Transcriber's Note:
This is Volume III 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. III.--SUNSET
"OUR FINEST HOPE IS FINEST MEMORY"
[Illustration: No. 4 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea.]
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 III
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_.
CONTENTS OF VOL. III.
CHAPTER XIV.
JANUARY, 1867, TO DECEMBER, 1867.
Tour in Spain Page 1
CHAPTER XV.
JANUARY, 1868, TO DECEMBER, 1868.
"The Spanish Gypsy" 24
CHAPTER XVI.
JANUARY, 1869, TO DECEMBER, 1872.
Poems--"Middlemarch" 55
CHAPTER XVII.
JANUARY, 1873, TO DECEMBER, 1875.
"Brewing," "Deronda" 138
CHAPTER XVIII.
MARCH, 1876, TO NOVEMBER, 1878.
"Daniel Deronda"--Illness and Death of Mr. Lewes 197
CHAPTER XIX.
JANUARY, 1879, TO 22D DECEMBER, 1880.
"Theophrastus Such"--Marriage with Mr. Cross--Death 249
ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOL. III.
NO. 4 CHEYNE WALK, CHELSEA _Frontispiece._
THE HEIGHTS, WITLEY.
From a Sketch by Mrs. Allingham _To face p. 216._
GEORGE ELIOT'S LIFE.
CHAPTER XIV.
The new year of 1867 opens with the description of the journey
to Spain.
[Sidenote: Letter to Madame Bodichon, Jan. 1867, from Bordeaux.]
We prolonged our stay in Paris in order to see Madame Mohl, who was
very good to us; invited the Scherers and other interesting people to
meet us at dinner on the 29th, and tempted us to stay and breakfast
with her on the 31st, by promising to invite Renan, which she did
successfully, and so procured us a bit of experience that we were glad
to have, over and above the pleasure of seeing a little more of
herself and M. Mohl. I like them both, and wish there were a chance of
knowing them better. We paid for our pleasure by being obliged to walk
in the rain (from the impossibility of getting a carriage) all the way
from the Rue de Rivoli--where a charitable German printer, who had
taken us up in his _fiacre_, was obliged to set us down--to the Hôtel
du Helder, through streets literally jammed with carriages and
omnibuses, carrying people who were doing the severe social duties of
the last day in the year. The rain it raineth every day, with the
exception of yesterday; we can't travel away from it, apparently. But
we start in desperation for Bayonne in half an hour.
[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Congreve, 16th Jan. 1867, from Biarritz.]
Snow on the ground here, too--more, we are told, than has been seen
here for fifteen years before. But it has been obliging enough to
fall in the night, and the sky is glorious this morning, as it was
yesterday. Sunday was the one exception since the 6th, when we arrived
here to a state of weather which has allowed us to be out of doors the
greater part of our daylight. We think it curious that, among the many
persons who have talked to us about Biarritz, the Brownings alone have
ever spoken of its natural beauties; yet these are transcendent. We
agree that the sea never seemed so magnificent to us before, though we
have seen the Atlantic breaking on the rocks at Ilfracombe and on the
great granite walls of the Scilly Isles. In the southern division of
the bay we see the sun set over the Pyrenees; and in the northern we
have two splendid stretches of sand, one with huge fragments of dark
rock scattered about for the waves to leap over, the other an unbroken
level, firm to the feet, where the hindmost line of wave sends up its
spray on the horizon like a suddenly rising cloud. This part of the
bay is worthily called the Chambre de l'Amour; and we have its
beauties all to ourselves, which, alas! in this stage of the world,
one can't help feeling to be an advantage. The few families and
bachelors who are here (chiefly English) scarcely ever come across our
path. The days pass so rapidly, we can hardly believe in their number
when we come to count them. After breakfast we both read the
"Politique"--George one volume and I another--interrupting each other
continually with questions and remarks. That morning study keeps me in
a state of enthusiasm through the day--a moral glow, which is a sort
of _milieu subjectif_ for the sublime sea and sky. Mr. Lewes is
converted to the warmest admiration of the chapter on language in the
third volume, which about three years ago he thought slightly of. I
think the first chapter of the fourth volume is among the finest of
all, and the most finely written. My gratitude increases continually
for the illumination Comte has contributed to my life. But we both of
us study with a sense of having still much to learn and to understand.
