. - - On the 1st July, 1844, there was another little trip with the - Brays to the Cumberland lakes, this time returning by - Manchester and Liverpool; and on reaching home, about the - beginning of August, there is the following letter: - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, Friday, Aug. 1844.] - -Can I have the remaining volumes of Strauss, excepting any part that -you may choose to keep for your own use? If you could also send me -such parts of the introduction and first section as you wish me to -look over, I should like to despatch that business at intervals, when -I am not inspired for more thorough labor. Thank you for the -encouragement you sent me. I only need it when my head is weak and I -am unable to do much. Then I sicken at the idea of having Strauss in -my head and on my hands for a lustrum, instead of saying good-bye to -him in a year. When I can work fast I am never weary, nor do I regret -either that the work has been begun or that I have undertaken it. I am -only inclined to vow that I will never translate again, if I live to -correct the sheets for Strauss. My first page is 257. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 31st Oct. 1844.] - -Pray tell Mrs. C. Hennell that no apology was needed for the very good -translation she has sent me. I shall be glad to avail myself of it to -the last word, for I am thoroughly tired of my own garb for Strauss's -thoughts. I hope the introduction, etc., will be ready by the end of -November, when I hope to have put the last words to the first volume. -I am awfully afraid of my own translation, and I want you to come and -comfort me. I am relapsing into heathen darkness about everything but -Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. "Heaven has sent leanness into my -soul"--for reviling them, I suppose. This lovely autumn! Have you -enjoyed its long shadows and fresh breezes? - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, end of 1844.] - -I do not think it was kind to Strauss (I knew he was handsome) to tell -him that a young lady was translating his book. I am sure he must have -some twinges of alarm to think he was dependent on that most -contemptible specimen of the human being for his English reputation. -By the way, I never said that the Canons of the Council of Nice, or -the Confession of Augsburg, or even the Thirty-nine Articles, are -suggestive of poetry. I imagine no _dogmas_ can be. But surely -Christianity, with its Hebrew retrospect and millennial hopes, the -heroism and divine sorrow of its founder, and all its glorious army of -martyrs, might supply, and has supplied, a strong impulse not only to -poetry, but to all the Fine Arts. Mr. Pears is coming home from -Malvern to-night, and the children are coming to tea with me, so that -I have to make haste with my afternoon matters. Beautiful little Susan -has been blowing bubbles, and looking like an angel at sport. I am -quite happy, only sometimes feeling "the weight of all this -unintelligible world." - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, Sunday, beginning of 1845.] - -Your books are come for the school, and I have covered them--at least -those that I think you will like for the children; two or three are -quite for grown-up people. What an exquisite little thing that is of -Harriet Martineau's--"The Crofton Boys"! I have had some delightful -crying over it. There are two or three lines in it that would feed -one's soul for a month. Hugh's mother says to him, speaking of people -who have permanent sorrow, "They soon had a new and delicious -pleasure, which none but the bitterly disappointed can feel--the -pleasure of rousing their souls to bear pain, and of _agreeing with -God silently_, when nobody knows what is in their hearts." I received -"Sybil" yesterday quite safely. I am not utterly disgusted with -D'Israeli. The man hath good veins, as Bacon would say, but there is -not enough blood in them. - - The 17th April this year was an interesting day, as Miss - Evans went with the Brays to Atherstone Hall, and met Harriet - Martineau for the first time. It will be seen that in later - years there was considerable intimacy between them. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 29th April, 1845.] - -If you think any of my future manuscript too untidy for the printer, -only mark it to that effect, and I will rewrite it, for I do not mind -that mechanical work; and my conscience is rather uneasy lest the -illegibility of my hand should increase materially the expense of the -publication. Do not be alarmed because I am not well just now: I shall -be better very soon, and I am not really disgusted with Strauss. I -only fancy so sometimes, as I do with all earthly things. - - In June Mrs. Bray writes to Miss Hennell that Miss Evans - "looks all the better of her London trip. I never saw her so - blooming and buoyant;" but the two next letters show a - relapse. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, end of June, (?) 1845.] - -Glad am I that some one can enjoy Strauss! The million certainly will -not, and I have ceased to sit down to him with any relish. I should -work much better if I had some proof-sheets coming in to assure me -that my soul-stupefying labor is not in vain. I am more grateful to -you than I can tell you for taking the trouble you do. If it had not -been for your interest and encouragement I should have been almost in -despair by this time. - - And again, a little later: - -I begin utterly to despair that Strauss will ever be published, unless -I can imitate the Rev. Mr. Davis, and print it myself. At the very -best, if we go on according to the rate of procedure hitherto, the -book will not be published within the next two years. This seems -dolorous enough to me, whose only real satisfaction just now is some -hope that I am not sowing the wind. It is very laughable that I should -be irritated about a thing in itself so trifling as a translation, but -it is the very triviality of the thing that makes delays provoking. -The difficulties that attend a really grand undertaking are to be -borne, but things should run smoothly and fast when they are not -important enough to demand the sacrifice of one's whole soul. The -second volume is quite ready. The last few sections were written under -anything but favorable circumstances. They are not Strauss's best -thoughts, nor are they put into his translator's best language; but I -have not courage to imitate Gibbon--put my work in the fire and begin -again. - - In July, 1845, there seems to have arisen some difficulty in - getting in the cash subscriptions for the publication. Mr. - Charles Hennell and Mr. Joseph Parkes, however, exerted - themselves in the matter, and Ł300 was collected, and the - following letter shows the relief it was to Miss Evans: - -[Sidenote: Letter to Charles Hennell, Friday evening, July, 1845.] - -Thank you for sending me the good news so soon, and for sympathizing -in my need of encouragement. I have all I want now, and shall go -forward on buoyant wing. I am glad for the work's sake, glad for your -sake, and glad for "the honorable gentleman's" sake, that matters have -turned out so well. Pray think no more of my pens, ink, and paper. I -would gladly give much more towards the work than these and my -English, if I could do so consistently with duty. - - The book now got into the hands of the printers, as will be - seen from the next letter: - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, Aug. 1845.] - -I have just been looking over some of the _revise_, and reading again -your sweet letter to me from Hastings, and an impulse of gratitude -and love will not let me rest without writing you a little note, -though my hand has almost done its possible for the day under this -intense heat. You do not guess how much pleasure it gives me to look -over your pencillings, they prove so clearly that you have really -entered into the meaning of every sentence, and it always gives one -satisfaction to see the evidence of brain-work. I am quite indebted to -you for your care, and I feel greatly the advantage of having a friend -to undertake the office of critic. There is one word I must -mention--Azazel is the word put in the original of the Old Testament -for the scapegoat: now I imagine there is some dubiousness about the -meaning, and that Strauss would not think it right to translate -_scapegoat_, because, from the tenor of his sentence, he appears to -include Azazel with the evil demons. I wonder if it be supposed by any -one that Azazel is in any way a distinct being from the goat. I know -no Hebrew scholar, and have access to no Hebrew lexicon. Have you -asked Mr. Hennell about it? - -Your letter describes what I _have_ felt rather than what I feel. It -seems as if my affections were quietly sinking down to temperate, and -I every day seem more and more to value thought rather than feeling. I -do not think this is man's best estate, but it is better than what I -have sometimes known. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, Friday evening, autumn of -1845.] - -I am not ashamed to confess that I should like to be idle with you for -a little while, more than anything else I can think of just now. But, -alas! leathery brain must work at leathery Strauss for a short time -before my butterfly days come. O, how I shall spread my wings then! -Anent the Greek, it would produce very dreadful cold perspirations -indeed in me, if there were anything amounting to a serious error, -but this, I trust, there will not be. You must really expect me, if -not to sleep and snore _aliquando_, at least to nod in the course of -some thousand pages. I should like you to be deliberate over the -_Schluss Abhandlung_. It is the only part on which I have bestowed -much pains, for the difficulty was _piquing_, not piquant. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, no date, 1845.] - -I am never pained when I think Strauss right; but in many cases I -think him wrong, as every man must be in working out into detail an -idea which has general truth, but is only one element in a perfect -theory--not a perfect theory in itself. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 25th Sept. 1845.] - -I am delighted with the proof. The type and everything else are just -what I wished. To see the first sheet is the next best thing to seeing -the last, which I hope we shall all have done this time next year. -There is a very misty vision of a trip to the Highlands haunting us in -this quarter. The vision would be much pleasanter if Sara were one of -the images in it. You would surely go if we went, and then the thing -would be perfect. I long to see you, for you are becoming a sort of -transfigured existence, a mere ideal to me, and I have nothing to tell -me of your real flesh-and-blood self but sundry very useful little -pencil-marks, and a scrap of Mrs. Bray's notes now and then. So, if -you would have me bear in my memory your own self, and not some aerial -creation that I call by your name, you must make your appearance. - - In October "the misty vision" took palpable shape, and the - Brays, Miss Hennell, and Miss Evans had a delightful - fortnight in Scotland, visiting Loch Lomond and Loch Katrine, - The Trossachs, Stirling, Edinburgh, Melrose, and Abbotsford. - They were away from the 14th to the 28th, and on returning to - Coventry Strauss was taken up again. Miss Hennell was reading - the translation, and aiding with suggestions and corrections. - The next letter to her seems to be dated in November. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, Nov. 1845.] - -Please to tell Mr. Hennell that "habits of thought" is not a -translation of the word _particularismus_. This does not mean national -idiosyncrasy, but is a word which characterizes that idiosyncrasy. If -he decidedly objects to particularism, ask him to be so good as -substitute _exclusiveness_, though there is a shade of meaning in -_particularismus_ which even that does not express. It was because the -word could only be translated by a circumlocution that I ventured to -Anglicize it. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, Tuesday morning, Dec. (?) -1845.] - -I have been idle, and have not done a stroke to the prefaces, but they -shall be sent as soon as possible. Thanks for the copy of the Latin -preface and letter. They are in preconceived harmony with my ideas of -the appropriate. - -I will leave the titlepage to you and Mr. Hennell. Thanks for the news -in your last _extra Blatt_. I am glad to find that the theological -organs are beginning to deal with philosophy, but I can hardly imagine -your writer to be a friend with a false cognizance on his shield. -These dear orthodox people talk so simply sometimes that one cannot -help fancying them satirists of their own doctrines and fears, though -they mean manfully to fight against the enemy. I should like if -possible to throw the emphasis on _critically_ in the titlepage. -Strauss means it to be so: and yet I do not know how we can put -anything better than what you say. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, Dec. 1845.] - -I send you to-day the conclusion of the chapter you are reading, and, -unless you find anything of importance to be rectified, you need not -return this to me, but may forward the whole to the printer as soon as -you have read it. I am not altogether satisfied with the use of the -word sacrament as applied specifically to the _Abendmahl_. It seems -like a vulgarism to say _the_ sacrament for one thing, and for another -it does not seem _ab_original enough in the life of Jesus; but I know -of no other word that can be substituted. I have altered passover to -paschal meal, but [Greek: tho pascha] is used in the New Testament of -the eating of the lamb _par excellence_. You remember, in the title of -the first section in the _Schluss_--which I had been so careless as to -omit--the expression is "Nothwendiger Uebergang der Kritik in das -Dogma." Now, dogmatism will not do, as that would represent -_Dogmatismus_. "Dogmatik" is the idea, I believe--_i.e._, positive -theology. Is it allowable to say _dogmatics_, think you? I do not -understand how the want of manuscript can be so pressing, as I have -only had one proof for the last fortnight. It seems quite dispiriting -to me now not to see the proofs regularly. I have had a miserable week -of headache, but am better now, and ready for work, to which I must -go. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 1st Jan. 1846.] - -I do pity you, with the drunken Christmas workmen keeping you in this -uncomfortable interregnum. But do not go distraught; the spring will -really come and the birds--many having had to fly across the Atlantic, -which is farther than you have to go to establish yourself. I could -easily give the meaning of the Hebrew word in question, as I know -where to borrow a lexicon. But observe, there are two Hebrew words -untranslated in this proof. I do not think it will do to give the -English in one place and not in another, where there is no reason for -such a distinction, and there is not here, for the note in this proof -sounds just as fee-fo-fum-ish as the other without any translation. I -could not alter the "troublesome," because it is the nearest usable -adjective for _schwierig_, which stands in the German. I am tired of -inevitable _importants_, and cannot bear to put them when they do not -represent the German. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 26th Jan. 1846.] - -I have been sadly occupied for the last ten days. My father has been -ill, and has required much attention, and my own head was very -middling for some days, so that I send you but a poor cargo of new -manuscript. Indeed, on looking through the last quire of paper this -morning for the purpose of putting in the Greek, it seemed all very -poor to me, but the subject is by no means inspiring, and no muse -would condescend to visit such an uncertain votary as I have been for -the last week or so. How is it that I have only had one proof this -week? You know we are five hundred pages in advance of the printer, so -you need not be dreadfully alarmed. I have been so pleased to hear -some of your letters read to me, but, alas! I can reflect no pleasure -at this moment, for I have a woful pain and am in a desperate hurry. - - On 14th February, 1846, Mrs. Bray writes to Miss Sara Hennell - that Miss Evans "says she is Strauss-sick--it makes her ill - dissecting the beautiful story of the Crucifixion, and only - the sight of the Christ-image[19] and picture make her endure - it. Moreover, as her work advances nearer its public - appearance, she grows dreadfully nervous. Poor thing, I do - pity her sometimes, with her pale, sickly face and dreadful - headaches, and anxiety, too, about her father. This illness - of his has tried her so much, for all the time she had for - rest and fresh air she had to read to him. Nevertheless, she - looks very happy and satisfied sometimes in her work." - - And about the end of February there is the following letter - from Miss Evans: - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, end of Feb. 1846.] - -Health and greeting, my Achates, in this veritable spring month. I -shall send you a parcel on Monday with sixty-four new pages of German -for your intellectual man. The next parcel, which will be the LAST, I -shall send on the Monday following, and when you have read to the end, -you may, if you think it desirable, send the whole to me. Your dull -ass does not mend his pace for beating; but he _does_ mend it when he -finds out that he is near his journey's end, and makes you wonder how -he could pretend to find all the previous drawing so hard for him. I -plead guilty to having set off in a regular scamper: but be lenient -and do not scold me if you find all sorts of carelessnesses in these -last hundred pages. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, end of Feb. 1846.] - -I have been guilty of the most unpardonable piece of carelessness, for -which I am stretched on a rack of anxiety and mortification. In the -proof that came on Thursday I unwittingly drew out a quarter sheet -with the blotting-paper, and did not discover the mistake until -Saturday morning, when about to correct the last proof. Surely the -printer would discover the absence of the four pages and wait for -them--otherwise I would rather have lost one of my fingers, or all the -hair from my head, than have committed such a _faux pas_. For there -were three very awkward blunders to be corrected. All this vexation -makes a cold and headache doubly intolerable, and I am in a most -purgatorial state on this "good Sunday." I shall send the proofs, with -the unfortunate quarter sheet and an explanation, to-night to Mr. -Chapman, and prithee do thou inquire and see that the right thing is -done. The tears are streaming from my smarting eyes--so farewell. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, Mch. 1846.] - -I wish we could get the book out in May--why not? I suppose the -binding could not be all got through--the printing and writing I -should think might be managed in time. Shouldn't I like to fleet the -time away with thee as they did in the Golden Age--after all our toils -to lie reclined on the hills (spiritually), like gods together, -careless of mankind. Sooth to speak, idleness, and idleness with thee, -is just the most tempting mirage you could raise before my mind's -eye--I say mirage, because I am determined from henceforth to believe -in no substantiality for future time, but to live in and love the -present--of which I have done too little. Still, the thought of being -with you in your own home will attract me to that future; for without -all controversy I love thee and miss thee. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, Mch. 1846.] - -My soul kisses thee, dear Sara, in gratitude for those dewy thoughts -of thine in this morning's note. My poor adust soul wants such -refreshment. Continue to do me good--hoping for nothing again. I have -had my sister with me all day--an interruption, alas! I cannot write -more, but I should not be happy to let the day pass without saying one -word to thee. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, Mch. 1846.] - -The last hundred pages have certainly been totally uninteresting to -me, considered as matter for translation. Strauss has inevitably -anticipated in the earlier part of his work all the principles and -many of the details of his criticism, and he seems fagged himself. -_Mais courage!_ the neck of the difficulty is broken, and there is -really very little to be done now. If one's head would but keep in -anything like thinking and writing order! Mine has robbed me of half -the last fortnight; but I am a little better now, and am saying to -myself _Frisch zu!_ The Crucifixion and the Resurrection are, at all -events, better than the bursting asunder of Judas. I am afraid I have -not made this dull part of Strauss even as tolerable as it might be, -for both body and mind have recoiled from it. Thank you, dearest, for -all your love and patience for me and with me. I have nothing on earth -to complain of but subjective maladies. Father is pretty well, and I -have not a single excuse for discontent through the livelong day. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, end of Mch. 1846.] - -As I believe that even your kindness cannot overcome your sincerity, I -will cast aside my fear that your wish to see me in your own home is -rather a plan for my enjoyment than for yours. I believe it would be -an unmixed pleasure to me to be your visitor, and one that I would -choose among a whole bouquet of agreeable possibilities; so I will -indulge myself, and accept the good that the heavens and you offer me. -I am miserably in want of you to stir up my soul and make it shake its -wings, and begin some kind of flight after something good and noble, -for I am in a grovelling, slothful condition, and you are the _only_ -friend I possess who has an animating influence over me. I have -written to Mr. Hennell anent the titlepage, and have voted for -_critically examined_, from an entire conviction of its -preferableness. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, beginning of April, 1846.] - -See what it is to have a person _en rapport_ with you, that knows all -your thoughts without the trouble of communication! I am especially -grateful to you for restoring the "therefore" to its right place. I -was about to write to you to get you to remonstrate about this and the -"dispassionate calmness," which I did not at all like; but I thought -you had corrected the prefaces, as the marks against the Latin looked -like yours, so I determined to indulge my _laissez-faire_ -inclinations, for I hate stickling and debating unless it be for -something really important. I do really like reading our Strauss--he -is so _klar und ideenvoll_; but I do not know _one_ person who is -likely to read the book through--do you? Next week we will be merry -and sad, wise and nonsensical, devout and wicked, together. - - On 19th April, 1846, Mrs. Bray writes to Miss Hennell that - Miss Evans is "as happy as you may imagine at her work being - done. She means to come and read Shakespeare through to us as - her first enjoyment." And again, on 27th April, that she "is - delighted beyond measure with Strauss's elegant preface. It - is just what she likes. And what a nice letter too! The Latin - is quite beyond me, but the letter shows how neatly he can - express himself." - - -_SUMMARY._ - -MARCH, 1841, TO APRIL, 1846. - - Foleshill--New friends--Mrs. Pears--Coventry life and - engagements--Letters to Miss Lewis--Brother's - marriage--Mental depression--Reading Nichol's "Architecture - of the Heavens and Phenomena of the Solar System"--Makes - acquaintance with Mr. and Mrs. Bray--Reads Charles Hennell's - book, "An Inquiry Concerning the Origin of - Christianity"--Effect of this book--Gives up going to - church--Family difficulties--Letters to Mrs. Pears--Visit to - Griff--Returns to Foleshill and resumes going to - church--Acquaintance with Miss Sara Hennell, and development - of friendship with her and Mr. and Mrs. Bray--Letters to Miss - Sara Hennell describing mental characteristics--Attitude - towards immortality--Death of Miss Mary Hennell--Excursion - with the Brays, Mr. Charles Hennell, and Miss Hennell to - Stratford and Malvern, and to Tenby with same party and Miss - Brabant--Meets Robert Owen--Studies German and music with - Mrs. Bray--Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, with important - declaration of opinion in regard to conformity--Mr. Charles - Hennell's marriage--Stay with Dr. Brabant at - Devizes--Arrangement for translation of Strauss's "Leben - Jesu"--Excursion with Brays to the Cumberland lakes, - returning by Manchester and Liverpool--Weary of - Strauss--Letter to Mrs. Bray--Poetry of - Christianity--Admiration of Harriet Martineau's "The Crofton - Boys"--Trip to London--Despair about publication of - Strauss--Subscription of Ł300 for the work--In better - heart--Minutić of Strauss translation--Pains taken with the - _Schluss Abhandlung_--Opinion of Strauss's work--The book in - print--Trip to the Highlands--Strauss difficulties--Miss - Hennell reads the translation and makes - suggestions--Suffering from headaches and "Strauss-sick"--The - last MS. of the translation sent to Miss Hennell--Joy at - finishing--Delighted with Strauss's Preface. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[17] Brother's marriage. - -[18] Miss Mary Hennell was the author of "An Outline of the Various -Social Systems founded on the Principle of Co-operation," published in -1841. - -[19] This was an ivory image she had of the Crucified Christ over the -desk in her study at Foleshill, where she did all her work at that -time--a little room on the first floor, with a charming view over the -country. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - - - The completion of the translation of Strauss is another - milestone passed in the life journey of George Eliot, and the - comparatively buoyant tone of the letters immediately - following makes us feel that the galled neck is out of the - yoke for a time. In May, Mrs. Bray had gone away from home - for a visit, and the next letter is addressed to her. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, Sunday (probably about 6th May), -1846.] - -Do not stay any longer than is necessary to do you good, lest I should -lose the pleasure of loving you, for my affections are always the -warmest when my friends are within an attainable distance. I think I -can manage to keep respectably warm towards you for three weeks -without seeing you, but I cannot promise more. Tell Mr. Bray I am -getting too amiable for this world, and Mr. Donovan's wizard hand -would detect a slight corrugation of the skin on my organs 5 and -6;[20] they are so totally without exercise. I had a lecture from Mr. -Pears on Friday, as well as a sermon this morning, so you need be in -no alarm for my moral health. Do you never think of those Caribs who, -by dint of flattening their foreheads, can manage to see -perpendicularly above them without so much as lifting their heads? -There are some good people who remind me of them. They see everything -so clearly and with so little trouble, but at the price of sad -self-mutilation. - - On the 26th May Miss Evans went to pay a visit to Mrs. and - Miss Hennell at Hackney, and she writes from there to Mrs. - Bray, who was expected to join them in London. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, end of May, 1846.] - -I cannot deny that I am very happy without you, but perhaps I shall be -happier with you, so do not fail to try the experiment. We have been -to town only once, and are saving all our strength to "rake" with you; -but we are as ignorant as Primitive Methodists about any of the -amusements that are going. Please to come in a very mischievous, -unconscientious, theatre-loving humor. Everybody I see is very kind to -me, and therefore I think them all very charming; and, having -everything I want, I feel very humble and self-denying. It is only -rather too great a bore to have to write to my friends when I am half -asleep, and I have not yet reached that pitch of amiability that makes -such magnanimity easy. Don't bring us any bad news or any pains, but -only nods and becks and wreathčd smiles. - - They stayed in London till the 5th June, and on the 15th of - that month the translation of Strauss was published. On the - 2d July Mrs. Bray writes to Miss Hennell that Miss Evans "is - going to Dover with her father, for a fortnight." In passing - through Dover on our way to the Continent, in 1880, after our - marriage, we visited the house they stayed at in 1846, and my - wife then told me that she had suffered a great deal there, - as her father's health began to show signs of breaking up. On - returning to Coventry there is the following letter referring - to Wicksteed's review of the translation of Strauss, which - was advertised for the forthcoming number of the _Prospective - Review_. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, Thursday, Aug. (?) 1846.] - -Do you think it worth my while to buy the _Prospective_ for the sake -of Wicksteed's review--is there anything new in it? Do you know if Mr. -Chapman has any unusual facilities for obtaining cheap classics? Such -things are to be got handsome and second-hand in London--if one knew -but the way. I want to complete Xenophon's works. I have the -"Anabasis," and I might, perhaps, get a nice edition of the -"Memorabilia" and "Cyropćdia" in a cheaper way than by ordering them -directly from our own bookseller. I have been reading the "Fawn of -Sertorius."[21] I think you would like it, though the many would not. -It is pure, chaste, and classic, beyond any attempt at fiction I ever -read. If it be Bulwer's, he has been undergoing a gradual -transfiguration, and is now ready to be exalted into the assembly of -the saints. The professor's (Strauss's) letter, transmitted through -you, gave me infinite consolation, more especially the apt and -pregnant quotation from Berosus. Precious those little hidden lakelets -of knowledge in the high mountains, far removed from the vulgar eye, -only visited by the soaring birds of love. - - On 25th September, 1846, Mrs. Bray writes to Miss Hennell - that Miss Evans "looks very brilliant just now. We fancy she - must be writing her novel;" and then come the following - letters, written in October and November: - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, Oct. 1846.] - -All the world is bathed in glory and beauty to me now, and thou -sharest in the radiance. Tell me whether I live for you as you do for -me, and tell me how gods and men are treating you. You must send me a -scrap every month--only a scrap with a dozen words in it, just to -prevent me from starving on faith alone--of which you know I have the -minimum of endowment. I am sinning against my daddy by yielding to the -strong impulse I felt to write to you, for he looks at me as if he -wanted me to read to him. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 29th Oct. 1846.] - -I do not know whether I can get up any steam again on the subject of -Quinet; but I will try--when Cara comes back, however, for she has run -away with "Christianity" into Devonshire, and I must have the book as -a springing-board. When does the _Prospective_ come out? - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 1st Nov. 1846.] - -The review of Strauss contains some very just remarks, though, on the -whole, I think it shallow, and in many cases unfair. The praise it -gives to the translation is just what I should have wished; indeed, I -cannot imagine anything more gratifying in the way of laudation. Is it -not droll that Wicksteed should have chosen one of my interpolations, -or rather paraphrases, to dilate on. The expression "granite," applied -to the sayings of Jesus, is nowhere used by Strauss, but is an -impudent addition of mine to eke out his metaphor. Did you notice the -review of Foster's Life?[22] I am reading the Life, and thinking all -the time how you would like it. It is deeply interesting to study the -life of a genius under circumstances amid which genius is so seldom to -be found. Some of the thoughts in his journal are perfect gems. - - The words of the reviewer of the Strauss translation in the - _Prospective_ are worth preserving: "A faithful, elegant, and - scholarlike translation. Whoever reads these volumes without - any reference to the German must be pleased with the easy, - perspicuous, idiomatic, and harmonious force of the English - style. But he will be still more satisfied when, on turning - to the original, he finds that the rendering is word for - word, thought for thought, and sentence for sentence. In - preparing so beautiful a rendering as the present, the - difficulties can have been neither few nor small in the way - of preserving, in various parts of the work, the exactness of - the translation, combined with that uniform harmony and - clearness of style which imparts to the volumes before us the - air and spirit of an original. Though the translator never - obtrudes himself upon the reader with any notes or comments - of his own, yet he is evidently a man who has a familiar - knowledge of the whole subject; and if the work be the joint - production of several hands, moving in concert, the passages - of a specially scholastic character, at least, have received - their version from a discerning and well-informed theologian. - Indeed, Strauss may well say, as he does in the notice which - he writes for the English edition, that, as far as he has - examined it, the translation is 'et accurata et perspicua.'" - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, end of Nov. 1846.] - -Many things, both outward and inward, have concurred to make this -November far happier than the last. One's thoughts - - "Are widened with the process of the suns;" - -and if one is rather doubtful whether one is really wiser or better, -it is some comfort to know that the desire to be so is more pure and -dominant. I have been thinking of that most beautiful passage in -Luke's Gospel--the appearance of Jesus to the disciples at Emmaus. How -universal in its significance! The soul that has hopelessly followed -its Jesus--its impersonation of the highest and best--all in -despondency; its thoughts all refuted, its dreams all dissipated. Then -comes another Jesus--another, but the same--the same highest and best, -only chastened--crucified instead of triumphant--and the soul learns -that this is the true way to conquest and glory. And then there is the -burning of the heart, which assures that "this was the Lord!"--that -this is the inspiration from above, the true comforter that leads unto -truth. But I am not become a Methodist, dear Sara; on the contrary, if -I am pious one day, you may be sure I was very wicked the day before, -and shall be so again the next. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 20th Dec. 1846.] - -I have been at Griff for the last week, or I should have written -before. I thank you most heartily for sending me "Heliados"--first, -because I admire it greatly in itself; and, secondly, because it is a -pretty proof that I am not dissociated from your most hallowed -thoughts. As yet I have read it only once, but I promise myself to -read it again and again. I shall not show it to any one, for I hate -"friendly criticism," as much for you as for myself; but you have a -better spirit than I, and when you come I will render "Heliados" up to -you, that others may have the pleasure of reading it. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 18th Feb. 1847.] - -Lying in bed this morning, grievously tormented, your "Heliados" -visited me and revealed itself to me more completely than it had ever -done before. How true that "it is only when all portions of an -individual nature, or all members of society, move forward -harmoniously together that religious progress is calm and beneficial!" -I imagine the sorrowful amaze of a child who had been dwelling with -delight on the idea that the stars were the pavement of heaven's -court, and that there above them sat the kind but holy God, looking -like a venerable Father who would smile on his good little ones--when -it was cruelly told, before its mind had substance enough to bear such -tension, that the sky was not real, that the stars were worlds, and -that even the sun could not be God's dwelling, because there were -many, many suns. These ideas would introduce atheism into the child's -mind, instead of assisting it to form a nobler conception of God (of -course I am supposing the bare information given, and left to the -child to work upon); whereas the idea it previously had of God was -perfectly adapted to its intellectual condition, and formed to the -child as perfect an embodiment of the all-good, all-wise, and -all-powerful as the most enlightened philosopher ever formed to -himself. - - On 21st April Miss Evans went to London with the Brays, and, - among other things, heard "Elijah" at Exeter Hall. On - returning to Coventry she writes: - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 30th April, 1847.] - -I did so long to see you after hearing "Elijah," just to exchange an -exclamation of delight. Last night I had a perfect treat, too, in "I -Puritani." Castellar was admirable as Elvira, and Gardoni as a seraph. -N.B.--I liked the Babel less--another sign of age. - - Mention has already been made of Miss Mary Sibree (now Mrs. - John Cash of Coventry), and as the following genial letter is - addressed to her, it gives an opportunity for mentioning here - that Miss Evans had a high regard for all the members of the - Sibree family. At the end of this year (1847) and the - beginning of 1848 there will be found an interesting - correspondence with Miss Sibree's brother, Mr. John Sibree, - who, in 1849, published a translation of Hegel's "Lectures - on the Philosophy of History," and in 1880 a volume of poems - entitled "Fancy, and other Rhymes." The subjoined extract - from a communication from Mrs. Cash will show upon what terms - Miss Evans was with the family: - - "It was in the early part of the year 1841 that Miss Franklin - came to see my mother at our house on the Foleshill - road--about a mile and a half from Coventry--to tell her, as - a piece of most interesting news, that an old pupil, of whom - she herself and her sister Rebecca had always been very - proud, was coming at the Lady-Day quarter to live at a house - on the same road--within five minutes' walk of ours. This was - Miss Evans, then twenty-one years of age. Miss Franklin dwelt - with much pride on Miss Evans's mental power, on her skill in - music, etc.; but the great recommendation to my mother's - interest was the zeal for others which had marked her earnest - piety at school, where she had induced the girls to come - together for prayer, and which had led her to visit the poor - most diligently in the cottages round her own home. Many - years after, an old nurse of mine told me that these poor - people had said, after her removal, 'We shall never have - another Mary Ann Evans.' - - "My mother was asked to second and help her in work of this - kind. 'She will be sure to get something up very soon,' was - the last remark I can recall; and on her first visit to us I - well remember she told us of a club for clothing, set going - by herself and her neighbor Mrs. Pears, in a district to - which she said 'the euphonious name of the Pudding-Pits had - been given.' It was not until the winter of 1841, or early - in 1842, that my mother first received (not from Miss Evans's - own lips, but through a mutual friend) the information that a - total change had taken place in this gifted woman's mind with - respect to the evangelical religion, which she had evidently - believed in up to the time of her coming to Coventry, and for - which, she once told me, she had at one time sacrificed the - cultivation of her intellect, and a proper regard to personal - appearance. 'I used,' she said, 'to go about like an owl, to - the great disgust of my brother; and I would have denied him - what I now see to have been quite lawful amusements.' My - mother's grief, on hearing of this change in one whom she had - begun to love, was very great; but she thought argument and - expostulation might do much, and I well remember a long - evening devoted to it, but no more of the subject-matter than - her indignant refusal to blame the Jews for not seeing in a - merely spiritual Deliverer a fulfilment of promises of a - temporal one; and a still more emphatic protest against my - father's assertion that we had no claim on God. To Miss - Evans's affectionate and pathetic speech to my mother, 'Now, - Mrs. Sibree, you won't care to have anything more to do with - me,' my mother rejoined, 'On the contrary, I shall feel more - interested in you than ever.' But it was very evident at this - time that she stood in no _need_ of sympathizing friends; - that the desire for congenial society, as well as for books - and larger opportunities for culture, which had led her most - eagerly to seek a removal from Griff to a home near Coventry, - had been met beyond her highest expectations. In Mr. and Mrs. - Bray, and in the Hennell family, she had found friends who - called forth her interest and stimulated her powers in no - common degree. This was traceable even in externals--in the - changed tone of voice and manner--from formality to a - geniality which opened my heart to her, and made the next - five years the most important epoch in my life. She gave me - (as yet in my teens) weekly lessons in German, speaking - freely on all subjects, but with no attempt to directly - unsettle my evangelical beliefs, confining herself in these - matters to a steady protest against the claim of the - Evangelicals to an exclusive possession of higher motives to - morality--or even to religion. Speaking to my mother of her - dearest friend, Mrs. Bray, she said, 'She is the most - religious person I know.' Of Mr. Charles Hennell, in whose - writings she had great interest, she said, 'He is a perfect - model of manly excellence.' - - "On one occasion, at Mr. Bray's house at Rosehill, roused by - a remark of his on the beneficial influence exercised by - evangelical beliefs on the moral feelings, she said - energetically, 'I say it now, and I say it once for all, that - I am influenced in my own conduct at the present time by far - higher considerations, and by a nobler idea of duty, than I - ever was while I held the evangelical beliefs.' When, at - length, after my brother's year's residence at the Hallé - University (in 1842-43), my own mind having been much - exercised in the matter of religion, I felt the moral - difficulties press heavily on my conscience, and my whole - heart was necessarily poured out to my 'guide, philosopher, - and friend,' the steady turning of my attention from - theoretical questions to a confession of my own want of - thoroughness in arithmetic, which I pretended to teach; and - the request that I would specially give attention to this - study and get my conscience clear about it, and that I would - not come to her again until my views of religion were also - clear, is too characteristic of Miss Evans, as I knew her - during those years, and too much in harmony with the moral - teaching of George Eliot, to be omitted in reminiscences by - one to whom that wholesome advice proved a turning-point in - life. Two things more I cannot omit to mention: one, the - heightened sense given to me by her of the duty of making - conversation profitable, and, in general, of using time for - serious purposes--of the positive immorality of frittering it - away in ill-natured or in poor, profitless talk; another, the - debt (so frequently acknowledged by Miss Evans to me) which - she owed, during the years of her life with her father, to - the intercourse she enjoyed with her friends at Rosehill. Mr. - and Mrs. Bray and Miss Hennell, with their friends, were - _her_ world; and on my saying to her once, as we closed the - garden-door together, that we seemed to be entering a - paradise, she said, 'I do indeed feel that I shut the world - out when I shut that door.' It is consoling to me now to feel - that in her terrible suffering through her father's illness - and death, which were most trying to witness, she had such - alleviations." - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Mary Sibree, 10th May, 1847.] - -It is worth while to forget a friend for a week or ten days, just for -the sake of the agreeable kind of startle it gives one to be reminded -that one has such a treasure in reserve--the same sort of pleasure, I -suppose, that a poor body feels who happens to lay his hand on an -undreamed-of sixpence which had sunk to a corner of his pocket. When -Mr. Sibree brought me your parcel, I had been to London for a week; -and having been full of Mendelssohn oratorios and Italian operas, I -had just this kind of delightful surprise when I saw your note and the -beautiful purse. Not that I mean to compare you to a sixpence; you are -a bright, golden sovereign to me, with edges all unrubbed, fit to -remind a poor, tarnished, bruised piece, like me, that there are ever -fresh and more perfect coinages of human nature forthcoming. I am very -proud of my purse--first, because I have long had to be ashamed of -drawing my old one out of my pocket; and, secondly, because it is a -sort of symbol of your love for me--and who is not proud to be loved? -For there is a beautiful kind of pride at which no one need frown--I -may call it a sort of impersonal pride--a thrill of exultation at all -that is good and lovely and joyous as a possession of our human -nature. - -I am glad to think of all your pleasure among friends new and old. -Mrs. D----'s mother is, I dare say, a valuable person; but do not, I -beseech thee, go to old people as oracles on matters which date any -later than their thirty-fifth year. Only trust them, if they are good, -in those practical rules which are the common property of long -experience. If they are governed by one special idea which -circumstances or their own mental bias have caused them to grasp with -peculiar firmness, and to work up into original forms, make yourself -master of their thoughts and convictions, the residuum of all that -long travail which poor mortals have to encounter in their threescore -years and ten, but do not trust their application of their gathered -wisdom; for however just old people may be their _principles_ of -judgment, they are often wrong in their application of them, from an -imperfect or unjust conception of the matter to be judged. Love and -cherish and venerate the old; but never imagine that a worn-out, -dried-up organization can be so rich in inspiration as one which is -full fraught with life and energy. I am not talking like one who is -superlatively jealous for the rights of the old; yet such I am, I -assure thee. I heard Mendelssohn's new oratorio, "Elijah," when I was -in London. It has been performed four times in Exeter Hall to as large -an audience as the building would hold--Mendelssohn himself the -conductor. It is a glorious production, and altogether I look upon it -as a kind of sacramental purification of Exeter Hall, and a -proclamation of indulgence for all that is to be perpetrated there -during this month of May. This is a piece of impiety which you may -expect from a lady who has been guanoing her mind with French novels. -This is the impertinent expression of D'Israeli, who, writing himself -much more detestable stuff than ever came from a French pen, can do -nothing better to bamboozle the unfortunates who are seduced into -reading his "Tancred" than speak superciliously of all other men and -things--an expedient much more successful in some quarters than one -would expect. But _au fond_, dear Mary, I have no impiety in my mind -at this moment, and my soul heartily responds to your rejoicing that -society is attaining a more perfect idea and exhibition of Paul's -exhortation--"Let the same mind be in you which was also in Christ -Jesus." I believe the Amen to this will be uttered more and more -fervently, "Among all posterities for evermore." - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 15th June, 1847.] - -Ask me not why I have never written all this weary time. I can only -answer, "All things are full of labor--man cannot utter it"--_et seq._ -See the first chapter of Ecclesiastes for my experience. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 16th Sept. 1847.] - -I have read the "Inquiry" again with more than interest--with delight -and high admiration. My present impression from it far surpasses the -one I had retained from my two readings about five years ago. With the -exception of a few expressions which seem too little discriminating in -the introductory sketch, there is nothing in its whole tone, from -beginning to end, that jars on my moral sense; and apart from any -opinion of the book as an explanation of the existence of Christianity -and the Christian documents, I am sure that no one, fit to read it at -all, could read it without being intellectually and morally -stronger--the reasoning is so close, the induction so clever, the -style so clear, vigorous, and pointed, and the animus so candid and -even generous. Mr. Hennell ought to be one of the happiest of men that -he has done such a life's work. I am sure if I had written such a book -I should be invulnerable to all the arrows of all spiteful gods and -goddesses. I should say, "None of these things move me, neither count -I my life dear unto myself," seeing that I have delivered such a -message of God to men. The book is full of _wit_, to me. It gives me -that exquisite kind of laughter which comes from the gratification of -the reasoning faculties. For instance: "If some of those who were -actually at the mountain doubted whether they saw Jesus or not, we may -reasonably doubt whether he was to be seen at all there: especially as -the words attributed to him do not seem at all likely to have been -said, from the disciples paying no attention to them." "The disciples -considered her (Mary Magdalene's) words idle tales, and believed them -not." We have thus their example for considering her testimony alone -as insufficient, and for seeking further evidence. To say "Jewish -philosopher" seems almost like saying a round square; yet those two -words appear to me the truest description of Jesus. I think the -"Inquiry" furnishes the utmost that can be done towards obtaining a -_real_ view of the life and character of Jesus, by rejecting as little -as possible from the Gospels. I confess that I should call many things -"shining ether," to which Mr. Hennell allows the solid angularity of -facts; but I think he has thoroughly worked out the problem--subtract -from the New Testament the miraculous and highly improbable, and what -will be the remainder? - - At the end of September Miss Evans and her father went for a - little trip to the Isle of Wight, and on their return there - is the following letter: - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 13th Oct. 1847.] - -I heartily wish you had been with me to see all the beauties which -have gladdened my soul and made me feel that this earth is as good a -heaven as I ought to dream of. I have a much greater respect for the -Isle of Wight, now I have seen it, than when I knew it only by -report--a compliment which one can seldom very sincerely pay to things -and people that one has heard puffed and bepraised. I do long for you -to see Alum Bay. Fancy a very high precipice, the strata upheaved -perpendicularly in rainbow-like streaks of the brightest maize, -violet, pink, blue, red, brown, and brilliant white, worn by the -weather into fantastic fretwork, the deep blue sky above, and the -glorious sea below. It seems an enchanted land, where the earth is of -more delicate, refined materials than this dingy planet of ours is -wrought out of. You might fancy the strata formed of the compressed -pollen of flowers, or powder from bright insects. You can think of -nothing but Calypsos, or Prosperos and Ariels, and such-like beings. - -I find one very great spiritual good attendant on a quiet, meditative -journey among fresh scenes. I seem to have removed to a distance from -myself when I am away from the petty circumstances that make up my -ordinary environment. I can take myself up by the ears and inspect -myself, like any other queer monster on a small scale. I have had many -thoughts, especially on a subject that I should like to work out--"The -superiority of the consolations of philosophy to those of (so-called) -religion." Do you stare? - -Thank you for putting me on reading Sir Charles Grandison. I have read -five volumes, and am only vexed that I have not the two last on my -table at this moment, that I might have them for my _convives_. I had -no idea that Richardson was worth so much. I have had more pleasure -from him than from all the Swedish novels together. The morality is -perfect--there is nothing for the new lights to correct. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 27th Nov. 1847.] - -How do you like "Lelia," of which you have never spoken one word? I am -provoked with you for being in the least pleased with "Tancred;" but -if you have found out any lofty meaning in it, or any true picturing -of life, tell it me, and I will recant. I have found two new readers -of Strauss. One, a lady at Leamington, who is also reading the -"Inquiry," but likes Strauss better! The other is a gentleman here in -Coventry; he says "it is most clever and ingenious, and that no one -whose faith rests only on the _common_ foundation can withstand it." I -think he may safely say that his faith rests on an _un_common -foundation. The book will certainly give him a lift in the right -direction, from its critical, logical character--just the opposite of -his own. I was interested the other day in talking to a young lady who -lives in a nest of clergymen, her brothers, but not of the evangelical -school. She had been reading Blanco White's life, and seems to have -had her spirit stirred within her, as every one's must be who reads -the book with any power of appreciation. She is unable to account to -herself for the results at which Blanco White arrived with his -earnestness and love of truth; and she asked me if I had come to the -same conclusions. - -I think "Live and teach" should be a proverb as well as "Live and -learn." We must teach either for good or evil; and if we use our -inward light as the Quaker tells us, always taking care to feed and -trim it well, our teaching must, in the end, be for good. We are -growing old together--are we not? I am growing happier too. I am -amusing myself with thinking of the prophecy of Daniel as a sort of -allegory. All those monstrous, "rombustical" beasts with their -horns--the horn with eyes and a mouth speaking proud things, and the -little horn that waxed rebellious and stamped on the stars, seem like -my passions and vain fancies, which are to be knocked down one after -the other, until all is subdued into a universal kingdom over which -the Ancient of Days presides--the spirit of love--the Catholicism of -the Universe--if you can attach any meaning to such a phrase. It _has_ -a meaning for my sage noddle. