Charles Lee Lewes to Mrs. Mark Pattison, London, 10 December 1878
Title
Charles Lee Lewes to Mrs. Mark Pattison, London, 10 December 1878
Title
Charles Lee Lewes to Mrs. Mark Pattison, London, 10 December 1878
Sender
Charles Lee Lewes
Recipient
Mrs. Mark Pattison
Date(s)
- 1878-12-10
Place
London
Letter Content
Charles Lee Lewes to Mrs. Mark Pattison, London, 10 December 1878
MS: British Museum. Hitherto unpublished.
The Priory | North Bank | 10 December 1878.
My dear Mrs. Pattison
Your letter reached my Mother yesterday morning; but she is unable to attend to any letters, and whilst grateful for signs of affection and sympathy has to tell me to explain to everyone that she is quite unable to respond. She says she knows you appreciated my Father and is grateful for it. It is now the pleasantest thought to her, any love any appreciation of Him. But she feels as if it would be very long before it will be possible to her again to see even the nearest and dearest, the oldest, most intimate friends. She is bearing it bravely and strongly and I am happy to say that she certainly seems better these last two days.
She means to devote all the strength she has to carrying out my Father's work, respecting which he was able to make known to her his last wishes during the illness. I have been almost living here ever since, as I find that I am able to be both a help and a comfort. I am the only one she says that she feels she can see. My father died from inflammation produced by a chill which he caught 10 days before his death, but we have the great consolation of knowing that he has only been saved by that from a much more terrible end which could not have been protracted beyond a few months more. I send you these few details as you may only have learned what you know through the papers.
Yours very truly
C. L. Lewes.
MS: British Museum. Hitherto unpublished.
The Priory | North Bank | 10 December 1878.
My dear Mrs. Pattison
Your letter reached my Mother yesterday morning; but she is unable to attend to any letters, and whilst grateful for signs of affection and sympathy has to tell me to explain to everyone that she is quite unable to respond. She says she knows you appreciated my Father and is grateful for it. It is now the pleasantest thought to her, any love any appreciation of Him. But she feels as if it would be very long before it will be possible to her again to see even the nearest and dearest, the oldest, most intimate friends. She is bearing it bravely and strongly and I am happy to say that she certainly seems better these last two days.
She means to devote all the strength she has to carrying out my Father's work, respecting which he was able to make known to her his last wishes during the illness. I have been almost living here ever since, as I find that I am able to be both a help and a comfort. I am the only one she says that she feels she can see. My father died from inflammation produced by a chill which he caught 10 days before his death, but we have the great consolation of knowing that he has only been saved by that from a much more terrible end which could not have been protracted beyond a few months more. I send you these few details as you may only have learned what you know through the papers.
Yours very truly
C. L. Lewes.
Signature
C. L. Lewes.
Citation
Charles Lee Lewes, Charles Lee Lewes to Mrs. Mark Pattison, London, 10 December 1878, Complete George Eliot Letters(2026), George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett. https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org, Accessed September 7, 2026. https://www.georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/91748