GHL to Mrs. Elma Stuart, Witley, 11 August 1877
Title
GHL to Mrs. Elma Stuart, Witley, 11 August 1877
Title
GHL to Mrs. Elma Stuart, Witley, 11 August 1877
Sender
George Henry Lewes
Recipient
Mrs. Elma Stuart
Date(s)
- 1877-08-11
Place
Witley
Letter Content
GHL to Mrs. Elma Stuart, Witley, 11 August 1877
MS: British Museum. Published: Stuart, pp. 91-93.
The Heights, Witley, Godalming | 11 August 77.
Dear, good Elma!
Reprehensible Idiot!
Your conduct with regard to the Chesneys is inexcusable. But to make you feel it properly I must put it before you as I often have to put her conduct before Madonna -- that is to point out how injurious to others the neglect of self may be. Not only do you give pain to those who love you, by such wilful disregard of your health, but you hamper your own powers of doing good. There!
Again, do you suppose for an instant that your friends would have been pained or any way inconvenienced by your simple statement of the fact that your tooth was loose and that your eating must be slow? It is an insult to them! -- But the notion is so characteristic of you and of Madonna that I can't be as indignant as I ought.
Now you are getting better of course Madonna and I shall be only too pleased to hear all you can tell us of your plans for Roly (to whom our love) and yourself. When we have the delight of seeing you here you will go into detail, but meanwhile we shall be glad of a sketch.
Kiss that dear Mrs. Menzies for us -- not in payment of her constant goodness to you because she gets ample payment for that in the indulgence of her own generous nature -- but in acknowledgment on our part that there is a debt to pay.
When you write next to Mad. Jaubert 737 tell her how very much we have been interested in her account of Heine, which we have lent to friends who were also interested, and how we admired the part she herself played in that pathetic story.
If you want a delightful book get [Mes Souvenirs] by Daniel Stern -- Mad. D'Agoult -- the mother of Mad. Wagner. It is a remarkable picture of the ancien r'e9gime. Love from Madonna and
Yours ever,
G. H. L.
MS: British Museum. Published: Stuart, pp. 91-93.
The Heights, Witley, Godalming | 11 August 77.
Dear, good Elma!
Reprehensible Idiot!
Your conduct with regard to the Chesneys is inexcusable. But to make you feel it properly I must put it before you as I often have to put her conduct before Madonna -- that is to point out how injurious to others the neglect of self may be. Not only do you give pain to those who love you, by such wilful disregard of your health, but you hamper your own powers of doing good. There!
Again, do you suppose for an instant that your friends would have been pained or any way inconvenienced by your simple statement of the fact that your tooth was loose and that your eating must be slow? It is an insult to them! -- But the notion is so characteristic of you and of Madonna that I can't be as indignant as I ought.
Now you are getting better of course Madonna and I shall be only too pleased to hear all you can tell us of your plans for Roly (to whom our love) and yourself. When we have the delight of seeing you here you will go into detail, but meanwhile we shall be glad of a sketch.
Kiss that dear Mrs. Menzies for us -- not in payment of her constant goodness to you because she gets ample payment for that in the indulgence of her own generous nature -- but in acknowledgment on our part that there is a debt to pay.
When you write next to Mad. Jaubert 737 tell her how very much we have been interested in her account of Heine, which we have lent to friends who were also interested, and how we admired the part she herself played in that pathetic story.
If you want a delightful book get [Mes Souvenirs] by Daniel Stern -- Mad. D'Agoult -- the mother of Mad. Wagner. It is a remarkable picture of the ancien r'e9gime. Love from Madonna and
Yours ever,
G. H. L.
Signature
G. H. L.
Citation
George Henry Lewes, GHL to Mrs. Elma Stuart, Witley, 11 August 1877, 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/94949