GHL to Silas Weir Mitchell, London, 30 August 1862
Title
GHL to Silas Weir Mitchell, London, 30 August 1862
Title
GHL to Silas Weir Mitchell, London, 30 August 1862
Sender
George Henry Lewes
Recipient
Silas Weir Mitchell
Date(s)
- 1862-08-30
Place
London
Letter Content
GHL to Silas Weir Mitchell, London, 30 August 1862
MS: Yale. Hitherto unpublished.
Blandford Square, | N.W.
August 1862.
My dear Sir
On my return to England I found awaiting me your admirable Memoir on the [Rattlesnake.] 100 It was a most agreeable surprise. First there was the compliment implied in the present. Next there was the pleasure and profit I derived from a careful reading of it. Finally there was the peculiarly opportune intimation that Science sat serene above the unhappy misunderstandings now creating so much bad blood between our two countries. If the passions and impertinences of public speakers, and newspaper writers on both sides of the Atlantic are madly widening the wounds which each ought to strive to heal, it is some comfort to reflect that Science keeps aloof from such misplaced and unjustifiable criticisms.
I am by no means a politician myself; and indeed it always seems strange to me how men at all familiarized with the processes of Science, trained therefore to be severe in their scrutiny of evidence, can be so ready to adopt profound conclusions on very complex subjects, when the evidence before them is mostly the stuff they read in "our own correspondents."
On such evidence they would not accept the smallest fact in natural science, the most plausible hypothesis; yet they accept political facts of great importance, and political interpretations of worldwide consequences. I suppose not one man in twenty did not firmly believe that America wanted to pick a quarrel with us, in the Trent affair; yet, I need not ask on what evidence such a belief was accepted, I need only refer to the plain proof which soon came to the contrary. In America there are beliefs about England, equally groundless and equally universal.
But I must not occupy your time with idle comments on the folly of both our fellow countrymen. I wished merely to thank you for a very acceptable present (the contents of which I shall endeavour in some way to bring before our public) and to express my satisfaction at the thought that Science was still common ground for us. Believe me, dear Sir
Yours very truly
G. H. Lewes.
Dr. Weir Mitchell.
MS: Yale. Hitherto unpublished.
Blandford Square, | N.W.
August 1862.
My dear Sir
On my return to England I found awaiting me your admirable Memoir on the [Rattlesnake.] 100 It was a most agreeable surprise. First there was the compliment implied in the present. Next there was the pleasure and profit I derived from a careful reading of it. Finally there was the peculiarly opportune intimation that Science sat serene above the unhappy misunderstandings now creating so much bad blood between our two countries. If the passions and impertinences of public speakers, and newspaper writers on both sides of the Atlantic are madly widening the wounds which each ought to strive to heal, it is some comfort to reflect that Science keeps aloof from such misplaced and unjustifiable criticisms.
I am by no means a politician myself; and indeed it always seems strange to me how men at all familiarized with the processes of Science, trained therefore to be severe in their scrutiny of evidence, can be so ready to adopt profound conclusions on very complex subjects, when the evidence before them is mostly the stuff they read in "our own correspondents."
On such evidence they would not accept the smallest fact in natural science, the most plausible hypothesis; yet they accept political facts of great importance, and political interpretations of worldwide consequences. I suppose not one man in twenty did not firmly believe that America wanted to pick a quarrel with us, in the Trent affair; yet, I need not ask on what evidence such a belief was accepted, I need only refer to the plain proof which soon came to the contrary. In America there are beliefs about England, equally groundless and equally universal.
But I must not occupy your time with idle comments on the folly of both our fellow countrymen. I wished merely to thank you for a very acceptable present (the contents of which I shall endeavour in some way to bring before our public) and to express my satisfaction at the thought that Science was still common ground for us. Believe me, dear Sir
Yours very truly
G. H. Lewes.
Dr. Weir Mitchell.
Signature
G. H. Lewes.
Citation
George Henry Lewes, GHL to Silas Weir Mitchell, London, 30 August 1862, 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/95018