About ten or half-past ten we go out for our morning walk; and then,
while we plunge about in the sand or march along the cliff, George
draws out a book and tries my paces in Spanish, demanding a
quick-as-light translation of nouns and phrases. Presently I retort
upon him, and prove that it is easier to ask than to answer. We find
this system of _vivâ-voce_ mutual instruction so successful that we
are disgusted with ourselves for not having used it before through all
our many years of companionship; and we are making projects for giving
new interest to Regent's Park by pursuing all sorts of studies in the
same way there. We seldom come indoors till one o'clock, and we turn
out again at three, often remaining to see the sunset. One other thing
I have been reading here which I must tell you of. It is a series of
three papers by Saveney, in the _Revue des Deux Mondes_ of last year,
on "La Physique Moderne," an excellent summary, giving a glimpse of
the great vista opened in that region. I think you would like to read
them when you are strong enough for that sort of exertion.
We stayed three days in Paris, and passed our time very agreeably. The
first day we dined with Madame Mohl, who had kindly invited Professor
Scherer and his wife, Jules Simon, Lomenie, Lavergne, "and others" to
meet us. That was on the Saturday, and she tempted us to stay the
following Monday by saying she would invite Renan to breakfast with
us. Renan's appearance is something between the Catholic priest and
the dissenting minister. His manners are very amiable, his talk
pleasant, but not distinguished. We are entertaining great projects as
to our further journeying. It will be best for you to address _Poste
Restante_, Barcelona.
[Sidenote: Letter to Madame Bodichon, 2d Feb. 1867.]
Are you astonished to see our whereabouts? We left Biarritz for San
Sebastian, where we stayed three days; and both there and all our way
to Barcelona our life has been a succession of delights. We have had
perfect weather, blue skies, and a warm sun. We travelled from San
Sebastian to Saragossa, where we passed two nights; then to Lerida for
one night, and yesterday to Barcelona. You know the scenery from San
Sebastian to Alsasua, through the lower Pyrenees, because it lies on
the way to Burgos and Madrid. At Alsasua we turned off through Navarre
into Aragon, seeing famous Pampeluna, looking as beautiful as it did
ages ago among the grand hills. At Saragossa the scene was thoroughly
changed; all through Aragon, as far as we could see, I should think
the country resembles the highlands of Central Spain. There is the
most striking effect of hills, flanking the plain of Saragossa, I ever
saw. They are of palish clay, washed by the rains into undulating
forms, and some slight herbage upon them makes the shadows of an
exquisite blue.
These hills accompanied us in the distance all the way through Aragon,
the snowy mountains topping them in the far distance. The land is all
pale brown, the numerous towns and villages just match the land, and
so do the sheepfolds, built of mud or stone. The herbage is all of an
ashy green. Perhaps if I had been in Africa I should say, as you do,
that the country reminded me of Africa; as it is, I think of all I
have read about the East. The men who look on while others work at
Saragossa also seem to belong to the East, with a great striped
blanket wrapped grandly round them, and a kerchief tied about their
hair. But though Aragon was held by the Moors longer than any part of
Northern Spain, the features and skins of the people seem to me to
bear less traces of the mixture there must have been than one would
fairly expect. Saragossa has a grand character still, in spite of the
stucco with which the people have daubed the beautiful small brick of
which the houses are built. Here and there one sees a house left
undesecrated by stucco; and all of them have the fluted tiles and the
broad eaves beautifully ornamented. Again, one side of the old
cathedral still shows the exquisite inlaid work which, in the
_façade_, has been overlaid hideously. Gradually, as we left Aragon
and entered Catalonia, the face of the country changed, and we had
almost every sort of beauty in succession; last of all, between
Monserrat and Barcelona, a perfect garden, with the richest red
soil--blossoms on the plum and cherry trees, aloes thick in the
hedges. At present we are waiting for the Spanish hardships to begin.
Even at Lerida, a place scarcely at all affected by foreign
travellers, we were perfectly comfortable--and such sights! The people
scattered on the brown slopes of rough earth round the fortress--the
women knitting, etc., the men playing at cards, one wonderful, gaudily
dressed group; another of handsome gypsies. We are actually going by
steam-boat to Alicante, and from Alicante to Malaga. Then we mean to
see Granada, Cordova, and Seville. We shall only stay here a few
days--if this weather continues.
[Sidenote: Letter to Frederic Harrison, 18th Feb. 1867, from Granada.]