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, Jan. 1848.] - -I am reading George Sand's "Lettres d'un Voyageur" with great delight, -and hoping that they will some time do you as much good as they do me. -In the meantime, I think the short letter about "Lelia" will interest -you. It has a very deep meaning to my apprehension. You can send back -the pages when you have duly digested them. I once said of you that -yours was a sort of alkali nature which would detect the slightest acid -of falsehood. You began to phiz-z-z directly it approached you. I want -you as a test. I now begin to see the necessity of the arrangement (a -bad word) that love should determine people's fate while they are -young. It is so impossible to admire--"_s'enthousiasmer_" of--an -_individual_ as one gets older. - - Here follows the interesting correspondence, referred to - before, with Mr. John Sibree: - -[Sidenote: Letter to J. Sibree, beginning of 1848.] - -Begin your letter by abusing me, according to my example. There is -nothing like a little gunpowder for a damp chimney; and an explosion -of that sort will set the fire of your ideas burning to admiration. I -hate bashfulness and modesties, as Sir Hugh Evans would say; and I -warn you that I shall make no apologies, though, from my habit of -writing only to people who, rather than have nothing from me, will -tolerate nothings, I shall be very apt to forget that you are not one -of those amiably silly individuals. I must write to you _more meo_, -without taking pains or laboring to be _spirituelle_ when Heaven never -meant me to be so; and it is your own fault if you bear with my -letters a moment after they become an infliction. I am glad you detest -Mrs. Hannah More's letters. I like neither her letters, nor her books, -nor her character. She was that most disagreeable of all monsters, a -blue-stocking--a monster that can only exist in a miserably false -state of society, in which a woman with but a smattering of learning -or philosophy is classed along with singing mice and card-playing -pigs. It is some time since I read "Tancred," so that I have no very -vivid recollection of its details; but I thought it very "thin," and -inferior in the working up to "Coningsby" and "Sybil." Young -Englandism is almost as remote from my sympathies as Jacobitism, as -far as its force is concerned, though I love and respect it as an -effort on behalf of the people. D'Israeli is unquestionably an able -man, and I always enjoy his tirades against liberal principles as -opposed to popular principles--the name by which he distinguishes his -own. As to his theory of races, it has not a leg to stand on, and can -only be buoyed up by such windy eloquence as--You chubby-faced, -squabby-nosed Europeans owe your commerce, your arts, your religion, -to the Hebrews--nay, the Hebrews lead your armies: in proof of which -he can tell us that Massena, a second-rate general of Napoleon's, was -a Jew, whose real name was Manasseh. Extermination up to a certain -point seems to be the law for the inferior races--for the rest fusion, -both for physical and moral ends. It appears to me that the law by -which privileged classes degenerate, from continual intermarriage, -must act on a larger scale in deteriorating whole races. The nations -have been always kept apart until they have sufficiently developed -their idiosyncrasies, and then some great revolutionary force has been -called into action, by which the genius of a particular nation becomes -a portion of the common mind of humanity. Looking at the matter -ćsthetically, our idea of beauty is never formed on the -characteristics of a single race. I confess the types of the pure -races, however handsome, always impress me disagreeably; there is an -undefined feeling that I am looking not at _man_, but at a specimen of -an order under Cuvier's class Bimana. The negroes certainly puzzle me. -All the other races seem plainly destined to extermination, not -excepting even the Hebrew Caucasian. But the negroes are too -important, physiologically and geographically, for one to think of -their extermination; while the repulsion between them and the other -races seems too strong for fusion to take place to any great extent. -On one point I heartily agree with D'Israeli as to the superiority of -the Oriental races--their clothes are beautiful and their manners are -agreeable. Did you not think the picture of the Barroni family -interesting? I should like to know who are the originals. The -fellowship of race, to which D'Israeli so exultingly refers the -munificence of Sidonia, is so evidently an inferior impulse, which -must ultimately be superseded, that I wonder even he, Jew as he is, -dares to boast of it. My Gentile nature kicks most resolutely against -any assumption of superiority in the Jews, and is almost ready to echo -Voltaire's vituperation. I bow to the supremacy of Hebrew poetry, but -much of their early mythology, and almost all their history, is -utterly revolting. Their stock has produced a Moses and a Jesus; but -Moses was impregnated with Egyptian philosophy, and Jesus is venerated -and adored by us only for that wherein he transcended or resisted -Judaism. The very exaltation of their idea of a national deity into a -spiritual monotheism seems to have been borrowed from the other -Oriental tribes. Everything specifically Jewish is of a low grade. - -And do you really think that sculpture and painting are to die out of -the world? If that be so, let another deluge come as quickly as -possible, that a new race of Glums and Gowries may take possession of -this melancholy earth. I agree with you as to the inherent superiority -of music--as that questionable woman, the Countess Hahn-Hahn, says -painting and sculpture are but an idealizing of our actual existence. -Music arches over this existence with another and a diviner. Amen, -too, to that _ideenvoll_ observation of Hegel's. "We hardly know what -it is to feel for human misery until we have heard a shriek; and a -more perfect hell might be made out of sound than out of any -preparation of fire and brimstone." When the tones of our voice have -betrayed peevishness or harshness, we seem to be doubly haunted by the -ghost of our sin; we are doubly conscious that we have been untrue to -our part in the great Handel chorus. But I cannot assent to the notion -that music is to supersede the other arts, or that the highest minds -must necessarily aspire to a sort of Milton blindness, in which the -_tiefste der Sinne_ is to be a substitute for all the rest. I cannot -recognize the truth of all that is said about the necessity of -religious fervor to high art. I am sceptical as to the real existence -of such fervor in any of the greatest artists. Artistic power seems to -me to resemble dramatic power--to be an intimate perception of the -varied states of which the human mind is susceptible, with ability to -give them out anew in intensified expression. It is true that the -older the world gets originality becomes less possible. Great subjects -are used up, and civilization tends evermore to repress individual -predominance, highly wrought agony, or ecstatic joy. But all the -gentler emotions will be ever new, ever wrought up into more and more -lovely combinations, and genius will probably take their direction. - -Have you ever seen a head of Christ taken from a statue, by -Thorwaldsen, of Christ scourged? If not, I think it would almost -satisfy you. There is another work of his, said to be very sublime, -of the Archangel waiting for the command to sound the last trumpet. -Yet Thorwaldsen came at the fag end of time. - -I am afraid you despise landscape painting; but to me even the works -of our own Stanfield, and Roberts, and Creswick bring a whole world of -thought and bliss--"a sense of something far more deeply interfused." -The ocean and the sky and the everlasting hills are spirit to me, and -they will never be robbed of their sublimity. - -[Sidenote: Letter to J. Sibree, beginning of 1848.] - -I have tired myself with trying to write cleverly, _invitâ Minervâ_, -and having in vain endeavored to refresh myself by turning over -Lavater's queer sketches of physiognomies, and still queerer judgments -on them, it is a happy thought of mine that I have a virtuous reason -for spending my _ennui_ on you. - -I send you a stanza I picked up the other day in George Sand's -"Lettres d'un Voyageur," which is almost the ultimatum of human wisdom -on the question of human sorrow. - - "Le bonheur et le malheur, - Nous viennent du męme auteur, - Voilŕ la _ressemblance_. - Le bonheur nous rend heureux, - Et le malheur malheureux, - Voilŕ la différence." - -Ah, here comes a cup of coffee to console me! When I have taken it I -will tell you what George Sand says: "Sais tu bien que tout est dit -devant Dieu et devant les hommes quand l'homme infortuné demande -compte de ses maux et qu'il obtient cette réponse? Qu'y a-t-il de -plus? Rien." But I am not a mocking pen, and if I were talking to you -instead of writing, you would detect some falsity in the ring of my -voice. Alas! the atrabiliar patient you describe is first cousin to -me in my very worst moods, but I have a profound faith that the -serpent's head will be bruised. This conscious kind of false life that -is ever and anon endeavoring to form itself within us and eat away our -true life, will be overcome by continued accession of vitality, by our -perpetual increase in "quantity of existence," as Foster calls it. -Creation is the superadded life of the intellect; sympathy, -all-embracing love, the superadded moral life. These given more and -more abundantly, I feel that all the demons, which are but my own -egotism mopping and mowing and gibbering, would vanish away, and there -would be no place for them, - - "For every gift of noble origin - Is breathed upon by hope's perpetual breath." - -Evils, even sorrows, are they not all negations? Thus matter is in a -perpetual state of decomposition; superadd the principle of life, and -the tendency to decomposition is overcome. Add to this consciousness, -and there is a power of self-amelioration. The passions and senses -decompose, so to speak. The intellect, by its analytic power, -restrains the fury with which they rush to their own destruction; the -moral nature purifies, beautifies, and at length transmutes them. But -to whom am I talking? You know far more _sur ce chapitre_ than I. - -Every one talks of himself or herself to me, and I beg you will follow -every one's example in this one thing only. Individuals are precious -to me in proportion as they unfold to me their intimate selves. I have -just had lent me the journal of a person who died some years ago. When -I was less venerable I should have felt the reading of such a thing -insupportable; now it interests me, though it is the simplest record -of events and feelings. - -Mary says she has told you about Mr. Dawson and his lecture--miserably -crude and mystifying in some parts, but with a few fine passages. He -is a very delightful man, but not (at least so say my impressions) a -great man. How difficult it is to be great in this world, where there -is a tariff for spiritualities as well as for beeves and cheese and -tallow. It is scarcely possible for a man simply to give out his true -inspiration--the real, profound conviction which he has won by hard -wrestling, or the few-and-far-between pearls of imagination; he must -go on talking or writing by rote, or he must starve. Would it not be -better to take to tent-making with Paul, or to spectacle-making with -Spinoza? - -[Sidenote: Letter to J. Sibree, Feb. 1848.] - -Write and tell you that I join you in your happiness about the French -Revolution? Very fine, my good friend. If I made you wait for a letter -as long as you do me, our little _échantillon_ of a millennium would -be over, Satan would be let loose again, and I should have to share -your humiliation instead of your triumph. - -Nevertheless I absolve you, for the sole merit of thinking rightly -(that is, of course, just as I do) about _la grande nation_ and its -doings. You and Carlyle (have you seen his article in last week's -_Examiner_?) are the only two people who feel just as I would have -them--who can glory in what is actually great and beautiful without -putting forth any cold reservations and incredulities to save their -credit for wisdom. I am all the more delighted with your enthusiasm -because I didn't expect it. I feared that you lacked revolutionary -ardor. But no--you are just as _sans-culottish_ and rash as I would -have you. You are not one of those sages whose reason keeps so tight -a rein on their emotions that they are too constantly occupied in -calculating consequences to rejoice in any great manifestation of the -forces that underlie our every-day existence. I should have written a -soprano to your jubilate the very next day, but that, lest I should be -exalted above measure, a messenger of Satan was sent in the form of a -headache, and directly on the back of that a face-ache, so that I have -been a mere victim of sensations, memories, and visions for the last -week. I am even now, as you may imagine, in a very shattered, -limbo-like mental condition. - -I thought we had fallen on such evil days that we were to see no -really great movement; that ours was what St. Simon calls a purely -critical epoch, not at all an organic one; but I begin to be glad of -my date. I would consent, however, to have a year clipped off my life -for the sake of witnessing such a scene as that of the men of the -barricades bowing to the image of Christ, "who first taught fraternity -to men." One trembles to look into every fresh newspaper lest there -should be something to mar the picture; but hitherto even the scoffing -newspaper critics have been compelled into a tone of genuine respect -for the French people and the Provisional Government. Lamartine can -act a poem if he cannot write one of the very first order. I hope that -beautiful face given to him in the pictorial newspaper is really his; -it is worthy of an aureole. I am chiefly anxious about Albert, the -operative, but his picture is not to be seen. I have little patience -with people who can find time to pity Louis Philippe and his -moustachioed sons. Certainly our decayed monarchs should be pensioned -off; we should have a hospital for them, or a sort of zoological -garden, where these worn-out humbugs may be preserved. It is but -justice that we should keep them, since we have spoiled them for any -honest trade. Let them sit on soft cushions, and have their dinner -regularly, but, for Heaven's sake, preserve me from sentimentalizing -over a pampered old man when the earth has its millions of unfed souls -and bodies. Surely he is not so Ahab-like as to wish that the -revolution had been deferred till his son's days: and I think that the -shades of the Stuarts would have some reason to complain if the -Bourbons, who are so little better than they, had been allowed to -reign much longer. - -I should have no hope of good from any imitative movement at home. Our -working classes are eminently inferior to the mass of the French -people. In France the _mind_ of the people is highly electrified; they -are full of ideas on social subjects; they really desire social -_reform_--not merely an acting out of Sancho Panza's favorite proverb, -"Yesterday for you, to-day for me." The revolutionary animus extended -over the whole nation, and embraced the rural population--not merely, -as with us, the artisans of the towns. Here there is so much larger a -proportion of selfish radicalism and unsatisfied brute sensuality (in -the agricultural and mining districts especially) than of perception -or desire of justice that a revolutionary movement would be simply -destructive, not constructive. Besides, it would be put down. Our -military have no notion of "fraternizing." They have the same sort of -inveteracy as dogs have for the ill-dressed _canaille_. They are as -mere a brute force as a battering-ram; and the aristocracy have got -firm hold of them. And there is nothing in our constitution to -obstruct the slow progress of _political_ reform. This is all we are -fit for at present. The social reform which may prepare us for great -changes is more and more the object of effort both in Parliament and -out of it. But we English are slow crawlers. The sympathy in Ireland -seems at present only of the water-toast kind. The Glasgow riots are -more serious; but one cannot believe in a Scotch Reign of Terror in -these days. I should not be sorry to hear that the Italians had risen -_en masse_, and chased the odious Austrians out of beautiful Lombardy. -But this they could hardly do without help, and that involves another -European war. - -Concerning the "tent-making," there is much more to be said, but am I -to adopt your rule and never speak of what I suppose we agree about? -It is necessary to me, not simply to _be_ but to _utter_, and I -require utterance of my friends. What is it to me that I think the -same thoughts? I think them in a somewhat different fashion. No mind -that has any _real_ life is a mere echo of another. If the perfect -unison comes occasionally, as in music, it enhances the harmonies. It -is like a diffusion or expansion of one's own life to be assured that -its vibrations are repeated in another, and words are the media of -those vibrations. Is not the universe itself a perpetual utterance of -the one Being? So I say again, utter, utter, utter, and it will be a -deed of mercy twice blessed, for I shall be a safety-valve for your -communicativeness and prevent it from splitting honest people's brains -who don't understand you; and, moreover, it will be fraught with -ghostly comfort to me. - -[Sidenote: Letter to J. Sibree, Sunday evening, later in 1848.] - -I might make a very plausible excuse for not acknowledging your kind -note earlier by telling you that I have been both a nurse and invalid; -but, to be thoroughly ingenuous, I must confess that all this would -not have been enough to prevent my writing but for my chronic disease -of utter idleness. I have heard and thought of you with great -interest, however. You have my hearty and not inexperienced sympathy; -for, to speak in the style of Jonathan Oldbuck, I am _haud ignara -mali_. I have gone through a trial of the same genus as yours, though -rather differing in species. I sincerely rejoice in the step you have -taken; it is an absolutely necessary condition for any true -development of your nature. It was impossible to think of your career -with hope, while you tacitly subscribed to the miserable _etiquette_ -(it deserves no better or more spiritual name) of sectarianism. Only -persevere; be true, firm, and loving; not too anxious about immediate -usefulness to others--that can only be a result of justice to -yourself. Study mental hygiene. Take long doses of _dolce far niente_, -and be in no great hurry about anything in this 'varsal world! Do we -not commit ourselves to sleep, and so resign all care for ourselves -every night; lay ourselves gently on the bosom of Nature or God? A -beautiful reproach to the spirit of some religionists and ultra good -people. - -I like the notion of your going to Germany, as good in every way, for -yourself, body and mind, and for all others. Oh, the bliss of having a -very high attic in a romantic Continental town, such as Geneva, far -away from morning callers, dinners, and decencies, and then to pause -for a year and think _de omnibus rebus et quibusdam aliis_, and then -to return to life, and work for poor stricken humanity, and never -think of self again![23] - -I am writing nearly in the dark, with the post-boy waiting. I fear I -shall not be at home when you come home, but surely I shall see you -before you leave England. However that may be, I shall utter a genuine -_Lebewohl_. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 1st Feb. 1848.] - -In my view there are but two kinds of _regular_ correspondence -possible--one of simple affection, which gives a picture of all the -details, painful and pleasurable, that a loving heart pines after, and -this we carry on through the medium of Cara; or one purely moral and -intellectual, carried on for the sake of ghostly edification, in which -each party has to put salt on the tails of all sorts of ideas on all -sorts of subjects, in order to send a weekly or fortnightly packet, as -so much duty and self-castigation. I have always been given to -understand that such Lady-Jane-Grey-like works were your abhorrence. -However, let me know what you _would_ like--what would make you -continue to hold me in loving remembrance or convince you that you are -a bright evergreen in my garden of pleasant plants. Behold me ready to -tear off my right hand or pluck out my right eye (metaphorically, of -course--I speak to an experienced exegetist, _comme dirait notre_ -Strauss), or write reams of letters full of interesting falsehoods or -very dull truths. We have always concluded that our correspondence -should be of the _third_ possible kind--one of impulse, which is -necessarily irregular as the Northern Lights. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 14th April, 1848.] - -I am a miserable wretch, with aching limbs and sinking spirits, but -still alive enough to feel the kindness of your last note. I -thoroughly enjoyed your delight in Emerson. I should have liked to see -you sitting by him "with awful eye," for once in your life feeling all -the bliss of veneration. I am quite uncertain about our movements. -Dear father gets on very slowly, if at all. You will understand the -impossibility of my forming any plans for my own pleasure. Rest is -the only thing I can think of with pleasure now. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 20th April, 1848.] - -Dear father is so decidedly progressing towards recovery that I am -full of quiet joy--a gentle dawning light after the moonlight of -sorrow. I have found already some of the "sweet uses" that belong only -to what is called trouble, which is, after all, only a deepened gaze -into life, like the sight of the darker blue and the thickening host -of stars when the hazy effect of twilight is gone--as our dear Blanco -White said of death. I shall have less time than I have had at my own -disposal, probably; but I feel prepared to accept life, nay, lovingly -to embrace it, in any form in which it shall present itself. - - Some time in May Mr. Evans and his daughter went to St. - Leonard's, and remained there till near the end of June. His - mortal illness had now taken hold of him, and this was a - depressing time, both for him and for her, as will be seen - from the following letters: - -[Sidenote: Letter to Charles Bray, May, 1848.] - -Your words of affection seem to make this earthly atmosphere sit less -heavily on my shoulders, and in gratitude I must send you my thanks -before I begin to read of Henry Gow and Fair Catharine for father's -delectation. In truth, I have found it somewhat difficult to live for -the last week--conscious all the time that the only additions to my -lot worth having must be more strength to love in my own nature; but -perhaps this very consciousness has an irritating rather than a -soothing effect. I have a fit of sensitiveness upon me, which, after -all, is but egotism and mental idleness. The enthusiasm without which -one cannot even pour out breakfast well (at least _I_ cannot) has -forsaken me. You may laugh, and wonder when my enthusiasm has -displayed itself, but that will only prove that you are no seer. I can -never live long without it in some form or other. I possess my soul in -patience for a time, believing that this dark, damp vault in which I -am groping will soon come to an end, and the fresh, green earth and -the bright sky be all the more precious to me. But for the present my -address is Grief Castle, on the River of Gloom, in the Valley of -Dolor. I was amused to find that Castle Campbell in Scotland was -called so. Truly for many seasons in my life I should have been an -appropriate denizen of such a place; but I have faith that unless I am -destined to insanity, I shall never again abide long in that same -castle. I heartily say Amen to your dictum about the cheerfulness of -"large moral regions." Where _thought_ and _love_ are active--thought -the formative power, love the vitalizing--there can be no sadness. -They are in themselves a more intense and extended participation of a -divine existence. As they grow, the highest species of faith grows -too, and all things are possible. I don't know why I should prose in -this way to you. But I wanted to thank you for your note, and all this -selfish grumbling was at my pen's end. And now I have no time to -redeem myself. We shall not stay long away from home, I feel sure. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Charles Bray, 31st May, 1848.] - -Father has done wonders in the way of walking and eating--for him--but -he makes not the slightest attempt to amuse himself, so that I -scarcely feel easy in following my own bent even for an hour. I have -told you everything now, except that I look amiable in spite of a -strong tendency to look black, and speak gently, though with a strong -propensity to be snappish. Pity me, ye happier spirits that look -amiable and speak gently because ye _are_ amiable and gentle. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 4th June, 1848.] - -Alas for the fate of poor mortals, which condemns them to wake up some -fine morning and find all the poetry in which their world was bathed -only the evening before utterly gone!--the hard, angular world of -chairs and tables and looking-glasses staring at them in all its naked -prose! It is so in all the stages of life; the poetry of girlhood -goes, the poetry of love and marriage, the poetry of maternity, and at -last the very poetry of duty forsakes us for a season, and we see -ourselves, and all about us, as nothing more than miserable -agglomerations of atoms--poor tentative efforts of the _Natur Princip_ -to mould a personality. This is the state of prostration, the -self-abnegation, through which the soul must go, and to which perhaps -it must again and again return, that its poetry or religion, which is -the same thing, may be a real, ever-flowing river, fresh from the -windows of heaven and the fountains of the great deep--not an -artificial basin, with grotto-work and gold-fish. I feel a sort of -madness growing upon me, just the opposite of the delirium which makes -people fancy that their bodies are filling the room. It seems to me as -if I were shrinking into that mathematical abstraction, a point. But I -am wasting this "good Sunday morning" in grumblings. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Charles Bray, 8th June, 1848.] - -Poor Louis Blanc! The newspapers make me melancholy; but shame upon me -that I say "poor." The day will come when there will be a temple of -white marble, where sweet incense and anthems shall rise to the memory -of every man and woman who has had a deep _Ahnung_--a presentiment, a -yearning, or a clear vision--of the time when this miserable reign of -Mammon shall end; when men shall be no longer "like the fishes of the -sea," society no more like a face one half of which--the side of -profession, of lip-faith--is fair and God-like; the other half--the -side of deeds and institutions--with a hard, old, wrinkled skin -puckered into the sneer of a Mephistopheles. I worship the man who has -written as the climax of his appeal against society, "L'inegalité des -talents _doit aboutir_ non ŕ l'inegalité des retributions mais ŕ -l'inegalité des devoirs." You will wonder what has wrought me up into -this fury. It is the loathsome fawning, the transparent hypocrisy, the -systematic giving as little as possible for as much as possible that -one meets with here at every turn. I feel that society is training men -and women for hell. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 23d June, 1848.] - -All creatures about to moult, or to cast off an old skin, or enter on -any new metamorphosis, have sickly feelings. It was so with me. But -now I am set free from the irritating, worn-out integument. I am -entering on a new period of my life, which makes me look back on the -past as something incredibly poor and contemptible. I am enjoying -repose, strength, and ardor in a greater degree than I have ever -known, and yet I never felt my own insignificance and imperfection so -completely. My heart bleeds for dear father's pains, but it is blessed -to be at hand to give the soothing word and act needed. I should not -have written this description of myself but that I felt your -affectionate letter demanded some I-ism, which, after all, is often -humility rather than pride. Paris, poor Paris--alas! alas! - -[Sidenote: Letter to Charles Bray, June, 1848.] - -I have read "Jane Eyre," and shall be glad to know what you admire in -it. All self-sacrifice is good, but one would like it to be in a -somewhat nobler cause than that of a diabolical law which chains a man -soul and body to a putrefying carcass. However, the book _is_ -interesting; only I wish the characters would talk a little less like -the heroes and heroines of police reports. - - About the beginning of July Miss Evans and her father - returned to Coventry; and the 13th July was a memorable day, - as Emerson came to visit the Brays, and she went with them to - Stratford. All she says herself about it is in this note. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, Friday, July, 1848.] - -I have seen Emerson--the first _man_ I have ever seen. But you have -seen still more of him, so I need not tell you what he is. I shall -leave Cara to tell how the day--the Emerson day--was spent, for I have -a swimming head from hanging over the desk to write business letters -for father. Have you seen the review of Strauss's pamphlet in the -_Edinburgh_? The title is "Der Romantiker auf dem Throne der Cäsaren, -oder Julian der Abtrünnige"--a sort of erudite satire on the King of -Prussia; but the reviewer pronounces it to have a permanent value -quite apart from this fugitive interest. The "Romantiker," or -Romanticist, is one who, in literature, in the arts, in religion or -politics, endeavors to revive the dead past. Julian was a romanticist -in wishing to restore the Greek religion and its spirit, when mankind -had entered on the new development. But you have very likely seen the -review. I must copy one passage, translated from the conclusion of -Strauss's pamphlet, lest you should not have met with it. "Christian -writers have disfigured the death-scene of Julian. They have -represented him as furious, blaspheming, despairing, and in his -despair exclaiming, _Thou_ hast conquered, O Galilean!--'[Greek: -nenikekas Galilaie].' This phrase, though false as history, has a -truth in it. It contains a prophecy--to us a consoling prophecy--and -it is this: Every Julian--_i.e._, every great and powerful man--who -would attempt to resuscitate a state of society which has died, will -infallibly be vanquished by the Galilean--for the Galilean is nothing -less than the genius of the future!" - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, Dec. 1848.] - -Father's tongue has just given utterance to a thought which has been -very visibly radiating from his eager eyes for some minutes. "I -thought you were going on with the book." I can only bless you for -those two notes, which have emanated from you like so much ambrosial -scent from roses and lavender. Not less am I grateful for the Carlyle -eulogium.[24] I have shed some quite delicious tears over it. This is -a world worth abiding in while one man can thus venerate and love -another. More anon--this from my doleful prison of stupidity and -barrenness, with a yawning trapdoor ready to let me down into utter -fatuity. But I can even yet feel the omnipotence of a glorious chord. -Poor pebble as I am, left entangled among slimy weeds, I can yet hear -from afar the rushing of the blessed torrent, and rejoice that it is -there to bathe and brighten other pebbles less unworthy of the -polishing. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, end of 1848.] - -Thank you for a sight of our blessed St. Francis's[25] letter. There -is no imaginable moment in which the thought of such a being could be -an intrusion. His soul is a blessed _yea_. There is a sort of -blasphemy in that proverbial phrase, "Too good to be true." The -highest inspiration of the purest, noblest human soul, is the nearest -expression of the truth. Those extinct volcanoes of one's spiritual -life--those eruptions of the intellect and the passions which have -scattered the lava of doubt and negation over our early faith--are -only a glorious Himalayan chain, beneath which new valleys of -undreamed richness and beauty will spread themselves. Shall we poor -earthworms have sublimer thoughts than the universe, of which we are -poor chips--mere effluvia of mind--shall we have sublimer thoughts -than that universe can furnish out into reality? I am living -unspeakable moments, and can write no more. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, Jan. 1849.] - -I think of you perpetually, but my thoughts are all aqueous; they will -not crystallize--they are as fleeting as ripples on the sea. I am -suffering perhaps as acutely as ever I did in my life. Breathe a wish -that I may gather strength--the fragrance of your wish will reach me -somehow. - - The next letter is to Mrs. Houghton, who, it will be - remembered, was the only daughter by Mr. Evans's first - marriage. Miss Evans had more intellectual sympathy with this - half-sister Fanny than with any of the other members of her - family, and it is a pity that more of the letters to her have - not been preserved. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Houghton, Sunday evening, 1849.] - -I have been holding a court of conscience, and I cannot enjoy my -Sunday's music without restoring harmony, without entering a protest -against that superficial soul of mine which is perpetually -contradicting and belying the true inner soul. I am in that mood -which, in another age of the world, would have led me to put on -sackcloth and pour ashes on my head, when I call to mind the sins of -my tongue--my animadversions on the faults of others, as if I thought -myself to be something when I am nothing. When shall I attain to the -true spirit of love which Paul has taught for all the ages? I want no -one to excuse me, dear Fanny; I only want to remove the shadow of my -miserable words and deeds from before the divine image of truth and -goodness, which I would have all beings worship. I need the Jesuits' -discipline of silence, and though my "evil speaking" issues from the -intellectual point of view rather than the moral--though there may be -gall in the thought while there is honey in the feeling, yet the evil -speaking is wrong. We may satirize character and qualities in the -abstract without injury to our moral nature, but persons hardly ever. -Poor hints and sketches of souls as we are--with some slight, -transient vision of the perfect and the true--we had need help each -other to gaze at the blessed heavens instead of peering into each -other's eyes to find out the motes there. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, Sunday morning, 4th Feb. 1849.] - -I have not touched the piano for nearly two months until this morning, -when, father being better, I was determined to play a mass before the -piano is utterly out of tune again. _Write, asking for nothing again_, -like a true disciple of Jesus. I am still feeling rather shattered in -brain and limbs; but do not suppose that I lack inward peace and -strength. My body is the defaulter--_consciously_ so. I triumph over -all things in the spirit, but the flesh is weak, and disgraces itself -by headaches and backaches. I am delighted to find that you mention -Macaulay, because that is an indication that Mr. Hennell has been -reading him. I thought of Mr. H. all through the book, as the only -person I could be quite sure would enjoy it as much as I did myself. I -did not know if it would interest you: tell me more explicitly that it -does. Think of Babylon being unearthed in spite of the prophecies? -Truly we are looking before and after, "au jour d'aujourd'hui," as -Monsieur Bricolin says. Send me the criticism of Jacques the morn's -morning--only beware there are not too many blasphemies against my -divinity. - -Paint soap-bubbles--and never fear but I will find _a_ meaning, though -very likely not your meaning. Paint the Crucifixion in a bubble--after -Turner--and then the Resurrection: I see them now. - -There has been a vulgar man sitting by while I have been writing, and -I have been saying parenthetical bits of civility to him to help out -poor father in his conversation, so I have not been quite sure what I -have been saying to you. I have woful aches which take up half my -nervous strength. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 9th Feb. 1849.] - -My life is a perpetual nightmare, and always haunted by something to -be done, which I have never the time, or, rather, the energy, to do. -Opportunity is kind, but only to the industrious, and I, alas! am not -one of them. I have sat down in desperation this evening, though dear -father is very uneasy, and his moans distract me, just to tell you -that you have full absolution for your criticism, which I do not -reckon of the impertinent order. I wish you thoroughly to understand -that the writers who have most profoundly influenced me--who have -rolled away the waters from their bed, raised new mountains and spread -delicious valleys for me--are not in the least oracles to me. It is -just possible that I may not embrace one of their opinions; that I may -wish my life to be shaped quite differently from theirs. For instance, -it would signify nothing to me if a very wise person were to stun me -with proofs that Rousseau's views of life, religion, and government -are miserably erroneous--that he was guilty of some of the worst -_bassesses_ that have degraded civilized man. I might admit all this: -and it would be not the less true that Rousseau's genius has sent that -electric thrill through my intellectual and moral frame which has -awakened me to new perceptions; which has made man and nature a fresh -world of thought and feeling to me; and this not by teaching me any -new belief. It is simply that the rushing mighty wind of his -inspiration has so quickened my faculties that I have been able to -shape more definitely for myself ideas which had previously dwelt as -dim _Ahnungen_ in my soul; the fire of his genius has so fused -together old thoughts and prejudices that I have been ready to make -new combinations. - -It is thus with George Sand. I should never dream of going to her -writings as a moral code or text-book. I don't care whether I agree -with her about marriage or not--whether I think the design of her plot -correct, or that she had no precise design at all, but began to write -as the spirit moved her, and trusted to Providence for the -catastrophe, which I think the more probable case. It is sufficient -for me, as a reason for bowing before her in eternal gratitude to that -"great power of God manifested in her," that I cannot read six pages -of hers without feeling that it is given to her to delineate human -passion and its results, and (I must say, in spite of your judgment) -some of the moral instincts and their tendencies, with such -truthfulness, such nicety of discrimination, such tragic power, and, -withal, such loving, gentle humor, that one might live a century with -nothing but one's own dull faculties, and not know so much as those -six pages will suggest. The psychological anatomy of Jacques and -Fernande in the early days of their marriage seems quite -preternaturally true--I mean that her power of describing it is -preternatural. Fernande and Jacques are merely the feminine and the -masculine nature, and their early married life an every-day tragedy; -but I will not dilate on the book or on your criticism, for I am so -sleepy that I should write nothing but _bętises_. I have at last the -most delightful "De imitatione Christi," with quaint woodcuts. One -breathes a cool air as of cloisters in the book--it makes one long to -be a saint for a few months. Verily its piety has its foundations in -the depth of the divine-human soul. - - In March Miss Evans wrote a short notice of the "Nemesis of - Faith" for the _Coventry Herald_, in which she says: - -"We are sure that its author is a bright, particular star, though he -sometimes leaves us in doubt whether he be not a fallen 'son of the -morning.'" - - The paper was sent to Mr. Froude, and on 23d March Mrs. Bray - writes to Miss Hennell: "Last night at dusk M. A. came - running in in high glee with a most charming note from - Froude, naďvely and prettily requesting her to reveal - herself. He says he recognized her hand in the review in the - _Coventry Herald_, and if she thinks him a fallen star she - might help him to rise, but he 'believes he has only been - dipped in the Styx, and is not much the worse for the bath.' - Poor girl, I am so pleased she should have this little - episode in her dull life." - - The next letter again refers to Mr. Froude's books. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, Wednesday, April, 1849.] - -Tell me not that I am a mere prater--that feeling never talks. I will -talk, and caress, and look lovingly, until death makes me as stony as -the Gorgon-like heads of all the judicious people I know. What is -anything worth until it is uttered? Is not the universe one great -utterance? Utterance there must be in word or deed to make life of any -worth. Every true pentecost is a gift of utterance. Life is too short -and opportunities too meagre for many deeds--besides, the best -friendships are precisely those where there is no possibility of -material helpfulness--and I would take no deeds as an adequate -compensation for the frigid, glassy eye and hard, indifferent tones -of one's very solid and sensible and conscientious friend. You will -wonder of what this is _ŕ propos_--only of a little bitterness in my -own soul just at this moment, and not of anything between you and me. -I have nothing to tell you, for all the "haps" of my life are so -indifferent. I spin my existence so entirely out of myself that there -is a sad want of proper names in my conversation, and I am becoming a -greater bore than ever. It is a consciousness of this that has kept me -from writing to you. My letters would be a sort of hermit's diary. I -have so liked the thought of your enjoying the "Nemesis of Faith." I -quote Keats's sonnet, _ŕ propos_ of that book. It has made me feel-- - - "Like some watcher of the skies - When a new planet swims into his ken; - Or like stout Cortez--when with eagle eyes - He stared at the Pacific, and all his men - Look'd at each other with a wild surmise-- - Silent, upon a peak in Darien." - -You must read "The Shadows of the Clouds." It produces a sort of -palpitation that one hardly knows whether to call wretched or -delightful. I cannot take up the book again, though wanting very much -to read it more closely. Poor and shallow as one's own soul is, it is -blessed to think that a sort of transubstantiation is possible by -which the greater ones can live in us. Egotism apart, another's -greatness, beauty, or bliss is one's own. And let us sing a -_Magnificat_ when we are conscious that this power of expansion and -sympathy is growing, just in proportion as the individual -satisfactions are lessening. Miserable dust of the earth we are, but -it is worth while to be so, for the sake of the living soul--the -breath of God within us. You see I can do nothing but scribble my own -prosy stuff--such chopped straw as my soul is foddered on. I am -translating the "Tractatus Theologico-Politicus" of Spinoza, and seem -to want the only friend that knows how to praise or blame. How -exquisite is the satisfaction of feeling that another mind than your -own sees precisely where and what is the difficulty--and can exactly -appreciate the success with which it is overcome. One knows--_sed -longo intervallo_--the full meaning of the "fit audience though few." -How an artist must hate the noodles that stare at his picture, with a -vague notion that it _is_ a clever thing to be able to paint. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Pears, 10th May, 1849.] - -I know it will gladden your heart to hear that father spoke of you the -other day with affection and gratitude. He remembers you as one who -helped to strengthen that beautiful spirit of resignation which has -never left him through his long trial. His mind is as clear and -rational as ever, notwithstanding his feebleness, and he gives me a -thousand little proofs that he understands my affection and responds -to it. These are very precious moments to me; my chair by father's -bedside is a very blessed seat to me. My delight in the idea that you -are being benefited after all, prevents me from regretting you, though -you are just the friend that would complete my comfort. Every addition -to your power of enjoying life is an expansion of mine. I partake of -your ebb and flow. I am going to my post now. I have just snatched an -interval to let you know that, though you have taken away a part of -yourself from me, neither you nor any one else can take the whole. - - It will have been seen from these late letters, that the last - few months of her father's illness had been a terrible strain - on his daughter's health and spirits. She did all the nursing - herself, and Mrs. Congreve (who was then Miss Bury, daughter - of the doctor who was attending Mr. Evans--and who, it will - be seen, subsequently became perhaps the most intimate and - the closest of George Eliot's friends) tells me that her - father told her at the time that he never saw a patient more - admirably and thoroughly cared for. The translating was a - great relief when she could get to it. Under date of 19th - April, 1849, Mrs. Bray writes to Miss Hennell, "M. A. is - happy now with this Spinoza to do: she says it is such a rest - for her mind." - - The next letter to Rosehill pathetically describes how the - end came at last to Mr. Evans's sufferings: - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, half-past nine, Wednesday morning, 31st -May, 1849.] - -Dear friends, Mr. Bury told us last night that he thought father would -not last till morning. I sat by him with my hand in his till four -o'clock, and he then became quieter and has had some comfortable -sleep. He is obviously weaker this morning, and has been for the last -two or three days so painfully reduced that I dread to think what his -dear frame may become before life gives way. My brother slept here -last night, and will be here again to-night. What shall I be without -my father? It will seem as if a part of my moral nature were gone. I -write when I can, but I do not know whether my letter will do to send -this evening. - -_P.S._--Father is very, very much weaker this evening. - - Mr. Evans died during that night, 31st May, 1849. - -[Illustration: Portrait of Mr. Robert Evans.] - - -_SUMMARY._ - -MAY, 1846, TO MAY, 1849. - - Visit to Mrs. Hennell at Hackney--Letters to Mrs. - Bray--Strauss translation published--Visit to Dover with - father--Classical books wanted--Pleasure in Strauss's - letter--Brays suspect novel-writing--Letters to Miss Sara - Hennell--Good spirits--Wicksteed's review of the Strauss - translation--Reading Foster's life--Visit to Griff--Child's - view of God (_ŕ propos_ of Miss Hennell's "Heliados")--Visit - to London--"Elijah"--Likes London less--The Sibree family and - Mrs. John Cash's reminiscences--Letter to Miss Mary - Sibree--Letters to Miss Sara Hennell--Mental - depression--Opinion of Charles Hennell's "Inquiry"--Visit to - the Isle of Wight with father--Admiration of - Richardson--Blanco White--Delight in George Sand's "Lettres - d'un Voyageur"--Letters to Mr. John Sibree--Opinion of Mrs. - Hannah More's letters--"Tancred," "Coningsby," and - "Sybil"--D'Israeli's theory of races--Gentile nature kicks - against superiority of Jews--Bows only to the supremacy of - Hebrew poetry--Superiority of music among the arts--Relation - of religion to art--Thorwaldsen's Christ--Admiration of - Roberts and Creswick--The intellect and moral nature restrain - the passions and senses--Mr. Dawson the - lecturer--Satisfaction in French Revolution of '48--The men - of the barricade bowing to the image of Christ--Difference - between French and English working-classes--The need of - utterance--Sympathy with Mr. Sibree in religious - difficulties--Longing for a high attic in Geneva--Letters to - Miss Sara Hennell--Views on correspondence--Mental - depression--Father's illness--Father better--Goes with him to - St. Leonard's--Letter to Charles Bray--Depression to be - overcome by thought and love--Admiration of Louis - Blanc--Recovery from depression--"Jane Eyre"--Return to - Coventry--Meets Emerson--Strauss's pamphlet on Julian the - Apostate--Carlyle's eulogium on Emerson--Francis - Newman--Suffering from depression--Letter to Mrs. - Houghton--Self-condemnation for evil speaking--Letters to - Miss Hennell--Macaulay's History--On the influence of George - Sand's and Rousseau's writing--Writes review of the "Nemesis - of Faith" for the _Coventry Herald_--Opinion of the "Nemesis" - and the "Shadows of the Clouds"--Translating Spinoza's - "Tractatus Theologico-Politicus"--Letter to Mrs. Pears--The - consolations of nursing--Strain of father's illness--Father's - death. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[20] Organs of Combativeness. - -[21] Afterwards acknowledged by the author, Robert Landor (brother of -Walter Savage Landor), who also wrote the "Fountain of Arethusa," etc. - -[22] John Foster, Baptist minister, born 1770, died 1843. - -[23] An _Ahnung_--a presentiment--of her own future. - -[24] On Emerson. - -[25] Francis Newman. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - - - It fortunately happened that the Brays had planned a trip to - the Continent for this month of June, 1849, and Miss Evans, - being left desolate by the death of her father, accepted - their invitation to join them. On the 11th June they started, - going by way of Paris, Lyons, Avignon, Marseilles, Nice, - Genoa, Milan, Como, Lago Maggiore, Martigny, and Chamounix, - arriving at Geneva in the third week of July. Here Miss Evans - determined to remain for some months, the Brays returning - home. Before they went, however, they helped her to settle - herself comfortably _en pension_, and, as will be seen from - the following letters, the next eight months were quietly and - peacefully happy. The _pension_ selected in the first - instance was the Campagne Plongeon, which stands on a slight - eminence a few hundred yards back from the road on the route - d'Hermance, some ten minutes' walk from the Hôtel Métropole. - From the Hôtel National on the Quai de Mont Blanc one catches - a pleasant glimpse of it nestling among its trees. A - good-sized, gleaming white house, with a centre, and gables - at each side, a flight of steps leading from the middle - window to the ground. A meadow in front, nicely planted, - slopes charmingly down to the blue lake, and behind the - house, on the left-hand side, there is an avenue of - remarkably fine chestnut-trees, whence there is a magnificent - view of the Jura mountains on the opposite side of the lake. - The road to Geneva is very beautiful, by the lake-side, - bordered with plane-trees. It was a delightful, soothing - change after the long illness and the painful death of her - father--after the monotonous dulness, too, of an English - provincial town like Coventry, where there is little beauty - of any sort to gladden the soul. In the first months - following a great loss it is good to be alone for a - time--alone, especially amidst beautiful scenes--and alone in - the sense of being removed from habitual associations, but - yet constantly in the society of new acquaintances, who are - sufficiently interesting, but not too intimate. The Swiss - correspondence which follows is chiefly addressed to the - Brays collectively, and describes the life minutely. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 27th July, 1840.] - -About my comfort here, I find no disagreeables, and have every -physical comfort that I care about. The family seems well-ordered and -happy. I have made another friend, too--an elderly English lady, a -Mrs. Locke, who used to live at Ryde--a pretty old lady with plenty of -shrewdness and knowledge of the world. She began to say very kind -things to me in rather a waspish tone yesterday morning at breakfast. -I liked her better at dinner and tea, and to-day we are quite -confidential. I only hope she will stay; she is just the sort of -person I shall like to have to speak to--not at all "congenial," but -with a character of her own. The going down to tea bores me, and I -shall get out of it as soon as I can, unless I can manage to have the -newspapers to read. The American lady embroiders slippers--the mamma -looks on and does nothing. The marquis and his friends play at whist; -the old ladies sew; and madame says things so true that they are -insufferable. She is obliged to talk to all, and cap their -_niaiseries_ with some suitable observation. She has been very kind -and motherly to me. I like her better every time I see her. I have -quiet and comfort--what more can I want to make me a healthy, -reasonable being once more? I will never go near a friend again until -I can bring joy and peace in my heart and in my face--but remember -that friendship will be easy then. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 5th Aug. 1849.] - -I hope my imagination paints truly when it shows me all of you seated -with beaming faces round the tea-table at Rosehill. I shall be -yearning to know that things as well as people are smiling on you; but -I am sure you will not let me wait for news of you longer than is -necessary. My life here would be delightful if we could always keep -the same set of people; but, alas! I fear one generation will go and -another come so fast that I shall not care to become acquainted with -any of them. My good Mrs. Locke is not going, that is one comfort. She -is quite a mother to me--helps me to buy my candles and do all my -shopping--takes care of me at dinner, and quite rejoices when she sees -me enjoy conversation or anything else. The St. Germains are -delightful people--the marquise really seems to me the most charming -person I ever saw, with kindness enough to make the ultra-politeness -of her manners quite genuine. She is very good to me, and says of me, -"Je m'interesse vivement ŕ mademoiselle." The marquis is the most -well-bred, harmless of men. He talks very little--every sentence seems -a terrible gestation, and comes forth _fortissimo_; but he generally -bestows one on me, and seems especially to enjoy my poor tunes (mind -you, all these trivialities are to satisfy your vanity, not -mine--because you are beginning to be ashamed of having loved me). -The gray-headed gentleman got quite fond of talking philosophy with me -before he went; but, alas! he and a very agreeable young man who was -with him are gone to Aix les Bains. The young German is the Baron de -H----. I should think he is not more than two or three and twenty, -very good-natured, but a most determined enemy to all gallantry. I -fancy he is a Communist; but he seems to have been joked about his -opinions by madame and the rest until he has determined to keep a -proud silence on such matters. He has begun to talk to me, and I think -we should become good friends; but he, too, is gone on an expedition -to Monte Rosa. He is expecting his brother to join him here on his -return, but I fear they will not stay long. The _gouvernante_ is a -German, with a moral region that would rejoice Mr. Bray's eyes. Poor -soul, she is in a land of strangers, and often seems to feel her -loneliness. Her situation is a very difficult one; and "_die Angst_," -she says, often brings on a pain at her heart. Madame is a woman of -some reading and considerable talent--very fond of politics, a -devourer of the journals, with an opinion ready for you on any subject -whatever. It will be a serious loss to her to part with the St. -Germain family. I fear that they will not stay longer than this month. -I should be quite indifferent to the world that comes or goes if once -I had my boxes with all my books. Last Sunday I went with madame to a -small church near Plongeon, and I could easily have fancied myself in -an Independent chapel at home. The spirit of the sermon was not a whit -more elevated than that of our friend Dr. Harris; the text, "What -shall I do to be saved?" the answer of Jesus being blinked as usual. - -To-day I have been to hear one of the most celebrated preachers, M. -Meunier. His sermon was really eloquent--all written down, but -delivered with so much energy and feeling that you never thought of -the book. It is curious to notice how patriotism--_dévouement ŕ la -patrie_--is put in the sermons as the first of virtues, even before -devotion to the Church. We never hear of it in England after we leave -school. The good marquis goes with his family and servants, all nicely -dressed, to the Catholic Church. They are a most orderly set of -people: there is nothing but their language and their geniality and -politeness to distinguish them from one of the best of our English -aristocratic families. I am perfectly comfortable; every one is kind -to me and seems to like me. Your kind hearts will rejoice at this, I -know. Only remember that I am just as much interested in all that -happens to you at Rosehill as you are in what happens to me at -Plongeon. Pray that the motto of Geneva may become mine--"_Post -tenebras lux_." - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 20th Aug. 1849.] - -I have no head for writing to-day, for I have been keeping my bed for -the last three days; but I must remember that writing to you is like -ringing a bell hung in the planet Jupiter--it is so weary a while -before one's letters reach. I have been positively sickening for want -of my boxes, and anxiety to hear of my relations. Your kind letter of -this morning has quieted the latter a little; but my boxes, alas! have -not appeared. Do not be alarmed about my health. I have only had a -terrible headache--prolonged, in fact, by the assiduities of the good -people here; for the first day I lay in my bed I had the whole female -world of Plongeon in my bedroom, and talked so incessantly that I was -unable to sleep after it; the consequence, as you may imagine, was -that the next day I was very much worse; but I am getting better, and -indeed it was worth while to be ill to have so many kind attentions. -There is a fresh German family from Frankfurt here just now--Madame -Cornelius and her children. She is the daughter of the richest banker -in Frankfurt, and, what is better, full of heart and mind, with a face -that tells you so before she opens her lips. She has more reading than -the marquise, being German and Protestant; and it is a real -refreshment to talk with her for half an hour. The dear marquise is a -truly devout Catholic. It is beautiful to hear her speak of the -comfort she has in the confessional--for our _tętes-ŕ-tęte_ have -lately turned on religious matters. She says I am in a "mauvaise voie -sous le rapport de la religion. Peut ętre vous vous marierez, et le -mariage, chčre amie, sans la foi religieuse!..." She says I have -isolated myself by my studies--that I am too cold and have too little -confidence in the feelings of others towards me--that I do not believe -how deep an interest she has conceived in my lot. She says Signor -Goldrini (the young Italian who was here for a week) told her, when he -had been talking to me one evening, "Vous aimerez cette demoiselle, -j'en suis sűr"--and she has found his prediction true. They are -leaving for their own country on Wednesday. She hopes I shall go to -Italy and see her; and when I tell her that I have no faith that she -will remember me long enough for me to venture on paying her a visit -if ever I should go to Italy again, she shakes her head at my -incredulity. She was born at Genoa. Her father was three years -Sardinian Minister at Constantinople before she was married, and she -speaks with enthusiasm of her life there--"C'est lŕ le pays de la -vraie poésie ou l'on sent ce que c'est que de vivre par le coeur." M. -de H---- is returned from Monte Rosa. He would be a nice person if he -had another soul added to the one he has by nature--the soul that -comes by sorrow and love. I stole his book while he was gone--the -first volume of Louis Blanc's "History of Ten Years." It contains a -very interesting account of the three days of July, 1830. His brother -is coming to join him, so I hope he will not go at present. Tell Miss -Sibree my address, and beg her to write to me all about herself, and -to write on thin paper. I hardly know yet whether I shall like this -place well enough to stay here through the winter. I have been under -the disadvantage of wanting all on which I chiefly depend, my books, -etc. When I have been here another month I shall be better able to -judge. I hope you managed to get in the black velvet dress. The people -dress, and think about dressing, here more even than in England. You -would not know me if you saw me. The marquise took on her the office -of _femme de chambre_ and dressed my hair one day. She has abolished -all my curls, and made two things stick out on each side of my head -like those on the head of the Sphinx. All the world says I look -infinitely better; so I comply, though to myself I seem uglier than -ever--if possible. I am fidgeted to death about my boxes, and that -tiresome man not to acknowledge the receipt of them. I make no apology -for writing all my peevishness and follies, because I want you to do -the same--to let me know everything about you, to the aching of your -fingers--and you tell me very little. My boxes, my boxes! I dream of -them night and day. Dear Mr. Hennell! Give him my heartiest -affectionate remembrances. Tell him I find no one here so spirited as -he: there are no better jokes going than I can make myself. Mrs. -Hennell and Mrs. C. Hennell, too, all are remembered--if even I have -only seen them in England. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 28th Aug. 1849.] - -Mme. de Ludwigsdorff, the wife of an Austrian baron, has been here for -two days, and is coming again. She is handsome, spirited, and -clever--pure English by birth, but quite foreign in manners and -appearance. She, and all the world besides, are going to winter in -Italy. Nothing annoys me now; I feel perfectly at home, and shall -really be comfortable when I have all my little matters about me. This -place looks more lovely to me every day--the lake, the town, the -_campagnes_, with their stately trees and pretty houses, the glorious -mountains in the distance; one can hardly believe one's self on earth; -one might live here, and forget that there is such a thing as want or -labor or sorrow. The perpetual presence of all this beauty has -somewhat the effect of mesmerism or chloroform. I feel sometimes as if -I were sinking into an agreeable state of numbness, on the verge of -unconsciousness, and seem to want well pinching to rouse me. The other -day (Sunday) there was a _fęte_ held on the lake--the _fęte_ of -Navigation. I went out, with some other ladies, in M. de H----'s boat, -at sunset, and had the richest draught of beauty. All the boats of -Geneva turned out in their best attire. When the moon and stars came -out there were beautiful fireworks sent up from the boats. The -mingling of the silver and the golden rays on the rippled lake, the -bright colors of the boats, the music, the splendid fireworks, and the -pale moon looking at it all with a sort of grave surprise, made up a -scene of perfect enchantment; and our dear old Mont Blanc was there, -in his white ermine robe. I rowed all the time, and hence comes my -palsy. I can perfectly fancy dear Mrs. Pears in her Leamington house. -How beautiful all that Foleshill life looks now, like the distant Jura -in the morning! She was such a sweet, dear, good friend to me. My -walks with her, my little visits to them in the evening--all is -remembered. I am glad you have seen Fanny again; any attention you -show her is a real kindness to me, and I assure you she is worth it. -You know, or, you do not know, that my nature is so chameleon-like I -shall lose all my identity unless you keep nourishing the old self -with letters; so, pray, write as much and as often as you can. It -jumps admirably with my humor to live in two worlds at once in this -way. I possess my dearest friends and my old environment in my -thoughts, and another world of novelty and beauty in which I am -actually moving, and my contrariety of disposition always makes the -world that lives in my thoughts the dearer of the two, the one in -which I more truly dwell. So, after all, I enjoy my friends most when -I am away from them. I shall not say so, though, if I should live to -rejoin you six or seven months hence. Keep me for seven[26] years -longer, and you will find out the use of me, like all other pieces of -trumpery. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Houghton, 6th Sept. 1849.] - -Have I confided too much in your generosity in supposing that you -would write to me first? or is there some other reason for your -silence? I suffer greatly from it--not entirely from selfish reasons, -but in great part because I am really anxious to know all about you, -your state of health and spirits, the aspect of things within and -without you. Did Mr. Bray convey to you my earnest request that you -would write to me? You know of my whereabouts and circumstances from -my good friends at Rosehill, so that I have little to tell you; at -least, I have not spirit to write of myself until I have heard from -you, and have an assurance from yourself that you yet care about me. -Sara (Mrs. Isaac Evans) has sent me word of the sad, sad loss that has -befallen poor Chrissey and Edward--a loss in which I feel that I have -a share; for that angelic little being had great interest for me; she -promised to pay so well for any care spent on her. I can imagine poor -Edward's almost frantic grief, and I dread the effect on Chrissey's -weak frame of her more silent suffering. Anything you can tell me -about them will be read very eagerly. I begin to feel the full value -of a letter; so much so that, if ever I am convinced that any one has -the least anxiety to hear from me, I shall always reckon it among the -first duties to sit down without delay, giving no ear to the -suggestions of my idleness and aversion to letter-writing. Indeed, I -am beginning to find it really pleasant to write to my friends, now -that I am so far away from them; and I could soon fill a sheet to you, -if your silence did not weigh too heavily on my heart. My health is by -no means good yet; seldom good enough not to be a sort of drag on my -mind; so you must make full allowance for too much egotism and -susceptibility in me. It seems to be three years instead of three -months since I was in England and amongst you, and I imagine that all -sorts of revolutions must have taken place in the interim; whereas to -you, I dare say, remaining in your old home and among your every-day -duties, the time has slipped away so rapidly that you are unable to -understand my anxiety to hear from you. I think the climate here is -not particularly healthy; I suppose, from the vicinity of the lake, -which, however, becomes so dear to me that one cannot bear to hear it -accused. Good-bye, dear Fanny; a thousand blessings to you, whether -you write to me or not, and much gratitude if you do. