GE to Mrs. Nassau John Senior, Ragatz, 12 July 1876
Title
GE to Mrs. Nassau John Senior, Ragatz, 12 July 1876
Title
GE to Mrs. Nassau John Senior, Ragatz, 12 July 1876
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Mrs. Nassau John Senior
Date(s)
- 1876-07-12
Place
Ragatz
Letter Content
GE to Mrs. Nassau John Senior, Ragatz, 12 July 1876
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Hof Ragatz | Ragatz | July 12. 76.
My dear Friend
I think that if I had had the choice of the friend who should write me a letter "to be forwarded" I could not have chosen more for my own pleasure than fate has chosen for me in bringing me your dear letter which we have just read together. I have quite hungered these many months for some account of you -- how your health was going on -- what you meant to do about your future residence -- and any detail that could give me an idea how life was bearing itself towards you. I am glad to hear that you are going to Chelsea, 508 because I remember that you had a longing to look on the river, and since we have taken to driving along the embankment I too have become attached to that part of London, and you will be delightfully within reach.
It was your impulse to help us that made you write, and if we were still in London we would run down to Yarmouth for the sake of seeing you as much as the desirable house, 509 which seems quite miraculously cheap and since it pleases your taste, I am sure is pretty. But we crossed the Channel on the 10th of June and after a month's wandering in which I had been constantly out of health, we settled here under conditions that seem to promise a recovery of health and strength. Ten days ago we thought that we should be obliged to hasten home again for the sake of getting invalids' comforts, but now we hope to remain abroad, as we intended, until the end of August, going higher as the weather gets warmer. So there is no chance of our taking the train at Waterloo in time to hinder the old tradesman from buying Monks! Most grateful thanks to Mrs. Hughes and you for laying out that pretty plan. I should grieve to miss the chance of the house, if the Isle of Wight were quite compatible with our purposes about a country home. We do desire, above all earthly possessions of a material sort, a house in the country to which we could go, not simply in summer, but from time to time throughout the year. To be everything we want, the house should be within easy reach from London -- we should even not object to a place so near as High Barnet. We went once to see Mrs. Barrington's house, but found that it had not comforts enough for us old people. This was our first sight of High Barnet and we were much pleased with the aspect of the neighbourhood, though I should prefer Surrey or Kent if it were possible to get anything snug enough in those regions. You will think of us again as you have done already if among your many friends you hear of some one who has a house to part with of the sort we should like -- not grand, but comfortable, and as little as possible like a suburban villa.
Your words about my writing, dear friend, are among the gifts of life which I count the most precious to me. My dear husband read them aloud to me, and cried with happiness as he read them. You know he feels these things more keenly for me than I feel them for myself. The words are worth the more to me because they come from you -- what you say or write I have always felt to be genuine, and to come from something deeper than transient effusiveness. Especially I care for what you say about Mordecai.
Please admire the energy with which we are seeking health. We rise at 'bc past 5, dress quickly, set out on our walking and water-drinking expedition, and remain out till near seven, when we breakfast. Then we read till 'bd past 8, then we set out again on a walk which lasts about 2 hours and a half, return and drink water again, then rest, and lunch at 12. At 'bd past 3 we take our baths, at 5 we dine, and the rest of our time is chiefly spent in my reading aloud or in our sauntering and sitting within hearing of the band. We make no acquaintances, and indeed the company, though numerous, is almost invisible. The king and queen of Saxony are here, but we see no signs of their distinguished presence, and the "G'e4ste" whom we do see are of an unassuming German-Swiss aspect. All this suits us admirably, and is a sort of continental holiday-making rather difficult to get in these days. Probably by the beginning of August there will be a rush of Germans and English, but we shall be gone elsewhere.
Mr. Lewes tells me to say on his behalf that the prospect of having you for a neighbour would be a recommendation to any house. He sends his loving homage to you. I am sorry to say that he too has been sadly ailing since we left home, but he is feeling the benefit of our present discipline, and in fact we are as happy now as two mortals ought to desire to be in this world of difficulties -- enjoying our double life in delicious quiet, without a single care on our minds. Ought we to grumble that we are thin and rickety?
I have written immediately on receiving your letter which Charlie enclosed for me, but I trust that you would immediately interpret any delay in your getting an answer from me at any time as a sign that I was not at home. Your image will be with us often in our walks. All blessings be with you, dear friend, and believe that the thought of you has always been a gain to me since I have known your sweet face.