Your kind letter, written on the 5th, reached me here this morning. I
had not heard of the criticism in the _Edinburgh_. Mr. Lewes read the
article, but did not tell me of the reviewer's legal wisdom, thinking
that it would only vex me to no purpose. However, I had felt sure that
something of that sort must have appeared in one review article or
another. I am heartily glad and grateful that you have helped justice
in general, as well as justice to me in particular, by getting the
vindication written for the _Pall Mall_. It was the best possible
measure to adopt. Since we left Barcelona, a fortnight ago, we have
seen no English papers, so that we have been in the dark as to English
news.
Were you not surprised to hear that we had come so far? The journey
from San Sebastian by Saragossa and Lerida turned out to be so easy
and delightful that we ceased to tremble, and determined to carry out
our project of going by steamer to Alicante and Malaga. You cannot do
better than follow our example; I mean, so far as coming to Spain is
concerned. Believe none of the fictions that bookmakers get printed
about the horrors of Spanish hotels and cookery, or the hardships of
Spanish travel--still less about the rudeness of Spaniards. It is true
that we have not yet endured the long railway journeys through Central
Spain, but wherever we have been hitherto we have found nothing
formidable, even for our rickety bodies.
We came hither from Malaga in the _berlina (coupé)_ of the diligence,
and have assured ourselves that Mr. Blackburne's description of a
supposed hen-roost, overturned in the Alameda at Malaga, which proved
to be the Granada diligence, is an invention. The vehicle is
comfortable enough, and the road is perfect; and at the end of it we
have found ourselves in one of the loveliest scenes on earth.
We shall remain here till the 23d, and then go to Cordova first, to
Seville next, and finally to Madrid, making our way homeward from
thence by easy stages. We expect to be in the smoky haze of London
again soon after the middle of March, if not before.
I wish I could believe that you were all having anything like the
clear skies and warm sun which have cheered our journeying for the
last month. At Alicante we walked among the palm-trees with their
golden fruit hanging in rich clusters, and felt a more delightful
warmth than that of an English summer. Last night we walked out and
saw the towers of the Alhambra, the wide Vega, and the snowy
mountains, by the brilliant moonlight. You see, we are getting a great
deal of pleasure, but we are not working, as you seem charitably to
imagine. We tire ourselves, but only with seeing or going to see
unforgetable things. You will say that we ought to work to better
purpose when we get home. Amen. But just now we read nothing but
Spanish novels--and not much of those. We said good-bye to philosophy
and science when we packed up our trunks at Biarritz.
Please keep some friendship warm for us, that we may not be too much
chilled by the English weather when we get back.
[Sidenote: Letter to John Blackwood, 21st Feb. 1867.]
We are both heartily rejoiced that we came to Spain. It was a great
longing of mine, for, three years ago, I began to interest myself in
Spanish history and literature, and have had a work lying by me,
partly written, the subject of which is connected with Spain. Whether
I shall ever bring it to maturity so as to satisfy myself sufficiently
to print it is a question not settled; but it is a work very near my
heart. We have had perfect weather ever since the 27th of
January--magnificent skies and a summer sun. At Alicante, walking
among the palm-trees, with the bare brown rocks and brown houses in
the background, we fancied ourselves in the tropics; and a gentleman
who travelled with us assured us that the aspect of the country
closely resembled Aden, on the Red Sea. Here, at Granada, of course,
it is much colder, but the sun shines uninterruptedly; and in the
middle of the day, to stand in the sunshine against a wall, reminds me
of my sensations at Florence in the beginning of June. The aspect of
Granada as we first approached it was a slight disappointment to me,
but the beauty of its position can hardly be surpassed. To stand on
one of the towers of the Alhambra and see the sun set behind the dark
mountains of Loja, and send its after-glow on the white summits of the
Sierra Nevada, while the lovely Vega spreads below, ready to yield all
things pleasant to the eye and good for food, is worth a very long,
long journey. We shall start to-morrow evening for Cordova; then we
shall go to Seville, back to Cordova, and on to Madrid.
During our short stay in Paris we went a little into society, and saw,
among other people who interested us, Professor Scherer, of whom you
know something. He charmed me greatly. He is a Genevese, you know, and
does not talk in ready-made epigrams, like a clever Frenchman, but
with well-chosen, moderate words, intended to express what he really
thinks and feels. He is highly cultivated; and his wife, who was with
him, is an Englishwoman of refined, simple manners.
[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Congreve, 10th Mch. 1867, from Biarritz.]
