GE to Mrs. Edward Burne-Jones, Witley, 18 October 1879
Title
GE to Mrs. Edward Burne-Jones, Witley, 18 October 1879
Title
GE to Mrs. Edward Burne-Jones, Witley, 18 October 1879
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Mrs. Edward Burne-Jones
Date(s)
- 1879-10-18
Place
Witley
Letter Content
GE to Mrs. Edward Burne-Jones, Witley, 18 October 1879
MS: Yale. Extracts published: Cross, III, 381-382.
The Heights, Witley, | Nr. Godalming.
October 18. 79.
Dearest Georgie
If I were more generous I should wish that I had not sent you that little doggish whimper asking for attention. But I cannot wish not to have been cheered by your triple letter, even though I have caused you to rise earlier in the morning and to feel a disproportionate remorse. "Maggior difetto men vergogna lava," as says Virgil to the blushing Dante. 331 And you have given me the fuller measure because I had to wait a little.
Your Legend of Fair Women interests me very much. I feel a citizen of the world again, knowing all this news. Mrs. Healy's marriage is surely what you expected in the long or short run, and from what you have told me of the children I should imagine that the influence of the widowed mother would hardly have been so beneficent as one likes to think it would be in most cases.
You never did speak to me of Emily Beattie. But you must do so some Friday afternoon. Remarkable men so often choose a succession of stupid women (if not evil ones) that there should be some tolerance for a remarkable woman who does the corresponding thing. But the core of good news in your letter is that your husband is well again, and again happy in his work. Your collapse is what I feared for you, and you must call the getting change of air and scene -- I was going to say [a duty,] but are you one of those wonderful beings who find everything easier under that name? But at least one prefers doing a hard duty to grimacing with a pretence of pleasure in things that are no pleasure.
I have no doubt that the original is much prettier than the Photo which I return. I always feel that I have to interpret a photograph, as a foreign language into which I must read more than it can directly express for me.
I am greatly comforted this morning by the fact that the (apparently) right man is found for the George Henry Lewes Studentship -- an ardent worker who could not have carried on his pursuit without this money help. I know you are not unmindful of what touches me deeply.
Go on your visit, dear, and come back well -- then show yourself without unnecessary delay to
Your loving Friend
M. E. Lewes.
MS: Yale. Extracts published: Cross, III, 381-382.
The Heights, Witley, | Nr. Godalming.
October 18. 79.
Dearest Georgie
If I were more generous I should wish that I had not sent you that little doggish whimper asking for attention. But I cannot wish not to have been cheered by your triple letter, even though I have caused you to rise earlier in the morning and to feel a disproportionate remorse. "Maggior difetto men vergogna lava," as says Virgil to the blushing Dante. 331 And you have given me the fuller measure because I had to wait a little.
Your Legend of Fair Women interests me very much. I feel a citizen of the world again, knowing all this news. Mrs. Healy's marriage is surely what you expected in the long or short run, and from what you have told me of the children I should imagine that the influence of the widowed mother would hardly have been so beneficent as one likes to think it would be in most cases.
You never did speak to me of Emily Beattie. But you must do so some Friday afternoon. Remarkable men so often choose a succession of stupid women (if not evil ones) that there should be some tolerance for a remarkable woman who does the corresponding thing. But the core of good news in your letter is that your husband is well again, and again happy in his work. Your collapse is what I feared for you, and you must call the getting change of air and scene -- I was going to say [a duty,] but are you one of those wonderful beings who find everything easier under that name? But at least one prefers doing a hard duty to grimacing with a pretence of pleasure in things that are no pleasure.
I have no doubt that the original is much prettier than the Photo which I return. I always feel that I have to interpret a photograph, as a foreign language into which I must read more than it can directly express for me.
I am greatly comforted this morning by the fact that the (apparently) right man is found for the George Henry Lewes Studentship -- an ardent worker who could not have carried on his pursuit without this money help. I know you are not unmindful of what touches me deeply.
Go on your visit, dear, and come back well -- then show yourself without unnecessary delay to
Your loving Friend
M. E. Lewes.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Mrs. Edward Burne-Jones, Witley, 18 October 1879, 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/93369