GE to John Blackwood, Homburg, 4 October 1872
Title
GE to John Blackwood, Homburg, 4 October 1872
Title
GE to John Blackwood, Homburg, 4 October 1872
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
John Blackwood
Date(s)
- 1872-10-04
Place
Homburg
Letter Content
GE to John Blackwood, Homburg, 4 October 1872
MS: Parrish Collection, Princeton. Extracts published: Cross, III, 170-173 and M. L. Parrish, Victorian Lady Novelists, 1933, pp. 33-35.
Obere Promenade | Bad Homburg | October 4. 72.
My dear Mr. Blackwood
At last I begin a letter which is intended not as a payment but as an acknowledgment of debt. It will have at least the recommendation of requiring no answer. After some perfect autumnal days we are languishing with headache and disturbed livers from two days' damp and mugginess and feel it almost as much work as we are equal to, to endure our malaise. But on the whole we are not sorry that we came to this place rather than any other. On dry days the air is perfect, and the waters are really an enticing drink. Then there is a wood close by where we can wander in delicious privacy -- which is really better than the company here, save and except a few friends whom we found at first and who have now moved off to Baden. The Kursaal is to me a Hell not only for the gambling, but for the light and heat of the gas, and we have seen enough of its monotonous hideousness. There is very little dramatic "Stoff" to be picked up by watching or listening. The saddest thing to be witnessed is the play of Miss Leigh, 606 Byron's grand niece, who is only 26 years old, and is completely in the grasp of this mean, money-raking demon. It made me cry to see her young fresh face among the hags and brutally stupid men around her. Next year, when the gambling has vanished the place will be delightful -- there is to be a subvention from government to keep up the beautiful grounds, and it is likely that there will be increase enough in the number of decent visitors to keep the town tolerably prosperous. One attraction it has above other German baths that I have seen is the abundance of pleasant apartments to be had, where one can be as peaceful as the human lot allows in a world of pianos.
We got here by a new way, avoiding Cologne and coming straight from Brussels to Tr'e8ves, which last place is worth going a little out of the road to see -- it is a reminiscence of Rome (with large allowances) in the mixture of greenery and old walls, and the site on the Moselle with grand hills on each side is as fine as one could desire for a city. And the route from Brussels is through a lovely part of the Ardennes, so that the variety is worth recommending to friends who have seen enough of Cologne.
I have seen no newspapers here, and Mr. Lewes also is rather starved of news, finding the English reading room too crowded and stifling to be sat in long. Magazines are still more out of question, so that we are in ignorance of the new story begun in Maga, 607 which I hope is a source of satisfaction to you. Assher's Cheap Editions are visible everywhere by the side of Tauchnitz, but their outside is not, I think, quite equally recommendable and recommending.
We brought no books with us, but have furnished our table with German books which we bought at Frankfort, from learned writing about Menschliche Sprache and Vernunft to Kotzebue's comedies, 608 so that we have employment for the rainy hours when once our heads are clear of aches. The certainty that the weather is everywhere else bad will help our resolution to stay here till the 12th at least. In the meantime we hope to have the proof of the Finale to Middlemarch. 609
I am rejoiced to learn from Mr. William's letter that Mr. Simpson has returned from his excursion in good condition. That must be a comfort to you both for friendship and for work's sake.
We mean to return by Paris, and hope that the weather will not drive us away from health and pleasure seeking until the end of the month. I fear, from the accounts of your Scottish weather, that you will have enjoyed Strathtyrum less than usual and will be resigned to Edinburgh before your proper time. How one talks about the weather! It is excusable here where there is no grave occupation and no amusement, for us who don't gamble, except seeking health in walks and water drinking. Mr. Lewes unites with me in kindest regards and I am always
Yours most truly
M. E. Lewes.
John Blackwood Esq.
MS: Parrish Collection, Princeton. Extracts published: Cross, III, 170-173 and M. L. Parrish, Victorian Lady Novelists, 1933, pp. 33-35.
Obere Promenade | Bad Homburg | October 4. 72.
My dear Mr. Blackwood
At last I begin a letter which is intended not as a payment but as an acknowledgment of debt. It will have at least the recommendation of requiring no answer. After some perfect autumnal days we are languishing with headache and disturbed livers from two days' damp and mugginess and feel it almost as much work as we are equal to, to endure our malaise. But on the whole we are not sorry that we came to this place rather than any other. On dry days the air is perfect, and the waters are really an enticing drink. Then there is a wood close by where we can wander in delicious privacy -- which is really better than the company here, save and except a few friends whom we found at first and who have now moved off to Baden. The Kursaal is to me a Hell not only for the gambling, but for the light and heat of the gas, and we have seen enough of its monotonous hideousness. There is very little dramatic "Stoff" to be picked up by watching or listening. The saddest thing to be witnessed is the play of Miss Leigh, 606 Byron's grand niece, who is only 26 years old, and is completely in the grasp of this mean, money-raking demon. It made me cry to see her young fresh face among the hags and brutally stupid men around her. Next year, when the gambling has vanished the place will be delightful -- there is to be a subvention from government to keep up the beautiful grounds, and it is likely that there will be increase enough in the number of decent visitors to keep the town tolerably prosperous. One attraction it has above other German baths that I have seen is the abundance of pleasant apartments to be had, where one can be as peaceful as the human lot allows in a world of pianos.
We got here by a new way, avoiding Cologne and coming straight from Brussels to Tr'e8ves, which last place is worth going a little out of the road to see -- it is a reminiscence of Rome (with large allowances) in the mixture of greenery and old walls, and the site on the Moselle with grand hills on each side is as fine as one could desire for a city. And the route from Brussels is through a lovely part of the Ardennes, so that the variety is worth recommending to friends who have seen enough of Cologne.
I have seen no newspapers here, and Mr. Lewes also is rather starved of news, finding the English reading room too crowded and stifling to be sat in long. Magazines are still more out of question, so that we are in ignorance of the new story begun in Maga, 607 which I hope is a source of satisfaction to you. Assher's Cheap Editions are visible everywhere by the side of Tauchnitz, but their outside is not, I think, quite equally recommendable and recommending.
We brought no books with us, but have furnished our table with German books which we bought at Frankfort, from learned writing about Menschliche Sprache and Vernunft to Kotzebue's comedies, 608 so that we have employment for the rainy hours when once our heads are clear of aches. The certainty that the weather is everywhere else bad will help our resolution to stay here till the 12th at least. In the meantime we hope to have the proof of the Finale to Middlemarch. 609
I am rejoiced to learn from Mr. William's letter that Mr. Simpson has returned from his excursion in good condition. That must be a comfort to you both for friendship and for work's sake.
We mean to return by Paris, and hope that the weather will not drive us away from health and pleasure seeking until the end of the month. I fear, from the accounts of your Scottish weather, that you will have enjoyed Strathtyrum less than usual and will be resigned to Edinburgh before your proper time. How one talks about the weather! It is excusable here where there is no grave occupation and no amusement, for us who don't gamble, except seeking health in walks and water drinking. Mr. Lewes unites with me in kindest regards and I am always
Yours most truly
M. E. Lewes.
John Blackwood Esq.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to John Blackwood, Homburg, 4 October 1872, 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/92587