Emily Susannah Clarke to GE, Lichfield, 16 September 1871
Title
Emily Susannah Clarke to GE, Lichfield, 16 September 1871
Title
Emily Susannah Clarke to GE, Lichfield, 16 September 1871
Sender
Emily Susannah Clarke
Recipient
George Eliot
Date(s)
- 1871-09-16
Place
Lichfield
Letter Content
Emily Susannah Clarke to GE, Lichfield, 16 September 1871
MS: Yale.
Lombard House, Lichfield. | September 16. 1871.
My dear Aunt Polly
It grieved me to hear you were not well. It was very good of you to write to me but please do not do it again when you are not well. I know what it is to suffer from weakness and only wish I was somewhere near that I might be a comfort to you. I always feel proud when I hear you praised. Last week Canon Lonsdale 49 in his lecture to the children on church history said there was a very clever account of Savonarola in a novel called "Romola" written by one of the first writers of the day.
There were no painful reasons for the breaking off of Walter's engagement. 50 The young lady was rich, vulgar and a great flirt -- it was one of those engagements that should never have taken place. Walter is very quiet and has very strict ideas of what a woman ought to be. Old Mr. Harpur 51 is dead there are very few people in Nuneaton that I know -- the Buchanans still live there.
Some time I must tell you more about my life here. In ten days we have a week's rest, I shall go away but have not settled where until I know Miss Crockett's plans. A Mrs. Tibbits kindly has me at her house for any length of time I care to go -- if Miss C. does not want me I shall go to Mrs. Tibbits. Rest is always welcome, more especially the week in the middle of the half year. I am much stronger, but it takes very little to "knock me up" -- and then to work when one is ill is anything but pleasant. Both the Misses Crockett are very kind, being here so long makes me more like a relation than a teacher. I meant to have written only a line but somehow I have gone rambling on.
Please do not think I want an answer to this. It is kind of you to write and your letters do me good. With dear love
Your affectionate niece
Emily S. Clarke.
MS: Yale.
Lombard House, Lichfield. | September 16. 1871.
My dear Aunt Polly
It grieved me to hear you were not well. It was very good of you to write to me but please do not do it again when you are not well. I know what it is to suffer from weakness and only wish I was somewhere near that I might be a comfort to you. I always feel proud when I hear you praised. Last week Canon Lonsdale 49 in his lecture to the children on church history said there was a very clever account of Savonarola in a novel called "Romola" written by one of the first writers of the day.
There were no painful reasons for the breaking off of Walter's engagement. 50 The young lady was rich, vulgar and a great flirt -- it was one of those engagements that should never have taken place. Walter is very quiet and has very strict ideas of what a woman ought to be. Old Mr. Harpur 51 is dead there are very few people in Nuneaton that I know -- the Buchanans still live there.
Some time I must tell you more about my life here. In ten days we have a week's rest, I shall go away but have not settled where until I know Miss Crockett's plans. A Mrs. Tibbits kindly has me at her house for any length of time I care to go -- if Miss C. does not want me I shall go to Mrs. Tibbits. Rest is always welcome, more especially the week in the middle of the half year. I am much stronger, but it takes very little to "knock me up" -- and then to work when one is ill is anything but pleasant. Both the Misses Crockett are very kind, being here so long makes me more like a relation than a teacher. I meant to have written only a line but somehow I have gone rambling on.
Please do not think I want an answer to this. It is kind of you to write and your letters do me good. With dear love
Your affectionate niece
Emily S. Clarke.
Signature
Emily S. Clarke.
Citation
Emily Susannah Clarke, Emily Susannah Clarke to GE, Lichfield, 16 September 1871, Complete George Eliot Letters(2026), George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett. https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org, Accessed September 7, 2026. https://georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/91831