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 13th Sept. 1849.] - -My boxes arrived last Friday. The expense was fr. 150--perfectly -horrible! Clearly, I must give myself for food to the fowls of the air -or the fishes of the lake. It is a consolation to a mind imbued with a -lofty philosophy that, when one can get nothing to eat, one can still -be eaten--the evil is only apparent. It is quite settled that I cannot -stay at Plongeon; I must move into town. But, alas! I must pay fr. 200 -per month. If I were there I should see more conversable people than -here. Do you think any one would buy my "Encyclopćdia Britannica" at -half-price, and my globes? If so, I should not be afraid of exceeding -my means, and I should have a little money to pay for my piano, and -for some lessons of different kinds that I want to take. The -"Encyclopćdia" is the last edition, and cost Ł42, and the globes -Ł8 10_s._ I shall never have anywhere to put them, so it is folly to -keep them, if any one will buy them. No one else has written to me, -though I have written to almost all. I would rather have it so than -feel that the debt was on my side. When will you come to me for help, -that I may be able to hate you a little less? I shall leave here as -soon as I am able to come to a decision, as I am anxious to feel -settled, and the weather is becoming cold. This house is like a -bird-cage set down in a garden. Do not count this among my letters. I -am good for nothing to-day, and can write nothing well but bitterness, -so that I will not trust myself to say another word. The Baronne de -Ludwigsdorff seems to have begun to like me very much, and is really -kind; so you see Heaven sends kind souls, though they are by no means -kindred ones. Poor Mrs. Locke is to write to me--has given me a little -ring; says, "Take care of yourself, my child--have some tea of your -own--you'll be quite another person if you get some introductions to -clever people; you'll get on well among a certain set--that's true;" -it is her way to say "that's true" after all her affirmations. She -says, "You won't find any kindred spirits at Plongeon, my dear." - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 20th Sept. 1849.] - -I am feeling particularly happy because I have had very kind letters -from my brother and sisters. I am ashamed to fill sheets about myself, -but I imagined that this was precisely what you wished. Pray correct -my mistake, if it be one, and then I will look over the Calvin -manuscripts, and give you some information of really general interest, -suited to our mutual capacities. Mme. Ludwigsdorff is so good to me--a -charming creature--so anxious to see me comfortably settled--petting -me in all sorts of ways. She sends me tea when I wake in the -morning--orange-flower water when I go to bed--grapes--and her maid to -wait on me. She says if I like she will spend the winter after this at -Paris with me, and introduce me to her friends there; but she does not -mean to attach herself to me, because I shall never like her long. I -shall be tired of her when I have sifted her, etc. She says I have -more intellect than _morale_, and other things more true than -agreeable; however, she is "greatly interested" in me; has told me her -troubles and her feelings, she says, in spite of herself; for she has -never been able before in her life to say so much even to her old -friends. It is a mystery she cannot unravel. She is a person of high -culture, according to the ordinary notions of what feminine culture -should be. She speaks French and German perfectly, plays well, and has -the most perfect polish of manner--the most thorough refinement, both -socially and morally. She is tall and handsome, a striking-looking -person, but with a sweet feminine expression when she is with those -she likes; dresses exquisitely; in fine, is all that I am not. I shall -tire you with all this, but I want you to know what good creatures -there are here as elsewhere. Miss F. tells me that the first day she -sat by my side at dinner she looked at me and thought to herself, -"That is a grave lady; I do not think I shall like her much;" but as -soon as I spoke to her, and she looked into my eyes, she felt she -could love me. Then she lent me a book written by her cousin--a -religious novel--in which there is a fearful infidel who will not -believe, and hates all who do, etc. Then she invited me to walk with -her, and came to talk in my room; then invited me to go to the -Oratoire with them, till I began to be uncomfortable under the idea -that they fancied I was evangelical, and that I was gaining their -affection under false pretences; so I told Miss F. that I was going to -sacrifice her good opinion, and confess my heresies. I quite expected, -from their manner and character, that they would forsake me in -horror--but they are as kind as ever. They never go into the _salon_ -in the evening, and I have almost forsaken it, spending the evening -frequently in Mme. de Ludwigsdorff's room, where we have some -delightful tea. The tea of the house here is execrable; or, rather, as -Mrs. A. says, "How glad we ought to be that it has no taste at all; it -might have a very bad one!" I like the A.'s; they are very -good-natured. Mrs. A., a very ugly but lady-like little woman, who is -under an infatuation "as it regards" her caps--always wearing the -brightest rose-color or intensest blue--with a complexion not unlike a -dirty primrose glove. The rest of the people are nothing to me, -except, indeed, dear old Mlle. de Phaisan, who comes into my room when -I am ill, with "Qu'est ce que vous avez, ma bonne?" in the tone of the -kindest old aunt, and thinks that I am the most amiable douce -creature, which will give you a better opinion of her charity than her -penetration. - -Dear creatures! no one is so good as you yet. I have not yet found any -one who can bear comparison with you; not in kindness to me--_ça va -sans dire_--but in solidity of mind and in expansion of feeling. This -is a very coarse thing to say, but it came to the end of my pen, and -_litera scripta manet_--at least, when it comes at the end of the -second page. I shall certainly stay at Geneva this winter, and shall -return to England as early as the spring weather will permit, always -supposing that nothing occurs to alter my plans. I am still thin; so -how much will be left of me next April I am afraid to imagine. I shall -be length without breadth. Cara's assurance that you are well and -comfortable is worth a luncheon to me, which is just the thing I am -generally most in want of, for we dine at six now. I love to imagine -you in your home; and everything seems easy to me when I am not -disturbed about the health or well-being of my loved ones. It is -really so; I do not say it out of any sort of affectation, benevolent -or otherwise. I am without carefulness, alas! in more senses than one. -Thank Sara very heartily for her letter. I do not write a special -sheet for her to-day, because I have to write to two or three other -people, but she must not the less believe how I valued a little -private morsel from her; and also that I would always rather she wrote -"from herself" than "to me"--that is my theory of letter-writing. Your -letters are as welcome as Elijah's ravens--I thought of saying the -dinner-bell, only that would be too gross! I get impatient at the end -of the ten days which it takes for our letters to go to and fro; and I -have not the least faith in the necessity for keeping the sheet three -or four days before Mr. Bray can find time to write his meagre bit. If -you see the Miss Franklins, give my love to them; my remembrances to -Mr. and Mrs. Whittem; love to Miss Sibree always. Hearty love to -Clapton[27] and Woodford;[28] and a very diffusive benevolence to the -world in general, without any particular attachment to A or B. I am -trying to please Mr. Bray. Good-bye, dear souls. _Dominus vobiscum._ - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, Thursday, 4th Oct. 1849.] - -I am anxious for you to know my new address, as I shall leave here on -Tuesday. I think I have at last found the very thing. I shall be the -only lodger. The _appartement_ is _assez joli_, with an alcove, so -that it looks like a sitting-room in the daytime--the people, an -artist of great respectability, and his wife, a most kind-looking, -lady-like person, with two boys, who have the air of being well -educated. They seem very anxious to have me, and are ready to do -anything to accommodate me. I shall live with them--that is, dine with -them; breakfast in my own room. The terms are fr. 150 per month, light -included. M. and Mme. d'Albert are middle-aged, musical, and, I am -told, have _beaucoup d'esprit_. I hope this will not exceed my means -for four or five months. There is a nice, large _salon_ and a good -_salle ŕ manger_. I am told that their society is very good. Mme. de -Ludwigsdorff was about going there a year ago, and it was she who -recommended it to me. - -I hope Sara's fears are supererogatory--a proof of a too nervous -solicitude about me, for which I am grateful, though it does me no -good to hear of it. I want encouraging rather than warning and -checking. I believe I am so constituted that I shall never be cured of -my faults except by God's discipline. If human beings would but -believe it, they do me the most good by saying to me the kindest -things truth will permit; and really I cannot hope those will be -superlatively kind. The reason I wished to raise a little extra money -is that I wanted to have some lessons and other means of culture--not -for my daily bread, for which I hope I shall have enough; but, since -you think my scheme impracticable, we will dismiss it. _Au reste_, be -in no anxiety about me. Nothing is going wrong that I know of. I am -not an absolute fool and weakling. When I am fairly settled in my new -home I will write again. My address will be--M. d'Albert Durade, Rue -des Chanoines, No. 107. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Houghton, 4th Oct. 1849.] - -The blessed compensation there is in all things made your letter -doubly precious for having been waited for, and it would have inspired -me to write to you again much sooner, but that I have been in -uncertainty about settling myself for the winter, and I wished to send -you my future address. I am to move to my new home on Tuesday the 9th. -I shall not at all regret leaving here; the season is beginning to be -rather sombre, though the glorious chestnuts here are still worth -looking at half the day. You have heard of some of the people whom I -have described in my letters to Rosehill. The dear little old maid, -Mlle. de Phaisan, is quite a good friend to me--extremely prosy, and -full of tiny details; but really people of that calibre are a comfort -to one occasionally, when one has not strength enough for more -stimulating things. She is a sample of those happy souls who ask for -nothing but the work of the hour, however trivial; who are contented -to live without knowing whether they effect anything, but who do -really effect much good, simply by their calm and even _maintien_. I -laugh to hear her say in a tone of remonstrance--"Mme. de Ludwigsdorff -dit qu'elle s'ennuie quand les soirées sont longues: moi, je ne -conçois pas comment on peut s'ennuyer quand on a de l'ouvrage ou des -jeux ou de la conversation." When people who are dressing elegantly -and driving about to make calls every day of their life have been -telling me of their troubles--their utter hopelessness of ever finding -a vein worth working in their future life--my thoughts have turned -towards many whose sufferings are of a more tangible character, and I -have really felt all the old commonplaces about the equality of human -destinies, always excepting those spiritual differences which are -apart not only from poverty and riches, but from individual -affections. Dear Chrissey has found time and strength to write to me, -and very precious her letter was, though I wept over it. "Deep, -abiding grief must be mine," she says, and I know well it must be. The -mystery of trial! It falls with such avalanche weight on the head of -the meek and patient. I wish I could do something of more avail for my -friends than love them and long for their happiness. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 11th Oct. 1849.] - -M. and Mme. d'Albert are really clever people--people worth sitting up -an hour longer to talk to. This does not hinder madame from being an -excellent manager--dressing scrupulously, and keeping her servants in -order. She has hung my room with pictures, one of which is the most -beautiful group of flowers conceivable thrown on an open Bible, -painted by herself. I have a piano which I hire. There is also one in -the _salon_. M. d'Albert plays and sings, and in the winter he tells -me they have parties to sing masses and do other delightful things. In -fact, I think I am just in the right place. I breakfast in my own room -at half-past eight, lunch at half-past twelve, and dine at four or a -little after, and take tea at eight. From the tea-table I have gone -into the _salon_ and chatted until bedtime. It would really have been -a pity to have stayed at Plongeon, out of reach of everything, and -with people so little worth talking to. I have not found out the -_desagrémens_ here yet. It is raining horribly, but this just saves me -from the regret I should have felt at having quitted the chestnuts of -Plongeon. That _campagne_ looked splendid in its autumn dress. - - George Eliot retained so warm an admiration and love for M. - d'Albert Durade to the end of her life that it seems fitting - here to mention that he still lives, carrying well the weight - of eighty winters. He is _conservateur_ of the Athénée--a - permanent exhibition of works of art in Geneva; and he - published only last year (1883) a French translation of the - "Scenes of Clerical Life," having already previously - published translations of "Adam Bede," "Felix Holt," "Silas - Marner," and "Romola." The description of his personal - appearance, in the following letter, still holds good, save - that the gray hair has become quite white. He lost his wife - in 1873; and it will be seen from subsequent letters that - George Eliot kept up a faithful attachment to her to the - end. They were both friends after her own heart. The old - apartment is now No. 18, instead of No. 107, Rue des - Chanoines, and is occupied as the printing-office of the - _Journal de Genčve_. But half of the rooms remain just as - they were five-and-thirty years ago. The _salon_, wainscoted - in imitation light-oak panels, with a white China stove, and - her bedroom opening off it--as she had often described it to - me; and M. d'Albert has still in his possession the painting - of the bunch of beautiful flowers thrown on an open Bible - mentioned in the last letter. He told me that when Miss Evans - first came to look at the house she was so horrified with the - forbidding aspect of the stairs that she declared she would - not go up above the first floor; but when she got inside the - door she was reconciled to her new quarters. Calvin's house - is close to the Rue des Chanoines, and she was much - interested in it. It will be seen that she did some work in - physics under Professor de la Rive; but she principally - rested and enjoyed herself during the stay at Geneva. It was - exactly the kind of life she was in need of at the time, and - the letters show how much she appreciated it. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 26th Oct. 1849.] - -I languished for your letter before it came, and read it three times -running--judge whether I care less for you than of old. It is the best -of blessings to know that you are well and cheerful; and when I think -of all that might happen in a fortnight to make you otherwise, -especially in these days of cholera and crises, I cannot help being -anxious until I get a fresh assurance that at least five days ago all -was well. Before I say anything about myself, I must contradict your -suspicion that I paint things too agreeably for the sake of giving -you pleasure. I assure you my letters are subjectively true; the -falsehood, if there be any, is in my manner of seeing things. But I -will give you some _vérités positives_, in which, alas! poor -imagination has hitherto been able to do little for the world. Mme. -d'Albert anticipates all my wants, and makes a spoiled child of me. I -like these dear people better and better--everything is so in harmony -with one's moral feeling that I really can almost say I never enjoyed -a more complete _bien ętre_ in my life than during the last fortnight. -For M. d'Albert, I love him already as if he were father and brother -both. His face is rather haggard-looking, but all the lines and the -wavy gray hair indicate the temperament of the artist. I have not -heard a word or seen a gesture of his yet that was not perfectly in -harmony with an exquisite moral refinement--indeed, one feels a better -person always when he is present. He sings well, and plays on the -piano a little. It is delightful to hear him talk of his friends--he -admires them so genuinely--one sees so clearly that there is no reflex -egotism. His conversation is charming. I learn something every -dinner-time. Mme. d'Albert has less of genius and more of -cleverness--a really lady-like person, who says everything well. She -brings up her children admirably--two nice, intelligent boys;[29]--the -youngest, particularly, has a sort of Lamartine expression, with a -fine head. It is so delightful to get among people who exhibit no -meannesses, no worldlinesses, that one may well be enthusiastic. To me -it is so blessed to find any departure from the rule of giving as -little as possible for as much as possible. Their whole behavior to me -is as if I were a guest whom they delighted to honor. Last night we -had a little knot of their most intimate musical friends, and M. and -Mme. d'Albert introduced me to them as if they wished me to know -them--as if they wished me to like their friends and their friends to -like me. The people and the evening would have been just after your -own hearts. In fact, I have not the slightest pretext for being -discontented--not the shadow of a discomfort. Even the little -housemaid Jeanne is charming; says to me every morning, in the -prettiest voice: "Madame a-t-elle bien dormi cette nuit?"--puts fire -in my _chauffe-pied_ without being told--cleans my rooms most -conscientiously. There--I promise to weary you less for the future -with my descriptions. I could not resist the temptation to speak -gratefully of M. and Mme. d'Albert. - -Give my love to Mrs. Pears--my constant, ever-fresh remembrance. My -love to Miss Rebecca Franklin--tell her I have only spun my web to -Geneva; it will infallibly carry me back again across the gulf, were -it twice as great. If Mr. Froude preach the new word at Manchester, I -hope he will preach it so as to do without an after-explanation, and -not bewilder his hearers in the manner of Mephistopheles when he dons -the doctor's gown of Faust. I congratulate you on the new edition,[30] -and promise to read it with a disposition to admire when I am at -Rosehill once more. I am beginning to lose respect for the petty -acumen that sees difficulties. I love the souls that rush along to -their goal with a full stream of sentiment--that have too much of the -positive to be harassed by the perpetual negatives--which, after all, -are but the disease of the soul, to be expelled by fortifying the -principle of vitality. - -Good-bye, dear loves; sha'n't I kiss you when I am in England -again--in England! I already begin to think of the journey as an -impossibility. Geneva is so beautiful now, the trees have their -richest coloring. Coventry is a fool to it--but, then, you are at -Coventry, and you are better than lake, trees, and mountains. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 28th Oct. 1849.] - -We have had some delicious autumn days here. If the fine weather last, -I am going up the Salčve on Sunday with M. d'Albert. On one side I -shall have a magnificent view of the lake, the town, and the Jura; on -the other, the range of Mont Blanc. The walks about Geneva are -perfectly enchanting. "Ah!" says poor Mlle. de Phaisan, "nous avons un -beau pays si nous n'avions pas ces Radicaux!" The election of the -Conseil d'État is to take place in November, and an _émeute_ is -expected. The actual government is Radical, and thoroughly detested by -all the "respectable" classes. The vice-president of the Conseil and -the virtual head of the government is an unprincipled, clever fellow, -horribly in debt himself, and on the way to reduce the government to -the same position. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 28th Oct. 1849.] - -I like my town life vastly. I shall like it still better in the -winter. There is an indescribable charm to me in this form of human -nest-making. You enter a by no means attractive-looking house, you -climb up two or three flights of cold, dark-looking stone steps, you -ring at a very modest door, and you enter a set of rooms, snug, or -comfortable, or elegant. One is so out of reach of intruders, so -undiverted from one's occupations by externals, so free from cold, -rushing winds through hall doors--one feels in a downy nest high up -in a good old tree. I have always had a hankering after this sort of -life, and I find it was a true instinct of what would suit me. Just -opposite my windows is the street in which the Sisters of Charity -live, and, if I look out, I generally see either one of them or a -sober-looking ecclesiastic. Then a walk of five minutes takes me out -of all streets, within sight of beauties that I am sure you too would -love, if you did not share my enthusiasm for the town. I have not -another minute, having promised to go out before dinner--so, dearest, -take my letter as a hasty kiss, just to let you know how constantly I -love you--how, the longer I live and the more I have felt, the better -I know how to value you. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Charles Bray, 4th Dec. 1849.] - -I write at once to answer your questions about business. Spinoza and I -have been divorced for several months. My want of health has obliged -me to renounce all application. I take walks, play on the piano, read -Voltaire, talk to my friends, and just take a dose of mathematics -every day to prevent my brain from becoming quite soft. If you are -anxious to publish the translation in question I could, after a few -months, finish the "Tractatus Theologico-Politicus" to keep it -company; but I confess to you that I think you would do better to -abstain from printing a translation. What is wanted in English is not -a translation of Spinoza's works, but a true estimate of his life and -system. After one has rendered his Latin faithfully into English, one -feels that there is another yet more difficult process of translation -for the reader to effect, and that the only mode of making Spinoza -accessible to a larger number is to study his books, then shut them, -and give an analysis. For those who read the very words Spinoza wrote -there is the same sort of interest in his style as in the conversation -of a person of great capacity who has led a solitary life, and who -says from his own soul what all the world is saying by rote; but this -interest hardly belongs to a translation. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, 4th Dec. 1849.] - -Your letter is very sweet to me, giving me a picture of your quiet -life. How shall I enable you to imagine mine, since you know nothing -of the localities? My good friends here only change for the better. -Mme. d'Albert is all affection; M. d'Albert all delicacy and -intelligence; the friends to whom they have introduced me very kind in -their attentions. In fact, I want nothing but a little more money, to -feel more at ease about my fires, etc. I am in an atmosphere of love -and refinement; even the little servant Jeanne seems to love me, and -does me good every time she comes into the room. I can say anything to -M. and Mme. d'Albert. M. d'A. understands everything, and if madame -does not understand, she believes--that is, she seems always sure that -I mean something edifying. She kisses me like a mother, and I am baby -enough to find that a great addition to my happiness. _Au reste_, I am -careful for nothing; I am a sort of supernumerary spoon, and there -will be no damage to the set if I am lost. My heart-ties are not -loosened by distance--it is not in the nature of ties to be so; and -when I think of my loved ones as those to whom I can be a comforter, a -help, I long to be with them again. Otherwise, I can only think with a -shudder of returning to England. It looks to me like a land of gloom, -of _ennui_, of platitude; but in the midst of all this it is the land -of duty and affection, and the only ardent hope I have for my future -life is to have given to me some woman's duty--some possibility of -devoting myself where I may see a daily result of pure, calm -blessedness in the life of another. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 4th Dec. 1849.] - -How do you look? I hope that _bandeau_ of silvery locks is not -widening too fast on the head I love so well--that the eyes are as -bright as ever. Your letter tells me they will beam as kindly as ever -when I see them once more. Never make apologies about your letters, or -your words, or anything else. It is your soul to which I am wedded; -and do I not know too well how the soul is doubly belied--first, by -the impossibility of being in word and act as great, as loving, as -good as it wills to be; and again, by the miserable weaknesses of the -friends who see the words and acts through all sorts of mists raised -by their own passions and preoccupations? In all these matters I am -the chief of sinners, and I am tempted to rejoice in the offences of -my friends, because they make me feel less humiliation. I am quite -satisfied to be at Geneva instead of Paris; in fact, I am becoming -passionately attached to the mountains, the lake, the streets, my own -room, and, above all, the dear people with whom I live. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 23d Dec. 1849.] - -A thousand Christmas pleasures and blessings to you--good resolutions -and bright hopes for the New Year! Amen. People who can't be witty -exert themselves to be pious or affectionate. Henceforth I tell you -nothing whatever about myself; for if I speak of agreeables, and say I -am contented, Mr. Bray writes me word that you are all trying to -forget me. If I were to tell you of disagreeables and privations and -sadness, Sara would write: "If you are unhappy now, you will be so _ŕ -fortiori_ ten years hence." Now, since I have a decided objection to -doses sent by post which upset one's digestion for a fortnight, I am -determined to give you no pretext for sending them. You shall not know -whether I am well or ill, contented or discontented, warm or cold, -fat or thin. But remember that I am so far from being of the same mind -as Mr. Bray, that good news of you is necessary to my comfort. I walk -more briskly, and jump out of bed more promptly, after a letter that -tells me you are well and comfortable, that business is promising, -that men begin to speak well of you, etc. "I am comforted in your -comfort," as saith St. Paul to the troublesome Corinthians. When one -is cabined, cribbed, confined in one's self, it is good to be enlarged -in one's friends. Good Mr. Marshall! We wish to keep even unamiable -people when death calls for them, much more good souls like him. I am -glad he had had one more pleasant visit to Cara for her to think of. -Dear Sara's letter is very charming--not at all physicky--rather an -agreeable draught of _vin sucré_. Dear Mr. Hennell, we shall never -look upon his like. - -I am attending a course of lectures on Experimental Physics by M. le -Professeur de la Rive, the inventor, among other things, of -electroplating. The lectures occur every Wednesday and Saturday. It is -time for me to go. I am distressed to send you this shabby last -fragment of paper, and to write in such a hurry, but the days are -really only two hours long, and I have so many things to do that I go -to bed every night miserable because I have left out something I meant -to do. Good-bye, dear souls. Forget me if you like, you cannot oblige -me to forget you; and the active is worth twice of the passive all the -world over! The earth is covered with snow, and the government is -levelling the fortifications. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 28th Jan. 1850.] - -You leave me a long time without news of you, though I told you they -were necessary as a counteractive to the horrors of this terrible -winter. Are you really so occupied as to have absolutely no time to -think of me? I console myself, at least to-day, now we have a blue sky -once more after two months of mist, with thinking that I am excluded -by pleasanter ideas--that at least you are well and comfortable, and I -ought to content myself with that. The fact is, I am much of -Touchstone's mind--in respect my life is at Geneva, I like it very -well, but in respect it is not with you, it is a very vile life. I -have no yearnings to exchange lake and mountains for Bishop Street and -the Radford Fields, but I have a great yearning to kiss you all and -talk to you for three days running. I do not think it will be possible -for me to undertake the journey before the end of March. I look -forward to it with great dread. I see myself looking utterly -miserable, ready to leave all my luggage behind me at Paris for the -sake of escaping the trouble of it. We have had Alboni here--a very -fat siren. There has been some capital acting of comedies by friends -of M. d'Albert--one of them is superior to any professional actor of -comedy I have ever seen. He reads _vaudevilles_ so marvellously that -one seems to have a whole troupe of actors before one in his single -person. He is a handsome man of fifty, full of wit and talent, and he -married about a year ago. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Houghton, 9th Feb. 1850.] - -It is one of the provoking contrarieties of destiny that I should have -written my croaking letter when your own kind, consolatory one was on -its way to me. I have been happier ever since it came. After mourning -two or three months over Chrissey's account of your troubles, I can -only dwell on that part of your letter which tells that there is a -little more blue in your sky--that you have faith in the coming -spring. Shall you be as glad to see me as to hear the cuckoo? I mean -to return to England as soon as the Jura is passable without -sledges--probably the end of March or beginning of April. I have a -little _Heimweh_ "as it regards" my friends. I yearn to see those I -have loved the longest, but I shall feel real grief at parting from -the excellent people with whom I am living. I feel they are my -_friends_; without entering into or even knowing the greater part of -my views, they understand my character and have a real interest in me. -I have infinite tenderness from Mme. d'Albert. I call her always -"maman;" and she is just the creature one loves to lean on and be -petted by. In fact, I am too much indulged, and shall go back to -England as undisciplined as ever. This terribly severe winter has been -a drawback on my recovering my strength. I have lost whole weeks from -headache, etc., but I am certainly better now than when I came to Mme. -d'Albert. You tell me to give you these details, so I obey. Decidedly -England is the most comfortable country to be in in winter--at least, -for all except those who are rich enough to buy English comforts -everywhere. I hate myself for caring about carpets, easy-chairs, and -coal fires--one's soul is under a curse, and can preach no truth while -one is in bondage to the flesh in this way; but, alas! habit is the -purgatory in which we suffer for our past sins. I hear much music. We -have a reunion of musical friends every Monday. For the rest, I have -refused _soirées_, which are as stupid and unprofitable at Geneva as -in England. I save all more interesting details, that I may have them -to tell you when I am with you. I am going now to a _séance_ on -Experimental Physics by the celebrated Professor de la Rive. This -letter will at least convince you that I am not eaten up by wolves, as -they have been fearing at Rosehill. The English papers tell of wolves -descending from the Jura and devouring the inhabitants of the -villages, but we have been in happy ignorance of these editors' -horrors. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 15th Feb. 1850.] - -If you saw the Jura to-day! The snow reveals its forests, ravines, and -precipices, and it stands in relief against a pure blue sky. The snow -is on the mountains only, now, and one is tempted to walk all day, -particularly when one lies in bed till ten, as your exemplary friend -sometimes does. I have had no discipline, and shall return to you more -of a spoiled child than ever. Indeed, I think I am destined to be so -to the end--one of the odious swarm of voracious caterpillars soon to -be swept away from the earth by a tempest. I am getting better bodily. -I have much less headache, but the least excitement fatigues me. -Certainly, if one cannot have a malady to carry one off rapidly, the -only sensible thing is to get well and fat; and I believe I shall be -driven to that alternative. You know that George Sand writes for the -theatre? Her "François le Champi--une Comédie," is simplicity and -purity itself. The seven devils are cast out. We are going to have -more acting here on Wednesday. M. Chamel's talent makes maman's -_soirées_ quite brilliant. You will be amused to hear that I am -sitting for my portrait--at M. d'Albert's request, not mine. If it -turns out well, I shall long to steal it to give to you; but M. -d'Albert talks of painting a second, and in that case I shall -certainly beg one. The idea of making a study of my visage is droll -enough. I have the kindest possible letters from my brother and -sisters, promising me the warmest welcome. This helps to give me -courage for the journey; but the strongest magnet of all is a certain -little group of three persons whom I hope to find together at -Rosehill. Something has been said of M. d'Albert accompanying me to -Paris. I am saddened when I think of all the horrible anxieties of -trade. If I had children, I would make them carpenters and shoemakers; -that is the way to make them Messiahs and Jacob Boehms. As for us, who -are dependent on carpets and easy-chairs, we are reprobates, and shall -never enter into the kingdom of heaven. I go to the Genevese churches -every Sunday, and nourish my heterodoxy with orthodox sermons. -However, there are some clever men here in the Church, and I am -fortunate in being here at a time when the very cleverest is giving a -series of conferences. I think I have never told you that we have a -long German lad of seventeen in the house--the most taciturn and -awkward of lads. He said very naďvely, when I reproached him for not -talking to a German young lady at a _soirée_, when he was seated next -her at table--"Je ne savais que faire de mes jambes." They had placed -the poor _garçon_ against one of those card-tables--all legs, like -himself. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 1st March, 1850.] - -The weather is so glorious that I think I may set out on my journey -soon after the 15th. I am not quite certain yet that M. d'Albert will -not be able to accompany me to Paris; in any case, a package of so -little value will get along safely enough. I am so excited at the idea -of the time being so near when I am to leave Geneva--a real grief--and -see my friends in England--a perfectly overwhelming joy--that I can do -nothing. I am frightened to think what an idle wretch I am become. And -you all do not write me one word to tell me you long for me. I have a -great mind to elope to Constantinople, and never see any one any -more! - - It is with a feeling of regret that we take leave of the - pleasant town of Geneva, its lake and mountains, and its - agreeable little circle of acquaintance. It was a peacefully - happy episode in George Eliot's life, and one she was always - fond of recurring to, in our talk, up to the end of her life. - - -_SUMMARY._ - -JUNE, 1849, TO MARCH, 1850. - - Goes abroad with Mr. and Mrs. Bray--Geneva--Life at Campagne - Plongeon--Letters to Brays describing surroundings--Mrs. - Locke--The St. Germain family--Anxiety about her boxes with - books, etc.--Hears M. Meunier preach--Patriotism the first of - virtues--Mme. Cornelius--Mme. de Ludwigsdorff--"_Fęte_ of - Navigation" on the lake--Demand for letters--Prophetic - anticipation of position seven years later--Wishes to sell - some of her books and globes to get music lessons--Letter to - Mrs. Houghton--Loss of Mrs. Clarke's child--Love of Lake of - Geneva--Letters to Brays--Mme. Ludwigsdorff wishes her to - spend winter in Paris--Mlle. de Phaisan--Finds apartment in - Geneva, No. 107 Rue des Chanoines, with M. and Mme. - d'Albert--Enjoyment of their society--Remarks on translations - of Spinoza--Hope of a woman's duty--Attachment to - Geneva--Yearning for friends at home--Alboni--Private - theatricals--Portrait by M. d'Albert--Remarks on education of - children--Leaves Geneva by Jura. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[26] It may be noted as a curious verification of this presentiment -that "Scenes of Clerical Life" were published in 1856--just seven -years later. - -[27] Mrs. Hennell. - -[28] Mr. and Mrs. C. Hennell. - -[29] Mr. Charles Lewes tells me that when he went to stay with the -d'Alberts at Geneva, many years afterwards, they mentioned how much -they had been struck by her extraordinary discernment of the character -of these two boys. - -[30] "Philosophy of Necessity," by Charles Bray. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - - - M. d'Albert and his charge left Geneva towards the end of - March, and as the railway was not yet opened all the way to - France, they had to cross the Jura in sledges, and suffered - terribly from the cold. They joined the railway at Tonnerre, - and came through Paris, arriving in England on the 23d of - March. After a day in London, Miss Evans went straight to her - friends at Rosehill, where she stayed for a few days before - going on to Griff. It will have been seen that she had set - her hopes high on the delights of home-coming, and with her - too sensitive, impressionable nature, it is not difficult to - understand, without attributing blame to any one, that she - was pretty sure to be laying up disappointment for herself. - All who have had the experience of returning from a bright, - sunny climate to England in March will recognize in the next - letters the actual presence of the east wind, the leaden sky, - the gritty dust, and _le spleen_. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, end of Mch. 1850, from -Rosehill.] - -No; I am not in England--I am only nearer the beings I love best. I -try to forget all geography, and that I have placed myself -irretrievably out of reach of nature's brightest glories and beauties -to shiver in a wintry flat. I am unspeakably grateful to find these -dear creatures looking well and happy, in spite of worldly cares, but -your clear face and voice are wanting to me. But I must wait with -patience, and perhaps by the time I have finished my visits to my -relations you will be ready to come to Rosehill again. I want you to -scold me, and make me good. I am idle and naughty--_on ne peut -plus_--sinking into heathenish ignorance and woman's frivolity. -Remember, you are one of my guardian angels. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, beginning of April, 1850, from -Griff.] - -Will you send the enclosed note to Mrs. C. Hennell? I am not quite -sure about her direction, but I am anxious to thank her for her -kindness in inviting me. Will you also send me an account of Mr. -Chapman's prices for lodgers, and if you know anything of other -boarding-houses, etc., in London? Will you tell me what you can? I am -not asking you merely for the sake of giving you trouble. I am really -anxious to know. Oh, the dismal weather and the dismal country and the -dismal people. It was some envious demon that drove me across the -Jura. However, I am determined to sell everything I possess, except a -portmanteau and carpet-bag and the necessary contents, and be a -stranger and a foreigner on the earth for evermore. But I must see you -first; that is a yearning I still have in spite of disappointments. - - From Griff she went to stay with her sister, Mrs. Clarke, at - Meriden, whence she writes: - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, 24th April, 1850.] - -Have you any engagement for the week after next? If not, may I join -you on Saturday the 4th, and invite M. d'Albert to come down on the -following Monday? It appears he cannot stay in England longer than -until about the second week in May. I am uncomfortable at the idea of -burdening even your friendship with the entertainment of a person -purely for my sake. It is indeed the greatest of all the great -kindnesses you have shown me. Write me two or three kind words, dear -Cara. I have been so ill at ease ever since I have been in England -that I am quite discouraged. Dear Chrissey is generous and -sympathizing, and really cares for my happiness. - -[Illustration: Rosehill.] - - On the 4th of May Miss Evans went to Rosehill, and on the 7th - M. d'Albert joined the party for a three days' visit. The - strong affection existing between Mr. and Mrs. Bray and their - guest, and the more congenial intellectual atmosphere - surrounding them, led Miss Evans to make her home practically - at Rosehill for the next sixteen months. She stayed there - continuously till the 18th November, and, among other things, - wrote a review of Mackay's "Progress of the Intellect." In - October Mr. Mackay and Mr. Chapman, the editor of the - _Westminster Review_, came to stay at Rosehill, and there was - probably some talk then about her assisting in the editorial - work of the _Review_, but it was not until the following - spring that any definite understanding on this subject was - arrived at. Meantime the article on Mackay's "Progress of the - Intellect" came out in the January, 1851, number of the - _Westminster_. It contains the following remarkable passages: - -"Our civilization, and yet more, our religion, are an anomalous -blending of lifeless barbarisms, which have descended to us like so -many petrifactions from distant ages, with living ideas, the offspring -of a true process of development. We are in bondage to terms and -conceptions, which, having had their roots in conditions of thought no -longer existing, have ceased to possess any vitality, and are for us -as spells which have lost their virtue. The endeavor to spread -enlightened ideas is perpetually counteracted by these _idola -theatri_, which have allied themselves, on the one hand, with men's -better sentiments, and, on the other, with institutions in whose -defence are arrayed the passions and the interests of dominant -classes. Now, although the teaching of positive truth is the grand -means of expelling error, the process will be very much quickened if -the negative argument serve as its pioneer; if, by a survey of the -past, it can be shown how each age and each race has had a faith and a -symbolism suited to its need and its stage of development, and that -for succeeding ages to dream of retaining the spirit, along with the -forms, of the past, is as futile as the embalming of the dead body in -the hope that it may one day be resumed by the living soul.... It is -Mr. Mackay's faith that divine revelation is not contained exclusively -or pre-eminently in the facts and inspirations of any one age or -nation, but is coextensive with the history of human development, and -is perpetually unfolding itself to our widened experience and -investigation, as firmament upon firmament becomes visible to us in -proportion to the power and range of our exploring-instruments. The -master-key to this revelation is the recognition of the presence of -undeviating law in the material and moral world--of that invariability -of sequence which is acknowledged to be the basis of physical science, -but which is still perversely ignored in our social organization, our -ethics, and our religion. It is this invariability of sequence which -can alone give value to experience, and render education, in the true -sense, possible. The divine yea and nay, the seal of prohibition and -of sanction, are effectually impressed on human deeds and aspirations, -not by means of Greek and Hebrew, but by that inexorable law of -consequences whose evidence is confirmed instead of weakened as the -ages advance; and human duty is comprised in the earnest study of this -law and patient obedience to its teaching. While this belief sheds a -bright beam of promise on the future career of our race, it lights up -what once seemed the dreariest region of history with new interest; -every past phase of human development is part of that education of the -race in which we are sharing; every mistake, every absurdity, into -which poor human nature has fallen, may be looked on as an experiment -of which we may reap the benefit. A correct generalization gives -significance to the smallest detail, just as the great inductions of -geology demonstrate in every pebble the working of laws by which the -earth has become adapted for the habitation of man. In this view -religion and philosophy are not merely conciliated, they are -identical; or, rather, religion is the crown and consummation of -philosophy--the delicate corolla which can only spread out its petals -in all their symmetry and brilliance to the sun when root and branch -exhibit the conditions of a healthy and vigorous life." - - Miss Evans seems to have been in London from the beginning of - January till the end of March, 1851; and Mr. Chapman made - another fortnight's visit to Rosehill at the end of May and - beginning of June. It was during this period that, with Miss - Evans's assistance, the prospectus of the new series of the - _Westminster Review_ was determined on and put in shape. At - the end of July she went with Mrs. Bray to visit Mr. and Mrs. - Robert Noel, at Bishop Steignton, in Devonshire. Mrs. Bray - had some slight illness there, and Miss Evans writes: - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 5th Aug. 1851.] - -I am grieved indeed if anything might have been written, which has not -been written, to allay your anxiety about Cara. Her letter yesterday -explained what has been the matter. I knew her own handwriting would -be pleasanter to you than any other. I have been talking to her this -morning about the going to London or to Rosehill. She seems to prefer -London. A glance or two at the Exposition, she thinks, would do her no -harm. To-day we are all going to Teignmouth. She seems to like the -idea of sitting by the waves. The sun is shining gloriously, and all -things are tolerably promising. I am going to walk on before the rest -and have a bath. - - They went to London on the 13th of August, saw the Crystal - Palace, and returned to Rosehill on the 16th. At the end of - that month, Mr. George Combe (the distinguished phrenologist) - arrived on a visit, and he and Mrs. Combe became good friends - to Miss Evans, as will be seen from the subsequent - correspondence. They came on a second visit to Rosehill the - following month--Mr. Chapman being also in the house at the - same time--and at the end of September Miss Evans went to - stay with the Chapmans at No. 142 Strand, as a boarder, and - as assistant editor of the _Westminster Review_. A new period - now opens in George Eliot's life, and emphatically the most - important period, for now she is to be thrown in contact with - Mr. Lewes, who is to exercise so paramount an influence on - all her future, with Mr. Herbert Spencer, and with a number - of writers then representing the most fearless and advanced - thought of the day. Miss Frederica Bremer, the authoress, was - also boarding with the Chapmans at this time, as will be seen - from the following letters: - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, end of Sept. 1851.] - -Mr. Mackay has been very kind in coming and walking out with me, and -that is the only variety I have had. Last night, however, we had an -agreeable enough gathering. Foxton[31] came, who, you know, is -trying, with Carlyle and others, to get a chapel for Wilson at the -West End--in which he is to figure as a seceding clergyman. I enclose -you two notes from Empson (he is the editor of the _Edinburgh Review_) -as a guarantee that I have been trying to work. Again, I proposed to -write a review of Greg for the _Westminster_, not for money, but for -love of the subject as connected with the "Inquiry." Mr. Hickson -referred the matter to Slack again, and he writes that he shall not -have room for it, and that the subject will not suit on this occasion, -so you see I am obliged to be idle, and I like it best. I hope Mr. -Bray is coming soon to tell me everything about you. I think I shall -cry for joy to see him. But do send me a little note on Monday -morning. Mrs. Follen called the other day, in extreme horror at Miss -Martineau's book. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mr. Bray, end of Sept. 1851.] - -Dr. Brabant returned to Bath yesterday. He very politely took me to -the Crystal Palace, the theatre, and the Overland Route. On Friday we -had Foxton, Wilson, and some other nice people, among others a Mr. -Herbert Spencer, who has just brought out a large work on "Social -Statics," which Lewes pronounces the best book he has seen on the -subject. You must see the book, if possible. Mr. Chapman is going to -send you Miss Martineau's work, or rather Mr. Atkinson's,[32] which -you must review in the _Herald_. Whatever else one may think of the -book, it is certainly the boldest I have seen in the English language. -I get nothing done here, there are so many _distractions_--moreover, I -have hardly been well a day since I came. I wish I were rich enough -to go to the coast, and have some plunges in the sea to brace me. -Nevertheless do not suppose that I don't enjoy being here. I like -seeing the new people, etc., and I am afraid I shall think the country -rather dull after it. I am in a hurry to-day. I must have two hours' -work before dinner, so imagine everything I have not said, or, rather, -reflect that this scrap is quite as much as you deserve after being so -slow to write to me. - - The reference, in the above letter, to Mr. Lewes must not be - taken as indicating personal acquaintance yet. It is only a - quotation of some opinion heard or read. Mr. Lewes had - already secured for himself a wide reputation in the literary - world by his "Biographical History of Philosophy," his two - novels, "Ranthorpe," and "Rose, Blanche, and Violet"--all of - which had been published five or six years before--and his - voluminous contributions to the periodical literature of the - day. He was also, at this time, the literary editor of the - _Leader_ newspaper, so that any criticism of his would carry - weight, and be talked about. Much has already been written - about his extraordinary versatility, the variety of his - literary productions, his social charms, his talent as a - _raconteur_, and his dramatic faculty; and it will now be - interesting, for those who did not know him personally, to - learn the deeper side of his character, which will be seen, - in its development, in the following pages. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mr. Bray, end of Sept. 1851.] - -I don't know how long Miss Bremer will stay, but you need not wish to -see her. She is to me equally unprepossessing to eye and ear. I never -saw a person of her years who appealed less to my purely instinctive -veneration. I have to reflect every time I look at her that she is -really Frederica Bremer. - -Fox is to write the article on the Suffrage, and we are going to try -Carlyle for the Peerage, Ward refusing, on the ground that he thinks -the improvement of the physical condition of the people so -all-important that he must give all his energies to that. He says, -"Life is a bad business, but we must make the best of it;" to which -philosophy I say Amen. Dr. Hodgson is gone, and all the fun with him. - -I was introduced to Lewes the other day in Jeff's shop--a sort of -miniature Mirabeau in appearance.[33] - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 2d Oct. (?) 1851.] - -Professor Forbes is to write us a capital scientific article, whereat -I rejoice greatly. The Peerage apparently will not "get itself done," -as Carlyle says. It is not an urgent question, nor does one see that, -if the undue influence of the Peers on the elections for the Commons -were done away with, there would be much mischief from the House of -Lords remaining for some time longer _in statu quo_. I have been -reading Carlyle's "Life of Sterling" with great pleasure--not for its -presentation of Sterling, but of Carlyle. There are racy bits of -description in his best manner, and exquisite touches of feeling. -Little rapid characterizations of living men too--of Francis Newman, -for example--"a man of fine university and other attainments, of the -sharpest cutting and most restlessly advancing intellect, and of the -mildest pious enthusiasm." There is an inimitable description of -Coleridge and his eternal monologue--"To sit as a passive bucket and -be pumped into, whether one like it or not, can in the end be -exhilarating to no creature." - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 15th Oct. 1851.] - -All the world is doing its _devoir_ to the great little authoress -(Miss Bremer). I went to the exhibition on Saturday to hear the final -"God save the Queen" and the three times three--"C'ętait un beau -moment." Mr. Greg thought the review "well done, and in a kindly -spirit," but thought there was not much in it--dreadfully true, since -there was only all his book. I think he did not like the apology for -his want of theological learning, which, however, was just the thing -most needed, for the _Eclectic_ trips him up on that score. Carlyle -was very amusing the other morning to Mr. Chapman about the -Exhibition. He has no patience with the prince and "that Cole" -assembling Sawneys from all parts of the land, till you can't get -along Piccadilly. He has been worn to death with bores all summer, who -present themselves by twos and threes in his study, saying, "Here we -are," etc., etc. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 19th Oct. 1851.] - -I wish you could see Miss Bremer's albums, full of portraits, flowers, -and landscapes, all done by herself. A portrait of Emerson, -marvellously like; one of Jenny Lind, etc. Last night we had quite a -charming _soirée_--Sir David Brewster and his daughter; Mackay, author -of a work on popular education you may remember to have seen reviewed -in the _Leader_; the Ellises, the Hodgsons, and half a dozen other -nice people. Miss Bremer was more genial than I have seen her--played -on the piano, and smiled benevolently. Altogether, I am beginning to -repent of my repugnance. Mackay approves our prospectus _in toto_. He -is a handsome, fine-headed man, and a "good opinion." We are getting -out a circular to accompany the prospectus. I have been kept -down-stairs by Mr. Mackay for the last two hours, and am hurried, but -it was a necessity to write _ein paar Worte_ to you. Mr. Mackay has -written an account of his book for the catalogue. I have been using my -powers of eloquence and flattery this morning to make him begin an -article on the "Development of Protestantism." Mr. Ellis was -agreeable--really witty. He and Mrs. Ellis particularly cordial to me, -inviting me to visit them without ceremony. I love you all better -every day, and better the more I see of other people. I am going to -one of the Birkbeck schools. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 3rd Nov. 1851.] - -I must tell you a story Miss Bremer got from Emerson. Carlyle was very -angry with him for not believing in a devil, and to convert him took -him amongst all the horrors of London--the gin-shops, etc.--and -finally to the House of Commons, plying him at every turn with the -question, "Do you believe in a devil noo?" There is a severe attack on -Carlyle's "Life of Sterling" in yesterday's _Times_--unfair as an -account of the book, but with some truth in its general remarks about -Carlyle. There is an article, evidently by James Martineau, in the -_Prospective_, which you must read, "On the Unity of the Logical and -Intuitive in the Ultimate Grounds of Religious Belief." I am reading -with great amusement (!) J. H. Newman's "Lectures on the Position of -Catholics." They are full of clever satire and description. My table -is groaning with books, and I have done very little with them yet, but -I trust in my star, which has hitherto helped me, to do all I have -engaged to do. Pray remember to send the MS. translation of -Schleiermacher's little book, and also the book itself. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 15th Nov. 1851.] - -When Mr. Noel had finished his farewell visit to-day, Mr. Flower was -announced, so my morning has run away in chat. Time wears, and I don't -get on so fast as I ought, but I must scribble a word or two, else -you will make my silence an excuse for writing me no word of -yourselves. I am afraid Mr. Noel and Mr. Bray have given you a poor -report of me. The last two days I have been a little better, but I -hardly think existing arrangements can last beyond this quarter. Mr. -Noel says Miss L. is to visit you at Christmas. I hope that is a -mistake, as it would deprive me of my hoped-for rest amongst you. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, Monday, 23d Nov. 1851.] - -On Saturday afternoon came Mr. Spencer to ask Mr. Chapman and me to go -to the theatre; so I ended the day in a godless manner, seeing the -"Merry Wives of Windsor." You must read Carlyle's denunciation of the -opera, published in the _Keepsake_! The _Examiner_ quotes it at -length. I send you the enclosed from Harriet Martineau. Please to -return it. The one from Carlyle you may keep till I come. He is a -naughty fellow to write in the _Keepsake_, and not for us, after I -wrote him the most insinuating letter, offering him three glorious -subjects. Yesterday we went to Mr. Mackay's, Dr. Brabant being there. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Charles Bray, 27th Nov. 1851.] - -Carlyle called the other day, strongly recommending Browning, the -poet, as a writer for the _Review_, and saying, "We shall see," about -himself. In other respects we have been stagnating since Monday, and -now I must work, work, work, which I have scarcely done two days -consecutively since I have been here. Lewes says his article on "Julia -von Krüdener"[34] will be glorious. He sat in the same box with us at -the "Merry Wives of Windsor," and helped to carry off the dolorousness -of the play. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, Tuesday, 22d Dec. 1851.] - -Alas! the work is so heavy just for the next three days, all the -revises being yet to come in, and the proof of my own article;[35] and -Mr. Chapman is so overwhelmed with matters of detail, that he has -earnestly requested me to stay till Saturday, and I cannot refuse, but -it is a deep disappointment to me. My heart will yearn after you all. -It is the first Christmas Day I shall have passed without any -Christmas feeling. On Saturday, if you will have me, nothing shall -keep me here any longer. I am writing at a high table, on a low seat, -in a great hurry. Don't you think my style is editorial? - - Accordingly, on Saturday, the 29th December, 1851, she did go - down to Rosehill, and stayed there till 12th January, when - she returned to London, and writes: - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, 12th Jan. 1852.] - -I had a comfortable journey all alone, except from Weedon to -Blisworth. When I saw a coated animal getting into my carriage, I -thought of all horrible stories of madmen in railways; but his white -neckcloth and thin, mincing voice soon convinced me that he was one of -those exceedingly tame animals, the clergy. - -A kind welcome and a good dinner--that is the whole of my history at -present. I am in anything but company trim, or spirits. I can do -nothing in return for all your kindness, dear Cara, but love you, as I -do most heartily. You and all yours, for their own sake first, but if -it were not so, for yours. