J. H. Bridges to GE, Paris, 11 September [1859]
Title
J. H. Bridges to GE, Paris, 11 September [1859]
Title
J. H. Bridges to GE, Paris, 11 September [1859]
Sender
J. H. Bridges
Recipient
George Eliot
Date(s)
- 1859-09-11
Place
Paris
Letter Content
J. H. Bridges to GE, Paris, 11 September [1859]
473
MS: Yale.
H'f4tel des Am'e9ricains Rue Quatre Vents Paris | September 11th.
My dear Mrs. Lewes,
I see from the English papers that the authorship of Adam Bede is no longer a secret. Will you let me trouble you with two words on a subject of which perhaps you are long ago wearied?
I gather from the Congreves that you are not without an impression that Dr. Chapman communicated his belief on the subject to me, and I to him. In justice to both of us let me state the truth of the matter.
Whilst Adam Bede was the topic of conversation in Albion Street 474 I frequently heard Dr. and Mrs. Chapman express to one another their conviction that they knew the author. It was also evident from Dr. Chapman's article 475 that he did not think it was written by a man, but by a woman. Now as he professed to have considerable acquaintance with the author and frequently expressed his conviction that there was but one person who could have written it, I certainly &unknown;came to the conviction coupling their written&unknown; did couple these remarks with others that he had made at other times with reference to you -- and as I happened to have heard that you had lived in the Midland Counties, I arrived altogether at an inference which I communicated to the Congreves, just for what it was worth. Dr. Chapman had told me nothing whatever.
It is therefore clear that neither has Dr. Chapman violated your confidence nor I his. Though I am quite unable to share in the views about anonymous writing expressed in a letter of [George Eliot's to the Times, I attach great importance to this explanation and the more so because I gathered from certain remarks of Dr. Chapman, as well as from some of yours, that there was already some misunderstanding, of what nature I know not. It would excessively grieve me to have been the means of increasing this.
I would much rather have filled this letter with explanations of my gratitude to yourself for your beautiful creation. Having lived all my life among the English peasantry, and spent months of childhood inside farmhouses, I as well as my sister were really delighted to find an existence hitherto quite neglected as unromantic and unpoetic thoroughly understood and portrayed by so true a painter. On the higher qualities of the book I shall not take the liberty of expressing any judgment.
I do not apologize for this letter as I am sure you will have the justice to see that it was desirable. I very much regret to hear from the Congreves that you think of leaving Wandsworth. Believe me,
Sincerely yours
J. H. Bridges.
473
MS: Yale.
H'f4tel des Am'e9ricains Rue Quatre Vents Paris | September 11th.
My dear Mrs. Lewes,
I see from the English papers that the authorship of Adam Bede is no longer a secret. Will you let me trouble you with two words on a subject of which perhaps you are long ago wearied?
I gather from the Congreves that you are not without an impression that Dr. Chapman communicated his belief on the subject to me, and I to him. In justice to both of us let me state the truth of the matter.
Whilst Adam Bede was the topic of conversation in Albion Street 474 I frequently heard Dr. and Mrs. Chapman express to one another their conviction that they knew the author. It was also evident from Dr. Chapman's article 475 that he did not think it was written by a man, but by a woman. Now as he professed to have considerable acquaintance with the author and frequently expressed his conviction that there was but one person who could have written it, I certainly &unknown;came to the conviction coupling their written&unknown; did couple these remarks with others that he had made at other times with reference to you -- and as I happened to have heard that you had lived in the Midland Counties, I arrived altogether at an inference which I communicated to the Congreves, just for what it was worth. Dr. Chapman had told me nothing whatever.
It is therefore clear that neither has Dr. Chapman violated your confidence nor I his. Though I am quite unable to share in the views about anonymous writing expressed in a letter of [George Eliot's to the Times, I attach great importance to this explanation and the more so because I gathered from certain remarks of Dr. Chapman, as well as from some of yours, that there was already some misunderstanding, of what nature I know not. It would excessively grieve me to have been the means of increasing this.
I would much rather have filled this letter with explanations of my gratitude to yourself for your beautiful creation. Having lived all my life among the English peasantry, and spent months of childhood inside farmhouses, I as well as my sister were really delighted to find an existence hitherto quite neglected as unromantic and unpoetic thoroughly understood and portrayed by so true a painter. On the higher qualities of the book I shall not take the liberty of expressing any judgment.
I do not apologize for this letter as I am sure you will have the justice to see that it was desirable. I very much regret to hear from the Congreves that you think of leaving Wandsworth. Believe me,
Sincerely yours
J. H. Bridges.
Signature
J. H. Bridges.
Citation
J. H. Bridges, J. H. Bridges to GE, Paris, 11 September [1859], 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/95149