GHL to Mr. Charles Lee Lewes and Gertrude [Mrs. Charles Lee] Lewes, Ilmenau, 8 August 1867
Title
GHL to Mr. Charles Lee Lewes and Gertrude [Mrs. Charles Lee] Lewes, Ilmenau, 8 August 1867
Title
GHL to Mr. Charles Lee Lewes and Gertrude [Mrs. Charles Lee] Lewes, Ilmenau, 8 August 1867
Sender
George Henry Lewes
Recipient
Mr. Charles Lee Lewes and Gertrude [Mrs. Charles Lee] Lewes
Date(s)
- 1867-08-08
Place
Ilmenau
Letter Content
GHL to Mr. Charles Lee Lewes and Gertrude [Mrs. Charles Lee] Lewes, Ilmenau, 8 August 1867
Text: Paterson, pp. 129-131, with a few obvious misprints corrected.
Ilmenau. | Thursday, August 8, 1867.
Dearest Children,
We had a capital passage to Calais. On board we found Mr. and Mrs. Benson 658 with whom was Garcia 659 -- pleased to know us and producing on us so delightful an impression that we engaged him for our Sundays. He spoke of you, Gertrude, with real affection and admiration. Dr. de Mussy was also with them and at Calais we picked up with Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Martin, so that we made a large party at Brussels. We dined alone with the Martins and played whist till bedtime. Next morning off we set for Li'e8ge, alone, and by good luck found out the hotel where we put up thirteen years ago. 660 We went also to Wetzlar from Brussels, which I had (foolishly enough) never visited, although I ought to have done so both for my "Life of Goethe" and for its own sake. It is the scene of Werther and Werther's Brunnen; Charlotte's house, 661 the village where the ball was held, 662 and the grave of Jerusalem, 663 are all sights strangely enough ignored by English and American tourists, though Germans, of course, flock there. The town itself is old, quaint, and picturesque, with hump-backed streets and delicious environs. Our visit was a complete success.
We had sunshine for Wartburg. 664 Here it was that Luther was hidden for ten months disguised as Junker George. Here he translated the Bible, and here he wrestled with Satan, flinging (like a true literary antagonist) his ink-stand at his sable majesty's head, and staining the whitewashed wall. The ink spot cannot be seen -- it has disappeared under the pen-knives of furtive Protestants. But the spot where the ink was, is shown and may be believed in, or not, according to fancy. Also Luther's bed, writing table, bookcase, handwriting, protrait, and portraits of his father and mother -- the last extremely interesting.
We came to Arnstadt in an open carriage, again in sunshine. But more than all the sun were the sweet memories of thirteen years ago, when we came on foot by this route, every rood of which came back to us with vivid distinctness, so that at particular turns in the road we could say: "Here I sang such a song or told such an anecdote -- here we rested and had coffee, etc."
Last night we went to a ball at the Kursaal. Such a ball! Such guys! Such ugliness and awkwardness; such costumes. Only in Germany could one have collected a similar lot of scarecrows -- froid, sec et disgracieux! It was fun to look on for an hour; at the end of the hour "enough had been done." Our love to everyone.
Your loving
Pater.
Text: Paterson, pp. 129-131, with a few obvious misprints corrected.
Ilmenau. | Thursday, August 8, 1867.
Dearest Children,
We had a capital passage to Calais. On board we found Mr. and Mrs. Benson 658 with whom was Garcia 659 -- pleased to know us and producing on us so delightful an impression that we engaged him for our Sundays. He spoke of you, Gertrude, with real affection and admiration. Dr. de Mussy was also with them and at Calais we picked up with Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Martin, so that we made a large party at Brussels. We dined alone with the Martins and played whist till bedtime. Next morning off we set for Li'e8ge, alone, and by good luck found out the hotel where we put up thirteen years ago. 660 We went also to Wetzlar from Brussels, which I had (foolishly enough) never visited, although I ought to have done so both for my "Life of Goethe" and for its own sake. It is the scene of Werther and Werther's Brunnen; Charlotte's house, 661 the village where the ball was held, 662 and the grave of Jerusalem, 663 are all sights strangely enough ignored by English and American tourists, though Germans, of course, flock there. The town itself is old, quaint, and picturesque, with hump-backed streets and delicious environs. Our visit was a complete success.
We had sunshine for Wartburg. 664 Here it was that Luther was hidden for ten months disguised as Junker George. Here he translated the Bible, and here he wrestled with Satan, flinging (like a true literary antagonist) his ink-stand at his sable majesty's head, and staining the whitewashed wall. The ink spot cannot be seen -- it has disappeared under the pen-knives of furtive Protestants. But the spot where the ink was, is shown and may be believed in, or not, according to fancy. Also Luther's bed, writing table, bookcase, handwriting, protrait, and portraits of his father and mother -- the last extremely interesting.
We came to Arnstadt in an open carriage, again in sunshine. But more than all the sun were the sweet memories of thirteen years ago, when we came on foot by this route, every rood of which came back to us with vivid distinctness, so that at particular turns in the road we could say: "Here I sang such a song or told such an anecdote -- here we rested and had coffee, etc."
Last night we went to a ball at the Kursaal. Such a ball! Such guys! Such ugliness and awkwardness; such costumes. Only in Germany could one have collected a similar lot of scarecrows -- froid, sec et disgracieux! It was fun to look on for an hour; at the end of the hour "enough had been done." Our love to everyone.
Your loving
Pater.
Signature
Pater.
Citation
George Henry Lewes, GHL to Mr. Charles Lee Lewes and Gertrude [Mrs. Charles Lee] Lewes, Ilmenau, 8 August 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/94918