John Walter Cross to Mrs. Elma Stuart, London, 23 December 1880
Title
John Walter Cross to Mrs. Elma Stuart, London, 23 December 1880
Title
John Walter Cross to Mrs. Elma Stuart, London, 23 December 1880
Sender
John Walter Cross
Recipient
Mrs. Elma Stuart
Date(s)
- 1880-12-23
Place
London
Letter Content
John Walter Cross to Mrs. Elma Stuart, London, 23 December 1880
MS: British Museum. Hitherto unpublished.
Cheyne Walk, | Chelsea, S.W.
Thursday 23 December 1880.
My dear Mrs. Stuart,
I hope this may be in time to save you from the great shock of seeing in the newspapers an announcement which I know will be to you about the most terrible you could see. She died last night at 10 o'clock from failure of the power of the heart. I cannot realize it yet. I cannot believe it. It has all been so terribly sudden. We were at the Popular Concert on Saturday and I fancy she must have got a chill there for on Sunday afternoon she complained of a slight sore throat which continued and got worse during the night so that first thing on Monday morning I went to see Dr. Andrew Clark who had been down in consultation at Witley. He was desirous of having some general practitioner in the immediate neighbourhood so that we might send for him whenever we wanted him and I had been very anxious to find a good man to keep constant watch on the symptoms of her renal trouble and Dr. Clark gave me the name of a friend of his and an old pupil Mr. W. G. Mackenzie 510 who came on Monday about 1 o'clock and said she was suffering from an acute attack of the larynx: but the pulse and temperature were neither of them very high -- in fact little more than normal and he was not in the least anxious about the case. On Tuesday morning she was decidedly easier -- pulse and temperature lower and Mr. Mackenzie thought it would be an ordinary 3 days laryngitical sore throat -- very troublesome and painful but no apprehension of danger. He saw her again on Tuesday night when she had a bath and she went to sleep soon after 11. But she had a disturbed night and when Mr. Mackenzie came in the morning he found her pulse much faster and strength wonderfully reduced.
Dr. Andrew Clark meantime had written that he would be here at 6. Mr. Mackenzie came again at 2 and found her still weak but she was drowsy and he said sleep was the best of medicines for her. After taking some cold beef tea jelly and an egg beaten up with brandy she dozed again, and I listened to her breathing, hoping it was curing sleep -- but it was death coming on. When Dr. Andrew Clark came and they examined her he said at once that the heart was struck and that he feared she had no power of resistance. 511 She completely lost consciousness directly after their examination and passed away quite painlessly at 10 last night. And I am left alone in this new House we meant to be so happy in. And your heart too will know the void there is no filling. All the world is an infinite loser by this most untimely catastrophe. But ah me, you will pity me. I am stunned. I cannot write more. You will understand all.
Very truly yours,
J. W. Cross.
Your letter just come with quotation from Trevelyan. Ah me.
ADDITIONAL LETTERS
AND APPENDICES
MS: British Museum. Hitherto unpublished.
Cheyne Walk, | Chelsea, S.W.
Thursday 23 December 1880.
My dear Mrs. Stuart,
I hope this may be in time to save you from the great shock of seeing in the newspapers an announcement which I know will be to you about the most terrible you could see. She died last night at 10 o'clock from failure of the power of the heart. I cannot realize it yet. I cannot believe it. It has all been so terribly sudden. We were at the Popular Concert on Saturday and I fancy she must have got a chill there for on Sunday afternoon she complained of a slight sore throat which continued and got worse during the night so that first thing on Monday morning I went to see Dr. Andrew Clark who had been down in consultation at Witley. He was desirous of having some general practitioner in the immediate neighbourhood so that we might send for him whenever we wanted him and I had been very anxious to find a good man to keep constant watch on the symptoms of her renal trouble and Dr. Clark gave me the name of a friend of his and an old pupil Mr. W. G. Mackenzie 510 who came on Monday about 1 o'clock and said she was suffering from an acute attack of the larynx: but the pulse and temperature were neither of them very high -- in fact little more than normal and he was not in the least anxious about the case. On Tuesday morning she was decidedly easier -- pulse and temperature lower and Mr. Mackenzie thought it would be an ordinary 3 days laryngitical sore throat -- very troublesome and painful but no apprehension of danger. He saw her again on Tuesday night when she had a bath and she went to sleep soon after 11. But she had a disturbed night and when Mr. Mackenzie came in the morning he found her pulse much faster and strength wonderfully reduced.
Dr. Andrew Clark meantime had written that he would be here at 6. Mr. Mackenzie came again at 2 and found her still weak but she was drowsy and he said sleep was the best of medicines for her. After taking some cold beef tea jelly and an egg beaten up with brandy she dozed again, and I listened to her breathing, hoping it was curing sleep -- but it was death coming on. When Dr. Andrew Clark came and they examined her he said at once that the heart was struck and that he feared she had no power of resistance. 511 She completely lost consciousness directly after their examination and passed away quite painlessly at 10 last night. And I am left alone in this new House we meant to be so happy in. And your heart too will know the void there is no filling. All the world is an infinite loser by this most untimely catastrophe. But ah me, you will pity me. I am stunned. I cannot write more. You will understand all.
Very truly yours,
J. W. Cross.
Your letter just come with quotation from Trevelyan. Ah me.
ADDITIONAL LETTERS
AND APPENDICES
Signature
J. W. Cross.
Citation
John Walter Cross, John Walter Cross to Mrs. Elma Stuart, London, 23 December 1880, 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/95510