GE to John Blackwood, Witley, 24 September 1878
Title
GE to John Blackwood, Witley, 24 September 1878
Title
GE to John Blackwood, Witley, 24 September 1878
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
John Blackwood
Date(s)
- 1878-09-24
Place
Witley
Letter Content
GE to John Blackwood, Witley, 24 September 1878
MS: National Library of Scotland. Published: Cross, III, 338-340.
The Heights, Witley, | Nr. Godalming.
September 24. 78.
My dear Mr. Blackwood
I am not inclined to let you rest any longer without asking you to send me some account of yourself, for it is long since I got my last news from Edinburgh. I should like to know that you have continued to gather strength and that you have all been consequently more and more enjoying your life at Strathtyrum. It is an ugly theory that happiness wants the contrast of illness and anxiety, but I know that Mrs. Blackwood must have a new comfort in seeing you once more with your usual strength.
We have had [a bad time] in point of health, and it is only quite lately that we have both been feeling a little better. The fault is all in our own frames, not in our air and other circumstances, for we like our home and neighbourhood better and better. The general testimony and all other arguments are in favour of this district being thoroughly healthy. But we both look very haggard in the midst of our blessings.
Are you not disturbed by yesterday's Indian news? 134 One's hopes for the world's getting a little rest from war are continually checked. Every day after reading the Times I feel as if all one's writing were miserably trivial stuff in the presence of this daily history. Do you think there are persons who admire Russia's [mission] in Asia as they did the mission in Europe?
Please write me anything that comes easily to the end of your pen, and make your world seem nearer to me. Good Mr. Simpson, I hope, lets you know that he is prospering in his pursuit of pleasure without work -- which seems a strange paradox in association with my idea of him.
Mr. Lewes is one with me in best regards, and I am
Always yours truly
M. E. Lewes.
MS: National Library of Scotland. Published: Cross, III, 338-340.
The Heights, Witley, | Nr. Godalming.
September 24. 78.
My dear Mr. Blackwood
I am not inclined to let you rest any longer without asking you to send me some account of yourself, for it is long since I got my last news from Edinburgh. I should like to know that you have continued to gather strength and that you have all been consequently more and more enjoying your life at Strathtyrum. It is an ugly theory that happiness wants the contrast of illness and anxiety, but I know that Mrs. Blackwood must have a new comfort in seeing you once more with your usual strength.
We have had [a bad time] in point of health, and it is only quite lately that we have both been feeling a little better. The fault is all in our own frames, not in our air and other circumstances, for we like our home and neighbourhood better and better. The general testimony and all other arguments are in favour of this district being thoroughly healthy. But we both look very haggard in the midst of our blessings.
Are you not disturbed by yesterday's Indian news? 134 One's hopes for the world's getting a little rest from war are continually checked. Every day after reading the Times I feel as if all one's writing were miserably trivial stuff in the presence of this daily history. Do you think there are persons who admire Russia's [mission] in Asia as they did the mission in Europe?
Please write me anything that comes easily to the end of your pen, and make your world seem nearer to me. Good Mr. Simpson, I hope, lets you know that he is prospering in his pursuit of pleasure without work -- which seems a strange paradox in association with my idea of him.
Mr. Lewes is one with me in best regards, and I am
Always yours truly
M. E. Lewes.
Signature
M. E. Lewes.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to John Blackwood, Witley, 24 September 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/92759