At Biarritz again, you see, after our long, delightful journey, in
which we have made a great loop all round the east and through the
centre of Spain. Mr. Lewes says he thinks he never enjoyed a journey
so much, and you will see him so changed--so much plumper and
ruddier--that if pity has entered much into your regard for him he
will be in danger of losing something by his bodily prosperity. We
crowned our pleasures in Spain with the sight of the pictures in the
Madrid gallery. The skies were as blue at Madrid as they had been
through the previous part of our journeying, but the air was bitterly
cold; and naughty officials receive money for warming the museum, but
find other uses for the money. I caught a severe cold the last day of
our visit, and, after an uncomfortable day and night's railway
journey, arrived at Biarritz, only fit for bed and coddling.
[Sidenote: Journal, 1867.]
_March 16._--This evening we got home after a journey to the south of
Spain. I go to my poem and the construction of two prose works--if
possible.
[Sidenote: Letter to John Blackwood, 18th Mch. 1867.]
We got home on Saturday evening, after as fine a passage from Calais
to Dover as we ever had, even in summer. Your letter was among the
pleasant things that smiled at me on my return, and helped to
reconcile me to the rather rude transition from summer to winter which
we have made in our journey from Biarritz. This morning it is snowing
hard and the wind is roaring--a sufficiently sharp contrast to the hot
sun, the dust, and the mosquitoes of Seville.
We have had a glorious journey. The skies alone, both night and day,
were worth travelling all the way to see. We went to Cordova and
Seville, but we feared the cold of the central lands in the north, and
resisted the temptation to see Toledo, or anything else than the
Madrid pictures, which are transcendent.
Among the letters awaiting me was one from an American travelling in
Europe, who gives me the history of a copy of "Felix Holt," which, he
says, has been read by no end of people, and is now on its way through
Ireland, "where he found many friends anxious but unable to get it."
It seems people nowadays economize in nothing but books. I found also
the letter of a "Conveyancer" in the _Pall Mall_, justifying the law
of "Felix Holt" in answer to the _Edinburgh_ reviewer. I did not know,
before I was told of this letter in reply, that the _Edinburgh_
reviewer had found fault with my law.
[Sidenote: Journal, 1867.]
_March 21._--Received from Blackwood a check for £2166 13_s._ 4_d._,
being the second instalment of £1666 13_s._ 4_d._ towards the £5000
for "Felix Holt," together with £500 as the first instalment of £1000
for ten years' copyright of the cheap edition of my novels.
[Sidenote: Letter to John Blackwood, 21st Mch. 1867.]
Your letters, with the valuable enclosure of a check for £2166 13_s._
4_d._, have come to me this morning, and I am much obliged to you for
your punctual attention.
I long to see a specimen of the cheap edition of the novels. As to the
illustrations, I have adjusted my hopes so as to save myself from any
great shock. When I remember my own childish happiness in a
frightfully illustrated copy of the "Vicar of Wakefield," I can
believe that illustration may be a great good relatively, and that my
own present liking has no weight in the question.
I fancy that the placarding at railway stations is an effective
measure, for Ruskin was never more mistaken than in asserting that
people have no spare time to observe anything in such places. I am a
very poor reader of advertisements, but even I am forced to get them
unpleasantly by heart at the stations.
It is rather a vexatious kind of tribute when people write, as my
American correspondent did, to tell me of one paper-covered American
copy of "Felix Holt" brought to Europe and serving for so many readers
that it was in danger of being worn away under their hands. He, good
man, finds it easy "to urge greater circulation by means of cheap
sale," having "found so many friends in Ireland anxious but unable to
obtain the book." I suppose putting it in a yellow cover with figures
on it, reminding one of the outside of a show, and charging a shilling
for it, is what we are expected to do for the good of mankind. Even
then I fear it would hardly bear the rivalry of "The Pretty Milliner,"
or of "The Horrible Secret."
The work connected with Spain is not a romance. It is--prepare your
fortitude--it is--a poem. I conceived the plot, and wrote nearly the
whole as a drama in 1864. Mr. Lewes advised me to put it by for a time
and take it up again, with a view to recasting it. He thinks hopefully
of it. I need not tell you that I am _not_ hopeful, but I am quite
sure the subject is fine. It is not historic, but has merely historic
connections. The plot was wrought out entirely as an incorporation of
my own ideas. Of course, if it is ever finished to my satisfaction, it
is not a work for us to get money by, but Mr. Lewes urges and insists
that it shall be done. I have also my private projects about an
English novel, but I am afraid of speaking as if I could depend on
myself; at present I am rather dizzy, and not settled down to home
habits of regular occupation.
I understand that the conveyancer who wrote to the _Pall Mall_ is an
excellent lawyer in his department, and the lecturer on Real Property
at the Law Institution.
