GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, [Wandsworth,] 6 August 1860
Title
GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, [Wandsworth,] 6 August 1860
Title
GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, [Wandsworth,] 6 August 1860
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Sara Sophia Hennell
Date(s)
- 1860-08-06
Place
[Wandsworth]
Letter Content
GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, [Wandsworth,] 6 August 1860
MS: Yale. Extracts published: Cross, II, 267-268.
August 6. 1860.
Dear Sara
If Cara values the article on "Strikes" in the W[estminster] R[eview] she will be interested to know -- if she has not heard it already -- that the writer is blind, from having been shot in the eyes by his Father, when they were out sporting together, not more than two or three years ago. 601 I dined with him the other week, and could hardly keep the tears back as I sat at table by him. Yet he is cheerful and animated, accepting with graceful quietness all the minute attentions to his wants that his blindness calls forth. His name is Fawcett, and he is a Fellow of Cambridge.
The writer of the "Physiological Riddles" is a Mr. Hinton, 602 son, I believe, of a Baptist minister of considerable note among Baptists, with whom I breakfasted in my early teens after hearing him speak at a public meeting. Our attention was first drawn to Mr. Hinton the younger by an article in the British and For[eign] Medical Review, 603 which struck Mr. Lewes as quite marvelously similar in style to Mr. Spencer's writings, and which Mr. Spencer himself felt to be so alarmingly near to his own speculations on Organic Form that he hastened to publish these in the same Review (last year, I think). After this, Mr. Lewes met Mr. Hinton, and found him a very agreeable young man.
A propos of Mr. Spencer, he was in London, after all, and had been there for three weeks -- as we learned by his sending us a letter and proposing to come and see us. He seems to be in very good spirits about his publication by subscription -- the American list of subscribers being a large one. 604 I do hope it will answer in every way, and I only wish he had adopted this plan earlier.
I don't know what verses on Pan by Mrs. Browning you refer to. 605 I have seen none expect some very fine ones on the same subject written by her many years ago. (But I haven't read the Cornhill).
It is really worth a Jubilate to get your essay on Antichrist published at last, without expense, after all the study and trouble you gave to it. I didn't know that you had ever been obliged to be severe on the "silly gentleman." 606 Certainly we would like all silliness to take as harmless a turn as his must have been admitted to take, even if you had not written for him -- and, as it is, there are many people who are bound to thank him for one of the most useful compact books for people who are at once inquiring and busy. You have never told me how the sale of "Infidelity and Christianity" goes on now: I should expect it to continue selling steadily, if quietly.
I am sitting for my portrait -- for the last time, I hope -- to Lawrence, the artist who drew that chalk head of Thackeray which is familiar to you. He is a very interesting man -- with plenty of sadness in his life, like the rest of us.
Mr. and Mrs. Congreve have been paying a visit of two or three days to Combe Hurst with Mr. and Mrs. Clough 607 for their host and hostess, -- nearly after the fashion of your visit five years ago. -- There is gossip, in grateful return for yours.
Ever yours faithfully
Marian.
MS: Yale. Extracts published: Cross, II, 267-268.
August 6. 1860.
Dear Sara
If Cara values the article on "Strikes" in the W[estminster] R[eview] she will be interested to know -- if she has not heard it already -- that the writer is blind, from having been shot in the eyes by his Father, when they were out sporting together, not more than two or three years ago. 601 I dined with him the other week, and could hardly keep the tears back as I sat at table by him. Yet he is cheerful and animated, accepting with graceful quietness all the minute attentions to his wants that his blindness calls forth. His name is Fawcett, and he is a Fellow of Cambridge.
The writer of the "Physiological Riddles" is a Mr. Hinton, 602 son, I believe, of a Baptist minister of considerable note among Baptists, with whom I breakfasted in my early teens after hearing him speak at a public meeting. Our attention was first drawn to Mr. Hinton the younger by an article in the British and For[eign] Medical Review, 603 which struck Mr. Lewes as quite marvelously similar in style to Mr. Spencer's writings, and which Mr. Spencer himself felt to be so alarmingly near to his own speculations on Organic Form that he hastened to publish these in the same Review (last year, I think). After this, Mr. Lewes met Mr. Hinton, and found him a very agreeable young man.
A propos of Mr. Spencer, he was in London, after all, and had been there for three weeks -- as we learned by his sending us a letter and proposing to come and see us. He seems to be in very good spirits about his publication by subscription -- the American list of subscribers being a large one. 604 I do hope it will answer in every way, and I only wish he had adopted this plan earlier.
I don't know what verses on Pan by Mrs. Browning you refer to. 605 I have seen none expect some very fine ones on the same subject written by her many years ago. (But I haven't read the Cornhill).
It is really worth a Jubilate to get your essay on Antichrist published at last, without expense, after all the study and trouble you gave to it. I didn't know that you had ever been obliged to be severe on the "silly gentleman." 606 Certainly we would like all silliness to take as harmless a turn as his must have been admitted to take, even if you had not written for him -- and, as it is, there are many people who are bound to thank him for one of the most useful compact books for people who are at once inquiring and busy. You have never told me how the sale of "Infidelity and Christianity" goes on now: I should expect it to continue selling steadily, if quietly.
I am sitting for my portrait -- for the last time, I hope -- to Lawrence, the artist who drew that chalk head of Thackeray which is familiar to you. He is a very interesting man -- with plenty of sadness in his life, like the rest of us.
Mr. and Mrs. Congreve have been paying a visit of two or three days to Combe Hurst with Mr. and Mrs. Clough 607 for their host and hostess, -- nearly after the fashion of your visit five years ago. -- There is gossip, in grateful return for yours.
Ever yours faithfully
Marian.
Signature
Marian.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Sara Sophia Hennell, [Wandsworth,] 6 August 1860, 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/93877