GE to Mrs. Theodore Martin, London, [3 March 1865]
Title
GE to Mrs. Theodore Martin, London, [3 March 1865]
Title
GE to Mrs. Theodore Martin, London, [3 March 1865]
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Mrs. Theodore Martin
Date(s)
- 1865-03-03
Place
London
Letter Content
GE to Mrs. Theodore Martin, London, [3 March 1865]
Text: Sir Theodore Martin, Helena Faucit (Lady Martin), 2d ed., Edinburgh and London, 1900, pp. 335-336.
The Priory, | [21.] North Bank, | [Regents Park.] | Tuesday Morning.
My Dear Mrs Martin,
Perhaps the finest edge of all the pleasure we get is the delightful feeling of gratitude that it creates towards the giver. That is just the feeling I want to tell you of after my pleasure in seeing you yesterday. 46 Is it not nearly ten years -- just ten -- since I heard at Glasgow the tones, the rich laughter of Beatrice? I heard them again yesterday from Lady Teazle, and lost no syllable. Some little sadness mingled itself with the charm of her bearing and the music of her movements? It was that the refinement and elevation which they give to comedy, often beyond the vision of the writer, should be felt by us to be unique, and without visible sign of spreading for the general benefit that deep benefit which comes from seeing a high type of womanly grace, to shame away false ideals. . . .
You must be half dead to-day, after giving out all the nervous energy necessary to do what you did in defiance of cold and cough; but you will come to life again the more joyously for looking back on an effort which ended in full achievement. . . .
Always yours most sincerely.
[M. E. Lewes.]
Text: Sir Theodore Martin, Helena Faucit (Lady Martin), 2d ed., Edinburgh and London, 1900, pp. 335-336.
The Priory, | [21.] North Bank, | [Regents Park.] | Tuesday Morning.
My Dear Mrs Martin,
Perhaps the finest edge of all the pleasure we get is the delightful feeling of gratitude that it creates towards the giver. That is just the feeling I want to tell you of after my pleasure in seeing you yesterday. 46 Is it not nearly ten years -- just ten -- since I heard at Glasgow the tones, the rich laughter of Beatrice? I heard them again yesterday from Lady Teazle, and lost no syllable. Some little sadness mingled itself with the charm of her bearing and the music of her movements? It was that the refinement and elevation which they give to comedy, often beyond the vision of the writer, should be felt by us to be unique, and without visible sign of spreading for the general benefit that deep benefit which comes from seeing a high type of womanly grace, to shame away false ideals. . . .
You must be half dead to-day, after giving out all the nervous energy necessary to do what you did in defiance of cold and cough; but you will come to life again the more joyously for looking back on an effort which ended in full achievement. . . .
Always yours most sincerely.
[M. E. Lewes.]
Signature
[M. E. Lewes.]
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Mrs. Theodore Martin, London, [3 March 1865], 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/93694