Your affectionate
M. E. Lewes.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
Hof Ragatz | Ragatz | July 12. 76.
My dear Friend
I think that if I had had the choice of the friend who should write me a letter "to be forwarded" I could not have chosen more for my own pleasure than fate has chosen for me in bringing me your dear letter which we have just read together. I have quite hungered these many months for some account of you -- how your health was going on -- what you meant to do about your future residence -- and any detail that could give me an idea how life was bearing itself towards you. I am glad to hear that you are going to Chelsea, 508 because I remember that you had a longing to look on the river, and since we have taken to driving along the embankment I too have become attached to that part of London, and you will be delightfully within reach.
It was your impulse to help us that made you write, and if we were still in London we would run down to Yarmouth for the sake of seeing you as much as the desirable house, 509 which seems quite miraculously cheap and since it pleases your taste, I am sure is pretty. But we crossed the Channel on the 10th of June and after a month's wandering in which I had been constantly out of health, we settled here under conditions that seem to promise a recovery of health and strength. Ten days ago we thought that we should be obliged to hasten home again for the sake of getting invalids' comforts, but now we hope to remain abroad, as we intended, until the end of August, going higher as the weather gets warmer. So there is no chance of our taking the train at Waterloo in time to hinder the old tradesman from buying Monks! Most grateful thanks to Mrs. Hughes and you for laying out that pretty plan. I should grieve to miss the chance of the house, if the Isle of Wight were quite compatible with our purposes about a country home. We do desire, above all earthly possessions of a material sort, a house in the country to which we could go, not simply in summer, but from time to time throughout the year. To be everything we want, the house should be within easy reach from London -- we should even not object to a place so near as High Barnet. We went once to see Mrs. Barrington's house, but found that it had not comforts enough for us old people. This was our first sight of High Barnet and we were much pleased with the aspect of the neighbourhood, though I should prefer Surrey or Kent if it were possible to get anything snug enough in those regions. You will think of us again as you have done already if among your many friends you hear of some one who has a house to part with of the sort we should like -- not grand, but comfortable, and as little as possible like a suburban villa.
Your words about my writing, dear friend, are among the gifts of life which I count the most precious to me. My dear husband read them aloud to me, and cried with happiness as he read them. You know he feels these things more keenly for me than I feel them for myself. The words are worth the more to me because they come from you -- what you say or write I have always felt to be genuine, and to come from something deeper than transient effusiveness. Especially I care for what you say about Mordecai.
Please admire the energy with which we are seeking health. We rise at 'bc past 5, dress quickly, set out on our walking and water-drinking expedition, and remain out till near seven, when we breakfast. Then we read till 'bd past 8, then we set out again on a walk which lasts about 2 hours and a half, return and drink water again, then rest, and lunch at 12. At 'bd past 3 we take our baths, at 5 we dine, and the rest of our time is chiefly spent in my reading aloud or in our sauntering and sitting within hearing of the band. We make no acquaintances, and indeed the company, though numerous, is almost invisible. The king and queen of Saxony are here, but we see no signs of their distinguished presence, and the "G'e4ste" whom we do see are of an unassuming German-Swiss aspect. All this suits us admirably, and is a sort of continental holiday-making rather difficult to get in these days. Probably by the beginning of August there will be a rush of Germans and English, but we shall be gone elsewhere.
Mr. Lewes tells me to say on his behalf that the prospect of having you for a neighbour would be a recommendation to any house. He sends his loving homage to you. I am sorry to say that he too has been sadly ailing since we left home, but he is feeling the benefit of our present discipline, and in fact we are as happy now as two mortals ought to desire to be in this world of difficulties -- enjoying our double life in delicious quiet, without a single care on our minds. Ought we to grumble that we are thin and rickety?
I have written immediately on receiving your letter which Charlie enclosed for me, but I trust that you would immediately interpret any delay in your getting an answer from me at any time as a sign that I was not at home. Your image will be with us often in our walks. All blessings be with you, dear friend, and believe that the thought of you has always been a gain to me since I have known your sweet face.
Your affectionate
M. E. Lewes.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Mrs. Nassau John Senior, Ragatz, 12 July 1876, 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/93566