Emily Davies to Anna Richardson, London, 4 June [1869]
Title
Emily Davies to Anna Richardson, London, 4 June [1869]
Title
Emily Davies to Anna Richardson, London, 4 June [1869]
Sender
Emily Davies
Recipient
Anna Richardson
Date(s)
- 1869-06-04
Place
London
Letter Content
Emily Davies to Anna Richardson, London, 4 June [1869]
861
MS: Girton College.
June 4th.
My dear Anna
I have been seeing Mrs. Lewes today. They are in great trouble about a son of Mr. Lewes's, who is come home from Natal with serious spinal illness. His recovery is very doubtful, and in the meantime, he is almost helpless and requires a great deal of nursing. Mr. Lewes is quite knocked down by it. Mrs. Lewes says that only people who have had some similar experience, realize what it means to have a sick person in your house, and how completely it puts an end to happiness "if we thought about that." She said humbly that as one got older one ought to be less easily excited and more able to make use of moments, and that she was better than she used to be at it.
She talked a great deal about Italy. They seem to have been very much on your track. She has seen now, the frescoes at San Marco. She began talking about them before I had time to ask her, and in very much your tone. She has come to the conclusion that the Pre-Rafaelites are right, and that the time of really high, noble art, was before Rafael. She thinks his great picture of the Transfiguration detestable and went from it with delight to Fra Angelico; and to Ghirlandajo, whom she seemed to care for almost as much. It is Rafael's academical-ness that she dislikes so much; the want of effort after noble Nature. On the whole, her impressions of Italy were sadder this visit than before. She thought the voices of the people harsh and that they seemed ill-tempered in their intercourse with each other, but the North she thought (partly from what she heard) more hopeful than the South. She thinks the dissolution of the monasteries right, but that the present monks ought not to have been expelled and that the confiscation is an example of the mean things governments, like private people, will do when they are pressed for money. She spoke with great admiration of Giotto's frescoes at Assisi, and she went besides to the little church built on the spot where St. Francis is said to have been born, and had a long talk with an old monk. "As I listened with reverence, he quite understood that I believed all he said." She saw that he watched to see whether she crossed herself with holy water and would not pain him by not doing it, so he went on to give her a little book containing a life of St. Francis. 862 She thought he seemed to have seldom had such a reverent listener and that it had been "quite a rich morning" to him. She admires the country very much and mentioned the Campagna as being to her peculiarly impressive, but she says the scenery is so different from that of England that you must tune your mind into quite a different key, to appreciate it. She has been to the English Lakes twice. Once, about 20 years ago, she staid ten days with Harriet Martineau 863 and they made a delightful excursion to Derwentwater.
I did not pay a very long visit today. As usual, she desired me to come again. Mrs. Bodichon is sure she is writing something, as she is always at work, but evidently this illness of "Thorny's" has upset her very much. She is so bound up with Mr. Lewes that if one asks how she is, she answers by telling one how he is. I don't tell you quite all that she says, because some things I fancy she might not like repeated, and she is so good in talking frankly that I feel bound to keep on the safe side. . . .
861
MS: Girton College.
June 4th.
My dear Anna
I have been seeing Mrs. Lewes today. They are in great trouble about a son of Mr. Lewes's, who is come home from Natal with serious spinal illness. His recovery is very doubtful, and in the meantime, he is almost helpless and requires a great deal of nursing. Mr. Lewes is quite knocked down by it. Mrs. Lewes says that only people who have had some similar experience, realize what it means to have a sick person in your house, and how completely it puts an end to happiness "if we thought about that." She said humbly that as one got older one ought to be less easily excited and more able to make use of moments, and that she was better than she used to be at it.
She talked a great deal about Italy. They seem to have been very much on your track. She has seen now, the frescoes at San Marco. She began talking about them before I had time to ask her, and in very much your tone. She has come to the conclusion that the Pre-Rafaelites are right, and that the time of really high, noble art, was before Rafael. She thinks his great picture of the Transfiguration detestable and went from it with delight to Fra Angelico; and to Ghirlandajo, whom she seemed to care for almost as much. It is Rafael's academical-ness that she dislikes so much; the want of effort after noble Nature. On the whole, her impressions of Italy were sadder this visit than before. She thought the voices of the people harsh and that they seemed ill-tempered in their intercourse with each other, but the North she thought (partly from what she heard) more hopeful than the South. She thinks the dissolution of the monasteries right, but that the present monks ought not to have been expelled and that the confiscation is an example of the mean things governments, like private people, will do when they are pressed for money. She spoke with great admiration of Giotto's frescoes at Assisi, and she went besides to the little church built on the spot where St. Francis is said to have been born, and had a long talk with an old monk. "As I listened with reverence, he quite understood that I believed all he said." She saw that he watched to see whether she crossed herself with holy water and would not pain him by not doing it, so he went on to give her a little book containing a life of St. Francis. 862 She thought he seemed to have seldom had such a reverent listener and that it had been "quite a rich morning" to him. She admires the country very much and mentioned the Campagna as being to her peculiarly impressive, but she says the scenery is so different from that of England that you must tune your mind into quite a different key, to appreciate it. She has been to the English Lakes twice. Once, about 20 years ago, she staid ten days with Harriet Martineau 863 and they made a delightful excursion to Derwentwater.
I did not pay a very long visit today. As usual, she desired me to come again. Mrs. Bodichon is sure she is writing something, as she is always at work, but evidently this illness of "Thorny's" has upset her very much. She is so bound up with Mr. Lewes that if one asks how she is, she answers by telling one how he is. I don't tell you quite all that she says, because some things I fancy she might not like repeated, and she is so good in talking frankly that I feel bound to keep on the safe side. . . .
Citation
Emily Davies, Emily Davies to Anna Richardson, London, 4 June [1869], 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/91825