If a reviewer ever checked himself by considering that a writer whom
he thinks worth praising would take some pains to know the truth about
a matter which is the very hinge of said writer's story, review
articles would cut a shrunken figure.
[Sidenote: Journal, 1867.]
_May 5._--We went to Bouverie Street to hear the first of a course of
lectures on Positivism, delivered by Dr. Congreve. There were present
seventy-five people, chiefly men.
_May 11._--We had Mr. and Mrs. Call to dine with us, and an evening
party afterwards.
_May 12._--We went to hear Dr. Congreve's second lecture. The morning
was thoroughly wet; the audience smaller, but still good.
[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 13th May, 1867.]
Yesterday we went to the second of a course of lectures which Dr.
Congreve is delivering on Positivism in Bouverie Street. At the first
lecture on the 5th there was a considerable audience--about
seventy-five, chiefly men--of various ranks, from lords and M.P.'s
downwards, or upwards, for what is called social distinction seems to
be in a shifting condition just now. Yesterday the wet weather
doubtless helped to reduce the audience; still it was good. Curiosity
brings some, interest in the subject others, and the rest go with the
wish to express adhesion more or less thorough.
I am afraid you have ceased to care much about pictures, else I should
wish that you could see the Exhibition of Historical Portraits at
Kensington. It is really worth a little fatigue to see the English of
past generations in their habit as they lived--especially when
Gainsborough and Sir Joshua are the painters. But even Sir Godfrey
Kneller delights me occasionally with a finely conceived portrait
carefully painted. There is an unforgetable portrait of Newton by
him.
[Sidenote: Journal, 1867.]
_May 27._--Went with G. to the Academy Exhibition.
_May 29._--Went to the Exhibition of French Pictures--very agreeable
and interesting.
[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Peter Taylor, 30th May, 1867.]
I do sympathize with you most emphatically in the desire to see women
socially elevated--educated equally with men, and secured as far as
possible, along with every other breathing creature, from suffering
the exercise of any unrighteous power. That is a broader ground of
sympathy than agreement as to the amount and kind of result that may
be hoped for from a particular measure. But on this special point I am
far from thinking myself an oracle, and on the whole I am inclined to
hope for much good from the serious presentation of women's claims
before Parliament. I thought Mill's speech sober and judicious from
his point of view--Karslake's an abomination.
_À propos_ of what you say about Mr. Congreve, I think you have
mistaken his, or rather Comte's, position. There is no denial of an
unknown cause, but only a denial that such a conception is the proper
basis of a practical religion. It seems to me pre-eminently desirable
that we should learn not to make our personal comfort a standard of
truth.
[Sidenote: Journal, 1867.]
_June 1_ (Saturday).--Wrote up to the moment when Fedalma appears in
the Plaça.
_June 5._--Blackwood dined with us, and I read to him my poem down to
page 56. He showed great delight.
_June 26._--We went to Niton for a fortnight, returning July 10.
_July 16._--Received £2166 13_s._ 4_d._ from Blackwood, being the
final instalment for "Felix Holt," and (£500) copyright for ten
years.
[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Congreve, 28th July, 1867.]
Again we take flight! To North Germany this time, and chiefly to
Dresden, where we shall be accessible through the _Poste Restante_. I
am ashamed of saying anything about our health--we are both "objects"
for compassion or contempt, according to the disposition of the
subject who may contemplate us.
Mr. Beesley (I think it was he) sent us Dr. Congreve's pamphlet last
night, and I read it aloud to George. We both felt a cordial
satisfaction in it. We have been a good deal beset by little
engagements with friends and acquaintances lately, and these, with the
preparations for our journey, have been rather too much for me. Mr.
Lewes is acting on the advice of Sir Henry Holland in giving up
zoologizing for the present, because it obliges him to hang down his
head. That is the reason we go inland, and not to the coast, as I
think I hinted to you that we expected to do.
You are sympathetic enough to be glad to hear that we have had
thoroughly cheerful and satisfactory letters from both our boys in
Natal. They are established in their purchased farm, and are very
happy together in their work. Impossible for mortals to have less
trouble than we. I should have written to you earlier this week--for
we start to-morrow--but that I have been laid prostrate with crushing
headache one half of my time, and always going out or seeing some one
the other half.
Farewell, dear. Don't write unless you have a real desire to gossip
with me a little about yourself and our mutual friends. You know I
always like to have news of you, but I shall not think it unkind--I
shall only think you have other things to do--if you are silent.
