GE to Charles Lee Lewes, Venice, 9 June 1880
Title
GE to Charles Lee Lewes, Venice, 9 June 1880
Title
GE to Charles Lee Lewes, Venice, 9 June 1880
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Charles Lee Lewes
Date(s)
- 1880-06-09
Place
Venice
Letter Content
GE to Charles Lee Lewes, Venice, 9 June 1880
MS: Yale. Published: Paterson, pp. 227-231; extracts in Cross, III, 403-405.
Venice, June 9. 1880.
Dearest Boy
We both enjoyed reading your letter on the morning after our arrival at this enchanting city, 438 where the glorious light, with comparative stillness and total absence of dust, makes a Paradiso much more desirable than that painted by Tintoretto on the wall of the Consiglio maggiore. 439 Nothing but the advent of mosquitos would make it easy for us to tear ourselves away from this place where [every prospect pleases] but alas, where one is obliged to admit that man is somewhat vile. I am sadly disappointed in the aspect of the Venetian populace. Even physically they look less endowed than I thought them when we were here under the Austrian dominion. We have hardly seen a sweet or noble woman's face since we arrived, but the men are not quite so ill-looking as the women.
To speak of more personal matters I wish you could comfort me a little about the apparent, inexplicable failure of the letters I wrote to some of my friends, letters intended to reach them on the morning of my marriage. I observed that in Mrs. Bray's letter she said "Knowing only the bare fact of your marriage" -- which I for the moment thought strange but did not follow out to the natural inference that she had not received my letter, telling her various things beyond the [bare fact.] The other day however I had a letter from Madame Bodichon to whom I had addressed a letter of announcement at the same time with the one to Mrs. Bray. And Mde. Bodichon says that she never received any letter from me before the one I wrote from abroad in answer to hers. She says, by way of explanation, "I think you must have locked the letters you speak of in your drawer." But I feel quite sure that I placed letters to Mrs. Bray, Madame Bodichon, Mrs. Burne
Jones and Mr. William Blackwood on the slab, to be taken to the post as usual by Burkin. 440 Will you, when you are next at the Priory, be kind enough to look at Mr. Blackwood's letter to see whether it contains any indication of his having received mine? If they have all missed I can only conclude that Burkin had some misfortune with the letters. The result is very painful to me, and especially that Mrs. Bray and Mrs. Burne Jones should have believed me to be totally silent to them.
Your news about Eliza and Marian is very satisfactory. I am so glad that she is liking any acquaintance, and Mrs. Macaulay, I imagine, is worth liking. -- If Blanche turns out to have a musical gift -- which she seems to have a right to by inheritance -- it will add to your happiness. One of the girls should have a talent for instrumental execution and another a voice like her mother's, and then we should be contented. Talking of music the singing here (by itinerant performers in gondolas) is disgraceful to Venice and to Italy. Coarse voices much out of tune make one shudder when they strike suddenly under the window. I should like to see your paper about Telegraph Reform, so keep me a copy and leave it at Witley for me.
Mr. Williams's 441 letter was as graceful and full of feeling as all his writings and sayings to me have been since we first met him at Weimar now nearly twenty six years ago. We always feared that his marriage was a faithful fulfilment of some pledge without any actual attraction of the one soul towards the other. But our conjectures in such matters are little to be trusted.
Our days here are passed quite deliciously. We see a few beautiful pictures or other objects of interest and dwell on them sufficiently every morning, not hurrying ourselves to do much, and afterwards we have a [giro] in our gondola enjoying the air and the sight of marvellous Venice from various points of view and under various aspects. Hitherto we have had no heat, only warmth with a light breeze. Today for the first time one thinks that violent exercise must be terribly trying for our red-skinned fellow-mortals at work on the gondolas and the barges. But for us it is only pleasant to find the air warm enough for sitting out in the evening. We are at the H'f4tel de l'Europe, on the Grand Canal as you remember, just opposite the Dogana. But when you write to me it will be better to send as before to the Posta Restante. We shall not soon run away from Venice unless some plague -- e.g. mosquitos -- should arise to drive us. We edify ourselves with what
Ruskin has written about Venice in an agreeable pamphlet shape, 442 using his knowledge gratefully and shutting our ears to his wrathful innuendoes against the whole modern world. And we are now nearly at the end of Alfieri's Autobiography 443 which serves as an Italian exercise for J. while it is a deeply interesting study of character.
I hope that the French plays will not fall below your expectations, or at least that you will be able to dispose of any tickets you may not care to use for yourselves.
If you are writing to Eliza give my love to her and tell her that I am anxious to know of her and Bertie's health being benefited by Brighton. I suppose you have had no heat in England to make Brighton undesirable, for Mary wrote to us the other day that the weather was still cold.
Best love to Gertrude and the children. They must get down to Witley by the 23d, will they not? And if you want to make an excursion with them there are carriages to be had at the public house near the station. Mr. and Mrs. Evans, I think, hire a very comfortable vehicle for their family from that place.