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 21st Jan. 1852.] - -Harriet Martineau called on Monday morning with Mr. Atkinson. Very -kind and cordial. I honor her for her powers and industry, and should -be glad to think highly of her. I have no doubt that she is -fascinating when there is time for talk. We have had two agreeable -_soirées_. Last Monday I was talking and listening for two hours to -Pierre Leroux--a dreamy genius. He was expounding to me his ideas. He -belongs neither to the school of Proudhon, which represents Liberty -only--nor to that of Louis Blanc, which represents Equality only--nor -to that of Cabet, which represents Fraternity. Pierre Leroux's system -is the _synthčse_ which combines all three. He has found the true -_pont_ which is to unite the love of self with love of one's neighbor. -He is, you know, a very voluminous writer. George Sand has dedicated -some of her books to him. He dilated on his views of the "Origin of -Christianity." Strauss deficient, because he has not shown the -_identity of the teaching of Jesus with that of the Essenes_. This is -Leroux's favorite idea. I told him of your brother. He, moreover, -traces Essenism back to Egypt, and thence to India--the cradle of all -religions, etc., etc., with much more, which he uttered with an -unction rather amusing in a _soirée tęte-ŕ-tęte_. "Est ce que nous -sommes faits pour chercher le bonheur? Est ce lŕ votre idée--dites -moi." "Mais non--nous sommes faits, je pense, pour nous développer le -plus possible." "Ah! c'est ça." He is in utter poverty, going to -lecture--_autrement il faut mourir_. Has a wife and children with him. -He came to London in his early days, when he was twenty-five, to find -work as a printer. All the world was in mourning for the Princess -Charlotte. "Et moi, je me trouvais avoir _un habit vert-pomme_." So he -got no work; went back to Paris; by hook or by crook founded the -_Globe_ journal; knew St. Simon; disagrees with him entirely, as with -all other theorists except Pierre Leroux. - -We are trying Mazzini to write on "Freedom _v._ Despotism," and have -received an admirable article on "The New Puritanism,"[36] _i.e._, -"Physical Puritanism," from Dr. Browne, the chemist of Edinburgh, -which, I think, will go in the next number. - -I am in a miserable state of languor and low spirits, in which -everything is a trouble to me. I must tell you a bit of Louis Blanc's -English, which Mr. Spencer was reciting the other night. The _petit -homme_ called on some one, and said, "I come to tell you how you are. -I was at you the other day, but you were not." - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 2d Feb. 1852.] - -We went to quite a gay party at Mrs. Mackay's on Saturday. Good Mr. -Mackay has been taking trouble to get me to Hastings for my -health--calling on Miss Fellowes, daughter of the "Religion of the -Universe," and inducing her to write me a note of invitation. Sara -will be heartily welcome. Unfortunately, I had an invitation to the -Parkes's, to meet Cobden, on Saturday evening. I was sorry to miss -that. Miss Parkes[37] is a dear, ardent, honest creature; and I hope -we shall be good friends. I have nothing else to tell you. I am -steeped in dulness within and without. Heaven send some lions to-night -to meet Fox, who is coming. An advertisement we found in the _Times_ -to-day--"To gentlemen. A _converted_ medical man, of gentlemanly -habits and fond of Scriptural conversation, wishes to meet with a -gentleman of Calvinistic views, thirsty after truth, in want of a -daily companion. A little temporal aid will be expected in return. -Address, Verax!" - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, 8th Feb. 1852.] - -We are going to Mr. Ellis's, at Champion Hill, to-morrow evening. I am -better now. Have rid myself of all distasteful work, and am trying to -love the glorious destination of humanity, looking before and after. -We shall be glad to have Sara. - - Miss Sara Hennell arrived on a visit to the Strand next - day--the 9th February--and stayed till the 17th. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mr. Bray, 16th Feb. 1852.] - -I have not merely had a headache--I have been really ill, and feel -very much shattered. We (Miss Evans and Miss Sara Hennell) dined -yesterday at Mrs. Peter Taylor's,[38] at Sydenham. I was not fit to -go, especially to make my _début_ at a strange place; but the country -air was a temptation. The thick of the work is just beginning, and I -am bound in honor not to run away from it, as I have shirked all labor -but what is strictly editorial this quarter. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, 20th Feb. 1852.] - -We went to the meeting of the Association for the Abolition of the -Taxes on Knowledge on Wednesday, that I might hear Cobden, in whom I -was wofully disappointed. George Dawson's speech was admirable. I -think it undesirable to fix on a London residence at present, as I -want to go to Brighton for a month or two next quarter. I am seriously -concerned at my languid body, and feel the necessity of taking some -measures to get vigor. Lewes inquired for Sara last Monday, in a tone -of interest. He was charmed with her, as who would not be that has any -taste? Do write to me, dear Cara; I want comforting: this world looks -ugly just now; all people rather worse than I have been used to think -them. Put me in love with my kind again, by giving me a glimpse of -your own inward self, since I cannot see the outer one. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Peter Taylor, 6th Mch. 1852.] - -I can sympathize with you in your troubles, having been a housekeeper -myself, and known disappointment in trusted servants. Ah, well! we -have a good share of the benefits of our civilization, it is but fair -that we should feel some of the burden of its imperfections. - -Thank you a thousand times for wishing to see me again. I should -really like to see you in your own nice, fresh, healthy-looking home -again; but until the end of March I fear I shall be a prisoner, from -the necessity for constant work. Still, it is possible that I may have -a day, though I am quite unable to say when. - -You will be still more surprised at the notice of the _Westminster_ in -_The People_, when you know that Maccoll himself wrote it. I have not -seen it, but had been told of its ill-nature. However, he is too good -a man to write otherwise than sincerely; and our opinion of a book -often depends on the state of the liver! - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, 25th Mch. 1852.] - -I had two offers last night--not of marriage, but of music--which I -find it impossible to resist. Mr. Herbert Spencer proposed to take me -on Thursday to hear "William Tell," and Miss Parkes asked me to go -with her to hear the "Creation" on Friday. I have had so little music -this quarter, and these two things are so exactly what I should like, -that I have determined to put off, for the sake of them, my other -pleasure of seeing you. So, pray, keep your precious welcome warm for -me until Saturday, when I shall positively set off by the two o'clock -train. Harriet Martineau has written me a most cordial invitation to -go to see her before July, but that is impossible. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Peter Taylor, 27th Mch. 1852.] - -I am grieved to find that you have to pay for that fine temperament -of yours in attacks of neuralgia. Your silence did not surprise me, -after the account you had given me of your domestic circumstances, but -I have wished for you on Monday evenings. Your cordial assurance that -you shall be glad to see me sometimes is one of those pleasant -things--those life-preservers--which relenting destiny sends me now -and then to buoy me up. For you must know that I am not a little -desponding now and then, and think that old friends will die off, -while I shall be left without the power to make new ones. You know how -sad one feels when a great procession has swept by one, and the last -notes of its music have died away, leaving one alone with the fields -and sky. I feel so about life sometimes. It is a help to read such a -life as Margaret Fuller's. How inexpressibly touching that passage -from her journal--"I shall always reign through the intellect, but the -life! the life! O my God! shall that never be sweet?" I am thankful, -as if for myself, that it was sweet at last. But I am running on about -feelings when I ought to tell you facts. I am going on Wednesday to my -friends in Warwickshire for about ten days or a fortnight. When I come -back, I hope you will be quite strong and able to receive visitors -without effort--Mr. Taylor too. - -I _did_ go to the _conversazione_; but you have less to regret than -you think. Mazzini's speeches are better read than heard. Proofs are -come, demanding my immediate attention, so I must end this hasty -scribble. - - On the 3d April Miss Evans went to Rosehill, and stayed till - the 14th. On her return she writes: - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mr. Bray, 17th April, 1852.] - -There was an article on the bookselling affair in the _Times_ of -yesterday, which must be the knell of the Association. Dickens is to -preside at a meeting in this house on the subject some day next week. -The opinions on the various articles in the _Review_ are, as before, -ridiculously various. The _Economist_ calls the article on Quakerism -"admirably written." Greg says the article on India is "very -masterly;" while he calls Mazzini's "sad stuff--mere verbiage." - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 21st April, 1852.] - -If there is any change in my affection for you it is that I love you -more than ever, not less. I have as perfect a friendship for you as my -imperfect nature can feel--a friendship in which deep respect and -admiration are sweetened by a sort of flesh-and-blood sisterly feeling -and the happy consciousness that I have your affection, however -undeservedly, in return. I have confidence that this friendship can -never be shaken; that it must last while I last, and that the -supposition of its ever being weakened by a momentary irritation is -too contemptibly absurd for me to take the trouble to deny it. As to -your whole conduct to me, from the first day I knew you, it has been -so generous and sympathetic that, if I did not heartily love you, I -should feel deep gratitude--but love excludes gratitude. It is -impossible that I should ever love two women better than I love you -and Cara. Indeed, it seems to me that I can never love any so well; -and it is certain that I can never have any friend--not even a -husband--who would supply the loss of those associations with the past -which belong to you. Do believe in my love for you, and that it will -remain as long as I have my senses, because it is interwoven with my -best nature, and is dependent, not on any accidents of manner, but on -long experience, which has confirmed the instinctive attraction of -earlier days. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 22d April, 1852.] - -Our fortunes here are, as usual, checkered-- - - "Twist ye, twine ye, even so - Mingle human weal and woe." - -Grote is very friendly, and has propitiated J. S. Mill, who will write -for us when we want him. We had quite a brilliant _soirée_ yesterday -evening. W. R. Greg, Forster (of Rawdon), Francis Newman, the Ellises, -and Louis Blanc, were the stars of greatest magnitude. I had a -pleasant talk with Greg and Forster. Greg was "much pleased to have -made my acquaintance." Forster, on the whole, appeared to think that -people should be glad to make _his_ acquaintance. Greg is a short man, -but his brain is large, the anterior lobe very fine, and a moral -region to correspond. Black, wiry, curly hair, and every indication of -a first-rate temperament. We have some very nice Americans here--the -Pughs--friends of the Parkes's, really refined, intellectual people. -Miss Pugh, an elderly lady, is a great abolitionist, and was one of -the Women's Convention that came to England in 1840, and was not -allowed to join the Men's Convention. But I suppose we shall soon be -able to say, _nous avons changé tout cela_. - -I went to the opera on Saturday--"I Martiri," at Covent Garden--with -my "excellent friend, Herbert Spencer," as Lewes calls him. We have -agreed that we are not in love with each other, and that there is no -reason why we should not have as much of each other's society as we -like. He is a good, delightful creature, and I always feel better for -being with him. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 2d May, 1852.] - -I like to remind you of me on Sunday morning, when you look at the -flowers and listen to music; so I send a few lines, though I have not -much time to spare to-day. After Tuesday I will write you a longer -letter, and tell you all about everything. I am going to the opera -to-night to hear the "Huguenots." See what a fine thing it is to pick -up people who are short-sighted enough to like one. - - On the 4th of May a meeting, consisting chiefly of authors, - was held at the house in the Strand, for the purpose of - hastening the removal of the trade restrictions on the - Commerce of Literature, and it is thus described in the - following letter: - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 5th May, 1852.] - -The meeting last night went off triumphantly, and I saluted Mr. -Chapman with "See the Conquering Hero Comes" on the piano at 12 -o'clock; for not until then was the last magnate, except Herbert -Spencer, out of the house. I sat at the door for a short time, but -soon got a chair within it, and heard and saw everything. - -Dickens in the chair--a position he fills remarkably well, preserving -a courteous neutrality of eyebrows, and speaking with clearness and -decision. His appearance is certainly disappointing--no benevolence in -the face, and, I think, little in the head; the anterior lobe not by -any means remarkable. In fact, he is not distinguished-looking in any -way--neither handsome nor ugly, neither fat nor thin, neither tall nor -short. Babbage moved the first resolution--a bad speaker, but a great -authority. Charles Knight is a beautiful, elderly man, with a modest -but firm enunciation; and he made a wise and telling speech which -silenced one or two vulgar, ignorant booksellers who had got into the -meeting by mistake. One of these began by complimenting -Dickens--"views held by such worthy and important gentlemen, _which is -your worthy person in the chair_." Dickens looked respectfully -neutral. The most telling speech of the evening was Prof. Tom -Taylor's--as witty and brilliant as one of George Dawson's. Prof. -Owen's, too, was remarkably good. He had a resolution to move as to -the bad effect of the trade restrictions on scientific works, and gave -his own experience in illustration. Speaking of the slow and small -sale of scientific books of a high class, he said, in his silvery, -bland way--alluding to the boast that the retail booksellers -_recommended_ the works of less known authors--"for which limited sale -we are doubtless indebted to the kind recommendation of our friends, -the retail booksellers"--whereupon these worthies, taking it for a -_bonâ fide_ compliment, cheered enthusiastically. Dr. Lankester, Prof. -Newman, Robert Bell, and others, spoke well. Owen has a tremendous -head, and looked, as he was, the greatest celebrity of the meeting. -George Cruikshank, too, made a capital speech, in an admirable moral -spirit. He is the most homely, genuine-looking man; not unlike the -pictures of Captain Cuttle. - -I went to hear the "Huguenots" on Saturday evening. It was a rich -treat. Mario and Grisi and Formes, and that finest of orchestras under -Costa. I am going to a concert to-night. This is all very fine, but, -in the meantime, I am getting as haggard as an old witch under London -atmosphere and influences. I shall be glad to have sent me my -Shakespeare, Goethe, Byron, and Wordsworth, if you will be so good as -to take the trouble of packing them. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, Monday, 12th(?) May, 1852.] - -My days have slipped away in a most mysterious fashion -lately--chiefly, I suppose, in long walks and long talks. Our Monday -evenings are dying off--not universally regretted--but we are -expecting one or two people to-night. I have nothing to tell except -that I went to the opera on Thursday, and heard "La Juive," and, -moreover, fell in love with Prince Albert, who was unusually animated -and prominent. He has a noble, genial, intelligent expression, and is -altogether a man to be proud of. I am going next Thursday to see Grisi -in "Norma." She is quite beautiful this season, thinner than she was, -and really younger looking. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 27th May, 1852.] - -My brightest spot, next to my love of _old_ friends, is the -deliciously calm, _new_ friendship that Herbert Spencer gives me. We -see each other every day, and have delightful _camaraderie_ in -everything. But for him my life would be desolate enough. What a -wretched lot of old, shrivelled creatures we shall be by and by. Never -mind, the uglier we get in the eyes of others the lovelier we shall be -to each other; that has always been my firm faith about friendship, -and now it is in a slight degree my experience. Mme. d'Albert has sent -me the sweetest letter, just like herself; and I feel grateful to have -such a heart remembering and loving me on the other side of the Jura. -They are very well and flourishing. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, Wednesday, 2d June, 1852.] - -I am bothered to death with article-reading and scrap-work of all -sorts: it is clear my poor head will never produce anything under -these circumstances; _but I am patient_. I am ashamed to tease you so, -but I must beg of you to send me George Sand's works; and also I shall -be grateful if you will lend me--what I think you have--an English -edition of "Corinne," and Miss Austen's "Sense and Sensibility." -Harriet Martineau's article on "Niebuhr" will not go in the July -number. I am sorry for it; it is admirable. After all, she is a -_trump_--the only Englishwoman that possesses thoroughly the art of -writing. - -On Thursday morning I went to St. Paul's to see the charity children -assembled, and hear their singing. Berlioz says it is the finest thing -he has heard in England; and this opinion of his induced me to go. I -was not disappointed; it is worth doing once, especially as we got out -before the sermon. I had a long call from George Combe yesterday. He -says he thinks the _Westminster_, under _my_ management, the most -important means of enlightenment of a literary nature in existence; -the _Edinburgh_, under Jeffrey, nothing to it, etc.!!! I wish _I_ -thought so too. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 21st June, 1852.] - -Your joint assurance of welcome strengthens the centripetal force that -would carry me to you; but, on the other hand, sundry considerations -are in favor of the centrifugal force, which, I suppose, will carry me -to Broadstairs or Ramsgate. On the whole, I prefer to keep my visit to -you as a _bonne-bouche_, when I am just in the best physical and -mental state for enjoying it. I hope to get away on Saturday, or on -Wednesday at the latest. I think the third number of the _Review_ will -be capital; thoroughly readable, and yet not frothy. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Charles Bray, 23d June, 1852.] - -I have assured Herbert Spencer that you will think it a sufficiently -formal answer to the invitation you sent him through Mr. Lewes, if I -tell you that he will prefer waiting for the pleasure of a visit to -you until I am with you--if you will have him then. I spent the -evening at Mr. Parkes's on Monday. Yesterday Herbert Spencer brought -his father to see me--a large-brained, highly informed man, with a -certain quaintness and simplicity, altogether very pleasing. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 25th June, (?) 1852.] - -After all, I begin to hope that our next number will be the best yet. -Forbes is good; Froude ditto; and James Martineau, if I may judge from -a glance at a few of his pages, admirable. Lewes has written us an -agreeable article on "Lady Novelists." There is a mysterious -contribution to the independent section. We are hoping that an -article on "Edinburgh Literary Men," yet to come, will be very good. -If not, we shall put in "Niebuhr;" it is capital. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, end of June, 1852.] - -The opera, Chiswick Flower Show, the French play, and the Lyceum, all -in one week, brought their natural consequences of headache and -hysterics--all yesterday. At five o'clock I felt quite sure that life -was unendurable. This morning, however, the weather and I are both -better, having cried ourselves out and used up all our clouds; and I -can even contemplate living six months longer. Was there ever anything -more dreary than this June? - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, Friday morning, 2d July, -1852.] - -I am busy packing to-day, and am going to Mr. Parkes's to dinner. Miss -Parkes has introduced me to Barbara Smith,[39] whose expression I like -exceedingly, and hope to know more of her. I go to Broadstairs on -Saturday. I am sadly in want of the change, and would much rather -present myself to you all when I can do you more credit as a friend. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, 4th July, 1852.] - -I warn you against Ramsgate, which is a strip of London come out for -an airing. Broadstairs is perfect; and I have the snuggest little -lodging conceivable, with a motherly good woman and a nice little -damsel of fourteen to wait on me. There are only my two rooms in this -cottage, but lodgings are plentiful in the place. I have a -sitting-room about eight feet by nine, and a bedroom a little larger; -yet in that small space there is almost every comfort. I pay a guinea -a week for my rooms, so I shall not ruin myself by staying a month, -unless I commit excesses in coffee and sugar. I am thinking whether it -would not be wise to retire from the world and live here for the rest -of my days. With some fresh paper on the walls, and an easy-chair, I -think I could resign myself. Come and tell me your opinion. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 16th July, 1852.] - -I thought of you last night, when I was in a state of mingled rapture -and torture--rapture at the sight of a glorious evening sky, torture -at the sight and hearing of the belaboring given to the poor donkey -which was drawing me from Ramsgate home. - -I had a note from Miss Florence Nightingale yesterday. I was much -pleased with her. There is a loftiness of mind about her which is well -expressed by her form and manner. Glad you are pleased with the -_Westminster_. I do think it a rich number--matter for a fortnight's -reading and thought. Lewes has not half done it justice in the -_Leader_. To my mind the "Niebuhr" article is as good as any of them. -If you could see me in my quiet nook! I am half ashamed of being in -such clover, both spiritually and materially, while some of my friends -are on the dusty highways, without a tuft of grass or a flower to -cheer them. A letter from you will be delightful. We seem to have said -very little to each other lately. But I always know--rejoice to -know--that there is the same Sara for me as there is the same green -earth and arched sky, when I am good and wise enough to like the best -thing. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Charles Bray, 21st July, 1852.] - -Do not be anxious about me--there is no cause. I am profiting, body -and mind, from quiet walks and talks with nature, gathering "lady's -bedstraw" and "rest-harrow," and other pretty things; picking up -shells (not in the Newtonian sense, but literally); reading Aristotle, -to find out what is the chief good; and eating mutton-chops, that I -may have strength to pursue it. If you insist on my writing about -"emotions," why, I must get some up expressly for the purpose. But I -must own I would rather not, for it is the grand wish and object of my -life to get rid of them as far as possible, seeing they have already -had more than their share of my nervous energy. I shall not be in town -on the 2d of August--at least, I pray Heaven to forbid it. - - Mrs. Bray paid a visit to Broadstairs from the 3d to the 12th - August, and the next letter is addressed to her. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, Thursday, 14th (?) Aug. 1852.] - -Are you really the better for having been here? Since you left I have -been continually regretting that I could not make your visit -pleasanter. I was irritable and out of sorts; but you have an -apparatus for secreting happiness--that's it. Providence, seeing that -I wanted weaning from this place, has sent a swarm of harvest-bugs and -lady-birds. These, with the half-blank, half-dissipated feeling which -comes on after having companions and losing them, make me think of -returning to London on Saturday week with more resignation than I have -felt before. I am very well and "plucky"--a word which I propose to -substitute for happy, as more truthful. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Peter Taylor, 19th Aug. 1852.] - -For the last two months I have been at this pretty, quiet place, which -"David Copperfield" has made classic, far away from London noise and -smoke. - -I am sorry now that I brought with me Fox's "Lectures," which I had -not managed to read before I left town. But I shall return thither at -the end of next week, and I will at once forward the volume to Gary -Lane. - -One sees no novels less than a year old at the sea-side, so I am -unacquainted with the "Blithedale Romance," except through the -reviews, which have whetted my curiosity more than usual. Hawthorne -is a grand favorite of mine, and I shall be sorry if he do not go on -surpassing himself. It is sad to hear of your only going out to -consult a physician. Illness seems to me the one woe for which there -is no comfort--no compensation. But perhaps you find it otherwise, for -you have a less rebellious spirit than I, and suffering seems to make -you look all the more gentle. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Houghton, 22d Aug. 1852.] - -Thinking of you this morning--as I often do, though you may not -suppose so--it was "borne in on my mind" that I must write to you, and -I obey the inspiration without waiting to consider whether there may -be a corresponding desire on your part to hear from me. I live in a -world of cares and joys so remote from the one in which we used to -sympathize with each other that I find positive communication with you -difficult. But I am not unfaithful to old loves--they were sincere, -and they are lasting. I hope you will not think it too much trouble to -write me a little news of yourself. I want very much to know if your -health continues good, and if there has been any change in your -circumstances, that I may have something like a true conception of -you. All is well with me so far as my individuality is concerned, but -I have plenty of friends' troubles to sorrow over. I hope you have -none to add to the number. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 20th Aug. 1852.] - -I celebrated my return to London by the usual observance--that is to -say, a violent headache, which is not yet gone, and of course I am in -the worst spirits, and my opinion of things is not worth a straw. I -tell you this that you may know why I only send you this scrap instead -of the long letter which I have _in petto_ for you, and which would -otherwise have been written yesterday. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 2d Sept. 1852.] - -Somehow my letters--except those which come under the inexorable -imperative _must_ (the "ought" I manage well enough to shirk)--will -not get written. The fact is, I am in a croaking mood, and I am -waiting and waiting for it to pass by, so if my pen croaks in spite of -my resolutions to the contrary, please to take no notice of it. Ever -since I came back I have felt something like the madness which -imagines that the four walls are contracting and going to crush one. -Harriet Martineau (in a private letter shown to me), with -incomprehensible ignorance, jeers at Lewes for introducing -_psychology_ as a science in his Comte papers. Why, Comte himself -holds psychology to be a necessary link in the chain of science. Lewes -only suggests a change in its relations. There is a great, dreary -article on the Colonies by my side, asking for reading and abridgment, -so I cannot go on scribbling--indeed, my hands are so hot and -tremulous this morning that it will be better for you if I leave off. -Your little loving notes are very precious to me; but I say nothing -about matters of feeling till my good genius has returned from his -excursions; the evil one has possession just now. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, 11th Sept. 1852.] - -The week has really yielded nothing worth telling you. I am a few -degrees more wizened and muddle-headed; and the articles for the -_Review_ are, on the whole, unsatisfactory. I fear a discerning public -will think this number a sad falling-off. This is the greater pity, -that said public is patronizing us well at present. Scarcely a day -passes that some one does not write to order the _Review_, as a -permanent subscriber. You may as well expect news from an old spider -or bat as from me. I can only tell you what I think of the "Blithedale -Romance," of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," and the American Fishery -Dispute--all which, I am very sure, you don't want to know. Do have -pity on me, and make a little variety in my life, by all sending me a -scrap--never mind if it be only six lines apiece. Perhaps something -will befall me one day or other. As it is, nothing happens to me but -the ringing of the dinner-bell and the arrival of a proof. I have no -courage to walk out. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Charles Bray, 18th Sept. 1852.] - -Lewes called on me the other day and told me of a conversation with -Professor Owen, in which the latter declared his conviction that the -cerebrum was not the organ of the mind, but the cerebellum rather. He -founds on the enormous comparative size of brain in the grampus! The -professor has a huge anterior lobe of his own. What would George Combe -say if I were to tell him? But every great man has his paradox, and -that of the first anatomist in Europe ought to be a startling one. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, Saturday, Sept. 1852.] - -We shall make a respectable figure after all--nine articles, and two -or three of them good, the rest not bad. The _Review_ has been selling -well lately, in spite of its being the end of the quarter. We have -made splendid provision for January--Froude, Harriet Martineau, -Theodore Parker, Samuel Brown, etc., etc. The autumnal freshness of -the mornings makes me dream of mellowing woods and gossamer threads. I -am really longing for my journey. Bessie Parkes spent last evening -with me, chatting of experience. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 2d Oct. 1852.] - -Pity me--I have had the headache for four days incessantly. But now I -am well, and even the Strand seems an elysium by contrast. I set off -on Tuesday for Edinburgh by express. This is awfully expensive, but it -seems the only way of reaching there alive with my frail body. I have -had the kindest notes from the Combes and from Harriet Martineau. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 7th Oct. 1852.] - -Here I am in this beautiful Auld Reekie once more--hardly recognizing -myself for the same person as the _damozel_ who left it by the coach -with a heavy heart some six years ago. The Combes are all kindness, -and I am in clover--an elegant house, glorious fires, and a -comfortable carriage--in short, just in the circumstances to nourish -sleek optimism, convince one that this is _le meilleur des mondes -possibles_, and make one shudder at the impiety of all who doubt it. -Last evening Mr. Robert Cox came to tea, to be introduced to me as my -_cicerone_ through the lions of Edinburgh. The talk last night was -pleasant enough, though, of course, all the interlocutors besides Mr. -Combe have little to do but shape elegant modes of negation and -affirmation, like the people who are talked to by Socrates in Plato's -dialogues--"Certainly," "that I firmly believe," etc. I have a -beautiful view from my room window--masses of wood, distant hills, the -Firth, and four splendid buildings, clotted far apart--not an ugly -object to be seen. When I look out in the morning, it is as if I had -waked up in Utopia or Icaria, or one of Owen's parallelograms. The -weather is perfect--all the more delightful to me for its northern -sharpness, which is just what I wanted to brace me. I have been out -walking and driving all day, and have only time before dinner to send -this _paar Worte_, but I may have still less time to-morrow. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 12th Oct. 1852.] - -Between the beauty of the weather and the scenery, and the kindness of -good people, I am tipsy with pleasure. But I shall tell you nothing of -what I see and do, because that would be taking off some of the edge -from your pleasure in seeing me. One's dear friend who has nothing at -all to tell one is a bore. Is it not so, honor bright? I enjoy talking -to Mr. Combe; he can tell me many things, especially about men in -America and elsewhere, which are valuable; and, besides, I sometimes -manage to get in more than a negative or affirmative. He and Mrs. -Combe are really affectionate to me, and the mild warmth of their -regard, with the perfect order and elegance of everything about me, -are just the soothing influence to do me good. They urge me to stay -longer, but I shall adhere to my original determination of going to -Miss Martineau's on the 20th, and I do not _mean_ to stay with her -longer than the 25th. We are going to-day to Craigcrook (Jeffrey's -place), a beautiful spot, which old October has mellowed into his -richest tints. Such a view of Edinburgh from it! - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 12th Oct. 1852.] - -Those who know the article on Whewell to be Mill's, generally think it -good, but I confess to me it is unsatisfactory. The sun _does_ shine -here, albeit this is the 12th October. I wish you could see the view -from Salisbury Crag. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 19th Oct. 1852.] - -Yes, he is an apostle. An apostle, it is true, with a back and front -drawing-room, but still earnest, convinced, consistent, having fought -a good fight, and now peacefully enjoying the retrospect of it. I -shall leave these good friends with regret, almost with repentings, -that I did not determine to pay them a longer visit. I have had a -pleasant note from Miss Martineau this morning, with a vignette of her -house--I suppose to make me like all the better the idea of going -there. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, Thursday night, 22d Oct. 1852.] - -The coach brought me to Miss Martineau's gate at half-past six -yesterday evening, and she was there, with a beaming face, to welcome -me. Mr. Atkinson joined us this morning, and is a very agreeable -addition. There has been an intelligent gentleman visitor to-day, who -is interested in Miss Martineau's building society; and we have been -trudging about, looking at cottages and enjoying the sight of the -mountains, spite of the rain and mist. The weather is not promising, -that is the worst of it. Miss M. is charming in her own home--quite -handsome from her animation and intelligence. She came behind me, put -her hands round me, and kissed me in the prettiest way this evening, -telling me she was so glad she had got me here. I send you her note -that you may have an idea of "The Knoll." - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 24th Oct. 1852.] - -We had a fine day yesterday, and went to Borrowdale. I have not been -well since I have been here. Still I manage to enjoy, certainly not -myself, but my companions and the scenery. I shall set off from here -on Tuesday morning, and shall be due at the Coventry station, I -believe, at 5.50. - - After a pleasant ten days' visit to Rosehill, Miss Evans - returned to London on the 3d November. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 6th Nov. 1852.] - -To get into a first-class carriage, fall asleep, and awake to find -one's self where one would be, is almost as good as having Prince -Hussein's carpet. This was my easy way of getting to London on -Thursday. By 5 o'clock I had unpacked my boxes and made my room tidy, -and then I began to feel some satisfaction in being settled down where -I am of most use just now. After dinner came Herbert Spencer, and -spent the evening. Yesterday morning Mr. Greg called on his way to -Paris, to express his regret that he did not see me at Ambleside. He -is very pleasing, but somehow or other he frightens me dreadfully. I -am going to plunge into Thackeray's novel now ("Esmond"). - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, Saturday, Nov. (?) 1852.] - -Oh, this hideous fog! Let me grumble, for I have had headache the last -three days, and there seems little prospect of anything else in such -an atmosphere. I am ready to vow that I will not live in the Strand -again after Christmas. If I were not choked by the fog, the time would -trot pleasantly withal, but of what use are brains and friends when -one lives in a light such as might be got in the chimney? "Esmond" is -the most uncomfortable book you can imagine. You remember how you -disliked "François le Champi." Well, the story of "Esmond" is just the -same. The hero is in love with the daughter all through the book, and -marries the mother at the end. You should read the debates on the -opening of Parliament in the _Times_. Lord Brougham, the greatest of -English orators, perpetrates the most delicious _non sequitur_ I have -seen for a long time. "My Lords, I believe that any disturbance of the -repose of the world is very remote, _because it is our undeniable -right and an unquestionable duty_ to be prepared with the means of -defence, should such an event occur." These be thy gods, O Israel! - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, Monday, 20th Nov. 1852.] - -I perceive your reading of the golden rule is "Do as you are done by;" -and I shall be wiser than to expect a letter from you another Monday -morning, when I have not earned it by my Saturday's billet. The fact -is, both callers and work thicken--the former sadly interfering with -the latter. I will just tell you how it was last Saturday, and that -will give you an idea of my days. My task was to read an article of -Greg's in the _North British_ on "Taxation," a heap of newspaper -articles, and all that J. S. Mill says on the same subject. When I had -got some way into this _magnum mare_, in comes Mr. Chapman, with a -thick German volume. "Will you read enough of this to give me your -opinion of it?" Then of course I must have a walk after lunch, and -when I had sat down again, thinking that I had two clear hours before -dinner, rap at the door--Mr. Lewes, who, of course, sits talking till -the second bell rings. After dinner another visitor, and so behold me, -at 11 P.M., still very far at sea on the subject of Taxation, but too -tired to keep my eyes open. We had Bryant the poet last evening--a -pleasant, quiet, elderly man. Do you know of this second sample of -plagiarism by D'Israeli, detected by the _Morning Chronicle_?[40] It -is worth sending for its cool impudence. Write me some news about -trade, at all events. I could tolerate even Louis Napoleon, if somehow -or other he could have a favorable influence on the Coventry trade. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 4th Dec. 1852.] - -Another week almost "with the years beyond the flood." What has it -brought you? To me it has brought articles to read--for the most part -satisfactory--new callers, and letters to nibble at my time, and a -meeting of the Association for the Abolition of Taxes on Knowledge. I -am invited to go to the Leigh Smiths on Monday evening to meet Mr. -Robert Noel. Herbert Spencer is invited, too, because Mr. Noel wants -especially to see him. Barbara Smith speaks of Mr. R. Noel as their -"dear German friend." So the Budget is come out, and I am to pay -income-tax. All very right, of course. An enlightened personage like -me has no "ignorant impatience of taxation." I am glad to hear of the -Lectures to Young Men and the banquet of the Laborers' Friend Society. -"Be not weary in well-doing." Thanks to Sara for her letter. She must -not mind paying the income-tax; it is a right principle that Dizzy is -going upon; and with her great conscientiousness she ought to enjoy -being flayed on a right principle. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 10th Dec. 1852.] - -I am not well--all out of sorts--and what do you think I am minded to -do? Take a return ticket, and set off by the train to-morrow 12 -o'clock, have a talk with you and a blow over the hill, and come back -relieved on Monday. I the rather indulge myself in this, because I -think I shall not be able to be with you until some time after -Christmas. Pray forgive me for not sending you word before. I have -only just made up my mind. - - This visit to Rosehill lasted only from the 11th to 13th - December, and the following short note is the next - communication: - -[Sidenote: Letter to Charles Bray, 19th (?) Dec. 1852.] - -I am very wretched to-day on many accounts, and am only able to write -you two or three lines. I have heard this morning that Mr. Clarke is -dangerously ill. Poor Chrissey and her children. Thank you for your -kind letter. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Charles Bray, 21st Dec. 1852.] - -I dare say you will have heard, before you receive this, that Edward -Clarke is dead. I am to go to the funeral, which will take place on -Friday. I am debating with myself as to what I ought to do now for -poor Chrissey, but I must wait until I have been on the spot and seen -my brother. If you hear no more from me, I shall trust to your -goodness to give me a bed on Thursday night. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, Christmas Day, 25th Dec. 1852, from -Meriden.] - -Your love and goodness are a comforting presence to me everywhere, -whether I am ninety or only nine miles away from you. Chrissey bears -her trouble much better than I expected. We hope that an advantageous -arrangement may be made about the practice; and there is a -considerable sum in debts to be collected. I shall return to town on -Wednesday. It would have been a comfort to see you again before going -back, but there are many reasons for not doing so. I am satisfied now -that my duties do not lie _here_, though the dear creatures here will -be a constant motive for work and economy. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 31st Dec. 1852.] - -I arrived here only yesterday. I had agreed with Chrissey that, all -things considered, it was wiser for me to return to town; that I could -do her no substantial good by staying another week, while I should be -losing time as to other matters. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 7th Jan. 1853.] - -I am out of spirits about the _Review_. I should be glad to run away -from it altogether. But one thing is clear, that it would be a great -deal worse if I were not here. This is the only thought that consoles -me. We are thinking of sending Chrissey's eldest boy to Australia. A -patient of his father's has offered to place him under suitable -protection at Adelaide, and I strongly recommend Chrissey to accept -her offer--that is, if she will let it be available a year hence; so I -have bought Sidney's book on Australia, and am going to send it to -Chrissey, to enlighten her about matters there, and accustom her mind -to the subject. You are "jolly," I dare say, as good people have a -right to be. Tell me as much of your happiness as you can, that I may -rejoice in your joy, having none of my own. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, Jan. 1853.] - -I begin to feel for other people's wants and sorrows a little more -than I used to do. Heaven help us! said the old religion; the new one, -from its very lack of that faith, will teach us all the more to help -one another. Tell Sara she is as good as a group of spice-islands to -me; she wafts the pleasantest influences, even from a distance. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 10th Jan. 1853.] - -Pray do not lay the sins of the article on the "Atomic Theory" to poor -Lewes's charge. How you could take it for his I cannot conceive. It is -as remote from his style, both of thinking and writing, as anything -can be. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 18th Jan. 1853.] - -This week has yielded nothing to me but a crop of very large -headaches. The pain has gone from my head at last, but I am feeling -very much shattered, and find it easier to cry than to do anything -else. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Peter Taylor, 1st Feb. 1853.] - -My complaint, of which I am now happily rid, was rheumatism in the -right arm; a sufficient reason, you will see, for my employing a -scribe to write that promise which I now fulfil. I am going into the -country, perhaps for a fortnight, so that, if you are kind enough to -come here on Wednesday evening, I shall not have the pleasure of -seeing you. All the more reason for writing to you, in spite of cold -feet and the vilest pens in the world. - -Francis Newman is likely to come once or twice in the season; not -more. He has, of course, a multitude of engagements, and many more -attractive ones than a _soirée_ in the Strand. - -Never mention me to him in the character of editress. I think--at -least, I am told--that he has no high estimate of woman's powers and -functions. But let that pass. He is a very pure, noble being, and it -is good only to look at such. - -The article on "Slavery," in the last number of the -_Westminster_--which I think the best article of them all--is by W. E. -Forster, a Yorkshire manufacturer, who married Dr. Arnold's daughter. -He is a very earnest, independent thinker, and worth a gross of -literary hacks who have the "trick" of writing. - -I hope you are interested in the Slavery question, and in America -generally--that cradle of the future. I used resolutely to turn away -from American politics, and declare that the United States was the -last region of the world I should care to visit. Even now I almost -loathe the _common_ American type of character. But I am converted to -a profound interest in the history, the laws, the social and religious -phases of North America, and long for some knowledge of them. - -Is it not cheering to think of the youthfulness of this little planet, -and the immensely greater youthfulness of our race upon it? to think -that the higher moral tendencies of human nature are yet only in their -germ? I feel this more thoroughly when I think of that great western -continent, with its infant cities, its huge, uncleared forests, and -its unamalgamated races. - -I dare say you have guessed that the article on "Ireland" is Harriet -Martineau's. Herbert Spencer did _not_ contribute to the last number. - -_Ŕ propos_ of articles, do you see the _Prospective Review_? There is -an admirable critique of Kingsley's "Phaethon" in it, by James -Martineau. But perhaps you may not be as much in love with Kingsley's -genius, and as much "riled" by his faults, as I am. - -Of course you have read "Ruth" by this time. Its style was a great -refreshment to me, from its finish and fulness. How women have the -courage to write, and publishers the spirit to buy, at a high price, -the false and feeble representations of life and character that most -feminine novels give, is a constant marvel to me. "Ruth," with all its -merits, will not be an enduring or classical fiction--will it? Mrs. -Gaskell seems to me to be constantly misled by a love of sharp -contrasts--of "dramatic" effects. She is not contented with the -subdued coloring, the half-tints, of real life. Hence she agitates one -for the moment, but she does not secure one's lasting sympathy; her -scenes and characters do not become typical. But how pretty and -graphic are the touches of description! That little attic in the -minister's house, for example, which, with its pure white dimity -bed-curtains, its bright-green walls, and the rich brown of its -stained floor, remind one of a snowdrop springing out of the soil. -Then the rich humor of Sally, and the sly satire in the description of -Mr. Bradshaw. Mrs. Gaskell has, certainly, a charming mind, and one -cannot help loving her as one reads her books. - -A notable book just come out is Wharton's "Summary of the Laws -relating to Women." "Enfranchisement of women" only makes creeping -progress; and that is best, for woman does not yet deserve a much -better lot than man gives her. - -I am writing to you the last thing, and am so tired that I am not -quite sure whether I finish my sentences. But your divining power will -supply their deficiencies. - - The first half of February was spent in visits to the Brays - and to Mrs. Clarke, at Attleboro, and on returning to London - Miss Evans writes: - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, 15th Feb. 1853.] - -I am only just returned to a sense of the real world about me, for I -have been reading "Villette," a still more wonderful book than "Jane -Eyre." There is something almost preternatural in its power. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 19th Feb. 1853.] - -Mrs. Follen showed me a delightful letter which she has had from Mrs. -Stowe, telling all about herself. She begins by saying: "I am a little -bit of a woman, rather more than forty, as withered and dry as a pinch -of snuff; never very well worth looking at in my best days, and now a -decidedly used-up article." The whole letter is most fascinating, and -makes one love her. - -"Villette," "Villette"--have you read it? - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 25th Feb. 1853.] - -We had an agreeable evening on Wednesday--a Mr. Huxley being the -centre of interest. Since then I have been headachy and in a perpetual -rage over an article that gives me no end of trouble, and will not be -satisfactory after all. I should like to stick red-hot skewers through -the writer, whose style is as sprawling as his handwriting. For the -rest, I am in excellent spirits, though not in the best health or -temper. I am in for loads of work next quarter, but I shall not tell -you what I am going to do. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 19th Mch. 1853.] - -I have been ready to tear my hair with disappointment about the next -number of the _Review_. In short, I am a miserable editor. I think I -shall never have the energy to move--it seems to be of so little -consequence where I am or what I do. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 28th Mch. 1853.] - -On Saturday I was correcting proofs literally from morning till night; -yesterday ditto. The _Review_ will be better than I once feared, but -not so good as I once hoped. I suppose the weather has chilled your -charity as well as mine. I am very hard and Mephistophelian just now, -but I lay it all to this second winter. We had a pleasant evening last -Wednesday. Lewes, as always, genial and amusing. He has quite won my -liking, in spite of myself. Of course, Mr. Bray highly approves the -recommendation of the Commissioners on _Divorce_. I have been to -Blandford Square (Leigh Smith's) to an evening party this week. Dined -at Mr. Parkes's on Sunday, and am invited to go there again to-night -to meet the Smiths. Lewes was describing Currer Bell to me yesterday -as a little, plain, provincial, sickly looking old maid. Yet what -passion, what fire in her! Quite as much as in George Sand, only the -clothing is less voluptuous. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 11th April, 1853.] - -What do you think of my going to Australia with Chrissey and all her -family?--to settle them, and then come back. I am just going to write -to her, and suggest the idea. One wants _something_ to keep up one's -faith in happiness--a ray or two for one's friends, if not for one's -self. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, 16th April, 1853.] - -We had an agreeable _soirée_ last Wednesday. I fell in love with Helen -Faucit. She is the most poetic woman I have seen for a long time; -there is the ineffable charm of a fine character which makes itself -felt in her face, voice, and manner. I am taking doses of agreeable -follies, as you recommend. Last night I went to the French theatre, -and to-night I am going to the opera to hear "William Tell." People -are very good to me. Mr. Lewes, especially, is kind and attentive, and -has quite won my regard, after having had a good deal of my -vituperation. Like a few other people in the world, he is much better -than he seems. A man of heart and conscience, wearing a mask of -flippancy. When the warm days come, and the bearskin is under the -acacia, you must have me again. - - 6th May.--Went to Rosehill and returned on 23d to Strand. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, 17th June, 1853.] - -On Wednesday I dined at Sir James Clark's, where the Combes are -staying, and had a very pleasant evening. The Combes have taken -lodgings in Oxford Terrace, where I mean to go. It is better than the -Strand--trees waving before the windows, and no noise of omnibuses. -Last Saturday evening I had quite a new pleasure. We went to see -Rachel again, and sat on the stage between the scenes. When the -curtain fell we walked about and saw the green-room, and all the -dingy, dusty paraphernalia that make up theatrical splendor. I have -not yet seen the "Vashti" of Currer Bell in Rachel, though there was -some approach to it in Adrienne Lecouvreur. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 28th June, 1853.] - -On Saturday we will go to Ockley, near Dorking, where are staying Miss -Julia Smith, Barbara Smith, and Bessie Parkes. I shall write to the -Ockley party to-day and tell them of the probability that they will -see you. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, 3d Aug. 1853, from St. Leonards.] - -I never felt the delight of the thorough change that the coast gives -one so much as now, and I shall be longing to be off with you again in -October. I am on a delightful hill looking over the heads of the -houses, and having a vast expanse of sea and sky for my only view. The -bright weather and genial air--so different from what I have had for a -year before--make me feel as happy and stupid as a well-conditioned -cow. I sit looking at the sea and the sleepy ships with a purely -animal _bien ętre_. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mr. Bray, 9th Aug. 1853.] - -It would have been a satisfaction to your benevolence to see me -sitting on the beach laughing at the _Herald's_ many jokes, and -sympathizing with your indignation against Judge Maule. It always -helps me to be happy when I know that you are so; but I do not choose -to vindicate myself against doubts of that, because it is unworthy of -you to entertain them. I am going on as well as possible -physically--really getting stout. I should like to have a good laugh -with you immensely. How nice it would be to meet you and Cara on the -beach this evening, and instead of sending you such a miserable -interpreter of one's feelings as a letter, give you the look and the -hand of warm affection! This British Channel really looks as blue as -the Mediterranean to-day. What weather! - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 18th Aug. 1853.] - -For the first time in my experience I am positively revelling in the -_Prospective_. James Martineau transcends himself in beauty of imagery -in the article on Sir William Hamilton, but I have not finished him -yet. Yesterday it rained _sans_ intermission, and of course I said -_cui bono?_ and found my troubles almost more than I could bear; but -to-day the sun shines, and there is blue above and blue below, -consequently I find life very glorious, and myself a particularly -fortunate _diavolessa_. The landlord of my lodgings is a German, comes -from Saxe-Weimar, knows well the Duchess of Orleans, and talked to me -this morning of _Mr._ Schiller and _Mr._ Goethe. _Ŕ propos_ of Goethe, -there is a most true, discriminating passage about him in the article -on Shakespeare in the _Prospective_. _Mr._ Goethe is one of my -companions here, and I had felt some days before reading the passage -the truth which it expresses. - - Subjoined is the passage from the _Prospective Review_ of - August, 1853: - - "Goethe's works are too much in the nature of literary - studies; the mind is often deeply impressed by them, but one - doubts if the author was. He saw them as he saw the houses of - Weimar and the plants in the act of metamorphosis. He had a - clear perception of their fixed condition and their - successive transitions, but he did not really (at least so it - seems to us) comprehend their motive power. In a word, he - appreciated their life but not their liveliness.... And we - trace this not to a defect in imaginative power--a defect - which it would be a simple absurdity to impute to Goethe--but - to the tone of his character and the habits of his mind. He - moved hither and thither through life, but he was always a - man apart. He mixed with unnumbered kinds of men, with courts - and academies, students and women, camps and artists, but - everywhere he was with them, yet not of them. In every scene - he was there, and he made it clear that he was there with a - reserve and as a stranger. He went there _to experience_. As - a man of universal culture, and well skilled in the order - and classification of human life, the fact of any one class - or order being beyond his reach or comprehension seemed an - absurdity; and it was an absurdity. He thought that he was - equal to moving in any description of society, and he was - equal to it; but then, on that account, he was absorbed in - none." - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 19th Sept. 1853.] - -As for me, I am in the best health and spirits. I have had a letter -from Mr. Combe to-day, urging me to go to Edinburgh, but I have made -an engagement with Mr. Chapman to do work which will oblige me to -remain in London. Mrs. P. is a very bonny, pleasant-looking woman, -with a smart drawing-room and liberal opinions--in short, such a -friend as self-interest, well understood, would induce one to -cultivate. I find it difficult to meet with any lodgings at once -tolerable and cheap. My theory is to _live_ entirely--that is, pay -rent and find food--out of my positive income, and then work for as -large a surplus as I can get. The next number of the _Review_ will be -better than usual. Froude writes on the "Book of Job"! He at first -talked of an article on the three great _subjective_ poems--Job, -Faust, and Hamlet--an admirable subject--but it has shrunk to the Book -of Job alone. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 1st Oct. 1853.] - -I have been busied about my lodgings all afternoon. I am not going to -Albion Street, but to 21 Cambridge Street, Hyde Park Square. I hope -you will be pleased with our present number. If you don't think the -"Universal Postulate" first-rate, I shall renounce you as a critic. -Why don't you write grumbling letters to me when you are out of humor -with life, instead of making me ashamed of myself for ever having -grumbled to you? I have been a more good-for-nothing correspondent -than usual lately; this affair of getting lodgings, added to my other -matters, has taken up my time and thoughts. I have promised to do some -work to-night and to-morrow for a person[41] who is rather more idle -than myself, so I have not a moment to spare. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 22d Oct. 1853.] - -I am reading "The Religion of the Heart" (Leigh Hunt's), and am far -more pleased with it than I expected to be. I have just fallen on two -passages with which you will agree. "Parker ... is full of the poetry -of religion; Martineau equally so, with a closer style and incessant -eloquence of expression, perhaps a perilous superabundance of it as -regards the claims of matter over manner; and his assumptions of -perfection in the character of Jesus are so reiterated and peremptory -that in a man of less evident heart and goodness they might almost -look like a very unction of insincerity or of policy, of doubt forcing -itself to seem undoubting. Hennell's 'Christian Theism' is one long, -beautiful discourse proclaiming the great Bible of Creation, and -reconciling Pagan and Christian Philosophy." - -Good Sir James Clark stopped me in the Park yesterday, as I was -sauntering along with eyes on the clouds, and made very fatherly -inquiries about me, urging me to spend a quiet evening with him and -Lady Clark next week--which I will certainly do; for they are two -capital people, without any snobbery. I like my lodgings--the -housekeeper cooks charming little dinners for me, and I have not one -disagreeable to complain of at present, save such as are inseparable -from a ground-floor. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mr. Bray, 29th Oct. 1853.] - -Last night I saw the first fine specimen of a man in the shape of a -clergyman that I ever met with--Dawes, the Dean of Hereford. He is the -man who has been making the experiment of mingling the middle and -lower classes in schools. He has a face so intelligent and benignant -that children might grow good by looking at it. Harriet Martineau -called yesterday. She is going to her brother's at Birmingham soon. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 3d Nov. 1853.] - -Mr. Lewes was at Cambridge about a fortnight ago, and found that -Herbert Spencer was a great deal talked of there for the article on -the "Universal Postulate," as well as other things. Mr. Lewes himself -has a knot of devotees there who make his "History of Philosophy" a -private text-book. Miss Martineau's "Comte" is out now. Do you mean to -_do_ it? or Mr. Lewes's? We can get no one to write an article on -Comte for the next number of the _Westminster_--Bain, our last hope, -refusing. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mr. Bray, 5th Nov. 1853.] - -I think you would find some capital extracts for the _Herald_ -(Coventry), in the article on "Church Parties" in the _Edinburgh_. The -_Record_ is attempting a reply to it, in which it talks of the -truculent infidelity of _Voltaire_ AND _Robespierre_! Has A. sent you -his book on the Sabbath? If ever I write a book I will make a present -of it to nobody; it is the surest way of taking off the edge of -appetite for it, if no more. I am as well as possible; and certainly, -when I put my head into the house in the Strand, I feel that I have -gained, or, rather, escaped, a great deal physically by my change. -Have you known the misery of writing with a _tired_ steel pen, which -is reluctant to make a mark? If so, you will know why I leave off. