William Smith, within Blackwood's Magazine, vol. 112, issue 684

William Smith, within Blackwood's Magazine, vol. 112, issue 684

Oliphant, Margaret

London: Blackwood Pillans & Wilson, 1872. Blackwood's Magazine, vol. 112, issue 684, 1872-10, pp. 429-38

Internet Archive

1872

George Eliot to Mrs. William Smith, 1 November 1872. “Mr Lewes, I am thankful to say, has been getting more robust for the last two years, and is very bright and active. I think there is hardly any one left to whom he would so willingly have written or talked about the subjects which are filling his mind, as that dear one who is gone from your side, but is perpetually present in your consciousness. To-day I have been reading the memorial article in ‘Blackwood,’ and have been hoping that there is nothing in it which jars on your feeling. Everybody will think as I do -- that the bits from your pen are worth all the rest. I have been especially moved, though, by the two stanzas quoted at the end. Mr Lewes judges that the writer of the article did not personally know your husband, and wishes that more special touches had been given. I know, dear friend, that the sorrow is irremediable; but the pain -- the anguish -- will become less sharp, and life will be less difficult. You will think of things to do such as he would approve of your doing, and every day will be sacred with his memory -- nay, his presence. There is no pretence or visionariness in saying that he is still part of you. Mr Lewes sends his affectionate regards, which you will not reject. We mention your name to each other with a certain tenderness, as if your sorrow somehow belonged to our love for each other. But I hardly dare to think of what these words which I have written mean. Sometimes in the midst of happiness I cry suddenly at the thought that there must come a parting. Are not you and I very near to one another? -- I mean in feeling.” GEL 5: 323

Oliphant, Margaret, William Smith, within Blackwood's Magazine, vol. 112, issue 684, George Eliot's Reading, George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett. https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org, Accessed September 7, 2026. https://georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/57170

https://georgeeliotarchive.org/files/original/435ab2bda7363b499a9ae786e93d74ea.pdf