GE to Frederic Harrison, Granada, 18 February 1867
Title
GE to Frederic Harrison, Granada, 18 February 1867
Title
GE to Frederic Harrison, Granada, 18 February 1867
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Frederic Harrison
Date(s)
- 1867-02-18
Place
Granada
Letter Content
GE to Frederic Harrison, Granada, 18 February 1867
MS: Tinker Collection, Yale. Envelope: Frederic Harrison, Esq | 7 New Square | Lincolns Inn | London. Postmarks: GRANADA | 19 | FEB | 67; MADRID | 21 | FEB | 67 | (1); LONDON-W.C | Y6 | FE 28 | 67. Extracts published: Cross, III, 8-10.
Granada, | February 18. 1867.
My dear Mr. Harrison
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 surprized to hear that we had come so far? You inferred of course that Mr. Lewes had profited by our stay at Biarritz and had become much stronger before we ventured to enter Spain -- not without some trembling as to the result. 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 book-makers 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 (coup'e9) of the diligence, and have assured ourselves that Mr. Blackburn's 585 description of a supposed hen-roost overturned in the Alameda at Malaga, which proved to be the Granada diligence, is an impudent 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 Saturday the 23 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 dare say you will see Mrs. Congreve before I have -- shall I say the industry, the time, or the strength? -- to write to her again. Pray be so kind as to tell her of our whereabout and our projects, and to say that I found her letter awaiting me at Barcelona. She was not well when she wrote, but your sentence about our common friends makes me hope that she has recovered. 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. 586 We said goodby to philosophy and science when we packed 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. Mr. Lewes sends his best regards to you and I am always
Yours sincerely
M. E. Lewes.
MS: Tinker Collection, Yale. Envelope: Frederic Harrison, Esq | 7 New Square | Lincolns Inn | London. Postmarks: GRANADA | 19 | FEB | 67; MADRID | 21 | FEB | 67 | (1); LONDON-W.C | Y6 | FE 28 | 67. Extracts published: Cross, III, 8-10.
Granada, | February 18. 1867.
My dear Mr. Harrison
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 surprized to hear that we had come so far? You inferred of course that Mr. Lewes had profited by our stay at Biarritz and had become much stronger before we ventured to enter Spain -- not without some trembling as to the result. 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 book-makers 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 (coup'e9) of the diligence, and have assured ourselves that Mr. Blackburn's 585 description of a supposed hen-roost overturned in the Alameda at Malaga, which proved to be the Granada diligence, is an impudent 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 Saturday the 23 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 dare say you will see Mrs. Congreve before I have -- shall I say the industry, the time, or the strength? -- to write to her again. Pray be so kind as to tell her of our whereabout and our projects, and to say that I found her letter awaiting me at Barcelona. She was not well when she wrote, but your sentence about our common friends makes me hope that she has recovered. 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. 586 We said goodby to philosophy and science when we packed 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. Mr. Lewes sends his best regards to you and I am always
Yours sincerely
M. E. Lewes.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Frederic Harrison, Granada, 18 February 1867, 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/92387