[Sidenote: Journal, 1867.]
_July 29._--We went to Dover this evening as the start on a journey
into Germany (North).
_Oct. 1._--We returned home after revisiting the scenes of cherished
memories--Ilmenau, Dresden, and Berlin. Of new places we have seen
Wetzlar, Cassel, Eisenach, and Hanover. At Ilmenau I wrote Fedalma's
soliloquy after her scene with Silva, and the following dialogue
between her and Juan. At Dresden I rewrote the whole scene between her
and Zarca.
_Oct. 9._--Reading "Los Judios en Espâna," Percy's "Reliques," "Isis,"
occasionally aloud.
_Oct. 10._--Reading the "Iliad," Book III. Finished "Los Judios en
Espâna," a wretchedly poor book.
_Oct. 11._--Began again Prescott's "Ferdinand and Isabella."
_Oct. 19._--George returned last evening from a walking expedition in
Surrey with Mr. Spencer.
This entry is an interesting one to me, as it fixes the date
of the first acquaintance with my family. Mr. Herbert Spencer
was an old friend of ours, and in the course of their walk he
and Mr. Lewes happened to pass through Weybridge, where my
mother at that time lived. They came to dinner. Mr. Lewes,
with his wonderful social powers, charmed all, and they
passed a delightful evening. I was myself in America at the
time, where I was in business as a banker at New York. My
eldest sister had just then published a little volume of
poems,[1] which was kindly received by the press. On the
invitation of Mr. Lewes she went shortly afterwards to see
George Eliot, then in the zenith of her fame; nor did she
ever forget the affectionate manner in which the great author
greeted her. This was the beginning of a close friendship
between the families, which lasted, and increased in
intimacy, to the end. Mr. Spencer, in writing to tell me that
it was he who first made Mr. Lewes acquainted with George
Eliot, adds, "You will perhaps be struck by the curious
coincidence that it was also by me that Lewes was introduced
to your family at Weybridge and remoter issues entailed."
[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 20th Oct. 1867.]
Before I got your letter I was about to write to you and direct your
attention to an article in the forthcoming (October) number of the
_Quarterly Review_, on the Talmud. You really must go out of your way
to read it. It is written by one of the greatest Oriental scholars,
the man among living men who probably knows the most about the Talmud;
and you will appreciate the pregnancy of the article. There are also
beautiful, soul-cheering things selected for quotation.
[Sidenote: Journal, 1867.]
_Oct. 31._--I have now inserted all that I think of for the first part
of the "Spanish Gypsy." On Monday I wrote three new Lyrics. I have
also rewritten the first scenes in the gypsy camp, to the end of the
dialogue between Juan and Fedalma. But I have determined to make the
commencement of the second part continue the picture of what goes
forward in Bedmar.
_Nov. 1._--Began this morning Part II. "Silva was marching homeward,"
etc.
[Sidenote: Letter to John Blackwood, 9th Nov. 1867.]
About putting Fedalma in type. There would be advantages, but also
disadvantages; and on these latter I wish to consult you. I have more
than three thousand lines ready in the order I wish them to stand in,
and it would be good to have them in print to read them critically.
Defects reveal themselves more fully in type, and emendations might be
more conveniently made on proofs, since I have given up the idea of
copying the MS. as a whole. On the other hand, _could the thing be
kept private when it had once been in the printing-office_? And I
particularly wish not to have it set afloat, for various reasons.
Among others, I want to keep myself free from all inducements to
premature publication; I mean, publication before I have given my work
as much revision as I can hope to give it while my mind is still
nursing it. Beyond this, delay would be useless. The theory of laying
by poems for nine years may be a fine one, but it could not answer for
me to apply it. I could no more live through one of my books a second
time than I can live through last year again. But I like to keep
checks on myself, and not to create external temptations to do what I
should think foolish in another. If you thought it possible to secure
us against the oozing out of proofs and gossip, the other objections
would be less important. One difficulty is, that in my MS. I have
frequently two readings of the same passage, and, being uncertain
which of them is preferable, I wish them both to stand for future
decision. But perhaps this might be managed in proof. The length of
the poem is at present uncertain, but I feel so strongly what Mr.
Lewes insists on, namely, the evil of making it too long, that I shall
set it before me as a duty not to make it more than nine thousand
lines, and shall be glad if it turns out a little shorter.
Will you think over the whole question? I am sure your mind will
supply any prudential considerations that I may have omitted.