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Houghton, 7th Nov. 1853.] - -Chrissey has just sent me a letter, which tells that you have been -suffering severely, and that you are yet very ill. I must satisfy my -own feelings by telling you that I grieve at this, though it will do -you little good to know it. Still, when _I_ am suffering, I do care -for sympathy, and perhaps you are of the same mind. If so, think of me -as your loving sister, who remembers all your kindness to her, all the -pleasant hours she has had with you, and every little particular of -her intercourse with you, however long and far she may have been -removed from you. Dear Fanny, I can never be indifferent to your -happiness or sorrow, and in this present sad affliction my thoughts -and love are with you. I shall tease you with no words about myself -_now_--perhaps by and by it will amuse you to have a longer letter. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mr. Bray, 8th Nov. 1853.] - -Hitherto I have been spending Ł9 per month--at least after that -rate--but I have had frequent guests. I am exceedingly comfortable, -and feel quite at home now. Harriet Martineau has been very -kind--called again on Tuesday, and yesterday sent to invite me to go -to Lady Compton's, where she is staying, on Saturday evening. This, -too, in spite of my having vexed her by introducing Mr. Lewes to her, -which I did as a desirable bit of peacemaking. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 22d Nov. 1853 (thirty-fourth -birthday).] - -I begin this year more happily than I have done most years of my life. -"Notre vraie destinée," says Comte, "se compose de _resignation_ et -_d'activité_"--and I seem more disposed to both than I have ever been -before. Let us hope that we shall both get stronger by the year's -activity--calmer by its resignation. I know it may be just the -contrary--don't suspect me of being a canting optimist. We _may_ both -find ourselves at the end of the year going faster to the hell of -conscious moral and intellectual weakness. Still, there is a -possibility--even a probability--the other way. I have not seen -Harriet Martineau's "Comte" yet--she is going to give me a copy--but -Mr. Lewes tells me it seems to him admirably well done. I told Mr. -Chapman yesterday that I wished to give up my connection with the -editorship of the _Westminster_. He wishes me to continue the present -state of things until April. I shall be much more satisfied on many -accounts to have done with that affair; but I shall find the question -of supplies rather a difficult one this year, as I am not likely to -get any money either for "Feuerbach" or for "The Idea of a Future -Life,"[42] for which I am to have "half profits"=0/0! - -I hope you will appreciate this _bon-mot_ as I do--"C'est un homme -admirable--il se tait en sept langues!"[43] - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, 2d Dec. 1853.] - -I am going to detail all my troubles to you. In the first place, the -door of my sitting-room doesn't quite fit, and a draught is the -consequence. Secondly, there is a piano in the house which has -decidedly entered on its second childhood, and this piano is -occasionally played on by Miss P. with a really enviable _aplomb_. -Thirdly, the knocks at the door startle me--an annoyance inseparable -from a ground-floor room. Fourthly, Mrs. P. scolds the servants -_stringendo e fortissimo_ while I am dressing in the morning. -Fifthly--there is no fifthly. I really have not another discomfort -when I am well, which, alas! I have not been for the last ten days; -so, while I have been up to the chin in possibilities of enjoyment, I -have been too sick and headachy to use them. One thing is needful--a -good digestion. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, 28th Dec. 1853.] - -Spent Christmas Day alone at Cambridge Street. How shall I thank you -enough for sending me that splendid barrel of beet-root, so nicely -packed? I shall certainly eat it and enjoy it, which, I fancy, is the -end you sought, and not thanks. Don't suppose that I am looking -miserable--_au contraire_. My only complaints just now are idleness -and dislike-to-getting-up-in-the-morningness, whereby the day is made -too short for what I want to do. I resolve every day to conquer the -flesh the next, and, of course, am a little later in consequence. I -dined with Arthur Helps yesterday at Sir James Clark's--very -snug--only he and myself. He is a sleek man, with close-snipped hair; -has a quiet, humorous way of talking, like his books. - - At the beginning of January, 1854, there was another visit to - Mrs. Clarke, at Attleboro, for ten days. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Charles Bray, 6th Feb. 1854.] - -In the last number of the _Scotsman_ which I sent you there was a -report of a speech by Dr. Guthrie at the Education meeting, containing -a passage which I meant to have copied. He is speaking of the -impossibility of teaching morality with the "Bible shut," and says -that in that case the teacher would be obliged to resort to "congruity -and the fitness of things," about which the boy knows nothing more -than that the apple is _fit_ for his mouth. What is wanted to convince -the boy of his sin is, "Thou God seest me," and "Thou bleeding Lamb, -the best morality is love of thee!" Mr. Lewes came a few minutes after -you left, and desired me to tell you that he was sorry to miss you. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Houghton, 6th April, 1854.] - -Thank you for your very kind letter, which I received this morning. It -is pleasant to think of you as quite well, and enjoying your -sea-breezes. - -But do you imagine me sitting with my hands crossed, ready to start -for any quarter of the world at the shortest notice. It is not on -those terms that people, not rich, live in London. I shall be deep in -proof-sheets till the end of May, and shall only dismiss them to make -material for new ones. I dare say you will pity me. But, as one of -Balzac's characters says, after maturity, "La vie n'est que l'exercice -d'une habitude dans un milieu préféré;" and I could no more live out -of my _milieu_ than the haddocks I dare say you are often having for -dinner. - -My health is better. I had got into a labyrinth of headaches and -palpitations, but I think I am out of it now, and I hope to keep well. -I am not the less obliged to you, dear Fanny, for wishing to have me -with you. But to leave London now would not be agreeable to me, even -if it were morally possible. To see you again would certainly be a -pleasure, but I hope that will come to pass without my crossing the -Irish Channel. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, Saturday, 18th April, 1854.] - -I am rather overdone with the week's work, and the prospect of what is -to come next. Poor Lewes is ill, and is ordered not to put pen to -paper for a month; so I have something to do for him in addition to my -own work, which is rather pressing. He is gone to Arthur Helps, in -Hampshire, for ten days, and I really hope this total cessation from -work, in obedience to a peremptory order, will end in making him -better than he has been for the last year. No opera and no fun for me -for the next month. Happily, I shall have no time to regret it. Plenty -of bright sun on your anemone bed. How lovely your place must look, -with its fresh leaves! - -[Sidenote: Letter to Charles Bray, 23d May, 1854.] - -It is quite possible that I may wish to go to the Continent, or twenty -other things. Mr. Lewes is going on a walking excursion to Windsor -to-day with his doctor, who pronounces him better, but not yet fit -for work. However, he is obliged to do a little, and must content -himself with an _approximation_ to his doctor's directions. In this -world all things are approximations, and in the system of the Dog Star -too, in spite of Dr. Whewell. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, Friday, no date, 1854.] - -My troubles are purely psychical--self-dissatisfaction, and despair of -achieving anything worth the doing. I can truly say they vanish into -nothing before any fear for the happiness of those I love. Thank you -for letting me know how things are, for indeed I could not bear to be -shut out from your anxieties. When I spoke of myself as an island, I -did not mean that I was so exceptionally. We are all islands-- - - "Each in his hidden sphere of joy or woe, - Our hermit spirits dwell and roam apart"-- - -and this seclusion is sometimes the most intensely felt at the very -moment your friend is caressing you or consoling you. But this -gradually becomes a source of satisfaction instead of repining. When -we are young we think our troubles a mighty business--that the world -is spread out expressly as a stage for the particular drama of our -lives, and that we have a right to rant and foam at the mouth if we -are crossed. I have done enough of that in my time. But we begin at -last to understand that these things are important only to our own -consciousness, which is but as a globule of dew on a rose-leaf, that -at mid-day there will be no trace of. This is no high-flown -sentimentality, but a simple reflection, which I find useful to me -every day. I expect to see Mr. Lewes back again to-day. His poor -head--his only fortune--is not well yet; and he has had the misery of -being _ennuyé_ with idleness, without perceiving the compensating -physical improvement. Still, I hope the good he has been getting has -been greater than he has been conscious of. I expect "Feuerbach" will -be all in print by the end of next week, and there are no skippings, -except such as have been made on very urgent grounds. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, Tuesday, 6th June, 1854.] - -Thanks for your assurance of welcome. I will trust to it when the gods -send favorable circumstances. But I see no probability of my being -able to be with you before your other midsummer visitors arrive. I -delight to think that you are all a little more cheery. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, Wednesday, 28th June, 1854.] - -I reached the Euston Station as dusty as an old ledger, but with no -other "incommodity." I went to the Lyceum last night to see "Sunshine -through the Clouds,"[44] a wonderfully original and beautiful piece by -Mme. de Girardin, which makes one cry rather too much for pleasure. -Vestris acts finely the bereaved mother, passing through all the -gradations of doubt and hope to the actual recovery of her lost son. -My idea of you is rather bright just now, and really helps to make me -enjoy all that is enjoyable. That is part of the benefit I have had -from my pleasant visit, which was made up of sunshine, green fields, -pleasant looks, and good eatables--an excellent compound. Will you be -so kind as to send my books by railway, _without_ the Shelley? - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, Monday, 4th July, 1854.] - -Pray consider the Strauss MSS. waste paper. _I_ shall never want them -again. I dined with your old acquaintance, Dr. Conolly, at Sir James -Clark's, the other day. He took me down to dinner, and we talked of -you. - - The translation of Ludwig Feuerbach's "Wesen des - Christenthums" was published in July in "Chapman's Quarterly - Series," with Miss Evans's name on the titlepage as the - translator, the first and only time her real name appeared in - print. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 10th July, 1854.] - -I am going to pack up the Hebrew Grammar, the Apocryphal Gospels, and -your pretty Titian, to be sent to you. Shall I despatch them by rail -or deposit them with Mr. Chapman, to be asked for by Mr. Bray when he -comes to town? I shall soon send you a good-bye, for I am preparing to -go abroad (?). Herbert Spencer's article on the "Genesis of Science" -is a good one. He will stand in the Biographical Dictionaries of 1854 -as "Spencer, Herbert, an original and profound philosophical writer, -especially known by his great work, ... which gave a new impulse to -psychology, and has mainly contributed to the present advanced -position of that science, compared with that which it had attained in -the middle of the last century. The life of this philosopher, like -that of the great Kant, offers little material for the narrator. Born -in the year 1820," etc. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 20th July, 1854.] - -Dear friends--all three--I have only time to say good-bye, and God -bless you. _Poste Restante_, Weimar, for the next six weeks, and -afterwards Berlin. Ever your loving and grateful Marian. - - We have now been led up to the most important event in George - Eliot's life--her union with Mr. George Henry Lewes. Here, as - elsewhere, it seems to me to be of the first importance that - she should speak for herself; and there is, fortunately, a - letter to Mrs. Bray, dated in September, 1855--fourteen - months after the event--which puts on record the point of - view from which she regarded her own action. I give this - letter here (out of its place as to date); and I may add, - what, I think, has not been mentioned before, that not only - was Mr. Lewes's previous family life irretrievably spoiled, - but his home had been wholly broken up for nearly two years. - In forming a judgment on so momentous a question, it is, - above all things, necessary to understand what was actually - undertaken, what was actually achieved; and, in my opinion, - this can best be arrived at, not from any outside statement - or arguments, but by consideration of the whole tenor of the - life which follows, in the development of which Mr. Lewes's - true character, as well as George Eliot's, will unfold - itself. No words that any one else can write, no arguments - any one else can use, will, I think, be so impressive as the - life itself. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, 4th Sept. 1855.] - -If there is any one action or relation of my life which is, and always -has been, profoundly serious, it is my relation to Mr. Lewes. It is, -however, natural enough that you should mistake me in many ways, for -not only are you unacquainted with Mr. Lewes's real character and the -course of his actions, but also it is several years now since you and -I were much together, and it is possible that the modifications my -mind has undergone may be quite in the opposite direction of what you -imagine. No one can be better aware than yourself that it is possible -for two people to hold different opinions on momentous subjects with -equal sincerity, and an equally earnest conviction that their -respective opinions are alone the truly moral ones. If we differ on -the subject of the marriage laws, I at least can believe of you that -you cleave to what you believe to be good; and I don't know of -anything in the nature of your views that should prevent you from -believing the same of me. _How far_ we differ I think we neither of us -know, for I am ignorant of your precise views; and, apparently, you -attribute to me both feelings and opinions which are not mine. We -cannot set each other quite right in this matter in letters, but one -thing I can tell you in few words. Light and easily broken ties are -what I neither desire theoretically nor could live for practically. -Women who are satisfied with such ties do _not_ act as I have done. -That any unworldly, unsuperstitious person who is sufficiently -acquainted with the realities of life can pronounce my relation to Mr. -Lewes immoral, I can only understand by remembering how subtile and -complex are the influences that mould opinion. But I _do_ remember -this: and I indulge in no arrogant or uncharitable thoughts about -those who condemn us, even though we might have expected a somewhat -different verdict. From the majority of persons, of course, we never -looked for anything but condemnation. We are leading no life of -self-indulgence, except, indeed, that, being happy in each other, we -find everything easy. We are working hard to provide for others better -than we provide for ourselves, and to fulfil every responsibility that -lies upon us. Levity and pride would not be a sufficient basis for -that. Pardon me if, in vindicating myself from some unjust -conclusions, I seem too cold and self-asserting. I should not care to -vindicate myself if I did not love you and desire to relieve you of -the pain which you say these conclusions have given you. Whatever I -may have misinterpreted before, I do not misinterpret your letter this -morning, but read in it nothing else than love and kindness towards -me, to which my heart fully answers yes. I should like never to write -about myself again; it is not healthy to dwell on one's own feelings -and conduct, but only to try and live more faithfully and lovingly -every fresh day. I think not one of the endless words and deeds of -kindness and forbearance you have ever shown me has vanished from my -memory. I recall them often, and feel, as about everything else in the -past, how deficient I have been in almost every relation of my life. -But that deficiency is irrevocable, and I can find no strength or -comfort except in "pressing forward towards the things that are -before," and trying to make the present better than the past. But if -we should never be very near each other again, dear Cara, do bear this -faith in your mind, that I was not insensible or ungrateful to all -your goodness, and that I am one among the many for whom you have not -lived in vain. I am very busy just now, and have been obliged to write -hastily. Bear this in mind, and believe that no meaning is mine which -contradicts my assurance that I am your affectionate and earnest -friend. - - -_SUMMARY._ - -MARCH, 1850, TO JULY, 1854. - - Return to England with M. d'Albert--Depressing effect of - change--Visit to Rosehill--Visit to brother and sister at - Griff and Meriden--Deeper depression--To Rosehill again with - M. d'Albert--Makes her home there for sixteen months--Reviews - Mackay's "Progress of the Intellect" in _Westminster_--Meets - Mr. Chapman, the editor of the _Westminster_--Helps to settle - Prospectus of new series of the _Review_--Visits Robert Noel - at Bishop Steignton with Mrs. Bray--Visit to London--Crystal - Palace--Returns to Rosehill, and meets Mr. and Mrs. George - Combe--Goes to London as assistant editor of the _Westminster - Review_--Letters to Brays--Review writing: Dr. Brabant, - Foxton, Wilson--Meets Mr. Herbert Spencer--Miss - Martineau--Distractions of London--Low health--Miss - Bremer--Introduction to Mr. Lewes--Opinion of House of - Lords--Carlyle's "Life of Sterling"--Carlyle - anecdotes--Mackay--James Martineau--J. H. Newman's - Lectures--Translation of Schleiermacher--Letter from - Carlyle--Intimacy begins with Mr. Lewes--Reviews Carlyle's - "Sterling" in _Westminster_--Visit to Rosehill--Returns to - Strand--Harriet Martineau--Pierre Leroux--Louis Blanc--Miss - Bessie Parkes--Mrs. Peter Taylor--"Margaret Fuller's - Life"--Description of _Westminster_ reviewers--Growing - intimacy with Mr. Herbert Spencer--Meeting of authors and - booksellers at Mr. Chapman's--Admiration of Prince - Albert--Grisi--Hack work of _Review_--Appreciation of Miss - Martineau's writings--Singing of charity children at St. - Paul's--George Combe's opinion of _Westminster_ - editing--Barbara Leigh Smith--Visit to Broadstairs--Florence - Nightingale--Return to Strand--Depression--Professor Owen on - the Cerebellum--Visit to Combes at Edinburgh, and to Harriet - Martineau at Ambleside--Return to London--Reading - "Esmond"--Lord Brougham's speech--Work in - Strand--Bryant--Visit to Rosehill--Death of Edward - Clarke--Visit to widowed sister at Meriden--Return to - Strand--Letter to Mrs. Peter Taylor--Views on - America--"Ruth"--Visit to Rosehill, and to Mrs. Clarke at - Attleboro--Return to Strand--Reading "Villette"--Letter from - Mrs. Stowe to Mrs. Follen--Meets Huxley--Thinks of going to - Australia to settle Mrs. Clarke--Admiration of Helen - Faucit--Growing regard for Mr. Lewes--Kindness of Sir James - Clark--Visit to Ockley--Change to St. Leonard's--Improvement - in health--Return to Strand--Spencer's "Universal - Postulate"--Removal to 21 Cambridge Street--Leigh Hunt's - "Religion of the Heart"--Dawes, Dean of Hereford--Harriet - Martineau--Comte--Contemplates publishing "The Idea of a - Future Life"--Meets Arthur Helps--Intimate relations with Mr. - Lewes--Translation of Feuerbach--Visit to Rosehill--Return to - London--Feuerbach completed--Estimate of Herbert - Spencer--Good-bye to Brays--Union with Mr. Lewes--Letter to - Mrs. Bray thereon. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[31] Frederick Foxton, author of "Popular Christianity: its Transition -State and Probable Development." - -[32] "Man's Nature and Development," by Martineau and Atkinson. - -[33] This was a merely formal and casual introduction. That George -Eliot was ever brought into close relations with Mr. Lewes was due to -Mr. Herbert Spencer having taken him to call on her in the Strand -later in this year. - -[34] Appeared in January, 1852, number of the _Westminster Review_, -No. 1 of the New Series. - -[35] Review of Carlyle's "Life of Sterling" in _Westminster_, Jan. -1852. - -[36] Published in the April, 1852, number of the _Westminster_. - -[37] Now Madame Belloc, who remained to the end one of George Eliot's -closest friends. - -[38] Mrs. Peter Taylor remained a lifelong and a valued friend of -George Eliot's, and many interesting letters in this volume are -addressed to her. I am glad also to take this opportunity of -expressing my thanks to her for procuring for me two other sets of -correspondence--the letters addressed to Mrs. Beecher Stowe and to -Mrs. William Smith. - -[39] Afterwards Madame Bodichon--one of the three or four most -intimate friends of George Eliot, whose name will very often appear in -subsequent pages. - -[40] Funeral oration on the Duke of Wellington. - -[41] Correcting _Leader_ proofs for Mr. Lewes. - -[42] Advertised in 1853-54 as to appear by "Marian Evans" in -"Chapman's Quarterly Series," but never published. - -[43] Lord Acton tells me he first heard this _bon-mot_, in 1855, -related of Immanuel Bekker, the philologist. - -[44] Translated and adapted from the French, "La joie fait peur," by -Mr. Lewes, under the name of Slingsby Lawrence. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - - -[Sidenote: Journal, 20th July, 1854.] - -I said a last farewell to Cambridge Street on 20th July, 1854, and -found myself on board the _Ravensbourne_, bound for Antwerp. The day -was glorious, and our passage perfect. The sunset was lovely, but -still lovelier the dawn as we were passing up the Scheldt between two -and three in the morning. The crescent moon, the stars, the first -faint blush of the dawn reflected in the glassy river, the dark mass -of clouds on the horizon, which sent forth flashes of lightning, and -the graceful forms of the boats and sailing-vessels, painted in -jet-black on the reddish gold of the sky and water, made up an -unforgettable picture. Then the sun rose and lighted up the sleepy -shores of Belgium, with their fringe of long grass, their rows of -poplars, their church spires and farm buildings. - -[Sidenote: 21st July.] - -The great treat at Antwerp was the sight of the Descent from the -Cross, which, with its pendant, the Elevation of the Cross, has been -undergoing restoration. In the latter the face of Jesus is sublime in -its expression of agony and trust in the Divine. It is certainly the -finest conception of the suffering Christ I have ever seen. The rest -of the picture gave me no pleasure. But in the Descent from the Cross, -color, form, and expression alike impressed me with the sense of -grandeur and beauty. A little miserable copy of the picture placed -near it served as an admirable foil. - -[Sidenote: 22d July.] - -We went to the museum and saw Rubens's Crucifixion, even more -beautiful to me than the Descent from the Cross. These two pictures -profoundly impressed me with the miserable lack of breadth and -grandeur in the conceptions of our living artists. The reverence for -the old masters is not all humbug and superstition. - -[Sidenote: 30th July.] - -We breakfasted in the public room at the hotel at Cologne, and were -joined there by Dr. Brabant and Strauss. After a short interview with -them we went on board the steamboat which was to take us to Coblentz. - -[Sidenote: Weimar, Description, Aug.-Oct. 1854.] - -It was very pretty to look out of the window, when dressing, on a -garden that reminded one of an English village: the town is more like -a huge village, or market-town, than the precincts of a court. - -G. called on Schöll, and in the afternoon he (Schöll) came and took us -to the _Schloss_, where we saw the Dichter Zimmer--a suite of rooms -dedicated to Goethe, Schiller, and Wieland. In each room there is the -bust of the poet who is its presiding genius; and the walls of the -Goethe and Schiller rooms are decorated with frescoes representing -scenes from their works. The Wieland room is decorated with arabesques -only. The idea of these rooms is a very pretty one, but the frescoes -are badly executed. I am delighted with Schöll. He is a -bright-looking, well-made man, with his head finely set on his -shoulders, very little like a German. We discovered, after we had -known him some time, that he is an Austrian, and so has more southern -blood in his veins than the heavy Thuringians. His manners are hearty -and cordial, and his conversation really instructive: his ideas are so -thoroughly shaped and so admirably expressed. Sauppe is also a -_Gelehrter_, director of the gymnasium, and editor of a series of -classics which are being brought out; and he is evidently thought a -great deal of in Weimar. We went with the Schölls and Sauppes to -Tiefurt, and saw the queer little _Schloss_ which used to be Amalia's -residence. Tiefurt was a favorite resort of ours, for the walk to it -is a very pleasant one, and the Tiefurt park is a little paradise. The -Ilm is seen here to the best advantage: it is clearer than at Weimar, -and winds about gracefully among fine trees. One of the banks is a -high, steep declivity, which shows the trees in all their perfection. -In autumn, when the yellow and scarlet were at their brightest, these -banks were fairy-like in their beauty. It was here that Goethe and his -court friends got up the performance of "Die Fischerin" by torchlight. - -About ten days after our arrival at Weimar we made an excursion to -Ettersburg, one of the duke's summer residences, interesting to us -beforehand as the scene of private theatricals and _sprees_ in the -Goethe days. We carried provisions with us, and Keats's poems. The -morning was one of the brightest and hottest that August ever -bestowed, and it required some resolution to trudge along the -shadeless _chaussée_, which formed the first two or three miles of our -way. One compensating pleasure was the sight of the beautiful mountain -ashes in full berry, which, alternately with cherry-trees, border the -road for a considerable distance. I felt a child's love for the -bunches of coral standing out against the blue sky. The _Schloss_ is a -house of very moderate size, and no pretension of any kind. Two -flights of steps lead up to the door, and the balustrades are -ornamented with beautiful creepers. A tiny sort of piazza under the -steps is ornamented with creepers too, and has pretty earthenware -vases filled with plants hanging from the ceiling. We felt how much -beauty might be procured at small expense in looking at these things. -A beautiful walk through a beech wood took us to the _Mooshütte_, -before which stands the beech whereon Goethe and his friends cut their -names, and from which Goethe denounced Waldemar. We could recognize -some of the initials. With Ettersburg I shall always associate Arthur -Helps, for he was with us on the second and last time we saw it. He -came to Weimar quite unexpectedly on the 29th August, and the next -evening we all three drove to Ettersburg. He said the country just -round Weimar reminded him of Spain. This led him to talk of his -Spanish travels, and he told us some delightful stories in a -delightful way. At one inn he was considerably embarrassed in eating -his dinner by the presence of a handsome woman, who sat directly -opposite to him, resting on her elbows, and fixing her dark eyes on -him with a fearful intensity of interest. This woman was the cook, -anxious to know that her dishes were acceptable to the stranger. Under -this terrible surveillance he did not dare to omit a single dish, -though sorely longing to do so. - -Our greatest expedition from Weimar was to Ilmenau. We set out with a -determination to find the Gabel-Bach and Kickel-hahn (Goethe's -residence) without the encumbrance of a guide. We found the man who -inhabits the simple wooden house which used to be Carl August's -hunting-box. He sent a man on with us to show us the way to the -Kickel-hahn, which we at last reached--I with weary legs. There is a -magnificent view of hills from this spot; but Goethe's tiny wooden -house is now closely shut in by fir-trees, and nothing can be seen -from the windows. His room, which forms the upper floor of the house, -is about ten or twelve feet square. It is now quite empty, but there -is an interesting memorial of his presence in these wonderful lines, -written by his own hand, near the window-frame: - - "Ueber allen Gipfeln - Ist Ruh, - In allen Wipfeln - Spürest du - Kaum einen Hauch; - Die Vögelein schweigen im Walde. - Warte nur, balde - Ruhest du auch." - -We wrote our names near one of the windows. - -About the middle of September the theatre opened, and we went to hear -"Ernani." Liszt looked splendid as he conducted the opera. The grand -outline of his face and floating hair were seen to advantage as they -were thrown into dark relief by the stage lamps. We were so fortunate -as to have all three of Wagner's most celebrated operas while we were -at Weimar. G., however, had not patience to sit out more than two acts -of "Lohengrin;" and, indeed, I too was weary. The declamation appeared -to me monotonous, and situations, in themselves trivial or -disagreeable, were dwelt on fatiguingly. Without feeling competent to -pass a judgment on this opera as music, one may venture to say that it -fails in one grand requisite of art, based on an unchangeable element -in human nature--the need for contrast. With the "Fliegender -Holländer" I was delighted; the poem and the music were alike -charming. The "Tannhäuser," too, created in me a great desire to hear -it again. Many of the situations, and much of the music, struck me as -remarkably fine. And I appreciated these operas all the better -retrospectively when we saw "Der Freischütz," which I had never -before heard and seen on the stage. The effect of the delicious music, -with which one is so familiar, was completely spoiled by the absence -of recitative, and the terrible _lapsus_ from melody to ordinary -speech. The bacchanalian song seemed simply ridiculous, sung at a -little pot-house table at a party of _two_, one of whom was sunk in -melancholy; and the absurdity reached a _ne plus ultra_ when Caspar -climbed the tree, apparently with the sole purpose of being shot. _Ŕ -propos_ of the theatre, we were immensely amused to learn that a fair, -small-featured man, who somehow always looked to me as if he had just -come out of the shell, had come to Weimar to fit himself for a -dramatic writer by going behind the scenes! He had as yet written -nothing, but was going to work in what he considered a _gründlich_ -way. - -When we passed along the Schiller Strasse, I used to be very much -thrilled by the inscription, "Hier wohnte Schiller," over the door of -his small house. Very interesting it is to see his study, which is -happily left in its original state. In his bedroom we saw his skull -for the first time, and were amazed at the smallness of the -intellectual region. There is an intensely interesting sketch of -Schiller lying dead, which I saw for the first time in the study; but -all pleasure in thinking of Schiller's portraits and bust is now -destroyed to me by the conviction of their untruthfulness. Rauch told -us that he had a _miserabled Stirne_.[45] Waagen says that Tieck the -sculptor told him there was something in Schiller's whole person which -reminded him of a _camel_. - -Goethe's house is much more important-looking, but, to English eyes, -far from being the palatial residence which some German writers think -it. The entrance-hall is certainly rather imposing, with its statues -in niches, and broad staircase. The latter was made after his own -design, and was an "after-shine" of Italian tastes. The pictures are -wretched, the casts not much better--indeed, I remember nothing which -seemed intrinsically worth looking at. The MS. of his "Römische -Elegien," written by himself in the Italian character, is to be seen -here; and one likes to look at it better than at most of the other -things. G. had obtained permission from Frau v. Goethe to see the -studio and Schlafzimmer, which are not open to the public, and here -our feelings were deeply moved. We entered first a small room -containing drawers and shelves devoted to his mineralogical -collections. From these we passed into the study. It is rather a dark -room, for there are only two small windows--German windows. A plain -deal table stands in the middle, and near the chair, against this -table, is a high basket, where, I was afterwards told, Goethe used to -put his pocket-handkerchief. A long sort of writing-table and bookcase -united stands against one wall. Here hangs the pin-cushion, just as he -left it, with visiting-cards suspended on threads, and other trifles -which greatness and death have made sacred. Against the opposite wall, -where you enter the bedroom, there is a high writing-desk, on which -stands a little statue of Napoleon in creamy glass. The bedroom is -very small. By the side of the bed stands a stuffed arm-chair, where -he used to sit and read while he drank his coffee in the morning. It -was not until very late in his life that he adopted the luxury of an -arm-chair. From the other side of the study one enters the library, -which is fitted up in a very makeshift fashion, with rough deal -shelves, and bits of paper, with Philosophy, History, etc., written on -them, to mark the classification of the books. Among such memorials -one breathes deeply, and the tears rush to one's eyes. There is one -likeness of Goethe that is really startling and thrilling from the -idea it gives one of perfect resemblance. It is painted on a cup, and -is a tiny miniature, but the execution is so perfect that, on applying -a magnifying glass, every minute stroke has as natural an appearance -as the texture of a flower or the parts of an insect under the -microscope. - -Equally interesting is the _Gartenhaus_, which we used to see almost -every day in our walks. Within, it is a not uncomfortable, homely sort -of cottage; no furniture is left in it, and the family want to sell -it. It stands on a pleasant slope fronting the west, and there is a -charming bit of garden and orchard attached to it. Close to the garden -hedge runs the road which leads to Ober Weimar, and on the other side -of this road a meadow stretches to the trees which border the Ilm. A -bridge nearly opposite the Gartenhaus takes one to the Borkenhaus, -Carl August's little retreat, from which he used to telegraph to -Goethe. The road to Ober Weimar was one of our favorite walks, -especially towards the end of our stay at Weimar, when we were glad of -all the sunshine we could get. Sometimes we used to turn out of it, up -a grove of weeping birches, into the ploughed fields at the top of the -slope on which the Gartenhaus and other little villas stand. Here we -enjoyed many a lovely sunset; one, in particular, was marvellously -splendid. The whole hemisphere was golden, towards the east tinted -with rose-color. From this little height we looked on the plantations -of the park, in their autumnal coloring, the town, with its -steep-roofed church and its castle tower, colored a gay green, the -line of chestnuts along the Belvedere Chaussée, and Belvedere itself -peeping from its nest of trees. - -Another very favorite walk of mine was the _Webicht_, a beautiful wood -through which ran excellent carriage-roads and grassy footpaths. How -richly have I enjoyed skirting this wood and seeing, on the other -side, the sky arching grandly down over the open fields, the evening -red flushing the west over the town, and the bright stars come out as -if to relieve the sun in his watch over mortals. And then the winding -road through the Webicht on the side towards Tiefurt, with its tall, -overarching trees now bending their mossy trunks forward, now standing -with stately erectness like lofty pillars; and the charming grassy -paths through the heart of the wood, among its silvery-barked birches! -The Webicht lies towards Tiefurt, and one side of it is bordered by -the road thither. I remember, as we were returning from Tiefurt one -evening, a beautiful effect of the setting sunlight pouring itself -under the trees, and making the road before us almost crimson. - -One of our pleasantest acquaintances at Weimar was the French -ambassador, the Marquis de Ferričre, a very favorable specimen of a -Frenchman, but intensely French. His genial soul and perfect -good-humor gave one the same sort of _bien-ętre_ as a well-stuffed -arm-chair and a warm hearthrug. In the course of conversation, -speaking of Yvan's accounts of his travels (the marquis was first -secretary to the Chinese embassy which Yvan accompanied), he said, -"C'était faux d'un bout ŕ l'autre; mais c'était spirituel, paradoxal, -amusant--enfin _tout ce qu'il fallait pour un journal_." Another day -he observed that the famous words of Napoleon to his Egyptian army, -"Forty centuries look down on you from the summits of these pyramids," -were characteristic of the French national feeling, as those of -Nelson, "England expects the man to make his duty" were of the -English. This is a fair specimen of the correctness with which one -generally hears English quoted; and we often reminded ourselves that -it was a mirror in which we might see our own German. - -Liszt's conversation is charming. I never met with a person whose -manner of telling a story was so piquant. The last evening but one -that he called on us, wishing to express his pleasure in G.'s article -about him, he very ingeniously conveyed that expression in a story -about Spontini and Berlioz. Spontini visited Paris while Liszt was -living there, and haunted the opera--a stiff, self-important -personage, with high shirt-collars, the least attractive individual -imaginable; Liszt turned up his own collars, and swelled out his -person, so as to give us a vivid idea of the man. Every one would have -been glad to get out of Spontini's way--indeed, elsewhere "on feignait -de le croire mort," but at Paris, as he was a member of the Institute, -it was necessary to recognize his existence. Liszt met him at Erard's -more than once. On one of these occasions Liszt observed to him that -Berlioz was a great admirer of his (Spontini's), whereupon Spontini -burst into a terrible invective against Berlioz as a man who, with the -like of him, was ruining art, etc. Shortly after the "Vestale" was -performed, and forthwith appeared an enthusiastic article by Berlioz -on Spontini's music. The next time Liszt met him of the high collars -he said, "You see I was not wrong in what I said about Berlioz's -admiration of you." Spontini swelled in his collars, and replied, -"Monsieur, Berlioz a du talent comme critique!" - -Liszt's replies were always felicitous and characteristic. Talking of -Mme. d'Agoult, he told us that when her novel "Nelida" appeared, in -which Liszt himself is pilloried as a delinquent, he asked her, "Mais -pourquoi avez-vous tellement maltraité ce pauvre Lehmann?" The first -time we were asked to breakfast at his house, the Altenburg, we were -shown into the garden, where, in a saloon formed by overarching trees, -the _déjeuner_ was set out. We found Hoffmann von Fallersleben, the -lyric poet, Dr. Schade--a _Gelehrter_, and Cornelius. Presently came a -Herr--or Doctor--Raff, a musician, who has recently published a volume -called "Wagnerfrage." Soon after we were joined by Liszt and the -Princess Marie, an elegant, gentle-looking girl of seventeen, and last -by the Princess Wittgenstein, with her nephew, Prince Eugčne, and a -young French artist, a pupil of Scheffer. The princess was tastefully -dressed in a morning-robe of some semi-transparent white material, -lined with orange-color, which formed the bordering and ornamented the -sleeves, a black lace jacket, and a piquant cap set on the summit of -her comb, and trimmed with violet color. When the cigars came, Hoffman -was requested to read some of his poetry, and he gave us a -bacchanalian poem with great spirit. I sat next to Liszt, and my great -delight was to watch him and observe the sweetness of his expression. -Genius, benevolence, and tenderness beam from his whole countenance, -and his manners are in perfect harmony with it. Then came the thing I -had longed for--his playing. I sat near him, so that I could see both -his hands and face. For the first time in my life I beheld real -inspiration--for the first time I heard the true tones of the piano. -He played one of his own compositions--one of a series of religious -fantasies. There was nothing strange or excessive about his manner. -His manipulation of the instrument was quiet and easy, and his face -was simply grand--the lips compressed, and the head thrown a little -backward. When the music expressed quiet rapture or devotion a smile -flitted over his features; when it was triumphant the nostrils -dilated. There was nothing petty or egoistic to mar the picture. Why -did not Scheffer paint him thus, instead of representing him as one of -the three Magi? But it just occurs to me that Scheffer's idea was a -sublime one. There are the two aged men who have spent their lives in -trying to unravel the destinies of the world, and who are looking for -the Deliverer--for the light from on high. Their young fellow-seeker, -having the fresh inspiration of early life, is the first to discern -the herald star, and his ecstasy reveals it to his companions. In this -young Magus, Scheffer has given a portrait of Liszt; but even here, -where he might be expected to idealize unrestrainedly, he falls short -of the original. It is curious that Liszt's face is the type that one -sees in all Scheffer's pictures; at least, in all I have seen. - -In a little room which terminates the suite at the Altenburg there is -a portrait of Liszt, also by Scheffer--the same of which the engraving -is familiar to every one. This little room is filled with memorials of -Liszt's triumphs and the worship his divine talent has won. It was -arranged for him by the princess, in conjunction with the Arnims, in -honor of his birthday. There is a medallion of him by Schwanthaler, a -bust by an Italian artist, also a medallion by Rietschl--very -fine--and cabinets full of jewels and precious things--the Weimar -gifts of the great. In the music _salon_ stand Beethoven's and -Mozart's pianos. Beethoven's was a present from Broadwood, and has a -Latin inscription intimating that it was presented as a tribute to his -illustrious genius. One evening Liszt came to dine with us at the Erb -Prinz, and introduced M. Rubinstein, a young Russian, who is about to -have an opera of his performed in Weimar. Our expenses at Weimar, -including wine and washing, were Ł2 6_s._ per week. Dear Weimar! We -were sorry to say good-bye to it, with its pleasant group of friends. -On the 4th of November, after a stay of just three months, we turned -our backs on it "to seek fresh streets and faces new" at Berlin. - -[Sidenote: Berlin, Recollections, Nov. 1854 to Mch. 1855.] - -There are certain persons without any physiognomy, the catalogue of -whose features, as, item, a Roman nose, item, a pair of black eyes, -etc., gives you the entire contents of their faces. There is no -difference of opinion about the looks of such people. All the world is -agreed either that they are pretty or ugly. So it is with Berlin. -Every one tells you it is an uninteresting modern city, with broad, -monotonous streets; and when you see it, you cannot for the life of -you get up an emotion of surprise, or make a remark about the place -which you have not heard before. - -The day after our arrival was Sunday, 6th November; the sun shone -brightly, and we went to walk in the Linden, elbowing our way among -the _promeneurs endimanchés_, who looked remarkably smart and handsome -after the Thuringians. We had not gone far when we met a nice-looking -old gentleman, with an order round his neck, and a gold-headed cane in -his hand, who exclaimed, on seeing G., "Ist's möglich?" and then bade -him heartily welcome. I saw at once it was the Varnhagen of whom I -had heard so often. His niece, arrayed in smiles and a pink bonnet, -was with him. - -For the first six weeks, when the weather permitted, we took long -walks in the Thiergarten, where the straight and uniform avenues of -insignificant trees contrasted very disadvantageously with the -charming variety of our beloved park at Weimar. Still, we now and then -noticed a beautiful wintry effect, especially in the part most remote -from the town, where the trees are finer and the arrangements more -varied. One walk, which skirted the Thiergarten on the right-hand side -coming from the town, we were particularly fond of, because it gave us -on one side an open view, with water and a boat or two, which, touched -by the magic of sunshine, was pleasant to see. At Berlin it was "a day -of small things" with regard to the beautiful, and we made much of -little. - -Our little circle of acquaintances was very agreeable and varied. -Varnhagen was a real treasure to G., for his library supplied all the -deficiencies of the public one, where to ask for books was generally -like "sinking buckets into empty wells." He is a man of real culture, -kindliness, and polish (Germanly speaking); and he has besides that -thorough liberalism, social, religious, and political, which sets the -mind at ease in conversation, and delivers it from the fear of running -against some prejudice, or coming suddenly on the sunk fence of some -miserable limitation. The first morning he called on us he talked of -his terrible disappointment in Carlyle, a subject to which he often -returned. He evidently felt an antipathy to the "Teufelsdröckh," -which, indeed, it was not difficult to understand from the mere -_maničre d'étre_ of the two men. They had corresponded for years -before they saw each other; and Varnhagen was, and is, a great -admirer of Carlyle's best work, but he was thoroughly repelled by his -rough, paradoxical talk, and, more justifiably, by the despotic -doctrines which it has been his humor to teach of late. We were amused -to hear that Carlyle said he should think no one could die at Berlin, -"for in beds _without curtains_ what Christian could give up the -ghost?" - -At Varnhagen's we met, for the first time, Professor Stahr, who was -there with Fanny Lewald, Fräulein Solmar, Frau Muisch, Dr. Ring, Dr. -Vehse, Gräfin von Kalkreuth, and Director Wilhelm Schadow, author of -"Der Moderne Vasari." We talked of Goethe. Varnhagen brought out -autographs and portraits, and read us an epigram of his own on the -want of liberality which Goethe's family show about opening his house -to the public. He showed us a portrait of Kleist, who shot himself, in -company with Frau Vogel, near an inn on the way to Potsdam. There was -no love-affair between them; they were both thoroughly unhappy--he -poor and hopeless for the future; and she suffering from an incurable -disease. In the evening they both wrote, on a single sheet of paper, -letters to their friends, communicating their intention (this sheet -Varnhagen possesses). Early in the morning they rose, took a cup of -coffee, went to the brink of a piece of water in the neighborhood of -the inn, and there shot themselves. - -Du Bois Reymond spoke very decidedly of the German civilization as -inferior to the English. - -Varnhagen, when well, is a regular visitor at Fräulein Solmar's, who -for many years has kept an open _salon_ for her friends every evening -but one in the week. Here the three-cornered chair next the sofa was -reserved for him, except when General Pfuhl was there. This General -Pfuhl is a fine specimen of an old soldier, who is at the same time a -man of instruction and of strong social sympathies. He has been in the -service of Prussia, has been within a hair's-breadth of being frozen -to death, "and so following." He spoke French admirably, and always -had something interesting and characteristic to tell or say. His -appreciatory groans, always in the right place, when G. was reading -"Shylock" did us both good, under the chills of a German audience. -Fräulein Solmar is a remarkably accomplished woman--probably between -fifty and sixty, but of that agreeable _Wesen_ which is so free from -anything startling in person or manner, and so at home in everything -one can talk of, that you think of her simply as a delightful -presence, and not as a woman of any particular age. She converses -perfectly in French, well in English, and well also, as we were told, -in Italian. There is not the slightest warmth of manner or expression -in her, but always the same even cheerfulness and intelligence--in -fact, she is the true type of the mistress of the _salon_. During the -first half of our stay in Berlin we went about once a week to her -house; but bad health and bad weather kept us away during the last six -weeks, except for one or two evenings. Baron Sternberg, the novelist, -used frequently to glide in when we were there, and cast strange, cold -glances around, talking quietly to Fräulein Assing or some other lady -who sat in a distant parallel of latitude. - -One evening a Frenchman there amused us by saying that he found in -Meyerbeer's "Huguenots" the whole spirit of the epoch of Charles IX. -"Lisez les Chroniques"--"de Froissart?" suggested Mlle. Solmar. "Oui, -quelque chose comme ça; ou bien les Chroniques de Brantôme ou de -_Mérimée_, et vous trouverez que Meyerbeer a parfaitement exprimé tout -cela; du moins c'est ce que je trouve, moi." I said, "Mais peut-ętre, -Monsieur, c'est votre génie ŕ vous qui a fait entrer les idées dans la -musique." He answered with complacent deprecation. G. looked immovably -serious, but was inwardly tickled by the audacity of my compliment, -and the evident acceptance of it. - -A still more interesting acquaintance was Professor Gruppe, who has -written great books on the Greek drama and on Philosophy; has been a -political writer; is a lyric and epic poet; has invented a beautiful -kind of marbled paper for binding books; is an enthusiastic huntsman, -and, withal, the most simple, kind-hearted creature in the world. His -little wife, who is about twenty years younger than himself, seems to -adore him, and it is charming to see the group they and their two -little children make in their dwelling, up endless flights of stairs -in the Leipziger Platz. Very pleasant evenings we had there, chatting -or playing whist, or listening to readings of Gruppe's poems. We used -to find him in a gray cloth _Schlafrock_, which I fancy was once a -great-coat, and a brown velvet cap surmounting his thin gray hairs. I -never saw a combination at all like that which makes up Gruppe's -character. Talent, fertility, and versatility that seem to indicate a -fervid temperament, and yet no scintillation of all this in his talk -and manner; on the contrary, he seems slow at apprehending other -people's ideas, and is of an almost childish _naiveté_ in the value he -attaches to poor jokes, and other trivialities. _Ŕ propos_ of jokes, -we noticed that during the whole seven months of our stay in Germany -we never heard one witticism, or even one felicitous idea or -expression, from a German! - -Gruppe has a delightful library, with rare books, and books too good -to be rare; and we often applied to him for some of them. He lent me -"Lessing," and that is an additional circumstance to remember with -pleasure in connection with the Laocoon. He one evening gave us an -interesting account of his work on the cosmic system of the Greeks, -and read us a translation, by himself, of one of the Homeric -hymns--Aphrodite--which is very beautiful, a sort of _Gegenstück_ to -"Der Gott und die Bajadere:" and generally we were glad when he took -up the book. He read us a specimen of his epic poem, "Firdusi," which -pleased us. The fable on which this poem is founded is fine. The -sultan had engaged Firdusi to write a great poem on his exploits, and -had promised to pay for this one hundred thousand pieces (gold being -understood). Firdusi had delighted in the thought of this sum, which -he intended to devote to the benefit of his native city. When the poem -was delivered, and the sack of money given to Firdusi, he found that -the pieces were silver! He burst into a song of scorn against the -sultan, and paid the miserable sum to his bath-man. Gruppe thinks -Shakespeare more extensively sold in Germany than any other book, -except the Bible and Schiller! One night we attempted "Brag" or -"Pocher," but Gruppe presently became alarmed at G.'s play, and said -"Das würde an zwölf Groschen reichen." He drew some Jews' faces with a -pen admirably. - -We were invited to meet Waagen, whom we found a very intelligent and -amusing man. He told us a story about Goethe, who said of some one, "I -thank thee, Almighty God, that thou hast produced no second edition of -this man!" and an amusing judgment passed on Goethe himself, that he -was "Kein dummer Mann!" Also a story of a lady who went to see him, -as an intellectual adorer, and began to spout to him, as his -masterpiece, "Fest gemauert in der Erden,"[46] etc. - -Another pleasant friend was Edward Magnus, the portrait-painter, an -acute, intelligent, kind-hearted man, with real talent in his art. He -was the only German we met with who seemed conscious of his -countrymen's deficiencies. He showed in every possible way a hearty -desire to do us service--sent us books, came to chat with us, showed -us his portraits, and, when we were going away, brought us lithographs -of some paintings of his, that we might carry away a remembrance of -him. He has travelled very extensively, and had much intercourse with -distinguished people, and these means of culture have had some of -their best effects on his fine temperament and direct, truthful mind. -He told us a rich story about Carlyle. At a dinner-party, given by -Magnus in his honor, Wiese and Cornelius were deploring Goethe's want -of evangelical sentiment. Carlyle was visibly uneasy, fumbling with -his dinner-napkin. At last he broke out thus: "Meine Herren kennen sie -die Anekdote von dem Manne der die Sonne lästerte weil sie ihm sein -Cigarre nicht anstecken liess?"[47] - -In the little room where we used to be ushered to wait for him there -was a portrait of Thorwaldsen and one of Mendelssohn, both of whom he -knew well. I was surprised to find in his _atelier_ the original of the -portrait of Jenny Lind, with which I was so familiar. He was going to -send it, together with Sontag's portrait, to the exhibition at Paris. -His brother, the chemist, was also a bright, good-natured-looking man. -We were invited to a large evening party at his house, and found very -elegant rooms, with a remarkable assemblage of celebrated men--Johannes -Müller, Du Bois Reymond, Rose, Ehrenberg, etc. Some of the women were -very pretty and well dressed. The supper, brought round on trays, was -well appointed; and altogether the party was well managed. - -We spent one evening with Professor Stahr and his wife--Fanny -Lewald--after their marriage. Stahr has a copy of the charming -miniature of Schiller, taken when he was about thirty--a miniature in -the possession of a certain Madame von Kalb. There are the long -_Gänsehals_,[48] the aquiline nose, the blue eyes and auburn hair. It -is a most real and striking portrait. I saw also a portrait and bust of -Madame d'Agoult here, both rather handsome. The first evening Stahr -told us some of the grievances which the Prussians have to bear from -their government, and among the rest the vexatious necessity for a -"concession" or license, before any, the simplest vocation, can be -entered on. He observed, with justice, that the English are apt to -suppose the German Revolution of '48 was mere restlessness and aping of -other nations, when in fact there were real oppressions which the -Germans had to bear, and which they had borne with a patience that -the English would not imitate for a month. By far the most -distinguished-looking man we saw at Berlin, and, indeed, next to Liszt, -in Germany, was Rauch the sculptor. Schöll had given G. a letter for -him, and soon after it had been left at his house he called on us in -the evening, and at once won our hearts by his beautiful person and the -benignant and intelligent charm of his conversation. He is indeed the -finest old man I ever saw--more than seventy-six, I believe, but -perfectly upright, even stately, in his carriage. His features are -harmonious, his complexion has a delicate freshness, his silky white -hair waves gracefully round his high forehead, and his brown eyes beam -with benevolence and intelligence. He is above the common height, and -his stature and beauty together ennoble the gray working surtout and -cap which he wears in his _atelier_ into a picturesque and -distinguished costume. The evening he was with us he talked -delightfully of Goethe, dwelling especially on his lovable nature. He -described very graphically Goethe's way of introducing subjects, -showing plates, etc., bringing in the cast of Schiller's skull, and -talking of it and other little particulars of interest. We went one -morning to his _atelier_, and found him superintending his pupil's work -at a large group representing Moses with his hands held up by Aaron and -Hur. It was extremely interesting to me to see Rauch's original little -clay model of this group, for I had never seen statuary in that first -stage before. The intense expression of entreaty in the face of the -Moses was remarkable. But the spirit of this group is so alien to my -sympathies that I could feel little pleasure in the idea of its -production. On the other hand, my heart leaped at the sight of old -Kant's quaint figure, of which Rauch is commissioned to produce a -colossal statue for Königsberg. In another _atelier_, where the work is -in a different stage, we saw a splendid marble monument, nearly -completed, of the late king of Hanover. Pitiable that genius and -spotless white marble should be thrown away on such human trash! Our -second visit to Rauch's _atelier_ was paid shortly before we left -Berlin. The group of Moses, Aaron, and Hur was clothed up, and the -dark-eyed, olive-complexioned pupil was at work on a pretty little -figure of Hope--a child stepping forward with upturned face, a bunch of -flowers in her hand. In the other _atelier_ we saw a bust of -Schleiermacher, which, with the equestrian statue of Fritz, and its -pedestal, Rauch was going to send to the Paris Exhibition. -Schleiermacher's face is very delicately cut, and indicates a highly -susceptible temperament. The colossal head of Fritz, seen on a level -with one's eye, was perfectly startling from its living expression. One -can't help fancying that the head is thinking and that the eyes are -seeing. - -Dessoir the actor was another pleasant variety in our circle of -acquaintance. He created in us a real respect and regard for him, not -only by his sincere devotion to his art, but by the superiority of -feeling which shone through all the little details of his conduct and -conversation. Of lowly birth, and entirely self-taught, he is by -nature a gentleman. Without a single physical gift as an actor, he -succeeds, by force of enthusiasm and conscientious study, in arriving -at a representation which commands one's attention and feelings. I was -very much pleased by the simplicity with which he one day said, -"Shakespeare ist mein Gott; ich habe keinen anderen Gott:" and indeed -one saw that his art was a religion to him. He said he found himself -inevitably led into singsong declamation by Schiller, but with -Shakespeare it was impossible to be declamatory. It was very agreeable -to have him as a companion now and then in our walks, and to have him -read or discuss Shakespeare for an hour or two in the evening. He told -us an amusing story about his early days. When he was a youth of -sixteen or seventeen, acting at Spandau, he walked to Berlin (about -nine miles) and back in the evening, accompanied by a watchmaker -named Naundorff, an enthusiast for the theatre. On their way Dessoir -declaimed at the top of his voice, and was encouraged by the applause -of his companion to more and more exertion of lungs and limbs, so that -people stared at them, and followed them, as if they thought them two -madmen. This watchmaker was Louis XVII.! Dessoir also imitated -admirably Aldridge's mode of advancing to kill Duncan--like a wild -Indian lurking for a not much wilder beast. He paid us the very pretty -attention of getting up a dinner for us at Dietz's, and inviting -Rötscher and Förster to meet us; and he supplied us with tickets for -the theatre, which, however, was a pleasure we used sparingly. The -first time we went was to see "Nathan der Weise"--a real enjoyment, -for the elegant theatre was new to us, and the scenery was excellent; -better than I saw there on any subsequent occasion. Döring performed -Nathan, and we thus saw him for the first time to great advantage; -for, though he drags down this part, as he does all others, the -character of Nathan sets limits which he cannot overstep; and though -we lose most of its elevation in Döring's acting, we get, _en -revanche_, an admirable ease and naturalness. His fine, clear voice -and perfect enunciation told excellently in the famous monologue, and -in the whole scene with Saladin. Our hearts swelled and the tears came -into our eyes as we listened to the noble words of dear Lessing, whose -great spirit lives immortally in this crowning work of his. - -Our great anxiety was to see and hear Johanna Wagner, so we took -tickets for the "Orpheus," which Mlle. Solmar told us she thought her -best part. We were thoroughly delighted both with her and her music. -The caricatures of the Furies, the ballet-girls, and the butcher-like -Greek shades in Elysium, the ugly, screaming Eurydice, and the droll -appearance of Timzek as Amor, in which she looked like a shop-girl who -has donned a masquerade dress impromptu, without changing her -headdress--all these absurdities were rather an amusement than a -drawback to our pleasure; for the Orpheus was perfect in himself, and -looked like a noble horse among mules and donkeys. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 9th Jan. 1855.] - -Our days are so accurately parcelled out that my time for -letter-writing is rather restricted, and for every letter I write I -have to leave out something which we have learned to think necessary. -We have been to hear "Fidelio" this evening--not well executed, except -so far as the orchestra was concerned; but the divine music positively -triumphs over the defects of execution. One is entirely wrapped in the -_idea_ of the composer. Last week we had "Orpheus and Eurydice," and I -heard, for the first time, at once an opera of Gluck's and Johanna -Wagner. It is one of the glories of Berlin to give Gluck's operas, and -it is also something of a glory to have "die Wagner." She is really a -fine actress and a fine singer; her voice is not ravishing, but she is -mistress of it. I thought of you that evening, and wished you could -hear and see what I know would interest you greatly--I refer rather to -Gluck's opera than to Johanna Wagner. The scene in which Orpheus -(Johanna Wagner) enters Tartarus, is met by the awful Shades, and -charms them into ecstatic admiration till they make way for him to -pass on, is very fine. The voices--except in the choruses--are all -women's voices; and there are only three characters--Orpheus, Amor, -and Eurydice. One wonders that Pluto does not come as a basso; and one -would prefer Mercury as a tenor to Amor in the shape of an ugly -German soprano; but Gluck wished it otherwise, and the music is -delightful. I am reading a charming book by Professor Stahr--who is -one of our acquaintances here--"Torso: Kunst, Künstler, und Kunst -Werke der Alten." It feeds the fresh interest I am now feeling in art. -Professor Stahr is a very erudite man, and, what is very much rarer -among Germans, a good writer, who knows how to select his materials, -and has, above all, a charming talent for description. We saw at his -house the other night the first portrait of Schiller which _convinces_ -me of a likeness to him. It is the copy of a miniature which has never -been engraved. The face is less beautiful than that of the ordinary -busts and portraits, but is very remarkable--the eyes blue, the -complexion very fair (the picture was taken in his youth), and the -hair sunny. He has the long "goose-neck" which he describes as -belonging to Carl Moor in the "Robbers," and the forehead is _fuyant_ -in correspondence with the skull. The piteous contrast there is -between the anxiety poor Schiller is constantly expressing about a -livelihood--about the thalers he has to pay for this and the thalers -he has to receive for that--and Goethe's perfect ease in that respect! -For the "History of the Netherlands" he got little more than fifteen -shillings per sheet. I am very much interested in Professor Gruppe as -a type of the German _Gelehrter_. He has written books on -everything--on the Greek drama, a great book on the cosmic system of -the Greeks, an epic, numberless lyric poems, etc.; he has a -philosophical work and a history of literature in the press; is -professor of philosophy at the university; is enthusiastic about -boar-hunting, and has written a volume of hunting poems--and _ich -weiss nicht was_. Withal he is as simple as a child. When we go to -see them in the evening we find him wrapped in a moth-eaten gray coat -and a cap on his head. Then he reads us a translation of one of the -Homeric hymns, and goes into the most naďve _impersonal_ ecstasy at -the beauty of his own poetry (which is really good). The other night -he read us part of an epic which is still in MS., and is to be read -before the king--such is the fashion here. And his little wife, who is -about twenty years younger than himself, listens with loving -admiration. Altogether, they and their two little children are a -charming picture. - -[Sidenote: Berlin, Recollections, 1854-55.] - -We went to only one concert, for which Vivier was kind enough to send -us tickets. It was given by him and Roger, assisted by Arabella -Goddard and Johanna Wagner. Roger's singing of the "Erl King" was a -treat not to be forgotten. He gave the full effect to Schubert's -beautiful and dramatic music; and his way of falling from melody into -awe-struck speech in the final words "_War todt_" abides with one. I -never felt so thoroughly the beauty of that divine ballad before. The -king was present in all his toothlessness and blinkingness; and the -new princess from Anhalt Dessau, young and delicate-looking, was there -too. Arabella Goddard played the "Harmonious Blacksmith" charmingly, -and then Wagner sang badly two ineffective German songs, and Halévy's -duet from the "Reine de Chypre" with Roger. - -Vivier is amusing. He says Germans take off their hats on all possible -pretexts--not for the sake of politeness, but _pour ętre -embarrassants_. They have wide streets, simply to embarrass you, by -making it impossible to descry a shop or a friend. A German always has -_three_ gloves--"On ne sait pas pourquoi." There is a dog-tax in order -to maintain a narrow _trottoir_ in Berlin, and every one who keeps a -dog feels authorized to keep the _trottoir_ and move aside for no one. -If he has two dogs he drives out of the _trottoir_ the man who has -only one: the very dogs begin to be aware of it. If you kick one when -he is off the _trottoir_ he will bear it patiently, but on the -_trottoir_ he resents it vehemently. He gave us quite a bit of Moličre -in a description of a mystification at a restaurant. He says to the -waiter--"Vous voyez ce monsieur lŕ. C'est le pauvre M. Colignon." (Il -faut qu'il soit quelq'un qui prend trčs peu--une tasse de café ou -comme ça, et qui ne dépense pas trop.) "Je suis son ami. Il est fou. -Je le garde. Combien doit-il payer?" "Un franc." "Voilŕ." Then Vivier -goes out. Presently the so-called M. Colignon asks how much he has to -pay, and is driven to exasperation by the reiterated assurance of the -waiter--"C'est payé, M. Colignon." - -The first work of art really worth looking at that one sees at Berlin -is the "Rosse-bändiger" in front of the palace. It is by a sculptor -named Cotes, who made horses his especial study; and certainly, to us, -they eclipsed the famous Colossi at Monte Cavallo, casts of which are -in the new museum. - -The collection of pictures at the old museum has three gems, which -remain in the imagination--Titian's Daughter, Correggio's Jupiter and -Io, and his Head of Christ on the Handkerchief. I was pleased also to -recognize among the pictures the one by Jan Steen, which Goethe -describes in the "Wahlverwandschaften" as the model of a _tableau -vivant_, presented by Luciane and her friends. It is the daughter -being reproved by her father, while the mother is emptying her -wine-glass. It is interesting to see the statue of Napoleon, the -worker of so much humiliation to Prussia, placed opposite that of -Julius Cćsar. - -They were very happy months we spent at Berlin, in spite of the bitter -cold which came on in January and lasted almost till we left. How we -used to rejoice in the idea of our warm room and coffee as we battled -our way from dinner against the wind and snow! Then came the -delightful long evening, in which we read Shakespeare, Goethe, Heine, -and Macaulay, with German _Pfefferkuchen_ and _Semmels_ at the end to -complete the _noctes cenćque deűm_. - -We used often to turn out for a little walk in the evening, when it -was not too cold, to refresh ourselves by a little pure air as a -change from the stove-heated room. Our favorite walk was along the -Linden, in the broad road between the trees. We used to pace to old -Fritz's monument, which loomed up dark and mysterious against the sky. -Once or twice we went along the gas-lighted walk towards Kroll's. One -evening in our last week we went on to the bridge leading to the -Wilhelm Stadt, and there by moon and gas light saw the only bit of -picturesqueness Berlin afforded us. The outline of the Schloss towards -the water is very varied, and a light in one of the windows near the -top of a tower was a happy accident. The row of houses on the other -side of the water was shrouded in indistinctness, and no ugly object -marred the scene. The next day, under the light of the sun, it was -perfectly prosaic. - -Our _table d'hôte_ at the Hotel de l'Europe was so slow in its -progress from one course to another, and there was so little -encouragement to talk to our neighbors, that we used to take our books -by way of beguiling the time. Lessing's "Hamburgische Briefe," which I -am not likely to take up again, will thus remain associated in my -memory with my place at the _table d'hôte_. The company here, as -almost everywhere else in Berlin, was sprinkled with officers. Indeed, -the swords of officers threaten one's legs at every turn in the -streets, and one sighs to think how these unproductive consumers of -_Wurst_, with all their blue and scarlet broadcloth, are maintained -out of the pockets of the community. Many of the officers and privates -are startlingly tall; indeed, some of them would match, I should -think, with the longest of Friedrich Wilhelm's _lange Kerle_. - -It was a bitterly cold, sleety morning--the 11th of March--when we set -out from Berlin, leaving behind us, alas! G.'s rug, which should have -kept his feet warm on the journey. Our travelling companions to -Cologne were fat Madame Roger, her little daughter, and her dog, and a -queen's messenger--a very agreeable man, who afterwards persuaded -another of the same vocation to join us for the sake of warmth. This -poor man's teeth were chattering with cold, though he was wrapped in -fur; and we, all furless as we were, pitied him, and were thankful -that at least we were not feverish and ill, as he evidently was. We -saw the immortal old town of Wolfenbüttel at a distance, as we rolled -along; beyond this there was nothing of interest in our first day's -journey, and the only incident was the condemnation of poor Madame -Roger's dog to the dog-box, apart from its mistress with her warm -cloaks. She remonstrated in vain with a brutal German official, and it -was amusing to hear him say to her in German, "Wenn sie Deutsch nicht -verstehen können." "Eh bien--prenez la." "Ah! quel satan de pays!" was -her final word, as she held out the shivering little beast. - -We stayed at Cologne, and next morning walked out to look at the -cathedral again. Melancholy as ever in its impression upon me! From -Cologne to Brussels we had some rather interesting companions, in two -French artists who were on their way from Russia. Strange beings they -looked to us at first, in their dirty linen, Russian caps, and other -queer equipments; but in this, as in many other cases, I found that a -first impression was an extremely mistaken one--for instead of being, -as I imagined, common, uncultivated men, they were highly intelligent. - -At Brussels, as we took our supper, we had the pleasure of looking at -Berlioz's fine head and face, he being employed in the same way on the -other side of the table. The next morning to Calais. - - They were pleasant days those at Weimar and Berlin, and they - were working days. Mr. Lewes was engaged in completing his - "Life of Goethe," which had been begun some time before, but - which was now for the most part rewritten. At Weimar, George - Eliot wrote the article on Victor Cousin's "Madame de Sablé" - for the _Westminster Review_. It was begun on 5th August, and - sent off on 8th September. At Berlin she nearly finished the - translation of Spinoza's "Ethics"--begun on 5th November--and - wrote an article on Vehse's "Court of Austria," which was - begun on 23d January, and finished 4th March, 1855. Besides - this writing, I find the following among the books that were - engaging their attention; and in collecting the names from - George Eliot's Journal, I have transcribed any remarks she - makes on them: - -Sainte-Beuve, Goethe's "Wahlverwandschaften," Rameau's "Neffe," -"Egmont," "The Hoggarty Diamond," Moore's "Life of Sheridan"--a -first-rate specimen of bad biographical writing; "Götz" and the -"Bürger General," Uhland's poems, "Wilhelm Meister," Rosenkranz on the -Faust Sage, Heine's poems, Shakespeare's plays ("Merchant of Venice," -"Romeo and Juliet," "Julius Cćsar"--very much struck with the -masculine style of this play, and its vigorous moderation, compared -with "Romeo and Juliet"--"Antony and Cleopatra," "Henry IV.," -"Othello," "As You Like It," "Lear"--sublimely powerful--"Taming of -the Shrew," "Coriolanus," "Twelfth Night," "Measure for Measure," -"Midsummer-Night's Dream," "Winter's Tale," "Richard III.," "Hamlet"); -Lessing's "Laocoon"--the most un-German of all the German books that -I have ever read. The style is strong, clear, and lively; the thoughts -acute and pregnant. It is well adapted to rouse an interest both in -the classics and in the study of art; "Emilia Galotti" seems to me a -wretched mistake of Lessing's. The Roman myth of Virginius is grand, -but the situation, transported to modern times and divested of its -political bearing, is simply shocking. Read "Briefe über Spinoza" -(Jacobi's), "Nathan der Weise," Fanny Lewald's "Wandlungen," "Minna -von Barnhelm," "Italiänische Reise," the "Residence in Rome;" a -beautiful description of Rome and the Coliseum by moonlight--a fire -made in the Coliseum sending its smoke, silvered by the moonlight, -through the arches of the mighty walls. Amusing story of Goethe's -landlady's cat worshipping Jupiter by licking his beard--a miracle, -in her esteem, explained by Goethe as a discovery the cat had made of -the oil lodging in the undulations of the beard. "Residence in -Naples"--pretty passage about a star seen through a chink in the -ceiling as he lay in bed. It is remarkable that when Goethe gets to -Sicily he is, for the first time in Italy, enthusiastic in his -descriptions of natural beauty. Read Scherr's "Geschichte Deutscher -Cultur und Sitte"--much interested in his sketch of German poetry in -the Middle Ages; "Iphigenia." Looked into the "Xenien," and amused -ourselves with their pointlessness. "Hermann and Dorothea," "Tasso," -"Wanderjahre"--_ŕ mourir d'ennui_; Heine's "Geständnisse"--immensely -amused with the wit of it in the first fifty pages, but afterwards it -burns low, and the want of principle and purpose make it wearisome. -Lessing's "Hamburgische Briefe." Read Goethe's wonderful observations -on Spinoza. Particularly struck with the beautiful modesty of the -passage in which he says he cannot presume to say that he thoroughly -understands Spinoza. Read "Dichtung und Wahrheit," Knight's "Studies -of Shakespeare." Talked of the "Wahlverwandschaften" with Stahr--he -finding fault with the _dénouement_, which I defended. Read Stahr's -"Torso"--too long-winded a style for reading aloud. Knight's "History -of Painting." Compared several scenes of "Hamlet" in Schlegel's -translation with the original. It is generally very close, and often -admirably well done; but Shakespeare's strong, concrete language is -almost always weakened. For example, "Though this hand were _thicker -than_ itself in brother's blood" is rendered, "Auch um und um in -Bruder's Blut getauchet." The prose speeches of Hamlet lose all their -felicity in the translation. Read Stahr on the Eginetan Sculptures, -"Die Neue Melusine," "West-Östliche Divan," Gervinus on -Shakespeare--found it unsatisfactory; Stahr's "Ein Jahr in -Italien"--the description of Florence excellent. Read the wonderfully -beautiful "Römische Elegien" again, and some of the Venetian -epigrams, Vehse's "Court of Austria"--called on Miss Assing to try and -borrow the book from Varnhagen. He does not possess it, so G. called -on Vehse, and asked him to lend it to me. He was very much pleased to -do so. Read the "Zueignung," the "Gedichte," and several of the -ballads. Looked through Wraxall's "Memoirs." Read Macaulay's "History -of England." Wrote article on Stahr. - - This writing and reading, combined with visiting, - theatre-going, and opera-going, make a pretty full life for - these eight months--a striking contrast to the coming months - of complete social quietness in England. Both lives had their - attractions, the superficial aspects of which may be summed - up in a passage from the Journal, dated 13th March, 1855, on - arrival at the Lord Warden Hotel, at Dover: - -English mutton and an English fire were likely to be appreciated by -creatures who had had eight months of Germany, with its questionable -meat and its stove-heated rooms. The taste and quietude of a -first-rate English hotel were also in striking contrast with the heavy -finery, the noise, and the indiscriminate smoking of German inns. But, -after all, Germany is no bad place to live in; and the Germans, to -counterbalance their want of taste and politeness, are at least free -from the bigotry of exclusiveness of their more refined cousins. I -even long to be among them again--to see Dresden and Munich and -Nürnberg and the Rhine country. May the day soon come! - - -_SUMMARY._ - -JULY, 1854, TO MARCH, 1855. - - Leaves London with Mr. Lewes for Antwerp--Rubens's - pictures--Cologne--Dr. Brabant and - Strauss--Weimar--Schöll--The Dichter - Zimmer--Sauppe--Tiefurt--Ettersburg--Arthur Helps--Gabel-Bach - and Kickel-hahn--Liszt--Wagner's operas--"Der - Freischütz"--Schiller's house--Goethe's - house--Gartenhaus--Ober Weimar--The Webicht--Marquis de - Ferričre--Liszt anecdotes--Cornelius--Raff--Princess - Wittgenstein--Liszt's playing--Scheffer's picture--Expenses - at Weimar--Leave for Berlin--Meet - Varnhagen--Thiergarten--Acquaintances in Berlin--Fräulein - Solmar--Professor Gruppe--Epic of Firdusi--Waagen--Edward - Magnus--Professor Stahr and Fanny Lewald--Rauch the - sculptor--Kant's statue--Dessoir the actor--"Nathan der - Weise"--Döring's acting--Johanna Wagner--Letter to Miss - Hennell--"Fidelio"--Reading Stahr's "Torso"--Likeness of - Schiller--Vivier--Roger and Arabella Goddard--The - Rosse-bändiger--Pictures--Cold in Berlin--View of Schloss - from bridge--Leave Berlin for England--Books read--Article - written on "Madame de Sablé"--Translation of Spinoza's - "Ethics"--Article on Vehse's "Court of Austria"--Article on - Stahr. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[45] A wretched forehead. - -[46] First line of Schiller's "Song of the Bell." - -[47] "Gentlemen, do you know the story of the man who railed at the -sun because it would not light his cigar?" - -[48] Goose-neck. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - - -[Sidenote: Journal, Mch. 1855.] - -_March 14._--Took lodgings at 1 Sydney Place, Dover. - -_March 15._--A lovely day. As I walked up the Castle hill this -afternoon the town, with its background of softly rounded hills -shrouded in sleepy haze, its little lines of water looking golden in -the sun, made a charming picture. I have written the preface to the -Third Book of "Ethics," read Scherr, and Shakespeare's "Venus and -Adonis." - -_March 16._--I read Shakespeare's "Passionate Pilgrim" at breakfast, -and found a sonnet in which he expresses admiration of Spenser (Sonnet -viii.): - - "Dowland to thee is dear, whose heavenly touch - Upon the lute doth ravish human sense; - Spenser to me, whose deep conceit is such - As, passing all conceit, needs no defence."[49] - -I must send word of this to G., who has written in his "Goethe" that -Shakespeare has left no line in praise of a contemporary. I could not -resist the temptation of walking out before I sat down to work. Came -in at half-past ten, and translated Spinoza till nearly one. Walked -out again till two. After dinner read "Two Gentlemen of Verona" and -some of the "Sonnets." That play disgusted me more than ever in the -final scene, where Valentine, on Proteus's mere begging pardon, when -he has no longer any hope of gaining his ends, says: "All that was -mine in Sylvia, I give thee!" Silvia standing by. Walked up the Castle -hill again, and came in at six. Read Scherr, and found an important -hint that I have made a mistake in a sentence of my article on -"Austria" about the death of Franz von Sickingen. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 16th Mch. 1855.] - -I dare say you will be surprised to see that I write from Dover. We -left Berlin on the 11th. I have taken lodgings here for a little -while, until Mr. Lewes has concluded some arrangements in London; and, -with the aid of lovely weather, am even enjoying my solitude, though I -don't mind how soon it ends. News of you all at Rosehill--how health -and business and all other things are faring--would be very welcome to -me, if you can find time for a little note of homely details. I am -well and calmly happy--feeling much stronger and clearer in mind for -the last eight months of new experience. We were sorry to leave our -quiet rooms and agreeable friends in Berlin, though the place itself -is certainly ugly, and _am Ende_ must become terribly wearisome for -those who have not a vocation there. We went again and again to the -new museum to look at the casts of the Parthenon Sculptures, and -registered a vow that we would go to feast on the sight of the -originals the first day we could spare in London. I had never cast -more than a fleeting look on them before, but now I can in some degree -understand the effect they produced on their first discovery. - -[Sidenote: Journal, 1855.] - -_March 25._--A note from Mr. Chapman, in which he asks me to undertake -part of the Contemporary Literature for the _Westminster Review_. - -_April 18._--Came to town, to lodgings in Bayswater. - -_April 23._--Fixed on lodgings at East Sheen. - -_April 25._--Went to the British Museum. - -_April 28._--Finished article on "Weimar," for _Fraser_. - - During this month George Eliot was finishing the translating - and revising of Spinoza's "Ethics," and was still reading - Scherr's book, Schrader's "German Mythology"--a poor - book--"The Tempest," "Macbeth," "Niebelungenlied," "Romeo and - Juliet," article on "Dryden" in the _Westminster_, "Reineke - Fuchs," "Genesis of Science," Gibbon, "Henry V.," "Henry - VIII.," first, second, and third parts of "Henry VI.," - "Richard II." - -_May 2._--Came to East Sheen, and settled in our lodgings. - -_May 28._--Sent Belles-lettres section to _Westminster Review_. During -May several articles were written for the _Leader_. - -_June 13._--Began Part IV. of Spinoza's "Ethics." Began also to read -Cumming, for article in the _Westminster_. We are reading in the -evenings now Sydney Smith's letters, Boswell, Whewell's "History of -Inductive Sciences," "The Odyssey," and occasionally Heine's -"Reisebilder." I began the second book of the "Iliad," in Greek, this -morning. - -_June 21._--Finished article on Brougham's "Lives of Men of Letters." - -_June 23._--Read "Lucrezia Floriani." We are reading White's "History -of Selborne" in the evening, with Boswell and the "Odyssey." - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 23d June, 1855.] - -I have good hope that you will be deeply interested in the "Life of -Goethe." It is a book full of feeling, as well as of thought and -information, and I even think will make you love Goethe as well as -admire him. Eckermann's is a wonderful book, but only represents -Goethe at eighty. We were fortunate enough to be in time to see poor -Eckermann before his _total_ death. His mind was already half gone, -but the fine brow and eyes harmonized entirely with the interest we -had previously felt in him. We saw him in a small lodging, surrounded -by singing birds, and tended by his son--an intelligent youth of -sixteen, who showed some talent in drawing. I have written a -castigation of Brougham for the _Leader_, and shall be glad if your -sympathy goes along with it. Varnhagen has written "Denkwurdigkeiten," -and all sorts of literature, and is, or, rather was, the husband of -_Rahel_, the greatest of German women. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 21st July, 1855.] - -It was surely you who wrote the notice of the _Westminster_ in the -_Herald_ (Coventry) which we received this morning. I am very much -pleased with your appreciation of Mr. Lewes's article. You hardly do -justice to Froude's article on "Spinoza." I don't at all agree with -Froude's own views, but I think his account of Spinoza's doctrines -admirable. Mr. Lewes is still sadly ailing--tormented with tooth and -face ache. This is a terrible trial to us poor scribblers, to whom -health is money, as well as all other things worth having. I have just -been reading that Milton suffered from indigestion--quite an affecting -fact to me. I send you a letter which I have had from Barbara Smith. I -think you will like to see such a manifestation of her strong, noble -nature. - - On 1st August, 1855, Mr. Lewes went down to Ramsgate for - change, taking his three boys with him for a week's holiday. - Meantime George Eliot was continuing her article-writing, and - in this week wrote an article for the _Leader_, having - written one for the same journal three weeks before. On 22d - August she wrote another article for the _Leader_, and on - the 24th she finished the one on Cumming for the - _Westminster_. Mr. C. Lewes tells me that he remembers it was - after reading this article that his father was prompted to - say to George Eliot, while walking one day with her in - Richmond Park, that it convinced him of the true genius in - her writing. Mr. Lewes was not only an accomplished and - practised literary critic, but he was also gifted with the - inborn insight accompanying a fine artistic temperament, - which gave unusual weight to his judgment. Up to this time he - had not been quite sure of anything beyond great talent in - her productions. - - The first three weeks in September were again busily occupied - in article-writing. She contributed three papers to the - _Leader_, as well as the Belles-lettres section for the - October number of the _Westminster_. On the 19th September - they left East Sheen, and after spending a couple of weeks at - Worthing for a sea change, they took rooms at 8 Park Shot, - Richmond, which remained their home for more than three - years. Here some of George Eliot's most memorable literary - work was accomplished. Both she and Mr. Lewes were now - working very hard for what would bring immediate profit, as - they had to support not only themselves but his children and - their mother. They had only one sitting-room between them; - and I remember, in a walk on St. George's Hill, near - Weybridge, in 1871, she told me that the scratching of - another pen used to affect her nerves to such an extent that - it nearly drove her wild. On the 9th October she finished an - article on Margaret Fuller and Mary Wollstonecraft, and on - the 12th October one on Carlyle for the _Leader_, and began - an article on Heine for the January number of the - _Westminster_. In October there are the following letters to - the Brays: - -[Sidenote: Letter to Charles Bray, Monday, Oct. (?) 1855.] - -Since you have found out the "Cumming," I write by to-day's post just -to say that it _is_ mine, but also to beg that you will not mention it -as such to any one likely to transmit the information to London, as we -are keeping the authorship a secret. The article appears to have -produced a strong impression, and that impression would be a little -counteracted if the author were known to be a _woman_. I have had a -letter addressed "to the author of Article No. 4," begging me to print -it separately "for the good of mankind in general!" It is so kind of -you to rejoice in anything I do at all well. I am dreadfully busy -again, for I am going to write an article for the _Westminster Review_ -again, besides my other work. We enjoy our new lodgings very -much--everything is the pink of order and cleanliness. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 16th Oct. 1855.] - -Why you should object to Herbert Spencer speaking of Sir William -Hamilton's contributions to a theory of perception as "valuable" I am -unable to conceive. Sir William Hamilton 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. Herbert Spencer'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 theology 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." Our life 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. Nevertheless our life -is intensely occupied, and the days are far too short. We are reading -Gall's "Anatomie et Physiologie du Cerveau," 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." - -[Sidenote: Letter to Charles Bray, 21st Nov. 1855.] - -You will receive by rail to-morrow a copy of the "Life and Works of -Goethe" (published on 1st November), which I hope you will accept as a -keepsake from me. I should have been glad to send it you earlier, but -as Mr. Lewes has sold the copyright of the first edition, he has only -a small number of copies at his disposal, and so I doubted whether I -ought to ask for one. I think you will find much to interest you in -the book. I can't tell you how I value it, as the best product of a -mind which I have every day more reason to admire and love. We have -had much gratification in the expression of individual opinion. The -press is very favorable, but the notices are for the most part too -idiotic to give us much pleasure, except in a pecuniary point of view. -I am going out to-day, for the first time for nearly a fortnight. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 29th Nov. 1855.] - -I have just finished a long article on Heine for the _Westminster -Review_, which none of you will like. _En revanche_, Mr. Lewes has -written one on "Lions and Lion Hunters," which you will find amusing. - - On the 12th December the Belles-lettres section for the - January number of the _Westminster Review_ was finished and - sent off, and the next entry in the Journal is dated: - -[Sidenote: Journal, 1855.] - -_Dec. 24, 1855._--For the last ten days I have done little, owing to -headache and other ailments. Began the "Antigone," read Von Bohlen on -"Genesis," and Swedenborg. Mr. Chapman wants me to write an article on -"Missions and Missionaries," for the April number of the -_Westminster_, but I think I shall not have it ready till the July -number. In the afternoon I set out on my journey to see my sister, and -arrived at her house about eight o'clock, finding her and her children -well. - -_Dec. 29, 1855._--Returned to Richmond. G. away at Vernon Hill (Arthur -Helps's), having gone thither on Wednesday. - -_Dec. 30, 1855._--Read the "Shaving of Shagpat" (George Meredith's). - -_Dec. 31, 1855._--Wrote a review of "Shagpat." - -[Sidenote: Journal, 1856.] - -_Jan. 1, 1856._--Read Kingsley's "Greek Heroes," and began a review of -Von Bohlen. - -_Jan. 5, 1856._--G. came home. - -_Jan. 6, 1856._--Began to revise Book IV. of Spinoza's "Ethics," and -continued this work through the week, being able to work but slowly. -Finished Kahnis's "History of German Protestantism." - -_Jan. 16, 1856._--Received a charming letter from Barbara Smith, with -a petition to Parliament that women may have a right to their -earnings. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 18th Jan. 1856.] - -I believe there have been at least a thousand copies of the "Goethe" -sold, which is a wonderfully good sale in less than three months for a -thirty-shilling book. We have a charming collection of letters, both -from remarkable acquaintances and remarkable non-acquaintances, -expressing enthusiastic delight in the book--letters all the more -delightful because they are quite spontaneous, and spring from a -generous wish to let the author know how highly the writers value his -work. If you want some idle reading, get the "Shaving of Shagpat," -which, I think, you will say deserves all the praise I gave it. - -[Sidenote: Journal, 1856.] - -_Feb. 19, 1856._--Since the 6th January I have been occupied with -Spinoza; and, except a review of Griswold's "American Poets," have -done nothing else but translate the Fifth Book of the "Ethics," and -revise the whole of my translation from the beginning. This evening I -have finished my revision. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 19th Feb. 1856.] - -I was so glad to have a little news of you. I should like to hear much -oftener, but our days are so accurately parcelled out among regular -occupations that I rarely manage to do anything not included in the -programme; and, without reading Mrs. Barbauld on the "Inconsistency of -Human Expectations," I know that receiving letters is inconsistent -with not writing any. Have you seen any numbers of the _Saturday -Review_, a new journal, on which "all the talents" are engaged? It is -not properly a newspaper, but--what its title expresses--a political -and literary review. We are delighting ourselves with Ruskin's third -volume, which contains some of the finest writing I have read for a -long time (among recent books). I read it aloud for an hour or so -after dinner; then we jump to the old dramatists, when Mr. Lewes reads -to me as long as his voice will hold out, and after this we wind up -the evening with Rymer Jones's "Animal Kingdom," by which I get a -confused knowledge of branchić, and such things--perhaps, on the -whole, a little preferable to total ignorance. These are our -_noctes_--without _cenć_ for the present--occasionally diversified by -very dramatic singing of Figaro, etc., which, I think, must alarm -"that good man, the clergyman," who sits below us. We have been half -laughing, half indignant, over Alison's new volume of his "History of -Europe," in which he undertakes to give an account of German -literature. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 25th Feb. 1856.] - -What you tell me of Harriet Martineau interests me very much. I feel -for her terrible bodily suffering, and think of her with deep respect -and admiration. Whatever may have been her mistakes and weaknesses, -the great and good things she has done far outweigh them; and I should -be grieved if anything in her memoir should cast a momentary shadow -over the agreeable image of her that the world will ultimately keep in -its memory. I wish less of our piety were spent on imaginary perfect -goodness, and more given to real _im_perfect goodness. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, end of Feb. 1856.] - -I am very happy for you to keep the sheets, and to get signatures (for -the Women's Petition that they should have legal right to their own -earnings). Miss Barbara Smith writes that she must have them returned -to her before the 1st of March. I am glad you have taken up the cause, -for I do think that, with proper provisos and safeguards, the proposed -law would help to raise the position and character of women. It is one -round of a long ladder stretching far beyond our lives. - - During March, George Eliot wrote only the Belles-lettres - section for the April number of the _Westminster_, having - resigned the subject of "Missions" to Harriet Martineau. She - also wrote two articles for the _Saturday Review_, and two - for the _Leader_. And there are the following letters in - March to the Brays, in which allusion is made to their - leaving the old home at Rosehill, owing to the unsatisfactory - state of the Coventry business. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Charles Bray, 26th Mch. 1856.] - -We are flourishing in every way except in health. Mr. Lewes's head is -still infirm, but he manages, nevertheless, to do twice as much work -as other people. I am always a croaker, you know, but my ailments are -of a small kind, their chief symptoms being a muddled brain; and, as -my pen is not of the true literary order which will run along without -the help of brains, I don't get through so much work as I should like. -By the way, when the Spinoza comes out, be so good as not to mention -my name in connection with it. I particularly wish not to be known as -the translator of the "Ethics," for reasons which it would be "too -tedious to mention." You don't know what a severely practical person I -am become, and what a sharp eye I have to the main chance. I keep the -purse, and dole out sovereigns with all the pangs of a miser. In fact, -if you were to feel my bump of acquisitiveness, I dare say you would -find it in a state of inflammation, like the "veneration" of that -clergyman to whom Mr. Donovan said, "Sir, you have recently been -engaged in prayer." I hope you recognized your own wit about the -one-eyed dissenters, which was quoted in the _Leader_ some time ago. -You always said no one did so much justice to your jokes as I did. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Charles Bray, 31st Mch. 1856.] - -My mind is more rebellious than yours, and I can't help being saddened -by the idea of you and Cara being in any other home than the dear old -one. But I know that your cheerful courage is yet stronger in deed -than in word. Will not business or pleasure bring you to London soon, -and will you not come to see us? We can give you a bed--not a -sumptuous one, but one which you will perhaps not find intolerable for -a night. I know the trip up the Thames is charming, and we should -like to do it with you, but I don't think we can manage it this -summer. We are going to send or take the boys (Mr. Lewes's sons) to -school in Germany at midsummer, and are at present uncertain about our -arrangements. If we can _send_ them, we shall go to the coast as soon -as the warm weather comes, and remain there for three months. But our -plans are not yet crystallized. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Charles Bray, 1st April, 1856.] - -After I wrote you yesterday morning we had a letter from Germany which -has made Mr. Lewes incline to defer sending the boys thither till next -year. But he is anxious to remove them from their present school: and, -in the course of our consultations on the subject, we thought of Mr. -John Sibree as a person in whom we should feel confidence as to the -moral influence he would exercise as a tutor. The risk of placing -children with entire strangers is terrible. So I tease you with -another letter to ask you if Mr. J. Sibree continues in the same -position as formerly, and if he is still anxious to obtain pupils. -What a delicious day! We are going to have a holiday at the Zoological -Gardens. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 7th April, 1856.] - -Thank you for taking the trouble to write me a full account of matters -so interesting to me. I hope you will be able thoroughly to enjoy this -last precious summer on the pretty lawn, where it is one of my -pleasures on sunshiny days to think of you all strolling about or -seated on the Bearskin. We are very thankful for the Hofwyl circular, -and have almost decided to send the two eldest boys there. But it is -necessary to weigh all things carefully before coming to a -determination; as, not being either swindlers or philanthropists, we -don't like to incur obligations which there is not a reasonable -certainty of our being able to meet. I am much obliged to Mr. Bray, -too, for sending Mr. John Sibree's letter. Mr. Lewes had already -received an answer from him declining his proposition, but we were -interested to read his very characteristic letter to his sister, which -proved to Mr. Lewes that I had given him a correct description of the -man. - - The next few weeks are, perhaps, the most signally important - and interesting of all in George Eliot's development. There - are unmistakable signs of the rising of the sap of creative - production. - - In the middle of April Mr. Herbert Spencer, who had been - abroad for some time, returned to England, and dined with - them at Park Shot on the 15th, and on the 18th they went with - him to Sydenham. On the 22d April George Eliot began her - article on Young; and on the 29th she began to read Riehl's - book,[50] on which she was to write another article for the - _Westminster_. On the 8th of May they set off for Ilfracombe, - and we have the following "recollections" of that place: - -[Sidenote: Ilfracombe, Recollections, 1856.] - -It was a cold, unfriendly day--the 8th of May--on which we set out for -Ilfracombe with our hamper of glass jars, which we meant for our -sea-side vivarium. We had to get down at Windsor, and were not sorry -that the interval was long enough to let us walk round the castle, -which I had never seen before except from a distance. The famous -"slopes," the avenues in the park, and the distant landscape, looked -very lovely in the fresh and delicate greens of spring; and the castle -is surely the most delightful royal residence in the world. We took -our places from Windsor all the way to Exeter; and at Bristol, where -we had to wait three hours, the misery of my terrible headache was -mitigated by the interest we felt in seeing the grand old Church of -St. Mary Redcliffe, forever associated with the memory of Chatterton. - - "It stands, the maestrie of a human hand, - The pride of Bristowe and the western land." - -It was cheering, the next morning after our arrival at Ilfracombe, to -get up with a head rather less aching, and to walk up and down the -little garden of Runnymede Villa in the bright sunshine. I had a great -deal of work before me--the writing of an article on Riehl's book, -which I had not half read, as well as the article on Belles-lettres; -but my head was still dizzy, and it seemed impossible to sit down to -writing at once in these new scenes, so we determined to spend the day -in explorations. - -From our windows we had a view of the higher part of the town, and -generally it looked uninteresting enough; but what is it that light -cannot transfigure into beauty? One evening, after a shower, as the -sun was setting over the sea behind us, some peculiar arrangement of -clouds threw a delicious evening light on the irregular cluster of -houses, and merged the ugliness of their forms in an exquisite flood -of color--as a stupid person is made glorious by a noble deed. A -perfect rainbow arched over the picture. From one end of the Capstone -we have an admirable bit for a picture. In the background rises old -Helesborough, jutting out far into the sea--rugged and rocky as it -fronts the waves, green and accessible landward; in front of this -stands Lantern Hill, a picturesque mass of green and gray, surmounted -by an old bit of building that looks as if it were the habitation of -some mollusk that had secreted its shell from the material of the -rock; and quite in the foreground, contrasting finely in color with -the rest, are some lower perpendicular rocks of dark-brown tints, -patched here and there with vivid green. In hilly districts, where -houses and clusters of houses look so tiny against the huge limbs of -mother earth, one cannot help thinking of man as a parasitic -animal--an epizoan making his abode in the skin of the planetary -organism. In a flat country, a house or a town looks imposing; there -is nothing to rival it in height, and we may imagine the earth a mere -pedestal for us. But when one sees a house stuck on the side of a -great hill, and, still more, a number of houses, looking like a few -barnacles, clustered on the side of a great rock, we begin to think of -the strong family likeness between ourselves and all other building, -burrowing, house-appropriating, and shell-secreting animals. The -difference between a man with his house and a mollusk with its shell -lies in the number of steps or phenomena interposed between the fact -of individual existence and the completion of the building. Whatever -other advantages we may have over mollusks and insects in our -habitations, it is clear that their architecture has the advantage of -ours in beauty--at least, considered as the architecture of the -species. Look at man in the light of a shell-fish, and it must be -admitted that his shell is generally ugly; and it is only after a -great many more "steps or phenomena" that he secretes here and there a -wonderful shell in the shape of a temple or a palace. - -On our first zoophyte hunt it was characteristic of the wide difference -there is between having eyes and _seeing_, that in this region of -sea-anemones, where the Mesembryanthemum especially is as plenty as -blackberries, we climbed about for two hours without seeing one -anemone, and went in again with scarcely anything but a few stones and -weeds to put into our jars. On our next hunt, however, after we had -been out some time, G. exclaimed, "I see an anemone!" and we were -immensely excited by the discovery of this little red Mesembryanthemum, -which we afterwards disdained to gather, as much as if it had been a -nettle. It was a _crescendo_ of delight when we found a "strawberry," -and a _fortissimo_ when I, for the first time, saw the pale, -fawn-colored tentacles of an _Anthea cereus_ viciously waving like -little serpents in a low-tide pool. But not a polype for a long, long -while could even G. detect, after all his reading; so necessary is it -for the eye to be educated by objects as well as ideas. Every day I -gleaned some little bit of naturalistic experience, either through G.'s -calling on me to look through the microscope, or from hunting on the -rocks; and this in spite of my preoccupation with my article, which I -worked at considerably _ŕ contre-coeur_, despairing of it ever being -worth anything. When at last, by the 17th of June, both my articles -were despatched, I felt delightfully at liberty, and determined to pay -some attention to seaweeds, which I had never seen in such beauty as at -Ilfracombe. For hitherto I had been chiefly on chalky and sandy shores, -where there were no rock-pools to show off the lovely colors and forms -of the algć. There are tide-pools to be seen almost at every other step -on the shore at Ilfracombe; and I shall never forget their appearance -when we first arrived there. The _Corallina officinalis_ was then in -its greatest perfection, and with its purple-pink fronds threw into -relief the dark olive fronds of the Laminarić on one side, and the -vivid green of the Ulva and Enteromorpha on the other. After we had -been there a few weeks the Corallina was faded; and I noticed the -_Mesagloia vermicularis_ and the _M. virescens_, which look very lovely -in the water, from the white cilia, which make the most delicate fringe -to their yellow-brown, whip-like fronds, and some of the common -Polysiphonić. These tide-pools made me quite in love with seaweeds, so -I took up Landsborough's book and tried to get a little more light on -their structure and history. - -Our zoological expeditions alternated with delicious inland walks. I -think the country looked its best when we arrived. It was just that -moment in spring when the leaves are in full leaf, but still keep -their delicate varieties of coloring, and that _transparency_ which -belongs only to this season. And the furze was in all its golden -glory! It was almost like the fading away of the evening red, when the -furze blossoms died off from the hills, and the only contrast left was -that of the marly soil with the green crops and woods. The primroses -were the contemporaries of the furze, and sprinkled the sides of the -hills with their pale stars almost as plentifully as daisies or -buttercups elsewhere. But the great charm of all Devonshire lanes is -the springs that you detect gurgling in shady recesses, covered with -liverwort, with here and there waving tufts of fern and other -broad-leaved plants that love obscurity and moisture. - -We seemed to make less of our evenings at Ilfracombe than we have ever -done elsewhere. We used often to be tired with our hunting or walking; -and we were reading books which did not make us take them up very -eagerly--Gosse's "Rambles on the Devonshire Coast," for example; -Trench's "Calderon," and other volumes, taken up in a desultory way. -One bit of reading we had there, however, which interested me deeply. -It was Masson's "Life of Chatterton," which happily linked itself with -the impressions I had received from the sight of the old church at -Bristol. - -Mr. Tugwell's (the curate) acquaintance was a real acquisition to us, -not only because he was a companion and helper in zoological pursuits, -but because to know him was to know of another sweet nature in the -world. It is always good to know, if only in passing, a charming human -being; it refreshes one like flowers and woods and clear brooks. One -Sunday evening we walked up to his pretty house to carry back some -proofs of his, and he induced us to go in and have coffee with him. He -played on his harmonium, and we chatted pleasantly. The last evening -of our stay at Ilfracombe he came to see us in Mrs. Webster's -drawing-room, and we had music till nearly eleven o'clock--a pleasant -recollection! - -We only twice took the walk beyond Watermouth towards Berrynarbor. The -road lies through what are called the "Meadows," which look like a -magnificent park. A stream, fringed with wild-flowers and willows, -runs along the valley, two or three yards from the side of the road. -This stream is clear as crystal, and about every twenty yards it falls -over a little artificial precipice of stones. The long grass was -waving in all the glory of June, before the mower has come to make it -suffer a "love change" from beauties into sweet odors; and the slopes -on each side of us were crowned or clothed with fine trees. The last -time we went through these meadows was on our last day at Ilfracombe. -Such sunlight and such deep peace on the hills and by the stream! -Coming back, we rested on a gate under the trees, and a blind man came -up to rest also. He told us, in his slow way, what a fine, "healthy -spot" this was--yes, a very healthy spot--a healthy spot. And then we -went on our way, and saw his face no more. - -I have talked of the Ilfracombe lanes without describing them, for to -describe them one ought to know the names of all the lovely -wild-flowers that cluster on their banks. Almost every yard of these -banks is a "Hunt" picture--a delicious crowding of mosses and delicate -trefoil and wild strawberries and ferns great and small. But the -crowning beauty of the lanes is the springs that gush out in little -recesses by the side of the road--recesses glossy with liverwort and -feathery with fern. Sometimes you have the spring when it has grown -into a brook, either rushing down a miniature cataract by the -lane-side, or flowing gently as a "braided streamlet" across your -path. I never before longed so much to know the names of things as -during this visit to Ilfracombe. The desire is part of the tendency -that is now constantly growing in me to escape from all vagueness and -inaccuracy into the daylight of distinct, vivid ideas. The mere fact -of naming an object tends to give definiteness to our conception of -it. We have then a sign which at once calls up in our minds the -distinctive qualities which mark out for us that particular object -from all others. - -We ascended the Tors only twice; for a tax of 3_d._ per head was -demanded on this luxury, and we could not afford a sixpenny walk very -frequently: yet the view is perhaps the very finest to be had at -Ilfracombe. Bay behind bay, fringed with foam, and promontory behind -promontory, each with its peculiar shades of purple light--the sweep -of the Welsh coast faintly visible in the distance, and the endless -expanse of sea, flecked with ships, stretching on our left. - -[Sidenote: Ilfracombe, Recollections, June, 1856.] - -One evening we went down to the shore through the "Tunnels" to see the -sunset. Standing in the "Ladies' Cove," we had before us the sharp -fragments of rock jutting out of the waves and standing black against -the orange and crimson sky. How lovely to look into that brilliant -distance and see the ship on the horizon seeming to sail away from the -cold and dim world behind it right into the golden glory! I have -always that sort of feeling when I look at sunset; it always seems to -me that there in the West lies a land of light and warmth and love. - -On the 26th of June we said good-bye to Ilfracombe. The sight of the -cockle-women at Swansea, where we had to wait, would make a fine -subject for a painter. One of them was the grandest woman I ever -saw--six feet high, carrying herself like a Greek warrior, and -treading the earth with unconscious majesty. Her face was -weather-beaten and wizened, but her eyes were bright and piercing, and -the lines of her face, with its high cheek-bones, strong and -characteristic. The guard at the railway station told us that one of -the porters had been insolent the other day to a cockle-woman, and -that she immediately pitched him off the platform into the road below! - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 6th June, 1856.] - -When we arrived here I had not even read a great book on which I had -engaged to write a long article by the beginning of this month; so -that between work and zoology and bodily ailments my time has been -full to overflowing. We are enchanted with Ilfracombe. I really think -it is the loveliest sea-place I ever saw, from the combination of fine -rocky coast with exquisite inland scenery. But it would not do for any -one who can't climb rocks and mount perpetual hills; for the -peculiarity of this country is, that it is all hill and no valley. -You have no sooner got to the foot of one hill than you begin to mount -another. You would laugh to see our room decked with yellow -pie-dishes, a _foot-pan_, glass jars and phials, all full of -zoophytes, or mollusks, or anellides--and, still more, to see the -eager interest with which we rush to our "preserves" in the morning to -see if there has been any mortality among them in the night. We have -made the acquaintance of a charming little zoological curate here, who -is a delightful companion on expeditions, and is most good-natured in -lending and giving apparatus and "critturs" of all sorts. Mr. -Pigott[51] is coming here with his yacht at the end of June, and we -hope then to go to Clovelly--Kingsley's Clovelly--and perhaps other -places on the coast that we can't reach on foot. After this we mean to -migrate to Tenby, for the sake of making acquaintance with its -mollusks and medusć. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Peter Taylor, 8th June, 1856.] - -I received your kind letter only yesterday, but I write a few words in -answer at once, lest, as it so often happens, delay should beget -delay. - -It is never too late to write generous words, and although -circumstances are not likely to allow of our acquiring a more intimate -knowledge of each other from personal intercourse, it will always be a -pleasant thought to me that you have remembered me kindly, and -interpreted me nobly. You are one of the minority who know how to "use -their imagination in the service of charity." - -I have suffered so much from misunderstanding created by letters, even -to old friends, that I never write on private personal matters, unless -it be a rigorous duty or necessity to do so. Some little phrase or -allusion is misinterpreted, and on this false basis a great fabric of -misconception is reared, which even explanatory conversations will not -remove. Life is too precious to be spent in this weaving and unweaving -of false impressions, and it is better to live quietly on under some -degree of misrepresentation than to attempt to remove it by the -uncertain process of letter-writing. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 29th June, 1856.] - -Yes, indeed, I do remember old Tenby days, and had set my heart on -being in the very same house again; but, alas! it had just been let. -It is immensely smartened up, like the place generally, since those -old times, and is proportionately less desirable for quiet people who -have no flounces and do not subscribe to new churches. Tenby looks -insignificant in picturesqueness after Ilfracombe; but the two objects -that drew us hither, zoology and health, will flourish none the worse -for the absence of tall precipices and many-tinted rocks. The air is -delicious--soft, but not sultry--and the sands and bathing such as are -to be found nowhere else. St. Catherine's Rock, with its caverns, is -our paradise. We go there with baskets, hammers and chisels, and jars -and phials, and come home laden with spoils. Altogether, we are -contented to have been driven away from Ilfracombe by the cold wind, -since a new place is new experience, and Mr. Lewes has never been here -before. To me there is the additional pleasure--half melancholy--of -recalling all the old impressions and comparing them with the new. I -understand your wish to have as much of Rosehill as possible this -year, and I am so glad that you will associate a visit from Herbert -Spencer with this last summer. I suppose he is with you now. If so, -give him my very evil regards, and tell him that because he has not -written to us we will diligently _not_ tell him a great many things -he would have liked to know. We have a project of going into St. -Catherine's caverns with lanterns, some night when the tide is low, -about eleven, for the sake of seeing the zoophytes preparing for their -midnight revels. The Actinić, like other belles, put on their best -faces on such occasions. Two things we have lost by leaving Ilfracombe -for which we have no compensation--the little zoological curate, Mr. -Tugwell, who is really one of the best specimens of the clergyman -species I have seen; and the pleasure of having Miss Barbara Smith -there for a week, sketching the rocks, and putting our love of them -into the tangible form of a picture. We are looking out now for Mr. -Pigott in his yacht; and his amiable face will make an agreeable -variety on the sands. I thought "Walden"[52] (you mean "Life in the -Woods," don't you?) a charming book, from its freshness and sincerity -as well as for its bits of description. It is pleasant to think that -Harriet Martineau can make so much of her last days. Her energy and -her habit of useful work are admirable. - - During the stay at Ilfracombe and Tenby not much literary - work was done, except the articles on Young and on Riehl's - book. There was a notice of Masson's Essays and the - Belles-lettres section for the July number of the - _Westminster_, and a review for the _Leader_. There is - mention, too, of the reading of Beaumarchais' "Memoirs," - Milne Edwards's "Zoology," Harvey's sea-side book, and - "Coriolanus," and then comes this significant sentence in her - Journal: - -[Sidenote: Journal, 1856.] - -_July 20, 1856._--The fortnight has slipped away without my being -able to show much result for it. I have written a review of the -"Lover's Seat," and jotted down some recollections of Ilfracombe; -besides these trifles, and the introduction to an article already -written, I have done no _visible_ work. But I have absorbed many ideas -and much bodily strength; indeed, I do not remember ever feeling so -strong in mind and body as I feel at this moment. On Saturday, the -12th, Barbara Smith arrived, and stayed here till Wednesday morning. -We enjoyed her society very much, but were deeply touched to see that -three years had made her so much older and sadder. Her activity for -great objects is admirable; and contact with her is a fresh -inspiration to work while it is day. We have now taken up Quatrefages -again. The "Memoirs" of Beaumarchais yielded me little fruit. Mr. -Chapman invites me to contribute to the _Westminster_ for this -quarter. I am anxious to begin my fiction-writing, and so am not -inclined to undertake an article that will give me much trouble, but, -at all events, I will finish my article on Young. - -_July 21._--We had a delightful walk on the north sands, and hunted -with success. A sunny, happy day. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 29th July, 1856.] - -Glad to hear at last some news of your Essay--hoping to hear more and -better by and by. I didn't like to think that your labor would be -thrown away, except so far as it must do good to yourself by clearing -up your ideas. Not that your ideas were muddy, but the last degree of -clearness can only come by writing. Mr. Pigott is with us just now, -and we are meditating a nocturnal visit to St. Catherine's caves with -him. Our visit to Tenby has been very useful zoologically, but we are -not otherwise greatly in love with the place. It seems tame and vulgar -after Ilfracombe. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Charles Bray, 6th Aug. 1856.] - -Thank you for your kind note,[53] so like yourself. Such things -encourage me, and help me to do better. I never think what I write is -good for anything till other people tell me so, and even then it -always seems to me as if I should never write anything _else_ worth -reading. Ah, how much good we may do each other by a few friendly -words, and the opportunities for them are so much more frequent than -for friendly deeds! We want people to feel with us more than to act -for us. Mr. Lewes sends his kind regards to you. He, too, was very -pleased with your letter, for he cares more about getting approbation -for me than for himself. _He_ can do very well without it. - - On the 8th August they left Tenby, and on 9th arrived at - Richmond "with terrible headache, but enjoyed the sense of - being 'at home' again." On the 18th, "walked in Kew Park, and - talked with G. of my novel. Finished 'César Birotteau' - aloud." On the 25th August Mr. Lewes set off for Hofwyl, near - Berne, taking his two eldest boys, Charles and Thornton, to - place them at school there. He returned on 4th September, and - in his absence George Eliot had been busy with her article on - "Silly Novels by Lady Novelists." This was finished on the - 12th September, and on the 19th she sent off the - Belles-lettres section for the October number of the - _Westminster_. - - We have now arrived at the period of the new birth, and, - fortunately, in the following memorandum, we have George - Eliot's own words as to how it came about: - -[Sidenote: How I came to write fiction.] - -September, 1856, made a new era in my life, for it was then I began to -write fiction. It had always been a vague dream of mine that some time -or other I might write a novel; and my shadowy conception of what the -novel was to be, varied, of course, from one epoch of my life to -another. But I never went further towards the actual writing of the -novel than an introductory chapter describing a Staffordshire village -and the life of the neighboring farm-houses; and as the years passed -on I lost any hope that I should ever be able to write a novel, just -as I desponded about everything else in my future life. I always -thought I was deficient in dramatic power, both of construction and -dialogue, but I felt I should be at my ease in the descriptive parts -of a novel. My "introductory chapter" was pure description, though -there were good materials in it for dramatic presentation. It happened -to be among the papers I had with me in Germany, and one evening at -Berlin something led me to read it to George. He was struck with it as -a bit of concrete description, and it suggested to him the possibility -of my being able to write a novel, though he distrusted--indeed, -disbelieved in--my possession of any dramatic power. Still, he began -to think that I might as well try some time what I could do in -fiction, and by and by, when we came back to England, and I had -greater success than he ever expected in other kinds of writing, his -impression that it was worth while to see how far my mental power -would go towards the production of a novel, was strengthened. He began -to say very positively, "You must try and write a story," and when we -were at Tenby he urged me to begin at once. I deferred it, however, -after my usual fashion with work that does not present itself as an -absolute duty. But one morning, as I was thinking what should be the -subject of my first story, my thoughts merged themselves into a dreamy -doze, and I imagined myself writing a story, of which the title was -"The Sad Fortunes of the Reverend Amos Barton." I was soon wide awake -again and told G. He said, "Oh, what a capital title!" and from that -time I had settled in my mind that this should be my first story. -George used to say, "It may be a failure--it may be that you are -unable to write fiction. Or, perhaps, it may be just good enough to -warrant your trying again." Again, "You may write a _chef-d'oeuvre_ at -once--there's no telling." But his prevalent impression was, that -though I could hardly write a _poor_ novel, my effort would want the -highest quality of fiction--dramatic presentation. He used to say, -"You have wit, description, and philosophy--those go a good way -towards the production of a novel. It is worth while for you to try -the experiment." - -We determined that if my story turned out good enough we would send it -to Blackwood; but G. thought the more probable result was that I -should have to lay it aside and try again. - -But when we returned to Richmond I had to write my article on "Silly -Novels," and my review of Contemporary Literature for the -_Westminster_, so that I did not begin my story till September 22. -After I had begun it, as we were walking in the park, I mentioned to -G. that I had thought of the plan of writing a series of stories, -containing sketches drawn from my own observation of the clergy, and -calling them "Scenes from Clerical Life," opening with "Amos Barton." -He at once accepted the notion as a good one--fresh and striking; and -about a week afterwards, when I read him the first part of "Amos," he -had no longer any doubt about my ability to carry out the plan. The -scene at Cross Farm, he said, satisfied him that I had the very -element he had been doubtful about--it was clear I could write good -dialogue. There still remained the question whether I could command -any pathos; and that was to be decided by the mode in which I treated -Milly's death. One night G. went to town on purpose to leave me a -quiet evening for writing it. I wrote the chapter from the news -brought by the shepherd to Mrs. Hackit, to the moment when Amos is -dragged from the bedside, and I read it to G. when he came home. We -both cried over it, and then he came up to me and kissed me, saying, -"I think your pathos is better than your fun." - - The story of the "Sad Fortunes of Amos Barton" was begun on - 22d September and finished on the 5th November, and I subjoin - the opening correspondence between Mr. Lewes and Mr. John - Blackwood, to exhibit the first effect it produced: - -[Sidenote: Letter from G. H. Lewes, to John Blackwood, 6th Nov. 1856.] - - "I trouble you with a MS. of 'Sketches of Clerical Life' - which was submitted to me by a friend who desired my good - offices with you. It goes by this post. I confess that before - reading the MS. I had considerable doubts of my friend's - powers as a writer of fiction; but, after reading it, these - doubts were changed into very high admiration. I don't know - what you will think of the story, but, according to my - judgment, such humor, pathos, vivid presentation, and nice - observation have not been exhibited (in this style) since the - 'Vicar of Wakefield;' and, in consequence of that opinion, I - feel quite pleased in negotiating the matter with you. - - "This is what I am commissioned to say to you about the - proposed series. It will consist of tales and sketches - illustrative of the actual life of our country clergy about a - quarter of a century ago--but solely in its _human_, and not - at all in its _theological_ aspects; the object being to do - what has never yet been done in our literature, for we have - had abundant religious stories, polemical and doctrinal, but - since the 'Vicar' and Miss Austen, no stories representing - the clergy like every other class, with the humors, sorrows, - and troubles of other men. He begged me particularly to add, - that--as the specimen sent will sufficiently prove--the tone - throughout will be sympathetic, and not at all antagonistic. - - "Some of these, if not all, you may think suitable for - 'Maga.' If any are sent of which you do not approve, or which - you do not think sufficiently interesting, these he will - reserve for the separate republication, and for this purpose - he wishes to retain the copyright. Should you only print one - or two, he will be well satisfied; and still better, if you - should think well enough of the series to undertake the - separate republication." - -[Sidenote: Letter from John Blackwood, to G. H. Lewes, 12th Nov. -1856.] - - "I am happy to say that I think your friend's reminiscences - of Clerical Life will do. If there is any more of the series - written I should like to see it, as, until I saw more, I - could not make any decided proposition for the publication of - the tales, in whole or in part, in the Magazine. This first - specimen, 'Amos Barton,' is unquestionably very pleasant - reading. Perhaps the author falls into the error of trying - too much to explain the characters of his actors by - description instead of allowing them to evolve in the action - of the story; but the descriptions are very humorous and - good. The death of Milly is powerfully done, and affected me - much. I am not sure whether he does not spoil it a little by - specifying so minutely the different children and their - names. The wind-up is perhaps the lamest part of the story; - and there, too, I think the defect is caused by the - specifications as to the fortunes of parties of whom the - reader has no previous knowledge, and cannot, consequently, - feel much interest. At first, I was afraid that in the - amusing reminiscences of childhood in church there was a want - of some softening touch, such as the remembrance of a father - or mother lends, in after-years, to what was at the time - considerable penance. - - "I hate anything of a sneer at real religious feeling as - cordially as I despise anything like cant, and I should think - this author is of the same way of thinking, although his - clergymen, with one exception, are not very attractive - specimens of the body. The revulsion of feeling towards poor - Amos is capitally drawn, although the asinine stupidity of - his conduct about the countess had disposed one to kick him. - - "I dare say I shall have a more decided opinion as to the - merits of the story when I have looked at it again and - thought over it; but in the meantime I am sure that there is - a happy turn of expression throughout, also much humor and - pathos. If the author is a new writer, I beg to congratulate - him on being worthy of the honors of print and pay. I shall - be very glad to hear from you or him soon." - -[Sidenote: Letter from G. H. Lewes to John Blackwood, Saturday, Nov. -1856.] - - "I have communicated your letter to my clerical friend, who, - though somewhat discouraged by it, has taken my advice, and - will submit the second story to you when it is written. At - present he has only written what he sent you. His avocations, - he informs me, will prevent his setting to work for the next - three weeks or so, but as soon as he is at liberty he will - begin. - - "I rate the story much higher than you appear to do, from - certain expressions in your note, though you too appreciate - the humor and pathos and the happy turn of expression. It - struck me as being fresher than any story I have read for a - long while, and as exhibiting, in a high degree, that faculty - which I find to be the rarest of all--viz., the dramatic - ventriloquism. - - "At the same time I told him that I thoroughly understood - your editorial caution in not accepting from an unknown hand - a series on the strength of one specimen." - -[Sidenote: Letter from John Blackwood to G. H. Lewes, 18th Nov. 1856.] - - "I was very far from intending that my letter should convey - anything like disappointment to your friend. On the contrary, - I thought the tale very good, and intended to convey as much. - But I dare say I expressed myself coolly enough. Criticism - would assume a much soberer tone were critics compelled - _seriously to act_ whenever they expressed an opinion. - Although not much given to hesitate about anything, I always - think twice before I put the decisive mark 'In type for the - Magazine' on any MS. from a stranger. Fancy the intense - annoyance (to say nothing of more serious considerations) of - publishing, month after month, a series about which the - conviction gradually forces itself on you that you have made - a total blunder. - - "I am sorry that the author has no more written, but if he - cares much about a speedy appearance, I have so high an - opinion of this first tale that I will waive my objections, - and publish it without seeing more--not, of course, - committing myself to go on with the other tales of the series - unless I approved of them. I am very sanguine that I will - approve, as, in addition to the other merits of 'Amos,' I - agree with you that there is great freshness of style. If you - think also that it would stimulate the author to go on with - the other tales with more spirit, I will publish 'Amos' at - once. He could divide into two parts. I am blocked up for - December, but I could start him in January. - - "I am glad to hear that your friend is, as I supposed, a - clergyman. Such a subject is best in clerical hands, and some - of the pleasantest and least-prejudiced correspondents I have - ever had are English clergymen. - - "I have not read 'Amos Barton' a second time, but the - impression on my mind of the whole character, incidents, and - feeling of the story is very distinct, which is an excellent - sign." - -[Sidenote: Letter from G. H. Lewes to John Blackwood, Saturday, Nov. -1856.] - - "Your letter has greatly restored the shaken confidence of my - friend, who is unusually sensitive, and, unlike most writers, - is more anxious about _excellence_ than about appearing in - print--as his waiting so long before taking the venture - proves. He is consequently afraid of failure, though not - afraid of obscurity; and by failure he would understand that - which I suspect most writers would be apt to consider as - success--so high is his ambition. - - "I tell you this that you may understand the sort of shy, - shrinking, ambitious nature you have to deal with. I tried - to persuade him that you really _did_ appreciate his story, - but were only hesitating about committing yourself to a - series; and your last letter has proved me to have been - right--although, as he never contemplated binding you to the - publication of any portion of the series to which you might - object, he could not at first see your position in its true - light. - - "All is, however, clear now. He will be gratified if you - publish 'Amos Barton' in January, as it will give him ample - time to get the second story ready, so as to appear when - 'Barton' is finished, should you wish it. He is anxious, - however, that you should publish the general title of 'Scenes - of Clerical Life;' and I think you may do this with perfect - safety, since it is quite clear that the writer of 'Amos - Barton' is capable of writing at least one more story - suitable to 'Maga;' and two would suffice to justify the - general title. - - "Let me not forget to add that when I referred to 'my - clerical friend,' I meant to designate the writer of the - clerical stories--not that he was a clericus. I am not at - liberty to remove the veil of anonymity, even as regards - social position. Be pleased, therefore, to keep the whole - secret, and not even mention _my_ negotiation, or in any way - lead guessers (should any one trouble himself with such a - guess--_not_ very likely) to jump from me to my friend." - - On Christmas Day, 1856, "Mr. Gilfil's Love-Story" was begun, - and during December and January the following are mentioned - among the books read: The "Ajax" of Sophocles, Miss - Martineau's "History of the Peace," Macaulay's "History" - finished, Carlyle's "French Revolution," Burke's "Reflections - on the French Revolution," and "Mansfield Park." - -[Sidenote: Letter from John Blackwood, to the author of "Amos Barton," -29th Dec. 1856.] - - "Along with this I send a copy of the January number of the - Magazine, in which you will find the first part of 'Amos - Barton.' It gives me very great pleasure to begin the number - with 'Amos,' and I put him in that position because his - merits well entitle him to it, and also because it is a vital - point to attract public attention to the _first_ part of a - series, to which end being the first article of the first - number of the year may contribute. - - "I have already expressed to our friend Mr. Lewes the very - high opinion I entertain of 'Amos,' and the expectations I - have formed of the series, should his successors prove equal - to him, which I fully anticipate. - - "It is a long time since I have read anything so fresh, so - humorous, and so touching. The style is capital, conveying so - much in so few words. - - "Those who have seen the tale here are chiefly members of my - own family, and they are all enthusiastic in praise. - - "You may recollect that I expressed a fear that in the - affecting and highly wrought scene of poor Milly's death, the - attempt to individualize the children by reiterating their - names weakened the effect, as the reader had not been - prepared to care for them individually, but simply as a - group--the children of Milly and the sorrow-stricken curate. - My brother says, 'No. Do not advise the author to touch - anything so exquisite.' Of course you are the best judge. - - "I now send proof of the conclusion of 'Amos,' in - acknowledgment of which, and of the first part, I have the - pleasure of enclosing a check for Ł52 10_s._--fifty guineas. - - "If the series goes on as I anticipate, there is every - prospect that a republication as a separate book, at some - time or other, will be advisable. We would look upon such - republication as a joint property, and would either give you - a sum for your interest in it, or publish on the terms of one - half of the clear profits, to be divided between author and - publisher, as might be most agreeable to you. - - "I shall be very glad to hear from you, either direct or - through Mr. Lewes; and any intelligence that the successors - of 'Amos' are taking form and substance will be very - acceptable. - - "I shall let you know what the other contributors and the - public think of 'Amos' as far as I can gather a verdict, but - in the meantime I may congratulate you on having achieved a - preliminary success at all events." - -[Sidenote: Letter from the author of "Amos Barton" to John Blackwood, -Jan. 1857.] - -Your letter has proved to me that the generous editor and -publisher--generous both in word and in deed--who makes the author's -path smooth and easy, is something more than a pleasant tradition. I -am very sensitive to the merits of checks for fifty guineas, but I am -still more sensitive to that cordial appreciation which is a guarantee -to me that my work was worth doing for its own sake. - -If the "Scenes of Clerical Life" should be republished, I have no -doubt we shall find it easy to arrange the terms. In the meantime, the -most pressing business is to make them worth republishing. - -I think the particularization of the children in the deathbed scene -has an important effect on the imagination. But I have removed all -names from the "conclusion" except those of Patty and Dickey, in whom, -I hope, the reader has a personal interest. - -I hope to send you the second story by the beginning of February. It -will lie, for the most part, among quite different scenes and persons -from the last--opening in Shepperton once more, but presently moving -away to a distant spot and new people, whom, I hope, you will not like -less than "Amos" and his friends. But if any one of the succeeding -stories should seem to you unsuitable to the pages of "Maga," it can -be reserved for publication in the future volume, without creating any -difficulty. - -Thank you very warmly for the hearty acceptance you have given to my -first story. - -[Sidenote: Journal, 1857.] - -The first part of "Amos Barton" appeared in the January number of -_Blackwood_. Before the appearance of the Magazine, on sending me the -proof, Mr. John Blackwood already expressed himself with much greater -warmth of admiration; and when the first part had appeared he sent me -a charming letter, with a check for fifty guineas, and a proposal -about republication of the series. When the story was concluded he -wrote me word how Albert Smith had sent him a letter saying he had -never read anything that affected him more than Milly's death, and, -added Blackwood, "The men at the club seem to have mingled their tears -and their tumblers together. It will be curious if you should be a -member and be hearing your own praises." There was clearly no -suspicion that I was a woman. It is interesting, as an indication of -the value there is in such conjectural criticism generally, to -remember that when G. read the first part of "Amos" to a party at -Helps's, they were all sure I was a clergyman--a Cambridge man. -Blackwood seemed curious about the author, and, when I signed my -letter "George Eliot," hunted up some old letters from Eliot -Warburton's brother to compare the handwritings, though, he said, -"'Amos' seems to me not in the least like what that good artilleryman -would write." - -[Sidenote: Letter to John Blackwood, 4th Feb. 1857.] - -Thank you for fulfilling your promise to let me know something of the -criticisms passed on my story. I have a very moderate respect for -"opinions of the press," but the private opinions of intelligent -people may be valuable to me. - -In reference to artistic presentation much adverse opinion will, of -course, arise from a dislike to the _order_ of art rather than from a -critical estimate of the execution. Any one who detests the Dutch -school in general will hardly appreciate fairly the merits of a -particular Dutch painting. And against this sort of condemnation one -must steel one's self as one best can. But objections which point out -to me any vice of manner, or any failure in producing an intended -effect, will be really profitable. For example, I suppose my -scientific illustrations must be at fault, since they seem to have -obtruded themselves disagreeably on one of my readers. But if it be a -sin to be at once a man of science and a writer of fiction, I can -declare my perfect innocence on that head, my scientific knowledge -being as superficial as that of the most "practised writers." I hope -to send you a second story in a few days, but I am rather behindhand -this time, having been prevented from setting to work for some weeks -by other business. - -Whatever may be the success of my stories, I shall be resolute in -preserving my _incognito_, having observed that a _nom de plume_ -secures all the advantages without the disagreeables of reputation. -Perhaps, therefore, it will be well to give you my prospective name, -as a tub to throw to the whale in case of curious inquiries; and -accordingly I subscribe myself, best and most sympathizing of editors, -yours very truly, GEORGE ELIOT. - - I may mention here that my wife told me the reason she fixed - on this name was that George was Mr. Lewes's Christian name, - and Eliot was a good, mouth-filling, easily pronounced word. - -[Sidenote: Letter to John Blackwood, 18th Feb. 1857.] - -First let me thank you very heartily for your letter of the 10th. -Except your own very cordial appreciation, which is so much beyond a -mere official acceptance, that little fact about Albert Smith has -gratified me more than anything else in connection with the effect of -"Amos." If you should happen to hear an opinion from Thackeray, good -or bad, I should like to know it. - -You will see that I have availed myself of your suggestions on points -of language. I quite recognize the justice of your criticisms on the -French phrases. They are not in keeping with my story. - -But I am unable to alter anything in relation to the delineation or -development of character, as my stories always grow out of my -psychological conception of the _dramatis personć_. For example, the -behavior of Caterina in the gallery is essential to my conception of -her nature, and to the development of that nature in the plot. My -artistic bent is directed not at all to the presentation of eminently -irreproachable characters, but to the presentation of mixed human -beings in such a way as to call forth tolerant judgment, pity, and -sympathy. And I cannot stir a step aside from what I _feel_ to be -_true_ in character. If anything strikes you as untrue to human nature -in my delineations, I shall be very glad if you will point it out to -me, that I may reconsider the matter. But, alas! inconsistencies and -weaknesses are not untrue. I hope that your doubts about the plot will -be removed by the further development of the story. Meanwhile, warmest -thanks for your encouraging letters. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 24th Feb. 1857.] - -I am the more inclined to think that I shall admire your book because -you are suspected of having given undue preponderance to the Christian -argument: for I have a growing conviction that we may measure true -moral and intellectual culture by the comprehension and veneration -given to all forms of thought and feeling which have influenced large -masses of mankind--and of all intolerance the intolerance calling -itself philosophical is the most odious to me. - -[Sidenote: Letter to John Blackwood, 1st Mch. 1857.] - -Thank you for the copy of "Maga" and for the accompanying check. One -has not many correspondents whose handwriting has such agreeable -associations as yours. - -I was particularly pleased with that extract you were so good as to -send me from Mr. Swayne's letter. Dear old "Goldie" is one of my -earliest and warmest admirations, and I don't desire a better fate -than to lie side by side with him in people's memories. - - The Rev. Mr. Swayne had written to Blackwood saying that - "Amos," in its charming tendencies, reminded him of the - "Vicar of Wakefield." Blackwood had written, much delighted - with the two first parts of "Mr. Gilfil's Love-Story," which - were sent to him together. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 2d Mch. 1857.] - -I began, oddly enough you will perhaps think, by reading through the -"Answers of Infidelity,"[54] those being the most interesting parts of -the book to me. Some of your own passages I think very admirable--some -of them made me cry, which is always a sign of the highest pleasure -writing can give me. But in many of the extracts, I think, Infidelity -cuts a very poor figure. Some are feeble, some _bad_, and terribly -discrepant in the tone of their thought and feeling from the passages -which come fresh from your own mind. The disadvantage arising from the -perpetual shifting of the point of view is a disadvantage, I suppose, -inseparable from the plan, which I cannot admire or feel to be -effective, though I can imagine it may be a serviceable form of -presentation to some inquirers. The _execution_ I do admire. I think it -shows very high and rare qualities of mind--a self-discipline and -largeness of thought which are the highest result of culture. The -"Objections of Christianity," which I have also read, are excellently -put, and have an immense advantage over the "Answers of Infidelity" in -their greater homogeneity. The first part I have only begun and glanced -through, and at present have no other observation to make than that I -think you might have brought a little more artillery to bear on -Christian morality. But nothing is easier than to find fault--nothing -so difficult as to _do_ some real work. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 5th Mch. 1857.] - -I think I wrote very brusquely and disagreeably to you the other day, -but the impertinence was altogether in the form and not at all in -the feeling. I always have uncomfortable sensations after writing -objections and criticisms when they relate to things I substantially -admire. It is inflicting a hurt on my own veneration. - -I showed the passage on the eye, p. 157, to Herbert Spencer, and he -agrees with us that you have not stated your idea so as to render it a -logical argument against design. You appear to imply that development -and gradation in organs and functions are opposed to that conception, -which they are not. I suppose you are aware that we all three hold the -conception of creative design to be untenable. We only think you have -not made out a good case against it. - -Thank you for sending me some news of Harriet Martineau. I have often -said lately, "I wonder how she is." - -[Sidenote: Letter to John Blackwood, 14th Mch. 1857.] - -I am glad you retain a doubt in favor of the _dagger_, and wish I -could convert you to entire approval, for I am much more satisfied -when your feeling is thoroughly with me. But it would be the death of -my story to substitute a dream for the real scene. Dreams usually play -an important part in fiction, but rarely, I think, in actual life. - -So many of us have reason to know that criminal impulses may be felt -by a nature which is nevertheless guarded by its entire constitution -from the commission of crime, that I can't help hoping that my -Caterina will not forfeit the sympathy of all my readers. - -The answer you propose to give to curious inquirers is the best -possible. For several reasons I am very anxious to retain my -_incognito_ for some time to come, and, to an author not already -famous, anonymity is the highest _prestige_. Besides, if George Eliot -turns out a dull dog and an ineffective writer--a mere flash in the -pan--I, for one, am determined to cut him on the first intimation of -that disagreeable fact. - -The fates have willed that this shall be a very melancholy story, and -I am longing to be a little merrier again. - - On the 16th March Mr. Lewes and George Eliot started for - Plymouth, Penzance, and the Scilly Isles, and we have the - following recollections of their stay there: - -[Sidenote: Recollections, Scilly Isles, March-May, 1857.] - -I had never before seen a granite coast, and on the southern side of -the island of St. Mary's one sees such a coast in its most striking -and characteristic forms. Rectangular crevices, the edges of which -have been rounded by weather, give many of the granite masses a -resemblance to bales of wool or cotton heaped on each other; another -characteristic form is the mushroom-shaped mass, often lying poised on -the summits of more cubical bowlders or fragments; another is the -immense flat platform stretching out like a pier into the sea; another -the oval basins formed by the action of the rain-water on the summits -of the rocks and bowlders. The coloring of the rocks was very various -and beautiful; sometimes a delicate grayish-green, from the shaggy -byssus which clothes it, chiefly high up from the water; then a light, -warm brown; then black; occasionally of a rich yellow; and here and -there purplish. Below the rocks, on the coast, are almost everywhere -heaps of white bowlders, sometimes remarkably perfect ovals, and -looking like huge eggs of some monstrous bird. Hardly any weed was to -be seen on the granite, except here and there in a rock-pool, green -with young ulva; and no barnacles incrust the rock, no black mussels, -scarcely any limpets. The waves that beat on this coast are clear as -crystal, and we used to delight in watching them rear themselves like -the horses of a mighty sea-god as they approached the rocks on which -they were broken into eddies of milky foam. Along a great part of this -southern coast there stretch heathy or furzy downs, over which I used -to enjoy rambling immensely; there is a sense of freedom in those -unenclosed grounds that one never has in a railed park, however -extensive. Then, on the north side of the island, above Sandy Bar, -what a view we used to get of the opposite islands and reefs, with -their delicious violet and yellow tints--the tall ship or two anchored -in the Sound, changing their aspect like living things, and when the -wind was at all high the white foam prancing round the reefs and -rising in fountain-like curves above the screen of rocks! - -Many a wet and dirty walk we had along the lanes, for the weather was -often wet and almost always blustering. Now and then, however, we had -a clear sky and a calm sea, and on such days it was delicious to look -up after the larks that were soaring above us, or to look out on the -island and reef studded sea. I never enjoyed the lark before as I -enjoyed it at Scilly--never felt the full beauty of Shelley's poem on -it before. A spot we became very fond of towards the close of our stay -was Carne Lea, where, between two fine, jutting piles of granite, -there was a soft down, gay with the pretty pink flowers of the thrift, -which, in this island, carpets the ground like greensward. Here we -used to sit and lie in the bright afternoons, watching the silver -sunlight on the waves--bright silver, not golden--it is the morning -and evening sunlight that is golden. A week or two after our arrival -we made the acquaintance of Mr. Moyle, the surgeon, who became a -delightful friend to us, always ready to help with the contents of his -surgery or anything else at his command. We liked to have him come and -smoke a cigar in the evening, and look in now and then for a little -lesson in microscopy. The little indications of the social life at -Scilly that we were able to pick up were very amusing. I was -repeatedly told, in order to make me aware who Mr. Hall was, that he -married a Miss Lemon. The people at St. Mary's imagine that the -lawyers and doctors at Penzance are a sort of European characters that -every one knows. We heard a great deal about Mr. Quill, an Irishman, -the Controller of the Customs; and one day, when we were making a call -on one of the residents, our host said two or three times, at -intervals, "I wish you knew Quill!" At last, on our farewell call, we -saw the distinguished Quill, with his hair plastered down, his -charming smile, and his trousers with a broad stripe down each leg. -Our host amused us by his contempt for curs: "Oh, I wouldn't have a -cur--there's nothing to look at in a cur!"[55] - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, 5th April, 1857.] - -The smallest details, written in the hastiest way, that will enable me -to imagine you as you are, are just what I want; indeed, all I care -about in correspondence. We are more and more in love with these -little islands. There is not a tree to be seen, but there are grand -granite hills on the coast, such as I never saw before, and -furze-covered hills with larks soaring and singing above them, and -zoological wonders on the shore to fill our bottles and our souls at -once. For some time I have been unusually weak and knock-up-able. Our -landlady is an excellent woman, but, like almost all peculiarly -domestic women, has not more than rudimentary ideas of cooking; and in -an island where you can get nothing but beef, except by sending to -Penzance, that supreme science has its maximum value. She seems to -think eating a purely arbitrary procedure--an abnormal function of mad -people who come to Scilly; and if we ask her what the people live on -here, is quite at a loss to tell us, apparently thinking the question -relates to the abstruser portion of natural history. But I insist, -and give her a culinary lecture every morning, and we do, in the end, -get fed. Altogether our life here is so far better than the golden age -that we work as well as play. That is the happy side of things. But -there is a very sad one to me which I shall not dwell upon--only tell -you of. More than a week ago I received the news that poor Chrissey -had lost one of her pretty little girls of fever; that the other -little one--they were the only two she had at home with her--was also -dangerously ill, and Chrissey herself and her servant apparently -attacked by typhus too. The thought of her in this state is a -perpetual shadow to me in the sunshine. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 16th April, 1857.] - -I shudder at entering on such great subjects (as "Design") in letters; -my idle brain wants lashing to work, like a negro, and will do nothing -under a slighter stimulus. We are enjoying a retrogression to -old-fashioned reading. I rush on the slightest pretext to Sophocles, -and am as excited about blind old Oedipus as any young lady can be -about the latest hero with magnificent eyes. But there is _one_ new -book we have been enjoying, and so, I hope, have you--the "Life of -Charlotte Brontë." Deeply affecting throughout; in the early part -romantic, poetic, as one of her own novels; in the later years tragic, -especially to those who know what sickness is. Mrs. Gaskell has done -her work admirably, both in the industry and care with which she has -gathered and selected her material, and in the feeling with which she -has presented it. There is one exception, however, which I regret very -much. She sets down Branwell's conduct entirely to remorse. Remorse -may make sad work with a man, but it will not make such a life as -Branwell's was in the last three or four years, unless the germs of -vice had sprouted and shot up long before, as it seems clear they had -in him. What a tragedy!--that picture of the old father and the three -sisters trembling, day and night, in terror at the possible deeds of -their drunken, brutal son and brother! That is the part of the life -which affects me most. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Isaac P. Evans, 16th April, 1857.] - -I have been looking anxiously for some further tidings of Chrissey -since your last letter, which told me that she and Kate were better, -though not out of danger. I try to hope that no news is good news; but -if you do not think it troublesome to write, I shall be thankful to -have that hope changed into certainty. - -Meanwhile, to save multiplying letters--which I know you are not fond -of--I mention now what will take no harm from being mentioned rather -prematurely. I should like Chrissey to have Ł15 of my next half-year's -income, due at the beginning of June, to spend in taking a change of -air as soon as she is able to do so; and perhaps, if it were desirable -for her to leave before the money has been paid in, you would be so -kind as to advance it for a few weeks. I am writing, of course, in -ignorance of her actual state; but I should think it must be good for -her, as soon as she is able to move, to leave that fever-infected -place for a time, and I know the money must have gone very fast in -recent expenses. I only suggest the change of air as the thing that I -should think best for Chrissey; but, in any case, I should like her to -have the money, to do what she pleases with it. If she is well enough -please to give her the enclosed note, in which I have suggested to her -what I have just written to you. - -I am much obliged to you for your last letter, and shall be still more -so if you will write me word of Chrissey's present condition. - -[Sidenote: Letter to John Blackwood, 1st May, 1857.] - -Thank you for the pleasant notes of impressions concerning my story, -sent to me through Lewes. - -I will pay attention to your caution about the danger of huddling up -my stories. Conclusions are the weak point of most authors, but some -of the fault lies in the very nature of a conclusion, which is at best -a negation. - -There must be something wrong in the winding-up of "Amos," for I have -heard of two persons who are disappointed with the conclusion. But the -story never presented itself to me as possible to be protracted after -Milly's death. The drama ends there. - -I am thinking of writing a short epilogue to "Mr. Gilfil's -Love-Story," and I will send it you with the proof from Jersey, where, -on a strict promise that I am not to be dissected, I shall shortly -join our friend Lewes. - -The third story will be very different from either of the preceding, -which will perhaps be an advantage, as poor Tina's sad tale was -necessarily rather monotonous in its effects. - - The epilogue to "Mr. Gilfil" was written sitting on the - Fortification Hill, Scilly Isles, one sunshiny morning. - -[Sidenote: Jersey, Recollections, 1857.] - -It was a beautiful moment (12th May) when we came to our lodgings at -Gorey. The orchards were all in blossom--and this is an island of -orchards. They cover the slopes; they stretch before you in shady, -grassy, indefinite extent through every other gateway by the roadside; -they flourish in some spots almost close to the sea. What a contrast -to the Scilly Isles! There you stand on the hills like a sparrow on -the housetop; here you are like the same sparrow when he is hopping -about on the branches with green above him, green below, and green -all round. Gorey stands in Granville Bay, where the grand old castle -of Mont Orgueil stands and keeps guard on a fine rocky promontory -overlooking the little harbor dotted with fishing craft. There is a -charming piece of common, or down, where you can have the quietest, -easiest walking, with a carpet of minute wild-flowers that are not -hindered from flourishing by the sandy rain of the coast. I delighted -extremely in the brownish-green softness of this undulating common, -here and there varied with a patch of bright green fern--all the -prettier for two little homesteads set down upon it, with their -garden-fence and sheltering trees. It was pretty in all lights, but -especially the evening light, to look round at the castle and harbor, -the village and the scattered dwellings peeping out from among trees -on the hill. The castle is built of stone which has a beautiful -pinkish-gray tint, and the bright green ivy hangs oblique curtains on -its turreted walls, making it look like a natural continuation or -outgrowth of the rocky and grassy height on which it stands. Then the -eye wanders on to the right and takes in the church standing half-way -down the hill, which is clothed with a plantation, and shelters the -little village, with its cloud of blue smoke; still to the right, and -the village breaks off, leaving nothing but meadows in front of the -slope that shuts out the setting sun, and only lets you see a hint of -the golden glory that is reflected in the pink, eastern clouds. - -The first lovely walk we found inland was the Queen's Fern Valley, -where a broad strip of meadow and pasture lies between two high slopes -covered with woods and ferny wilderness. When we first saw this valley -it was in the loveliest spring-time; the woods were a delicious -mixture of red and tender green and purple. We have watched it losing -that spring beauty and passing into the green and flowery luxuriance -of June, and now into the more monotonous summer tint of July. - -When the blossoms fell away from the orchards my next delight was to -look at the grasses mingled with the red sorrel; then came the white -umbelliferous plants, making a border or inner frame for them along -the hedgerows and streams. Another pretty thing here is the luxuriance -of the yellow iris, that covers large pieces of moist ground with its -broad blades. Everywhere there are tethered cows, looking at you with -meek faces--mild-eyed, sleek, fawn-colored creatures, with delicate, -downy udders. - -Another favorite walk of ours was round by Mont Orgueil, along the -coast. Here we had the green or rocky slope on one side of us, and on -the other the calm sea stretching to the coast of France, visible on -all but the murkiest days. But the murky days were not many during our -stay, and our evening walks round the coast usually showed us a -peaceful, scarcely rippled sea, plashing gently on the purple pebbles -of the little scalloped bays. There were two such bays within the -boundary of our sea-side walk in that direction, and one of them was a -perpetual wonder to us, in the luxuriant verdure of meadows and -orchards and forest-trees that sloped down to the very shore. No -distressed look about the trees as if they were ever driven harshly -back by the winter winds--it was like an inland slope suddenly carried -to the coast. - -As for the inland walks, they are inexhaustible. The island is one -labyrinth of delicious roads and lanes, leading you by the most -charming nooks of houses with shady grounds and shrubberies, -delightful farm homesteads, and trim villas. - -It was a sweet, peaceful life we led here. Good creatures, the Amys, -our host and hostess, with their nice boy and girl, and the little -white kid--the family pet. No disagreeable sounds to be heard in the -house, no unpleasant qualities to hinder one from feeling perfect love -to these simple people. We have had long rambles and long readings. -But our choice of literature has been rather circumscribed in this -out-of-the-way place. The "Life of George Stephenson" has been a real -profit and pleasure. I have read Draper's "Physiology" aloud for grave -evening hours, and such books as Currer Bell's "Professor," Mlle. -d'Auny's "Mariage en Province," and Miss Ferrier's "Marriage," for -lighter food. The last, however, we found ourselves unable to finish, -notwithstanding Miss Ferrier's high reputation. I have been getting a -smattering of botany from Miss Catlow and from Dr. Thomson's little -book on wild-flowers, which have created at least a longing for -something more complete on the subject. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 22d May, 1857.] - -Such hedgerows in this island! Such orchards, white against the green -slopes, and shady walks by the woodside, with distracting -wild-flowers. We enjoy the greenery and variety of this bushy island -all the better for our stay on bare Scilly, which we had gone to and -fro upon till we knew it by heart. Our little lodgings are very -snug--only 13_s._ a week--a nice little sitting-room, with a workroom -adjoining for Mr. Lewes, who is at this moment in all the bliss of -having discovered a parasitic worm in a cuttlefish. We dine at five, -and our afternoons are almost exhausted in rambling. I hope to get up -my strength in this delicious quiet, and have fewer interruptions to -work from headache than I have been having since Christmas. I wonder -if I should have had the happiness of seeing Cara if I had been at -Richmond now. I would rather see her than any one else in the -world--except poor Chrissey. Tell me when you have read the life of -Currer Bell. Some people think its revelations in bad taste--making -money out of the dead, wounding the feelings of the living, etc. What -book is there that some people or other will not find abominable? We -thought it admirable, cried over it, and felt the better for it. We -read Cromwell's letters again at Scilly with great delight. - - In May Mr. Lewes writes to Mr. John Blackwood: "We were both - amused with the divination of the Manx seer and his friend - Liggers." This is the first mention of the individual, whose - real name was Liggins of Nuneaton, who afterwards became - notorious for laying claim to the authorship of the "Scenes - of Clerical Life" and "Adam Bede." - - "Janet's Repentance" had been begun on the 18th April, and - the first three parts were finished in Jersey. In reference - to the "Scenes of Clerical Life" there are the following - entries in the Journal: - -[Sidenote: Journal, 1857.] - -_May 2._--Received letter from Blackwood expressing his approbation of -Part IX. of "Mr. Gilfil's Love-Story." He writes very pleasantly, says -the series is attributed by many to Bulwer, and that Thackeray thinks -highly of it. This was a pleasant fillip to me, who am just now ready -to be dispirited on the slightest pretext. - -_May 21._--The other day we had a pleasant letter from Herbert -Spencer, saying that he had heard "Mr. Gilfil's Love-Story" discussed -by Baynes and Dallas, as well as previously by Pigott, all expressing -warm approval, and curiosity as to the author. - -_May 26._--Received a pleasant letter from Blackwood, enclosing one -from Archer Gurney to the author of "Mr. Gilfil's Love-Story." - - I subjoin this letter, as it is the first she received in her - character of a creative author, and it still bears a pencil - memorandum in her writing: "This letter he brought up to me - at Jersey after reading it, saying, with intense joy, 'Her - fame is beginning.'" - -[Sidenote: Letter from Rev. Archer Gurney, to the author of "Mr. -Gilfil's Love-Story," 14th May, 1857.] - - "BUCKINGHAM (BUCKS), _Thursday, 14th May, 1857_. - - "Sir,--Will you consider it impertinent in a brother author - and old reviewer to address a few lines of earnest sympathy - and admiration to you, excited by the purity of your style, - originality of your thoughts, and absence of all vulgar - seeking for effect in those 'Scenes of Clerical Life' now - appearing in _Blackwood_? If I mistake not much, your muse of - invention is no hackneyed one, and your style is too peculiar - to allow of your being confounded with any of the already - well-known writers of the day. Your great and characteristic - charm is, to my mind, Nature. You frequently, indeed, express - what I may call brilliant ideas, but they always seem to come - unsought for, never, as in Lytton, for instance, to be - elaborated and placed in the most advantageous light. I - allude to such brief aphoristic sayings as 'Animals are such - agreeable friends, they ask no questions, they pass no - criticisms'--'All with that brisk and cheerful air which a - sermon is often observed to produce when it is quite - finished.' By-the-bye. I am one of the cloth, and might take - exception to certain hints, perhaps, but these are dubious. - What I see plainly I admire honestly, and trust that more - good remains behind. Will you always remain equally natural? - That is the doubt. Will the fear of the critic, or the - public, or the literary world, which spoils almost every one, - never master you? Will you always write to please yourself, - and preserve the true independence which seems to mark a real - supremacy of intellect? But these questions are, I fear, - impertinent. I will conclude. Pardon this word of greeting - from one whom you may never see or know, and believe me your - earnest admirer, - - ARCHER GURNEY. - - "The Author of - 'Mr. Gilfil's Love-Story.'" - - -[Sidenote: Journal, 1857.] - -_June._--Blackwood writes from London that he hears nothing but -approval of "Mr. Gilfil's Love-Story." Lord Stanley, among other -people, had spoken to him about the "Clerical Scenes," at Bulwer's, -and was astonished to find Blackwood in the dark as to the author. - -[Sidenote: Letter to John Blackwood, 2d June, 1857.] - -I send you by the same post with this the first part of my third -story, which I hope will not disappoint you. The part is, I think, -rather longer than my parts have usually been, but it would have been -injurious to the effect of the story to pause earlier. - -Pleasant letters like yours are the best possible stimulus to an -author's powers, and if I don't write better and better the fault will -certainly not lie in my editor, who seems to have been created in -pre-established harmony with the organization of a susceptible -contributor. - -This island, too, with its grassy valleys and pretty, indented coast -is not at all a bad haunt for the Muses, if, as one may suppose, they -have dropped their too scanty classical attire, and appear in long -dresses and brown hats, like decent Christian women likely to inspire -"Clerical Scenes." - -Moreover, having myself a slight zoological weakness, I am less -alarmed than most people at the society of a zoological maniac. So -that, altogether, your contributor is in promising circumstances, and -if he doesn't behave like an animal in good condition, is clearly -unworthy of his keep. - -I am much gratified to have made the conquest of Professor Aytoun; but -with a parent's love for the depreciated child, I can't help standing -up for "Amos" as better than "Gilfil." - -Lewes seems to have higher expectations from the third story than from -either of the preceding; but I can form no judgment myself until I -have quite finished a thing, and see it aloof from my actual self. I -can only go on writing what I feel, and waiting for the proof that I -have been able to make others feel. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, 5th June, 1857.] - -Richmond is _not_ fascinating in "the season" or through the summer. -It is hot, noisy, and haunted with Cockneys; but at other times we -love the Park with an increasing love, and we have such a kind, good -landlady there, that it always seems like going home when we return to -Park Shot. She writes to us: "I hope you will make your fortune--but -you must always live with me," which, considering that she gets less -out of us than other lodgers, is a proof of affection in a landlady. -Yes! we like our wandering life at present, and it is fructifying, and -brings us material in many ways; but we keep in perspective the idea -of a cottage among green fields and cows, where we mean to settle -down (after we have once been to Italy), and buy pots and kettles and -keep a dog. Wherever we are we work hard--and at work which brings -_present_ money; for we have too many depending on us to be -_dilettanti_ or idlers. - -I wish it to be understood that I should never invite any one to come -and see me who did not ask for the invitation. - -You wonder how my face has changed in the last three years. Doubtless -it is older and uglier, but it ought not to have a bad expression, for -I never have anything to call out my ill-humor or discontent, which -you know were always ready enough to come on slight call, and I have -everything to call out love and gratitude. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. John Cash (Miss Mary Sibree), 6th June, -1857.] - -Your letter was very sweet to me. The sense of my deficiencies in the -past often presses on me with a discouraging weight, and to know that -any one can remember me lovingly, helps me to believe that there has -been some good to balance the evil. I like to think of you as a happy -wife and mother; and since Rosehill must have new tenants, I like to -think that you and yours are there rather than any one else, not only -because of my own confidence in your nature, but because our dear -friends love you so much as a neighbor. You know I can never feel -otherwise than sorry that they should not have ended their days in -that pretty home; but the inevitable regret is softened as much as -possible by the fact that the home has become yours. - -It is very nice to hear that Mrs. Sibree can relish anything of my -writing. She was always a favorite with me; and I remember very -vividly many pleasant little conversations with her. Seventy-two! How -happy you are to have a dear, aged mother, whose heart you can -gladden. - -I was a good deal touched by the letter your brother wrote to you -about accepting, or, rather, declining, more pupils. I feel sure that -his sensitive nature has its peculiar trials and struggles in this -strange life of ours, which some thick-skinned mortals take so easily. - -I am very happy--happy in the highest blessing life can give us, the -perfect love and sympathy of a nature that stimulates my own to -healthful activity. I feel, too, that all the terrible pain I have -gone through in past years, partly from the defects of my own nature, -partly from outward things, has probably been a preparation for some -special work that I may do before I die. That is a blessed hope, to be -rejoiced in with trembling. But even if that hope should be -unfulfilled, I am contented to have lived and suffered for the sake of -what has already been. You see your kind letter has made me inclined -to talk about myself, but, as we do not often have any communication -with each other, I know it will be a gratification to your sympathetic -nature to have a few direct words from me that will assure you of my -moral well-being. - -I hope your little ones are just like you--just as fair and -sweet-tempered. - -[Sidenote: Journal, June, 1857.] - -I sent off the first part of "Janet's Repentance," but to my -disappointment Blackwood did not like it so well--seemed to -misunderstand the characters, and to be doubtful about the treatment -of clerical matters. I wrote at once to beg him to give up printing -the story if he felt uncomfortable about it, and he immediately sent a -very anxious, cordial letter, saying the thought of putting a stop to -the series "gave him quite a turn:" he "did not meet with George -Eliots every day"--and so on. - -[Sidenote: Letter to John Blackwood, 11th June, 1857.] - -I am not much surprised and not at all hurt by your letter received -to-day with the proof. It is a great satisfaction--in fact, my only -satisfaction--that you should give me your judgment with perfect -frankness. I am able, I think, to enter into an editor's doubts and -difficulties, and to see my stories in some degree from your point of -view as well as my own. My answer is written after considering the -question as far as possible on all sides, and as I feel that I shall -not be able to make any other than _superficial_ alterations in the -proof, I will, first of all, say what I can in explanation of the -spirit and future course of the present story. - -The collision in the drama is not at all between "bigoted -churchmanship" and evangelicalism, but between _ir_religion and -religion. Religion in this case happens to be represented by -evangelicalism; and the story, so far as regards the _persecution_, is -a real bit in the religious history of England, that happened about -eight-and-twenty years ago. I thought I had made it apparent in my -sketch of Milby feelings, on the advent of Mr. Tryan, that the -conflict lay between immorality and morality--irreligion and religion. -Mr. Tryan will carry the reader's sympathy. It is through him that -Janet is brought to repentance. Dempster's vices have their natural -evolution in deeper and deeper moral deterioration (though not without -softening touches), and death from intemperance. Everything is -softened from the fact, so far as art is permitted to soften and yet -to remain essentially true. - -My sketches, both of Churchmen and Dissenters, with whom I am almost -equally acquainted, are drawn from close observation of them in real -life, and not at all from hearsay or from the descriptions of -novelists. If I were to undertake to alter language or character. I -should be attempting to represent some vague conception of what may -possibly exist in other people's minds, but has no existence in my -own. Such of your marginal objections as relate to a mere detail I can -meet without difficulty by alteration; but as an artist I should be -utterly powerless if I departed from my own conceptions of life and -character. There is nothing to be done with the story, but either to -let Dempster and Janet and the rest be as I _see_ them, or to renounce -it as too painful. I am keenly alive at once to the scruples and -alarms an editor may feel, and to my own utter inability to write -under cramping influence, and on this double ground I should like you -to consider whether it will not be better to close the series for the -Magazine _now_. I dare say you will feel no difficulty about -publishing a volume containing the story of "Janet's Repentance," and -I shall accept that plan with no other feeling than that you have been -to me the most liberal and agreeable of editors, and are the man of -all others I would choose for a publisher. - -My irony, so far as I understand myself, is not directed against -opinions--against any class of religious views--but against the vices -and weaknesses that belong to human nature in every sort of clothing. -But it is possible that I may not affect other minds as I intend and -wish to affect them, and you are a better judge than I can be of the -degree in which I may occasionally be offensive. I should like _not_ -to be offensive--I should like to touch every heart among my readers -with nothing but loving humor, with tenderness, with belief in -goodness. But I may have failed in this case of "Janet," at least so -far as to have made you feel its publication in the Magazine a -disagreeable risk. If so, there will be no harm done by closing the -series with No. 2, as I have suggested. If, however, I take your -objections to be deeper than they really are--if you prefer inserting -the story in spite of your partial dissatisfaction, I shall, of -course, be happy to appear under "Maga's" wing still. - -When I remember what have been the successes in fiction, even as -republications from "Maga," I can hardly believe that the public will -regard my pictures as exceptionally coarse. But in any case there are -too many prolific writers who devote themselves to the production of -pleasing pictures, to the exclusion of all disagreeable truths, for me -to desire to add to their number. In this respect, at least, I may -have some resemblance to Thackeray, though I am not conscious of being -in any way a disciple of his, unless it constitute discipleship to -think him, as I suppose the majority of people with any intellect do, -on the whole the most powerful of living novelists. