GE to Maria [Mrs. Richard] Congreve, Schwalbach, 25 June 1866
Title
GE to Maria [Mrs. Richard] Congreve, Schwalbach, 25 June 1866
Title
GE to Maria [Mrs. Richard] Congreve, Schwalbach, 25 June 1866
Sender
George Eliot
Recipient
Maria [Mrs. Richard] Congreve
Date(s)
- 1866-06-25
Place
Schwalbach
Letter Content
GE to Maria [Mrs. Richard] Congreve, Schwalbach, 25 June 1866
Text: Cross, II, 431-434.
I wish you could know how idle I feel -- how utterly disinclined to anything but mere self-indulgence -- because that knowledge would enable you to estimate the affection and anxiety which prompt me to write in spite of disinclination. June is so far gone, that by the time you get this letter you will surely have some result of the examination 486 to tell me of; and I can't bear to deprive myself of that news by not letting you know where we are. "In Paradise," George says; but the Paradise is in the fields and woods of beech and fir, where we walk in uninterrupted solitude in spite of the excellent roads and delightful resting-places, which seem to have been prepared for visitors in general. The promenade, where the ladies -- chiefly Russian and German, with only a small sprinkling of English and Americans -- display their ornamental petticoats and various hats, is only the outskirt of Paradise; but we amuse ourselves there for an hour or so in the early morning and evening, listening to the music and learning the faces of our neighbours. There is a deficiency of men, children, and dogs: otherwise the winding walks, the luxuriant trees and grass, and the abundant seats of the promenade, have every charm one can expect at a German bath. We arrived here last Thursday, after a fortnight spent in Belgium and Holland; and we still fall to interjections of delight whenever we walk out -- first at the beauty of the place, and next at our own happiness in not having been frightened away from it by the predictions of travellers and hotel-keepers, that we should find no one here -- that the Prussians would break up the railways, &c., &c. -- Nassau being one of the majority of small States who are against Prussia. 487 I fear we are a little in danger of becoming like the B'fcrger in "Faust," and making it too much the entertainment of our holiday to have a
"Gespr'e4ch von Krieg und Kriegsgeschrei Wenn hinten, weit, in der T'fcrkei, Die V'f6lker auf einander schlagen." 488
Idle people are so eager for newspapers that tell them of other people's energetic enthusiasm! A few soldiers are quartered here, and we see them wisely using their leisure to drink at the Brunnen. They are the only suggestion of war that meets our eyes among these woody hills. Already we feel great benefit from our quiet journeying and repose. George is looking remarkably well, and seems to have nothing the matter with him. You know how magically quick his recoveries seem. I am too refined to say anything about our excellent quarters and good meals; 489 but one detail, I know, will touch your sympathy. We dine in our own room! It would have marred the Kur for me if I had had every day to undergo a table d'h'f4te where almost all the guests are English, presided over by the British chaplain. Please don't suspect me of being scornful towards my fellow country men or women: the fault is all mine that I am miserably g'ean'e9e by the glances of strange eyes.
We want news from you to complete our satisfaction, and no one can give it but yourself. Send us as many matter-of-fact details as you have the patience to write. We shall not be here after the 4th, but at Schlangenbad.
Text: Cross, II, 431-434.
I wish you could know how idle I feel -- how utterly disinclined to anything but mere self-indulgence -- because that knowledge would enable you to estimate the affection and anxiety which prompt me to write in spite of disinclination. June is so far gone, that by the time you get this letter you will surely have some result of the examination 486 to tell me of; and I can't bear to deprive myself of that news by not letting you know where we are. "In Paradise," George says; but the Paradise is in the fields and woods of beech and fir, where we walk in uninterrupted solitude in spite of the excellent roads and delightful resting-places, which seem to have been prepared for visitors in general. The promenade, where the ladies -- chiefly Russian and German, with only a small sprinkling of English and Americans -- display their ornamental petticoats and various hats, is only the outskirt of Paradise; but we amuse ourselves there for an hour or so in the early morning and evening, listening to the music and learning the faces of our neighbours. There is a deficiency of men, children, and dogs: otherwise the winding walks, the luxuriant trees and grass, and the abundant seats of the promenade, have every charm one can expect at a German bath. We arrived here last Thursday, after a fortnight spent in Belgium and Holland; and we still fall to interjections of delight whenever we walk out -- first at the beauty of the place, and next at our own happiness in not having been frightened away from it by the predictions of travellers and hotel-keepers, that we should find no one here -- that the Prussians would break up the railways, &c., &c. -- Nassau being one of the majority of small States who are against Prussia. 487 I fear we are a little in danger of becoming like the B'fcrger in "Faust," and making it too much the entertainment of our holiday to have a
"Gespr'e4ch von Krieg und Kriegsgeschrei Wenn hinten, weit, in der T'fcrkei, Die V'f6lker auf einander schlagen." 488
Idle people are so eager for newspapers that tell them of other people's energetic enthusiasm! A few soldiers are quartered here, and we see them wisely using their leisure to drink at the Brunnen. They are the only suggestion of war that meets our eyes among these woody hills. Already we feel great benefit from our quiet journeying and repose. George is looking remarkably well, and seems to have nothing the matter with him. You know how magically quick his recoveries seem. I am too refined to say anything about our excellent quarters and good meals; 489 but one detail, I know, will touch your sympathy. We dine in our own room! It would have marred the Kur for me if I had had every day to undergo a table d'h'f4te where almost all the guests are English, presided over by the British chaplain. Please don't suspect me of being scornful towards my fellow country men or women: the fault is all mine that I am miserably g'ean'e9e by the glances of strange eyes.
We want news from you to complete our satisfaction, and no one can give it but yourself. Send us as many matter-of-fact details as you have the patience to write. We shall not be here after the 4th, but at Schlangenbad.
Citation
George Eliot, GE to Maria [Mrs. Richard] Congreve, Schwalbach, 25 June 1866, 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/93670