I am vexed by the non-success of the serial edition of the works. It
is not, Heaven knows, that I read my own books or am puffed up about
them, but I have been of late quite astonished by the strengthening
testimonies that have happened to come to me of people who care about
every one of my books, and continue to read them--especially young
men, who are just the class I care most to influence. But what sort of
data can one safely go upon with regard to the success of editions?
"Felix Holt" is immensely tempted by your suggestion,[2] but George
Eliot is severely admonished by his domestic critic not to scatter his
energies.
Mr. Lewes sends his best regards. He is in high spirits about the
poem.
[Sidenote: Journal, 1867.]
_Nov. 22._--Began an "Address to the Working Men, by Felix Holt," at
Blackwood's repeated request.
[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 22d Nov. 1867.]
Yes, indeed--when I do _not_ reciprocate "chaos is come again." I was
quite sure your letter would come, and was grateful beforehand.
There is a scheme on foot for a Woman's College, or, rather,
University, to be built between London and Cambridge, and to be in
connection with the Cambridge University, sharing its professors,
examinations, and degrees! _Si muove._
[Sidenote: Letter to Madame Bodichon, 1st Dec. (?) 1867.]
I have written to Miss Davies to ask her to come to see me on Tuesday.
I am much occupied just now, but the better education of women is one
of the objects about which I have _no doubt_, and shall rejoice if
this idea of a college can be carried out.
I see Miss Julia Smith's beautiful handwriting, and am glad to think
of her as your guardian angel.
The author of the glorious article on the Talmud _is_ "that bright
little man" Mr. Deutsch--a very dear, delightful creature.
[Sidenote: Journal, 1867.]
_Dec. 4._--Sent off the MS. of the "Address" to Edinburgh.
[Sidenote: Letter to John Blackwood, 7th Dec. 1867.]
I agree with you about the phrase "Masters of the country."[3] I wrote
that part twice, and originally I distinctly said that the epithet was
false. Afterwards I left that out, preferring to make a stronger
_argumentum ad hominem_, in case any workman believed himself a future
master.
I think it will be better for you to write a preliminary note, washing
your hands of any over-trenchant statements on the part of the
well-meaning Radical. I much prefer that you should do so.
Whatever you agree with will have the advantage of not coming from one
who can be suspected of being a special pleader.
What you say about Fedalma is very cheering. But I am chiefly anxious
about the road still untravelled--the road I have still _zurück zu
legen_.
Mr. Lewes has to request several proofs of Fedalma, to facilitate
revision. But I will leave him to say how many. We shall keep them
strictly to ourselves, you may be sure, so that three or four will be
enough--one for him, one for me, and one for the resolution of our
differences.
[Sidenote: Letter to John Blackwood 12th Dec. 1867.]
I am very grateful to you for your generous words about my work. That
you not only feel so much sympathy, but are moved to express it so
fully, is a real help to me.
I am very glad to have had the revise of the "Address." I feel the
danger of not being understood. Perhaps, by a good deal longer
consideration and gradual shaping, I might have put the ideas into a
more concrete, easy form.
Mr. Lewes read the proof of the poem all through to himself for the
first time last night, and expressed great satisfaction in the
impression it produced. Your suggestion of having it put into type is
a benefit for which we have reason to be obliged to you.
I cannot help saying again that it is a strong cordial to me to have
such letters as yours, and to know that I have such a _first reader_
as you.
[Sidenote: Journal, 1867.]
_Dec. 21._--Finished reading "Averroës and Averroisme" and "Les
Médicins Juifs." Reading "First Principles."
[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Congreve, 22d Dec. 1867.]
Our Christmas will be very quiet. On the 27th Mr. Lewes means to start
on a solitary journey to Bonn, and perhaps to Würzburg, for anatomical
purposes. I don't mean that he is going to offer himself as an
anatomical subject, but that he wants to get answers to some questions
bearing on the functions of the nerves. It is a bad time for him to
travel in, but he hopes to be at home again in ten days or a
fortnight, and _I_ hope the run will do him good rather than harm.
[Sidenote: Journal, 1867.]
_Dec. 25._--George and I dined happily alone; he better for weeks than
he has been all the summer before; I more ailing than usual, but with
much mental consolation, part of it being the delight he expresses in
my poem, of which the first part is now in print.
[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 26th Dec. 1867.]
Thanks for the pretty remembrance. You were not unthought of before it
came. Now, however, I rouse all my courage under the thick fog to tell
you my inward wish--which is that the new year, as it travels on
towards its old age, may bring you many satisfactions undisturbed by
bodily ailment.