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 8th June, 1857.] - -I feel every day a greater disinclination for theories and arguments -about the origin of things in the presence of all this mystery and -beauty and pain and ugliness that floods one with conflicting -emotions. - -We are reading "Aurora Leigh" for the third time, with more enjoyment -than ever. I know no book that gives me a deeper sense of communion -with a large as well as beautiful mind. It is in process of appearing -in a third edition, and no wonder. - -If I live five years longer the positive result of my existence on the -side of truth and goodness will outweigh the small negative good that -would have consisted in my not doing anything to shock others, and I -can conceive no consequences that will make me repent the past. Do not -misunderstand me, and suppose that I think myself heroic or great in -any way. Far enough from that! Faulty, miserably faulty I am--but -least of all faulty where others most blame. - - On the 24th July the pleasant sojourn at Jersey came to an - end. The travellers returned to 8 Park Shot, Richmond, where - Miss Sara Hennell paid them a visit at the end of the month, - and Dr. and Mrs. Bodichon (_née_ Miss Barbara L. Smith) came - on the 4th of August. On the 12th August there is an entry in - the Journal, "Finished the 'Electra' of Sophocles, and began - Ćschylus's 'Agamemnon,'" and then come the following letters: - -[Sidenote: Letter to John Blackwood, Tuesday, 17th Aug. 1857.] - -Lewes has just given me your letter of the 15th, with the accompanying -one from the Rev. W. P. Jones. - -Mr. Tryan is not a portrait of any clergyman, living or dead. He is an -ideal character, but I hope probable enough to resemble more than one -evangelical clergyman of his day. - -If Mr. Jones's deceased brother was like Mr. Tryan so much the better, -for in that case he was made of human nature's finer clay. I think you -will agree with me that there are few clergymen who would be -depreciated by an identification with Mr. Tryan. But I should rather -suppose that the old gentleman, misled by some similarity in outward -circumstances, is blind to the discrepancies which must exist where no -portrait was intended. As to the rest of my story, so far as its -elements were suggested by real persons, those persons have been, to -use good Mr. Jones's phrase, "long in eternity." - -I think I told you that a persecution of the kind I have described -did actually take place, and belongs as much to the common store of -our religious history as the Gorham Controversy, or as Bishop -Blomfield's decision about wax candles. But I only know the _outline_ -of the real persecution. The details have been filled in from my -imagination. I should consider it a fault which would cause me lasting -regret if I had used reality in any other than the legitimate way -common to all artists, who draw their materials from their observation -and experience. It would be a melancholy result of my fictions if I -gave _just_ cause of annoyance to any good and sensible person. But I -suppose there is no perfect safeguard against erroneous impressions or -a mistaken susceptibility. We are all apt to forget how little there -is about us that is unique, and how very strongly we resemble many -other insignificant people who have lived before us. I shouldn't -wonder if several nieces of pedantic maiden ladies saw a portrait of -their aunt in Miss Pratt, but I hope they will not think it necessary, -on that ground, to increase the already troublesome number of your -correspondents. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 19th Aug. 1857.] - -We went to see Rosa Bonheur's picture the other day. What power! That -is the way women should assert their rights. Writing is part of my -religion, and I can write no word that is not prompted from within. At -the same time I believe that almost all the best books in the world -have been written with the hope of getting money for them. - -[Sidenote: Letter to John Blackwood, 1st Sept. 1857.] - -Unless there be any strong reason to the contrary, I should like to -close the series with this story. According to my calculation, which, -however, may be an erroneous one, the three stories will make two good -volumes--_i.e._, good as to bulk. - -I have a subject in my mind which will not come under the limitations -of the title "Clerical Life," and I am inclined to take a large canvas -for it and write a novel. - -In case of my writing fiction for "Maga" again, I should like to be -considerably beforehand with my work, so that you can read a -thoroughly decisive portion before beginning to print. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 21st Sept. 1857.] - -The days are very peaceful--peacefully busy. One always feels a deeper -calm as autumn comes on. I should be satisfied to look forward to a -heaven made up of long autumn afternoon walks, quite delivered from -any necessity of giving a judgment on the woman question, or of -reading newspapers about Indian mutinies. I am so glad there are -thousands of good people in the world who have very decided opinions, -and are fond of working hard to enforce them. I like to feel and think -everything and do nothing, a pool of the "deep contemplative" kind. - -Some people _do_ prosper--that is a comfort. The rest of us must fall -back on the beatitudes--"Blessed are the poor"--that is Luke's -version, you know, and it is really, on the whole, more comforting -than Matthew's. I'm afraid there are few of us who can appropriate the -blessings of the "poor in spirit." - -We are reading one of the most wonderful books in French or any other -literature--Monteil's "Histoire des Français des divers États"--a -history written on an original plan. If you see any account of it, -read that account. - -[Sidenote: Letter to John Blackwood, Saturday, 17th Oct. 1857.] - -I am very much gratified that my Janet has won your heart and kept up -your interest in her to the end. - -My new story haunts me a good deal, and I shall set about it without -delay. It will be a country story--full of the breath of cows and the -scent of hay. But I shall not ask you to look at it till I have -written a volume or more, and then you will be able to judge whether -you will prefer printing it in the Magazine, or publishing it as a -separate novel when it is completed. - -By the way, the sheets of the "Clerical Scenes" are not come, but I -shall not want to make any other than verbal and literal corrections, -so that it will hardly be necessary for me to go through the sheets -_and_ the proofs, which I must, of course, see. - -I enclose a titlepage with a motto. But if you don't like the motto, I -give it up. I've not set my heart on it. - -I leave the number of copies to be published, and the style of getting -up, entirely to your discretion. As to the terms, I wish to retain the -copyright, according to the stipulation made for me by Lewes when he -sent "Amos Barton;" and whatever you can afford to give me for the -first edition I shall prefer having as a definite payment rather than -as half profits. - -You stated, in a letter about "Amos Barton," your willingness to -accede to either plan, so I have no hesitation in expressing my -wishes. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 20th Oct. 1857.] - -"Open to conviction," indeed! I should think so. I am open to -conviction on all points except dinner and debts. I hold that the one -must be eaten and the other paid. These are my only prejudices. - -I _was_ pleased with Mr. Call.[56] He is a man one really cares to -talk to--has thoughts, says what he means, and listens to what others -say. We should quite like to see him often. And I cannot tell you how -much I have felt Mrs. Call's graceful as well as kind behavior to me. -Some months ago, before the new edition of the "Biographical History -of Philosophy" came out, Mr. Lewes had a letter from a working-man at -Leicester, I think, who said that he and some fellow-students met -together, on a Sunday, to read the book aloud and discuss it. He had -marked some errors of the press and sent them to Mr. Lewes for his new -edition. Wasn't that pretty? - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 30th Oct. 1857.] - -"Conscience goes to the hammering in of nails" is my gospel. There can -be no harm in preaching _that_ to women at any rate. But I should be -sorry to undertake any more specific enunciation of doctrine on a -question so entangled as the "woman question." The part of the -Epicurean gods is always an easy one; but because I prefer it so -strongly myself, I the more highly venerate those who are struggling -in the thick of the contest. "La carričre ouverte aux taléns," whether -the talents be feminine or masculine, I am quite confident is a right -maxim. Whether "La carričre ouverte ŕ la Sottise" be equally just when -made equally universal, it would be too much like "taking sides" for -me to say. - - There are only three entries in the journal for October. - -[Sidenote: Journal, Oct. 1857.] - -_Oct. 9._--Finished "Janet's Repentance." I had meant to carry on the -series, and especially I longed to tell the story of the "Clerical -Tutor," but my annoyance at Blackwood's want of sympathy in the first -part (although he came round to admiration at the third part) -determined me to close the series and republish them in two volumes. - -_Oct. 22._--Began my new novel, "Adam Bede." - -_Oct. 29._--Received a letter from Blackwood offering me Ł120 for the -first edition of "Scenes of Clerical Life." - -[Sidenote: Letter to John Blackwood, 30th Oct. 1857.] - -I am quite contented with the sum (Ł120) you offer me for the edition, -being thoroughly confident of your disposition to do the best you can -for me. I perceive your hope of success for the "Scenes" is not -strong, and you certainly have excellent means of knowing the -probabilities in such a case. - -I am not aware that the motto has been used before, but if you suspect -it, we had better leave it out altogether. A stale motto would hardly -be an ornament to the titlepage. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Bray, 1st Nov. 1857.] - -How I wish I could get to you by some magic, and have one walk over -the hill with you again. Letters are poor things compared with five -minutes of looking and speaking, and one kiss. Nevertheless, I do like -to have a little letter now and then, though I don't for a moment ask -it if you have no spontaneous impulse to give it. I can't help losing -belief that people love me--the unbelief is in my nature, and no sort -of fork will drive it finally out. I can't help wondering that you can -think of _me_ in the past with much pleasure. It all seems so painful -to me--made up of blunders and selfishness--and it only comes back -upon me as a thing to be forgiven. That is honest, painful truth, and -not sentimentality. But I am thankful if others found more good than I -am able to remember. - -[Sidenote: Letter to John Blackwood, 7th Nov. 1857.] - -It is pleasant to have the first sheet of one's proof--to see one's -paragraphs released from the tight-lacing of double columns, and -expanding themselves at their ease. - -I perceive clearly the desirableness of the short number--for my -observation of literary affairs has gone far enough to convince me -that neither critical judgment nor practical experience can guarantee -any opinion as to rapidity of sale in the case of an unknown author; -and I shudder at the prospect of encumbering my publisher's -bookshelves. - -My new story is in progress--slow progress at present. A little -sunshine of success would stimulate its growth, I dare say. Unhappily, -I am as impressionable as I am obstinate, and as much in need of -sympathy from my readers as I am incapable of bending myself to their -tastes. But if I can only find a public as cordial and agreeable in -its treatment of me as my editor, I shall have nothing to wish. Even -my thin skin will be comfortable then. The page is not a shabby one, -after all; but I fear the fact of two volumes instead of three is a -fatal feature in my style in the eyes of librarians. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 9th Nov. 1857.] - -One is glad to have one's book (_ŕ propos_ of review of Lewes's -"History of Philosophy") spoken well of by papers of good circulation, -because it is possible, though not certain, that such praise may help -the sale; but otherwise it is hardly worth while to trouble one's self -about newspaper reviews, unless they point out some error, or present -that very rare phenomenon, a true appreciation, which is the most -delicious form in which sympathy can reach one. So much sectarian -feeling usually arises in discussions on the subject of phrenology -that I confess the associations of the word are not agreeable to me. -The last refuge of intolerance is in not tolerating the intolerant; -and I am often in danger of secreting that sort of venom. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Charles Bray, 15th Nov. 1857.] - -It is pleasant to have a kind word now and then, when one is not near -enough to have a kind glance or a hearty shake by the hand. It is an -old weakness of mine to have no faith in affection that does not -express itself; and when friends take no notice of me for a long while -I generally settle down into the belief that they have become -indifferent or have begun to dislike me. That is not the best mental -constitution; but it might be worse--for I don't feel obliged to -dislike _them_ in consequence. I, for one, ought not to complain if -people think worse of me than I deserve, for I have very often reason -to be ashamed of my thoughts about others. They almost always turn out -to be better than I expected--fuller of kindness towards me at least. -In the fundamental doctrine of your book (the philosophy of -necessity)--that mind presents itself under the same conditions of -invariableness of antecedent and consequent as all other phenomena -(the only difference being that the true antecedent and consequent are -proportionately difficult to discover as the phenomena are more -complex)--I think you know that I agree. And every one who knows what -science means must also agree with you that there can be no social -science without the admission of that doctrine. I dislike extremely a -passage in which you appear to consider the disregard of individuals -as a lofty condition of mind. My own experience and development deepen -every day my conviction that our moral progress may be measured by the -degree in which we sympathize with individual suffering and individual -joy. The fact that in the scheme of things we see a constant and -tremendous sacrifice of individuals, is, it seems to me, only one of -the many proofs that urge upon us our total inability to find in our -own natures a key to the Divine mystery. I could more readily turn -Christian, and worship Jesus again, than embrace a Theism which -professes to explain the proceedings of God. But I don't feel at all -wise in these matters. I have a few strong impressions which serve me -for my own support and guidance, but do not in the least qualify me to -speak as a theorist. - -Mr. Lewes sends you his kind remembrances, and will not like you any -the worse for cutting him up. He has had to perform that office for -his own friends sometimes. I suppose phrenology is an open question, -on which everybody has a right to speak his mind. Mr. Lewes, feeling -the importance of the subject, desired to give it its due place in his -"History of Philosophy," and, doing so, he must, of course, say what -_he_ believes to be the truth, not what other people believe to be the -truth. If you will show where he is mistaken, you will be doing him a -service as well as phrenology. His arguments may be bad; but I will -answer for him that he has not been guilty of any intentional -unfairness. With regard to their system, phrenologists seem to me to -be animated by the same sort of spirit as that of religious -dogmatists, and especially in this--that in proportion as a man -approximates to their opinions without identifying himself with them, -they think him offensive and contemptible. It is amusing to read from -the opposite side complaints against Mr. Lewes for giving too high a -position to phrenology, and a confident opinion that "phrenologists, -by their ridiculous pretensions, merit all the contempt that has been -thrown on them." Thus doctors differ! But I am much less interested in -crusades for or against phrenology than in your happiness at Ivy -Cottage.[57] Happiness means all sorts of love and good feeling; and -that is the best result that can ever come out of science. Do you -know Buckle's "History of Civilization"? I think you would find it a -suggestive book. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 24th Nov. 1857.] - -Anniversaries are sad things--to one who has lived long and done -little. Herbert Spencer dined with us the other day--looks well, and -is brimful of clever talk as usual. His volume of "Essays" is to come -out soon. He is just now on a crusade against the notion of "species." -We are reading Harriet Martineau's history with edification, and -otherwise feeding our souls, which flourish very well, notwithstanding -November weather. - -[Sidenote: Journal, 1857.] - -_Nov. 28._--A glorious day, still autumnal and not wintry. We have had -a delicious walk in the Park, and I think the coloring of the scenery -is more beautiful than ever. Many of the oaks are still thickly -covered with leaves of a rich yellow-brown; the elms, golden -sometimes, still with lingering patches of green. On our way to the -Park the view from Richmond hill had a delicate blue mist over it, -that seemed to hang like a veil before the sober brownish-yellow of -the distant elms. As we came home, the sun was setting on a fog-bank, -and we saw him sink into that purple ocean--the orange and gold -passing into green above the fog-bank, the gold and orange reflected -in the river in more sombre tints. The other day, as we were coming -home through the Park, after having walked under a sombre, heavily -clouded sky, the western sun shone out from under the curtain, and lit -up the trees and grass, thrown into relief on a background of dark -purple cloud. Then, as we advanced towards the Richmond end of the -Park, the level, reddening rays shone on the dry fern and the distant -oaks, and threw a crimson light on them. I have especially enjoyed -this autumn, the delicious greenness of the turf, in contrast with -the red and yellow of the dying leaves. - -_Dec. 6_ (_Sunday_).--Finished the "Agamemnon" to-day. In the evenings -of late we have been reading Harriet Martineau's "Sketch of the -British Empire in India," and are now following it up with Macaulay's -articles on Clive and Hastings. We have lately read Harriet -Martineau's Introduction to the "History of the Peace." - -_Dec. 8._--I am reading "Die Familie," by Riehl, forming the third -volume of the series, the two first of which, "Land und Volk" and "Die -Bürgerliche Gesellschaft," I reviewed for the _Westminster_. - -A letter from Blackwood to-day tells us that Major Blackwood, during -his brother's absence in England, having some reasons, not specified, -for being more hopeful about the "Clerical Scenes," resolved to -publish 1000 instead of 750; and in consequence of this Blackwood -promises to pay me an additional Ł60 when 750 shall have been sold -off. He reports that an elderly clergyman has written to him to say -that "Janet's Repentance" is exquisite--another vote to register along -with that of Mrs. Nutt's rector, who "cried over the story like a -child." - -_Dec. 10._--Major Blackwood called--an unaffected, agreeable man. It -was evident to us, when he had only been in the room a few minutes, -that he knew I was George Eliot. - -[Sidenote: Letter to John Blackwood, 11th Dec. 1857.] - -Lewes has read to me your last kind letter, and I am not insensible to -the "practical cheerer" it contains. But I rejoice with trembling at -the additional 250, lest you should have to repent of them. - -I have certainly had a good deal of encouragement to believe that -there are many minds, both of the more cultured sort and of the -common novel-reading class, likely to be touched by my stories; but -the word "many" is very elastic, and often shrinks frightfully when -measured by a financial standard. - -When one remembers how long it was before Charles Lamb's Essays were -known familiarly to any but the elect few, the very strongest -assurance of merit or originality--supposing one so happy as to have -that assurance--could hardly do more than give the hope of _ultimate_ -recognition. - -[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 13th Dec. 1857.] - -Our affairs are very prosperous just now, making sunshine in a shady, -or, rather, in a foggy place. It is a great happiness to me that Mr. -Lewes gets more and more of the recognition he deserves; pleasant -letters and speeches have been very numerous lately, especially about -his "Sea-side Studies," which have appeared in _Blackwood_, and are -soon to appear--very much improved and enlarged--in a separate volume. -Dear Carlyle writes, _ŕ propos_ of his "Friedrich:" "I have had such a -fourteen months as was never appointed me before in this -world--sorrow, darkness, and disgust my daily companions; and no -outlook visible, except getting a detestable business turned off, or -else being driven mad by it." That is his exaggerated way of speaking; -and writing is always painful to him. Do you know he is sixty-two! I -fear this will be his last book. Tell Mr. Bray I am reading a book of -Riehl's, "The Family," forming the sequel to his other volumes. He -will be pleased to hear that so good a writer agrees with him on -several points about the occupations of women. The book is a good one; -and if I were in the way of writing articles, I should write one on -it. There is so much to read, and the days are so short! I get more -hungry for knowledge every day, and less able to satisfy my hunger. -Time is like the Sibylline leaves, getting more precious the less -there remains of it. That, I believe, is the correct allusion for a -fine writer to make on the occasion. - -[Sidenote: Letter to John Blackwood, 15th Dec. 1857.] - -I give up the motto, because it struck you as having been used before; -and though I copied it into my note-book when I was re-reading -"Amelia" a few months ago, it is one of those obvious quotations which -never _appear_ fresh, though they may actually be made for the first -time. - -I shall be curious to know the result of the subscription. - -There are a few persons to whom I should like a copy of the volume to -be sent, and I enclose a list of them. - -[Sidenote: Journal, 1857.] - -_Dec. 17._--Read my new story to G. this evening as far as the end of -the third chapter. He praised it highly. I have finished "Die -Familie," by Riehl--a delightful book. I am in the "Choephorć" now. In -the evenings we are reading "History of the Thirty Years' Peace" and -Béranger. Thoroughly disappointed in Béranger. - -_Dec. 19_ (_Saturday_).--Alone this evening with very thankful, solemn -thoughts--feeling the great and unhoped-for blessings that have been -given me in life. This last year, especially, has been marked by -inward progress and outward advantages. In the spring George's -"History of Philosophy" appeared in the new edition; his "Sea-side -Studies" have been written with much enjoyment, and met with much -admiration, and now they are on the verge of being published with -bright prospects. Blackwood has also accepted his "Physiology of -Common Life;" the "Goethe" has passed into its third German edition; -and, best of all, G.'s head is well. I have written the "Scenes of -Clerical Life"--my first book; and though we are uncertain still -whether it will be a success as a separate publication, I have had -much sympathy from my readers in _Blackwood_, and feel a deep -satisfaction in having done a bit of faithful work that will perhaps -remain, like a primrose root in the hedgerow, and gladden and chasten -human hearts in years to come. - -[Sidenote: Letter to the Brays, 23d Dec. 1857.] - -Buckle's is a book full of suggestive material, though there are some -strangely unphilosophic opinions mixed with its hardy philosophy. For -example, he holds that there is no such thing as _race_ or _hereditary -transmission_ of qualities! (I should tell you, at the same time, that -he is a necessitarian and a physiological-psychologist.) It is only by -such negations as these that he can find his way to the position which -he maintains at great length--that the progress of mankind is -dependent entirely on the progress of knowledge, and that there has -been no intrinsically moral advance. However, he presents that side of -the subject which has, perhaps, been least adequately dwelt on. - -[Sidenote: Journal, 1857.] - -_Dec. 25_ (_Christmas Day_).--George and I spent this lovely day -together--lovely as a clear spring day. We could see Hampstead from -the Park so distinctly that it seemed to have suddenly come nearer to -us. We ate our turkey together in a happy _solitude ŕ deux_. - -_Dec. 31_ (_the last night of 1857_).--The dear old year is gone with -all its _Weben_ and _Streben_. Yet not gone either; for what I have -suffered and enjoyed in it remains to me an everlasting possession -while my soul's life remains. This time last year I was alone, as I am -now, and dear George was at Vernon Hill. I was writing the -introduction to "Mr. Gilfil's Love-Story." What a world of thoughts -and feelings since then! My life has deepened unspeakably during the -last year: I feel a greater capacity for moral and intellectual -enjoyment, a more acute sense of my deficiencies in the past, a more -solemn desire to be faithful to coming duties, than I remember at any -former period of my life. And my happiness has deepened too; the -blessedness of a perfect love and union grows daily. I have had some -severe suffering this year from anxiety about my sister, and what will -probably be a final separation from her--there has been no other real -trouble. Few women, I fear, have had such reason as I have to think -the long, sad years of youth were worth living for the sake of middle -age. Our prospects are very bright too. I am writing my new novel. G. -is full of his "Physiology of Common Life." He has just finished -editing Johnston, for which he is to have 100 guineas, and we have -both encouragement to think that our books just coming out, "Sea-side -Studies" and "Scenes of Clerical Life," will be well received. So -good-bye, dear 1857! May I be able to look back on 1858 with an equal -consciousness of advancement in work and in heart. - - -_SUMMARY._ - -MARCH, 1855, TO DECEMBER, 1857. - - Return to England--Dover--Bayswater--East Sheen--Books - read--Articles written--Letters to Miss Hennell--"Life of - Goethe"--Froude's article on - Spinoza--Article-writing--"Cumming"--8 Park Shot, - Richmond--Letter to Charles Bray--Effect of article on - Cumming--Letter to Miss Hennell--Reading on - Physiology--Article on Heine--Review for _Leader_, - etc.--Books read--Visit to Mrs. Clarke at Attleboro--Sale of - "Life of Goethe"--"Shaving of Shagpat"--Spinoza's "Ethics," - translation finished--The _Saturday - Review_--Ruskin--Alison--Harriet Martineau--Women's - earnings--Articles and reviews--Wishes not to be known as - translator of the "Ethics"--Article on Young begun--Visit to - Ilfracombe--Description--Zoophyte hunting--Finished articles - on Young and Riehl--Naturalistic experience--Delightful - walks--Rev. Mr. Tugwell--Devonshire lanes and - springs--Tendency to scientific - accuracy--Sunsets--Cocklewomen at Swansea--Letters to Miss - Hennell and Mrs. Peter Taylor--Tenby--Zoology--Thoreau's - "Walden"--Feeling strong in mind and body--Barbara Leigh - Smith comes to Tenby--George Eliot anxious to begin her - fiction-writing--Mr. E. F. S. Pigott--Return to Richmond--Mr. - Lewes takes his boys to Hofwyl--George Eliot writes article - on "Silly Novels by Lady Novelists"--"How I came to write - fiction"--Correspondence between Mr. Lewes and Mr. John - Blackwood about MS. of "Amos Barton"--"Mr. Gilfil's - Love-Story" begun--Books read--Letter from John Blackwood to - the author of "Amos Barton," sending copy of the January, - 1857, number of the Magazine and fifty - guineas--Reply--Blackwood's admiration--Albert Smith's - appreciation--Letters to Blackwood--Name of George Eliot - assumed--Dutch school in art--Artistic bent--Letter to Miss - Hennell--Intolerance--Letter to John Blackwood on Mr. Swayne - comparing writing to Goldsmith's--Letter to Miss Hennell on - essay "Christianity and Infidelity"--Letter to - Blackwood--Caterina and the dagger scene--Trip to Penzance - and the Scilly Isles--Description of St. Mary's--Mr. Moyle, - the surgeon--Social Life--Letter to Mrs. Bray, anxiety about - sister--Letter to Miss Sara Hennell--"Life of Charlotte - Brontë"--Letter to Isaac P. Evans--Mrs. Clarke's - illness--Letter to Blackwood--Conclusions of - stories--Jersey--Description of Gorey--Delightful - walks--Reading Draper's "Physiology"--Miss Catlow and Dr. - Thomson on wild-flowers--"Life of George Stephenson"--Letter - to Miss Hennell--Life in Jersey--Liggins appears on the - scene--"Janet's Repentance"--Series attributed to - Bulwer--Thackeray thinks highly of it--Letter from Herbert - Spencer about "Mr. Gilfil"--Letter from Archer Gurney--Lord - Stanley thinks highly of the "Scenes"--Letter to Blackwood, - with First Part of "Janet's Repentance"--Letter to Mrs. - Bray--Richmond--Expression of face--Letter to Mrs. John - Cash--Happiness in her life and hope in her work--Chilled by - Blackwood's want of enthusiasm about "Janet"--Letter to John - Blackwood on "Janet"--Letter to Miss Sarah Hennell--"Aurora - Leigh"--Return to Richmond--Letter to John Blackwood on - "Janet"--Letters to Miss Hennell--Rosa Bonheur--Thought not - action--Mr. and Mrs. Call--Letter to John Blackwood--Haunted - by new story--Letter to Charles Bray--"The Woman - Question"--Close of "Clerical Scenes" series--"Adam Bede" - begun--Receives Ł120 for first edition of "Scenes of Clerical - Life"--Letter to Mrs. Bray--Unbelief in people's love--Letter - to John Blackwood--Sheets of "Clerical Scenes"--Letter to - Miss Hennell--Newspaper criticism--Letter to Charles - Bray--"The Philosophy of Necessity"--Sympathy with - individuals--Objection to Theism--Phrenology--Happiness the - best result that can ever come out of science--Letters to - Miss Hennell--Reading Riehl's "The Family"--Hunger for - Knowledge--Buckle's "History of Civilization"--Autumn days at - Richmond--Reading the "Agamemnon"--Harriett Martineau's - "Sketch of the British Empire in India"--Macaulay's essays on - Clive and Hastings--Major Blackwood calls and suspects - identity of George Eliot--Reading the "Choephorć"--"History - of the Thirty Years' Peace," and Béranger--Thankfulness in - reviewing experience of 1857. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[49] G. writes that this sonnet is Barnwell's.--[Note written later.] - -[50] "Land und Volk." - -[51] Mr. Edward Smyth Pigott, who remained to the end of their lives a -very close and much valued friend of Mr. Lewes and George Eliot. - -[52] By Thoreau. - -[53] About the article on Riehl's book, "The Natural History of German -Life." - -[54] "Baillie Prize Essay on Christianity and Infidelity: an -Exposition of the Arguments on both Sides." By Miss Sara Hennell. - -[55] "Mill on the Floss," chap. iii. book iv. Bob Jakin. - -[56] Mr. W. M. W. Call, author of "Reverberations and other Poems," -who married Mr. Charles Hennell's widow--formerly Miss Brabant. As -will be seen from the subsequent correspondence, Mr. and Mrs. Call -remained among the Lewes's warm friends to the end, and Mr. Call is -the author of an interesting paper on George Eliot in the _Westminster -Review_ of July, 1881. - -[57] The Brays' new house at Coventry. - - - - -APPENDIX. - - -As this volume is going through the press, I have to thank Mrs. John -Cash of Coventry for the following valuable additional information in -regard to the important subject of Miss Evans's change of religious -belief in 1841-42, and for her further general recollections of the -Coventry period of George Eliot's life: - - -I was sixteen years of age in 1841; and, as I have already stated, my -first remembrance of Miss Evans is of her call on my father and -mother, with their friend and neighbor Mrs. Pears, when in -conversation she gave expression to her great appreciation of the -writings of Isaac Taylor. The controversy raised by the "Tracts for -the Times," which gave occasion for the publication of Mr. Taylor's -"Ancient Christianity," being now remote, I give the following extract -from a footnote in Trench's "Notes on the Parables," to show the -influence such a work as Mr. Taylor's would be likely to exercise on -the mind of one who esteemed its author; and also the feeling it -excited against an eminently religious man, by revelations which he -desired and believed would serve the cause of New Testament -Christianity. The note is on the "Tares." The quotation, containing -the reference, is from Menken: - -"Many so-called Church historians (_authors of 'Ancient Christianity' -and the like_), ignorant of the purpose and of the hidden glory of the -Church, have their pleasure in the Tares, and imagine themselves -wonderfully wise and useful when out of Church history (which ought to -be the history of the Light and the Truth) they have made a shameful -history of error and wickedness." - -It was upon her first or second interview with my mother that Miss -Evans told her how shocked she had been by the apparent union of -religious feeling with a low sense of morality among the people in the -district she visited, who were mostly Methodists. She gave as an -instance the case of a woman who, when a falsehood was clearly brought -home to her by her visitors, said, "She did not feel that she had -grieved the Spirit much." Now those readers of the letters to Miss -Lewis who are acquainted with modern Evangelicalism, even in its -"after-glow," especially as it was presented to the world by Church of -England teaching and practice, will recognize its characteristics in -the moral scrupulousness, the sense of obligation on the part of -Christians to avoid the very appearance of evil, the practical piety, -which those letters reveal. - -Mrs. Evans (Miss Lewis tells me) was a very serious, earnest-minded -woman, anxiously concerned for the moral and religious training of her -children: glad to place them under the care of such persons as the -Misses Franklin, to whose school a mother of a different order -objected, on the ground that "it was where that saint Mary Ann Evans -had been." - -It is natural then that, early awed by and attracted towards beliefs -cherished by the best persons she had known, and advocated in the best -books she had read, the mind of Miss Evans should have been stirred by -exhibitions of a _theoretic_ severance of religion from morality, -whether presented among the disciples of "Ancient Christianity" or by -the subjects of its modern revivals: it is probable that she may -thereby have been led, as others have been, to a reconsideration of -the creeds of Christendom, and to further inquiry concerning their -origin. - -On the same grounds it is likely that the presentation of social -virtues, apart from evangelical motives, would impress her; and I have -authority for stating that to the inquiry of a friend in after-years, -as to what influence she attributed the first unsettlement of her -orthodox views, she quickly made answer: "Oh, Walter Scott's." Now I -well remember her speaking to me of Robert Hall's confession that he -had been made unhappy for a week by the reading of Miss Edgeworth's -Tales, in which useful, good, and pleasant lives are lived with no -reference to religious hopes and fears; and her drawing my attention -to the real greatness of mind and sincerity of faith which this candid -confession betokened. Such remarks, I think, throw light upon the -_way_ in which her own evangelical belief had been affected by works -in which its dogmas are not enforced as necessary springs of virtuous -action. - -I give these scattered reminiscences, in evidence of the -half-unconscious preparation (of which Mr. Cross speaks) for a change -which was, in my judgment, more gradual in its development, as well as -deeper in its character, than might be inferred from the record of its -abrupt following upon Miss Evans's introduction to Mr. Hennell's -"Inquiry concerning the Origin of Christianity." - -The evening's discussion with my father, to which I have referred in -my previous communication in the "Life," is now vividly present to my -mind. There was not only on her part a vehemence of tone, startling -in one so quiet, but a crudeness in her objections, an absence of -proposed solution of difficulties, which partly distressed and partly -pleased me (siding as I did mentally with my father), and which was in -strange contrast to the satisfied calm which marked her subsequent -treatment of religious differences. - -Upon my father's using an argument (common enough in those days) drawn -from the present condition of the Jews as a fulfilment of prophecy, -and saying, "If I were tempted to doubt the truth of the Bible, I -should only have to look at a Jew to confirm my faith in it." "Don't -talk to me of the Jews!" Miss Evans retorted, in an irritated tone; -"to think that they were deluded into expectations of a temporal -deliverer, and then punished because they couldn't understand that it -was a spiritual deliverer that was intended!" To something that -followed from her, intimating the claim of creatures upon their -Creator, my father objected, "But we have no claim upon God." "No -claim upon God!" she reiterated indignantly; "we have the strongest -possible claim upon him." - -I regret that I can recall nothing more of a conversation carried on -for more than two hours; but I vividly remember how deeply Miss Evans -was moved, and how, as she stood against the mantelpiece during the -last part of the time, her delicate fingers, in which she held a small -piece of muslin on which she was at work, trembled with her agitation. - -The impression allowed to remain upon the minds of her friends, for -some time after she had made declaration of her heresies, was of her -being in a troubled, unsettled state. So great were her simplicity -and candor in acknowledging this, and so apparent was her earnest -desire for truth, that no hesitation was felt in asking her to receive -visits from persons of different persuasions, who were judged -competent to bring forward the best arguments in favor of orthodox -doctrines. One of these was a Baptist minister, introduced to her by -Miss Franklin; he was said to be well read in divinity, and I remember -him as an original and interesting preacher. After an interview with -Miss Evans, meeting my father, he said: "That young lady must have had -the devil at her elbow to suggest her doubts, for there was not a book -that I recommended to her in support of Christian evidences that she -had not read." - -Mr. Watts, one of the professors at Spring Hill College (Independent), -Birmingham, a colleague of Mr. Henry Rogers, author of the "Eclipse of -Faith," and who had himself studied at the Hallé University, and -enjoyed the friendship of Dr. Tholück, was requested (I think by my -mother) to call on Miss Evans. His acquaintance with German -Rationalism (rare in England in those days) qualified him to enter -into, and it was hoped to meet, difficulties raised by a critical -study of the New Testament. After his first or second interview, my -brother remembers his observing with emphasis, "_She_ has gone into -the question;" and I can recall a reference made by him at a later -date in my hearing to Miss Evans's discontent with her own -solutions--or rather with her own standpoint at that time. This -discontent, he said, "was so far satisfactory." Doubtless it gave him -hope of the reconversion of one who had, as he told my mother, -awakened deep interest in his own mind, as much by the earnestness -which characterized her inquiries as by her exceptional attainments. - -From letters that passed between my brother and myself during his -residence in Germany, I give the following extracts referring to this -period. - -The first is from one of mine, dated September 2, 1842: - -"In my father's absence we (my mother and I) called on Miss Evans. She -now takes up a different position. Her views are not altogether -altered, but she says it would be extreme arrogance in so young a -person to suppose she had obtained _yet_ any just ideas of truth. She -had been reading Dr. Tholück's reply to Strauss's 'Life of Jesus,' but -said Mr. Watts had advised her _not_ to read his 'Guido and Julius.'" - -In answer to this my brother says, in a letter dated Hallé, September -26, 1842, "You have given, doubtless, a very accurate account of Miss -Evans's mode of stating her present sentiments. Mr. Watts's reason for -advising that Dr. Tholück's 'Guido and Julius' be not read is, -perhaps, that the reasoning is not satisfactory." - -In another letter, addressed to my brother at Hallé, and dated October -28, 1842, I tell him: "Last week mother and I spent an evening with -Miss Evans. She seemed more settled in her views than ever, and rests -her objections to Christianity on this ground, that Calvinism is -Christianity, and, this granted, that it is a religion based on pure -selfishness. She occupied, however, a great part of the time in -pleading for works of imagination, maintaining that they perform an -office for the mind which nothing else can. On the mention of -Shakespeare, she praised him with her characteristic ardor, was -shocked at the idea that mother should disapprove the perusal of his -writings, and quite distressed lest, through her influence, I should -be prevented from reading them. She could be content were she allowed -no other book than Shakespeare; and in educating a child, this would -be the first book she would place in its hands. - -"She seems to have read a great deal of Italian literature, and speaks -with rapture of Metastasio's novels. She has lent me 'Le mie Prigioni' -di Silvio Pellico, in his own tongue, as a book to begin with. She -says there is a prevailing but very mistaken idea that Italian is an -easy language, though she is exceedingly delighted with it. If at any -time I wish to begin German, she would very much like to give me some -instruction." - -In addition to the above relating to Shakespeare, I recall the protest -that my mother's objection to his plays (my mother _had_ been an -ardent lover of "the play"), on the ground that there were things in -them that offended her, was as reasonable as the objection to walk in -a beautiful garden, "because toads and weeds are to be found in it." - -In a letter dated March 6, 1843, I write to my brother: "Your request -that you may be informed as to the precise nature of Miss Evans's -philosophical views I shall find it very difficult to comply with, -inasmuch as on our last interview she did not express herself so fully -on this subject as formerly; indeed, I believe she is not now so -desirous of controversy. She however appeared, to me at least, to have -rather changed her ground on some points. For instance, she said she -considered Jesus Christ as the embodiment of perfect love, and seemed -to be leaning slightly to the doctrines of Carlyle and Emerson when -she remarked that she considered the Bible a revelation in a certain -sense, as she considered herself a revelation of the mind of Deity, -etc. She was very anxious to know if you had heard Schelling." - -In a letter addressed to my brother at Spring Hill College, and dated -October 28, 1844, I find this reference to Dr. Harris, who had been -preaching a charity sermon in a chapel at Foleshill: - -"Miss Evans has just been reproaching me for not informing her of Dr. -Harris's preaching, which she would have given anything to hear, as -she says his 'Great Teacher' left more delightful impressions on her -mind than anything she ever read, and is, she thinks, the best book -that could be written by a man holding his principles." - -In the same letter I mention a second lesson in German given me by -Miss Evans. In one written some time before, I tell my brother of her -kind proposal, but add that my parents object "on account of her -dangerous sentiments." She had, however, since called at our house one -morning to renew it: and I well remember how eagerly I watched my -mother, looking so affectionately at Miss Evans, and saying quietly, -"You know, with your superior intellect, I cannot help fearing you -might influence Mary, though you might not intend to do so. But," she -went on to say, "her father does not agree with me: he does not see -any danger, and thinks we ought not to refuse, as it is so very kind -of you to be willing to take the trouble--and we know it would be a -great advantage to her to learn German; for she will probably have to -earn her living by teaching." Seeing at a glance how matters stood, -Miss Evans turned round quickly to me, and said, "Come on Saturday at -three o'clock, and bring what books you have." - -So I went, and began "Don Carlos," continuing to go, with some -intervals occasioned by absence, pretty regularly on Saturday -afternoons, for nearly two years; but it was not until the end of the -second year, when I received Miss Evans's suggestion that the lessons -were no longer necessary, and should be discontinued, that I fully -realized what this companionship had been to me. The loss was like the -loss of sunshine. - -No promise had been given that my religious belief should be -undisturbed, nor was any needed. Interest was turned aside from -Calvinism and Arminianism, which at an early age had engaged my -attention, towards manifestations of nobility of character, and -sympathy with human struggles and sufferings under varied conditions. -The character of the "Marquis von Posa" (in "Don Carlos") roused an -enthusiasm for heroism and virtue, which it was delightful to express -to one who so fully shared it. Placing together one day the works of -Schiller, which were in two or three volumes, Miss Evans said, "Oh, if -_I_ had given these to the world, how happy I should be!" - -It must have been to confirm myself in my traditional faith by -confession of it, that I once took upon myself to say to her how sure -I was that there could be no true morality without evangelical belief. -"Oh, it is so, is it?" she said, with the kindest smile, and nothing -further passed. From time to time, however, her reverence and -affection for the character of Christ and the Apostle Paul, and her -sympathy with genuine religious feeling, were very clear to me. -Expressing one day her horror of a crowd, she said, "I never would -press through one, unless it were to see a second Jesus." The words -startled me--the conception of Jesus Christ in my mind being so little -associated with a human form; but they impressed me with a certain -reality of feeling which I contrasted, as I did Miss Evans's abiding -interest in great principles, with the somewhat factitious and -occasional as well as fitful affection and concern manifest in many -whom I looked up to as "converted" people. - -Once only do I remember such contrast being made by herself. She -attended the service at the opening of a new church at Foleshill, with -her father, and remarked to me the next day that, looking at the gayly -dressed people, she could not help thinking how much easier life would -be to her, and how much better she should stand in the estimation of -her neighbors, if only she could take things as they did, be satisfied -with outside pleasures, and conform to the popular beliefs without any -reflection or examination. Once, too, after being in the company of -educated persons "professing and calling themselves Christians," she -commented to me on the _tone_ of conversation, often frivolous, -sometimes ill-natured, that seemed yet to excite in no one any sense -of impropriety. - -It must have been in those early days that she spoke to me of a visit -from one of her uncles in Derbyshire, a Wesleyan, and how much she had -enjoyed talking with him, finding she could enter into his feelings so -much better than she had done in past times, when her views seemed -more in accordance with his own, but were really less so. - -Among other books, I remember the "Life of Dr. Arnold" interested her -deeply. Speaking of it to me one morning, she referred to a -conversation she had had with a friend the evening before, and said -they had agreed that it was a great good for such men to remain within -the pale of orthodoxy, that so they might draw from the old doctrines -the best that was to be got from them. - -Of criticisms on German books read with Miss Evans, I recall one or -two. In the "Robbers," she criticised the attempt to enhance the -horror of the situation of the abandoned father, by details of -physical wretchedness, as a mistake in Art. "Wallenstein" she ranked -higher from an intellectual point of view than any other work of -Schiller's. The talk of the soldiers in the "Lager" she pointed out to -me as "just what it would be." On my faint response, "I suppose it -is!" she returned, "No, you do not _suppose_--we _know_ these things;" -and then gave me a specimen of what might be a navvy's talk--"The sort -of thing such people say, is, 'I'll break off your arm, and bloody -your face with the stump.'" - -Mrs. Bray tells the following incident, as showing her quick -perception of excellence from a new and unknown source. "We were -sitting," Mrs. Bray says, "one summer afternoon on the lawn at -Rosehill, July, 1850, when Marian came running to us from the house -with the _Leader_ newspaper in her hand. 'Here is a new poet come into -the world!' she exclaimed, and sitting down with us she read from the -_Leader_ the poem called 'Hymn,' signed M., and ending with the fine -stanza: - - "'When I have passed a nobler life in sorrow; - Have seen rude masses grow to fulgent spheres; - Seen how To-day is father of To-morrow, - And how the Ages justify the Years, - I praise Thee, God.' - -"The 'Hymn' is now reprinted in Mr. W. M. W. Call's volume of -collected poems, called 'Golden Histories.'" - -Kingsley's "Saint's Tragedy" was not so popular as his other works, -but Miss Evans was deeply moved by it. Putting it into my hands one -morning, she said, "There, read it--_you_ will care for it." - -The "Life of Jean Paul Richter," published in the Catholic Series (in -which the head of Christ, by De la Roche, so dear to her, figures as a -vignette), was read and talked of with great interest, as was his -"Flower, Fruit, and Thorn Pieces," translated by the late Mr. Edward -Noel of Hampstead. Choice little bits of humor from the latter she -greatly enjoyed. - -Margaret Fuller's "Woman in the Nineteenth Century," I think Miss -Evans gave to me. I know it interested her, as did Emerson's "Essays." -On his visit to Coventry, we could not, unfortunately, accept Mr. -Bray's kind invitation to meet him at Rosehill; but after he had left, -Miss Evans soon came up kindly to give us her impressions of him while -they were fresh in her memory. She told us he had asked her what had -first awakened her to deep reflection, and when she answered, -"Rousseau's Confessions," he remarked that this was very interesting, -inasmuch as Carlyle had told him that very book had had the same -effect upon his mind. As _I_ heard Emerson's remark after his -interviews with Miss Evans, it was, "That young lady has a calm, clear -spirit." Intercourse, it will be seen, was kept up with my family, -otherwise than through the lessons, by calls, and in little gatherings -of friends in evenings, when we were favored to hear Miss Evans sing. -Her voice was not strong, and I think she preferred playing on the -piano; but her low notes were effective, and there was always an -elevation in the rendering. - -As I knew Miss Evans, no one escaped her notice. In her treatment of -servants, for instance, she was most considerate. "They come to me," -she used to say, "with all their troubles," as indeed did her friends -generally--sometimes, she would confess, to an extent that quite -oppressed her. When any object of charity came under her notice, and -power to help was within her reach, she was very prompt in rendering -it. Our servant's brother or sister, or both of them, died, leaving -children dependent on friends themselves poor. Miss Evans at once -offered to provide clothing and school-fees for one of these, a -chubby-faced little girl four or five years of age. Unexpectedly, -however, an aunt at a distance proposed to adopt the child. I -recollect taking her to say good-bye to her would-be benefactress, and -can see her now, standing still and subdued in her black frock and -cape, with Miss Evans kneeling down by her, and saying, after giving -her some money, "Then I suppose there is nothing else we can do for -her." - -My husband's mother, who was a member of the Society of Friends, -established, with the help of her daughters and a few others -interested, an Industrial Home for girls about the age of fourteen. It -was in the year 1843, and was, therefore, one of the first -institutions of the kind in England. The model was taken from -something of the same order attempted by a young girl in France. The -girls were, as far as practicable, to maintain themselves, working -under conditions of comfort and protection more attainable than in -their own homes. The idea was new; the Home could not be started -without funds, and my mother undertook to collect for it in her own -neighborhood. In a letter to me, written at this time, she tells me -she is "not doing much to help dear Mrs. Cash," there being "a -prejudice against the scheme;" but adds, "This morning Miss Evans -called, and brought me two guineas from her father." I tell of this as -one among many indications of Miss Evans's ever-growing zeal to serve -humanity in a broader way, motived, as _she_ felt, by a higher aim -than what she termed "desire to save one's soul by making up coarse -flannel for the poor." - -In these broad views--in this desire to bring her less advantaged -neighbors nearer to her own level, to meet them on common ground, to -raise them above the liability to eleemosynary charity--she had Mr. -Bray's full sympathy. To me she dwelt frequently upon his genuine -benevolence, upon his ways of advancing the interests of the working -men, as being, in her judgment, wise and good. She visited -periodically, in turn with Mrs. Bray, myself, and a few others, an -infant school which Mr. Bray had helped to start; and although this -sort of work was so little suited to her, yet so much did she feel the -duty of living for others, especially the less privileged, that one -morning she came to Mrs. Bray, expressing strongly her desire to help -in _any_ work that could be given her. The only thing that could be -thought of was the illustration of some lessons in Natural History, on -sheets of cardboard, needed then, when prints of the kind were not to -be procured for schools. The class of animals to be illustrated by -Mrs. Bray on the sheet taken by Miss Evans was the "Rodentić," and at -the top a squirrel was to figure, the which she undertook to draw. -This I have seen, half-finished--a witness to the willing mind; proof -that its proper work lay otherwhere. Lectures at the Mechanics' -Institute were matters of great interest to Miss Evans; and I remember -the pleasure given her by the performance of the music of "Comus," -with lecture by Professor Taylor, at our old St. Mary's Hall. In that -hall, too, we heard the first lecture on total abstinence that I -remember to have heard in Coventry, though of "Temperance Societies" -we knew something. The lecturer was the Rev. Mr. Spencer, a clergyman -at Hinton Charterhouse, near Bath, and uncle of Mr. Herbert Spencer. -Miss Evans was present at the lecture, with Mr. Bray, who told me -afterwards he had some difficulty in restraining her from going up, as -soon as the lecture was over, to take the pledge, he thought, without -due consideration. "I felt," she said, speaking to me afterwards of -the lecturer, "that he had got hold of a power for good that was of -incalculable worth." - -I need scarcely say that I received, along with lessons in German, -some "rules and lessons for life" from Miss Evans. One of the first -was an injunction to be accurate, enforced with the warning that the -tendency is to grow less and less so as we get older. The other was -tolerance. How well I can remember the remonstrance, "My dear child, -the great lesson of life is tolerance." In the proverb, "Live and let -live," she saw a principle involved, harder to act upon, she would -say, than the maxims of benevolence--I think, because bringing less -credit with it. - -The reading of dramas and romances naturally gives rise to discussion -of their main theme. In treating of love and marriage, Miss Evans's -feeling was so fine as to satisfy a young girl in her teens, with her -impossible ideals. The conception of the union of two persons by so -close a tie as marriage, without a previous union of minds as well as -hearts, was to her dreadful. "How terrible it must be," she once said -to me, "to find one's self tied to a being whose limitations you could -see, and must know were such as to prevent your ever being -understood!" She thought that though in England marriages were not -professedly "arrangés," they were so too often practically: young -people being brought together, and receiving intimations that mutual -interest was desired and expected, were apt to drift into connections -on grounds not strong enough for the wear and tear of life; and this, -too, among the middle as well as in the higher classes. After speaking -of these and other facts, of how things were and would be, in spite of -likelihood to the contrary, she would end by saying, playfully, "Now, -remember I tell you this, and I am sixty!" - -She thought the stringency of laws rendering the marriage-tie (at that -date) irrevocable, practically worked injuriously; the effect being -"that many wives took far less pains to please their husbands in -behavior and appearance, because they knew their own position to be -invulnerable." And at a later time she spoke of marriages on the -Continent, where separations did not necessarily involve discredit, as -being very frequently far happier. - -One claim, as she regarded it, from equals to each other was this, the -right to hear from the aggrieved, "You have ill-treated me; do you not -see your conduct is not fair, looked at from my side?" Such frankness -would, she said, bring about good understanding better than reticent -endurance. Her own filial piety was sufficiently manifest; but of the -converse obligation, that of the claim of child upon parent, she was -wont to speak thus strongly. "There may be," she would say, "conduct -on the part of a parent which should exonerate his child from further -obligation to him; but there cannot be action conceivable which should -absolve the parent from obligation to serve his child, seeing that for -that child's existence he is himself responsible." I did not at the -time see the connection between this view and the change of a -fundamental nature marked by Miss Evans's earlier contention for our -"claim on God." The bearing of the above on orthodox religion I did -not see. Some time ago, however, I came across this reflection, made -by a clergyman of the Broad Church school--that since the _claims_ of -children had, in the plea for schools, been based on the -responsibility of parents towards them, a higher principle had been -maintained on the platform than was preached from the pulpit, as the -basis of the popular theology. - -In my previous communication in the "Life" I have already made mention -of Miss Evans's sympathy with me in my own religious difficulties; and -my obligations to her were deepened by her seconding my resolve to -acknowledge how much of the traditional belief had fallen away from me -and left a simpler faith. In this I found her best help when, as time -passed on, my brother saw he could not conscientiously continue in the -calling he had chosen. As, however, his heresies were not considered -fatal, and he was esteemed by the professors and students of his -college, there was for some time hesitation. In this predicament I -wrote to him, a little favoring compromise. My mother also wrote. I -took the letters to Miss Evans before posting them. She read mine -first, with no remark, and then began my mother's, reading until she -came upon these words--"In the meantime, let me entreat you not to -utter any sentiments, either in the pulpit or in conversation, that -you do not believe to be strictly true;" on which she said, turning to -me, "Look, this is the important point, what your mother says here," -and I immediately put my own letter into the fire. "What are you -doing?" she quickly said; and when I answered, "You are right--my -mother's letter is to the point, and that only need go," she nodded -assent, and, keeping it, sent it enclosed with a few lines from -herself. - -I knew what I had done and so did she: the giving up of the ministry -to a young man without other resources was no light matter; and as I -rose to go she said, "These are the tragedies for which the world -cares so little, but which are so much to me." - -More than twenty years elapsed before I had again the privilege of -seeing George Eliot, and that on one occasion only, after her final -settlement in London. It touched me deeply to find how much she had -retained of her kind interest in all that concerned me and mine, and I -remarked on this to Mr. Lewes, who came to the door with my daughter -and myself at parting. "Wonderful sympathy," I said. "Is it not?" said -he; and when I added, inquiringly, "The power lies there?" -"Unquestionably it does," was his answer; "she forgets nothing that -has ever come within the curl of her eyelash; above all, she forgets -no one who has ever spoken to her one kind word." - - - END OF VOL. I. - - - * * * * * - - -Transcriber's Notes: - -Obvious typographical errors were repaired. - -Duplicate sidenotes (repeated at the top of continuation pages) were -deleted. - -Latin-1 file: _underscores_ enclose italicized content. - -P. 99 "[Greek: tho pascha]" and p. 139 "[Greek: nenikekas -Galilaie]"--for the actual Greek script see the html version of this -volume. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's George Eliot's Life, Vol. I (of 3), by George Eliot - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GEORGE ELIOT'S LIFE, VOL. 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