Edith Simcox, Autobiography, 10 May 1879
Title
Edith Simcox, Autobiography, 10 May 1879
Title
Edith Simcox, Autobiography, 10 May 1879
Sender
Edith Simcox
Recipient
U
Date(s)
- 1879-05-10
Place
London
Letter Content
Edith Simcox, Autobiography, 10 May 1879
MS: Bodleian.
Saturday 10 May 1879
Yesterday I had a sweet line from her at the shop, sending a cheque and the promising of a goodbye before she left. Today after the shop and a brief visit to Westminster, I hesitated whether to go to the Priory or no -- was a little selfishly afraid of going and failing to get any clue as to when she would like to see me, but decided, since the hesitation was only selfish, to go and enquire, as of old and take my chance. Brett asked if I could wait -- Mrs. Lewes had said she would like to see me if I came. She is anxious to get to Witley -- there are so many people she feels she must see, lest they should be hurt, and one tells another -- they do not all understand -- she spoke of there being perhaps 150 people to whom she owed some debt of gratitude. Mrs. Ritchie, Mrs. Burne Jones, Herbert Spencer and Leslie Stephen happened to be mentioned as people whom she had seen. She asked what I was doing -- if I did not mind being asked -- she did. I said no -- I wished she would ask that I might be ashamed of saying "Nothing." I talked a little about the Westminster concern, Workmen's Clubs etc., 489 and she accused herself of having spoken ill of philanthropists when she said some went far afield after mechanical work in the name of benevolence leaving the nearest need unsupplied; I said I had not misunderstood her. I asked about the children -- she had been to buy them toys -- the first time she had been into London -- to the din of Oxford St. I asked about the Scholarship and she said there was some delay, a difference of opinion among the trustees, 490 and there was no real hurry, but she was impatient, always wanted things settled and had written to ask Mr. Sidgwick about it.
I had not said anything that I wanted when Mr. Pigott was announced. I offered to go at once, but she said, Sit down, and so I exerted myself to make conversation with him, wondering all the while whether he came on business or as an old friend, -- he referred to a former visit. Then he turned his back to look at some flowers and I rose with a questioning look; she assented and said hurriedly as she kissed me -- [Go into the dining room, there is something you will like to see.] -- An enlarged photograph of him, framed and put over the chimney piece where her portrait used to be.
MS: Bodleian.
Saturday 10 May 1879
Yesterday I had a sweet line from her at the shop, sending a cheque and the promising of a goodbye before she left. Today after the shop and a brief visit to Westminster, I hesitated whether to go to the Priory or no -- was a little selfishly afraid of going and failing to get any clue as to when she would like to see me, but decided, since the hesitation was only selfish, to go and enquire, as of old and take my chance. Brett asked if I could wait -- Mrs. Lewes had said she would like to see me if I came. She is anxious to get to Witley -- there are so many people she feels she must see, lest they should be hurt, and one tells another -- they do not all understand -- she spoke of there being perhaps 150 people to whom she owed some debt of gratitude. Mrs. Ritchie, Mrs. Burne Jones, Herbert Spencer and Leslie Stephen happened to be mentioned as people whom she had seen. She asked what I was doing -- if I did not mind being asked -- she did. I said no -- I wished she would ask that I might be ashamed of saying "Nothing." I talked a little about the Westminster concern, Workmen's Clubs etc., 489 and she accused herself of having spoken ill of philanthropists when she said some went far afield after mechanical work in the name of benevolence leaving the nearest need unsupplied; I said I had not misunderstood her. I asked about the children -- she had been to buy them toys -- the first time she had been into London -- to the din of Oxford St. I asked about the Scholarship and she said there was some delay, a difference of opinion among the trustees, 490 and there was no real hurry, but she was impatient, always wanted things settled and had written to ask Mr. Sidgwick about it.
I had not said anything that I wanted when Mr. Pigott was announced. I offered to go at once, but she said, Sit down, and so I exerted myself to make conversation with him, wondering all the while whether he came on business or as an old friend, -- he referred to a former visit. Then he turned his back to look at some flowers and I rose with a questioning look; she assented and said hurriedly as she kissed me -- [Go into the dining room, there is something you will like to see.] -- An enlarged photograph of him, framed and put over the chimney piece where her portrait used to be.
Citation
Edith Simcox, Edith Simcox, Autobiography, 10 May 1879, 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/91769