Mr. Lewes is going to-morrow on an unprecedented expedition--a rapid
run to Bonn, to make some anatomical researches with Professor Schutze
there. If he needs more than he can get at Bonn, he may go to
Heidelberg and Würzburg. But in any case he will not take more than a
fortnight.
[Sidenote: Letter to Miss Sara Hennell, 28th Dec. 1867.]
Public questions which, by a sad process of reduction, become piteous
private questions, hang cloudily over all prospects. The state of
Europe, the threat of a general war, the starvation of multitudes--one
can't help thinking of these things at one's breakfast. Nevertheless,
there is much enjoyment going on, and abundance of rosy children's
parties.
[Sidenote: Letter to Mrs. Congreve, 30th Dec. 1867.]
It is very good and sweet of you to propose to come round for me on
Sunday, and I shall cherish particularly the remembrance of that
kindness. But, on our reading your letter, Mr. Lewes objected, on
grounds which I think just, to my going to any public manifestation
without him, since his absence could not be divined by outsiders.
I am companioned by dyspepsia, and feel life a struggle under the
leaden sky. Mme. Bodichon writes that in Sussex the air is cold and
clear, and the woods and lanes dressed in wintry loveliness of fresh,
grassy patches, mingled with the soft grays and browns of the trees
and hedges. Mr. Harrison shed the agreeable light of his kind eyes on
me yesterday for a brief space; but I hope I was more endurable to my
visitors than to myself, else I think they will not come again. I
object strongly to myself, as a bundle of unpleasant sensations with a
palpitating heart and awkward manners. Impossible to imagine the large
charity I have for people who detest me. But don't you be one of them.
[Sidenote: Letter to John Blackwood, 30th Dec. 1867.]
I am much obliged to you for your handsome check, and still more
gratified that the "Address" has been a satisfaction to you.
I am very glad to hear of your projected visit to town, and shall
hope to have a good batch of MS. for you to carry back. Mr. Lewes is
in an unprecedented state of delight with the poem, now that he is
reading it with close care. He says he is astonished that he can't
find more faults. He is especially pleased with the sense of variety
it gives; and this testimony is worth the more because he urged me to
put the poem by (in 1865) on the ground of monotony. He is really
exultant about it now, and after what you have said to me I know this
will please you.
Hearty wishes that the coming year may bring you much good, and that
the "Spanish Gypsy" may contribute a little to that end.
_SUMMARY._
JANUARY, 1867, TO DECEMBER, 1867.
Letter to Madame Bodichon from Bordeaux--Madame
Mohl--Scherer--Renan--Letter to Mrs. Congreve from
Biarritz--Delight in Comte's "Politique"--Gratitude to him
for illumination--Learning Spanish--Papers in the _Revue des
Deux Mondes_, by Saveney--Letter to Madame Bodichon from
Barcelona--Description of
scenery--Pampeluna--Saragossa--Lerida--Letter to F. Harrison
from Granada--The vindication of the _law_ in "Felix
Holt"--Spanish travelling--Letter to John Blackwood from
Granada--Alicante--Granada--Letter to Mrs. Congreve from
Biarritz--Delight of the journey--Madrid pictures--Return to
the Priory--Letter to John Blackwood--"Felix Holt"--Cheap
edition of novels--"Spanish Gypsy"--Dr. Congreve's Lectures
on Positivism--Letter to Miss Hennell--Historical Portraits
at South Kensington--Letter to Mrs. Peter Taylor--Women's
claims--Comte's position--Fortnight's Visit to the Isle of
Wight--Letter of adieu to Mrs. Congreve--Two months' visit to
North Germany--Return to England--Reading on Spanish
subjects--Mr. Lewes and Mr. Spencer at
Weybridge--Acquaintance with Mrs. Cross and family--Letter to
Miss Hennell--Deutsch's article on the Talmud--Letter to
Blackwood about putting "Spanish Gypsy" in type--"Address to
Workingmen, by Felix Holt"--Letter to Miss Hennell--Girton
College--Letter to Madame Bodichon--The higher education of
women--Letter to John Blackwood on the "Address"--Christmas
day at the Priory--Letter to Miss Hennell--Visit of Mr. Lewes
to Bonn--Letter to Mrs. Congreve--Depression--Letter to John
Blackwood--Mr. Lewes on "Spanish Gypsy."
FOOTNOTES:
[1] "An Old Story and Other Poems," by Elizabeth D. Cross.
[2] "Address to the Working Men."
[3] In the "Address to the Working Men."