Johnnie sends hearty love, and I am scribbling to begin reading with him. He is delighted with your letters.
Always your loving
Mutter.
MS: Yale. Published: Paterson, pp. 227-231; extracts in Cross, III, 403-405.
Venice, June 9. 1880.
Dearest Boy
We both enjoyed reading your letter on the morning after our arrival at this enchanting city, 438 where the glorious light, with comparative stillness and total absence of dust, makes a Paradiso much more desirable than that painted by Tintoretto on the wall of the Consiglio maggiore. 439 Nothing but the advent of mosquitos would make it easy for us to tear ourselves away from this place where [every prospect pleases] but alas, where one is obliged to admit that man is somewhat vile. I am sadly disappointed in the aspect of the Venetian populace. Even physically they look less endowed than I thought them when we were here under the Austrian dominion. We have hardly seen a sweet or noble woman's face since we arrived, but the men are not quite so ill-looking as the women.
To speak of more personal matters I wish you could comfort me a little about the apparent, inexplicable failure of the letters I wrote to some of my friends, letters intended to reach them on the morning of my marriage. I observed that in Mrs. Bray's letter she said "Knowing only the bare fact of your marriage" -- which I for the moment thought strange but did not follow out to the natural inference that she had not received my letter, telling her various things beyond the [bare fact.] The other day however I had a letter from Madame Bodichon to whom I had addressed a letter of announcement at the same time with the one to Mrs. Bray. And Mde. Bodichon says that she never received any letter from me before the one I wrote from abroad in answer to hers. She says, by way of explanation, "I think you must have locked the letters you speak of in your drawer." But I feel quite sure that I placed letters to Mrs. Bray, Madame Bodichon, Mrs. Burne
Jones and Mr. William Blackwood on the slab, to be taken to the post as usual by Burkin. 440 Will you, when you are next at the Priory, be kind enough to look at Mr. Blackwood's letter to see whether it contains any indication of his having received mine? If they have all missed I can only conclude that Burkin had some misfortune with the letters. The result is very painful to me, and especially that Mrs. Bray and Mrs. Burne Jones should have believed me to be totally silent to them.
Your news about Eliza and Marian is very satisfactory. I am so glad that she is liking any acquaintance, and Mrs. Macaulay, I imagine, is worth liking. -- If Blanche turns out to have a musical gift -- which she seems to have a right to by inheritance -- it will add to your happiness. One of the girls should have a talent for instrumental execution and another a voice like her mother's, and then we should be contented. Talking of music the singing here (by itinerant performers in gondolas) is disgraceful to Venice and to Italy. Coarse voices much out of tune make one shudder when they strike suddenly under the window. I should like to see your paper about Telegraph Reform, so keep me a copy and leave it at Witley for me.
Mr. Williams's 441 letter was as graceful and full of feeling as all his writings and sayings to me have been since we first met him at Weimar now nearly twenty six years ago. We always feared that his marriage was a faithful fulfilment of some pledge without any actual attraction of the one soul towards the other. But our conjectures in such matters are little to be trusted.
Our days here are passed quite deliciously. We see a few beautiful pictures or other objects of interest and dwell on them sufficiently every morning, not hurrying ourselves to do much, and afterwards we have a [giro] in our gondola enjoying the air and the sight of marvellous Venice from various points of view and under various aspects. Hitherto we have had no heat, only warmth with a light breeze. Today for the first time one thinks that violent exercise must be terribly trying for our red-skinned fellow-mortals at work on the gondolas and the barges. But for us it is only pleasant to find the air warm enough for sitting out in the evening. We are at the H'f4tel de l'Europe, on the Grand Canal as you remember, just opposite the Dogana. But when you write to me it will be better to send as before to the Posta Restante. We shall not soon run away from Venice unless some plague -- e.g. mosquitos -- should arise to drive us. We edify ourselves with what
Ruskin has written about Venice in an agreeable pamphlet shape, 442 using his knowledge gratefully and shutting our ears to his wrathful innuendoes against the whole modern world. And we are now nearly at the end of Alfieri's Autobiography 443 which serves as an Italian exercise for J. while it is a deeply interesting study of character.
I hope that the French plays will not fall below your expectations, or at least that you will be able to dispose of any tickets you may not care to use for yourselves.
If you are writing to Eliza give my love to her and tell her that I am anxious to know of her and Bertie's health being benefited by Brighton. I suppose you have had no heat in England to make Brighton undesirable, for Mary wrote to us the other day that the weather was still cold.
Best love to Gertrude and the children. They must get down to Witley by the 23d, will they not? And if you want to make an excursion with them there are carriages to be had at the public house near the station. Mr. and Mrs. Evans, I think, hire a very comfortable vehicle for their family from that place.
Johnnie sends hearty love, and I am scribbling to begin reading with him. He is delighted with your letters.
Always your loving
Mutter.
Signature
Mutter.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Charles Lee Lewes, Venice, 9 June 1880, 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/92222