GE to Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon, Rickmansworth, 13 August 1875
Title
GE to Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon, Rickmansworth, 13 August 1875
Title
GE to Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon, Rickmansworth, 13 August 1875
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon
Date(s)
- 1875-08-13
Place
Rickmansworth
Letter Content
GE to Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon, Rickmansworth, 13 August 1875
MS: Mr. Philip Leigh-Smith. Hitherto unpublished.
The Elms | Rickmansworth | August 13. 75.
My dear Barbara
As to weather you are better off than we are. The last ten days and nights have brought us frequent rain which we try to be thankful for because it is not continuous as it was in the calamitous time of July. Our nice old house is unfortunately in a valley much given to mists, and my health has I think been the worse for it. I am much satisfied with your news about yourself, which had been too long waited for.
We have had a trouble, prepared for by a long-standing anxiety. On the 29th of June our poor Bertie died at Durban, where he was staying for the sake of sea-air and medical attendance. The sad news only reached us last Sunday, when we were hoping that we might soon get a letter to tell us of his being able to rejoin his wife. He leaves two little children, the youngest an infant boy, born in May. It is a comfort that we are able to provide for the wife and children, but the consequent claims (in these next months when there will be debts and expenses of uncertain amounts) prevent me from doing what I should like to do, namely, to supply the needed £100 for the new rooms at Girton. 300
It will be worth while to send the information to Mrs. Alfred Morrison 301 -- it can do no harm. But she made no response at all when I sent former circulars to her; she is now ill, and her husband a most unsympathetic mortal. I am determined not to appeal to him again in any way. I lately gave an introduction to Gertrude that she might try to interest him in keeping open the Hampstead fields, and she found the interview a great crux.
I am glad to think that Miss Edwards has got into the right groove. -- But poor Mr. Sylvester! 302 It is saddening to think of him beginning anew at 64 -- driven from what he is first-rate in, and setting himself the difficult task of being second-rate in something else. One longs helplessly to be of use to such a man.
Poor Bertie had been suffering from the glandular disease of which he showed symptoms when a boy, but which he appeared to have completely outgrown. He had become a splendidly strong man before he went to Natal and continued so till about three years ago, when he began to complain of neuralgia. His death was immediately caused by an attack of bronchitis.
We return to town on September 23. but go off again in two or three days to the Coast -- Bournemouth I believe, till about the end of October.
Ever yours lovingly
M. E. L.
MS: Mr. Philip Leigh-Smith. Hitherto unpublished.
The Elms | Rickmansworth | August 13. 75.
My dear Barbara
As to weather you are better off than we are. The last ten days and nights have brought us frequent rain which we try to be thankful for because it is not continuous as it was in the calamitous time of July. Our nice old house is unfortunately in a valley much given to mists, and my health has I think been the worse for it. I am much satisfied with your news about yourself, which had been too long waited for.
We have had a trouble, prepared for by a long-standing anxiety. On the 29th of June our poor Bertie died at Durban, where he was staying for the sake of sea-air and medical attendance. The sad news only reached us last Sunday, when we were hoping that we might soon get a letter to tell us of his being able to rejoin his wife. He leaves two little children, the youngest an infant boy, born in May. It is a comfort that we are able to provide for the wife and children, but the consequent claims (in these next months when there will be debts and expenses of uncertain amounts) prevent me from doing what I should like to do, namely, to supply the needed £100 for the new rooms at Girton. 300
It will be worth while to send the information to Mrs. Alfred Morrison 301 -- it can do no harm. But she made no response at all when I sent former circulars to her; she is now ill, and her husband a most unsympathetic mortal. I am determined not to appeal to him again in any way. I lately gave an introduction to Gertrude that she might try to interest him in keeping open the Hampstead fields, and she found the interview a great crux.
I am glad to think that Miss Edwards has got into the right groove. -- But poor Mr. Sylvester! 302 It is saddening to think of him beginning anew at 64 -- driven from what he is first-rate in, and setting himself the difficult task of being second-rate in something else. One longs helplessly to be of use to such a man.
Poor Bertie had been suffering from the glandular disease of which he showed symptoms when a boy, but which he appeared to have completely outgrown. He had become a splendidly strong man before he went to Natal and continued so till about three years ago, when he began to complain of neuralgia. His death was immediately caused by an attack of bronchitis.
We return to town on September 23. but go off again in two or three days to the Coast -- Bournemouth I believe, till about the end of October.
Ever yours lovingly
M. E. L.
Signature
M. E. L.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Barbara [Mme Eugene] Bodichon, Rickmansworth, 13 August 1875, 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/93077