Thornton Arnott Lewes to GHL, Edinburgh, 22 December 1861
Title
Thornton Arnott Lewes to GHL, Edinburgh, 22 December 1861
Title
Thornton Arnott Lewes to GHL, Edinburgh, 22 December 1861
Sender
Thornton Arnott Lewes
Recipient
M
Date(s)
- 1861-12-22
Place
Edinburgh
Letter Content
Thornton Arnott Lewes to GHL, Edinburgh, 22 December 1861
MS: Yale. Partly published: Haight, George Eliot, p. 363.
2. Duncan Street | Newington | Edinburgh | December 22d 1861.
Dearest Pater,
Many thanks for the cheque. I do not know how you interpret my letter in an offhand way, for I did not pen it with that intention. In answer to your saying that I should have saved up; pray p'e4terchen how much can I save out of 1/ per week, considering that I have to buy my lunch usually as it is by far too much trouble to come home every day at this time of year.
Dr. Schmitz has none of the commentaries on Aristotle that you mentioned, nothing but the plain text. He is off to London tomorrow morning, on his way to Rome where he intends to spend the Christmas holidays.
I do not know whether I told you last letter that I was Dux for the first quarter, i.e. from October to Christmas? It therefore looks as if I am to be Dux for the other three quarters, and though the High school medal is not worth much compared with passing 1st in the Civil Service examination, still I suppose you won't object to have my name printed in big letters on the board in our classroom, and to have a gold medal to keep (which bye the bye, being good gold can always easily be pawned!!!)
Tomorrow at 9.45 a.m. I am off to Blackwoods so you may look out for game. Dr. Schmitz is coming, I think, to pay you a visit when he is in London.
I am now going to tell you something about which you must reinen Mund halten, that is to say, it is not necessary to mention it in any letter to Mr. R. On Friday night I went to the theatre, having won a shilling from Mrs. R. by a bet. I came out at a quarter to 11, and was home by 10 minutes past. I found the gate and door locked, and nobody opened though I rang four times. I knew that Mr. R. was still up, as his light was burning. I therefore, went round to the end of the street, jumped into the lane which goes at the back of our garden, got on the wall, and walked to my window, which not being bolted, I easily pushed up, and I then got in. I went to bed. Got up the next morning and went into town at 10 o'clock, nobody being up. I came back at 2, and then went to Mr. R. and asked why I had been locked out. He said because I was beyond the hour, (which was not true, for we rarely are in, when we go to the theatre before 11'bc, Mr. R. himself did not come back till 12'bd only 2 nights ago), and that if it happened again he would report every case to you. I said he was at liberty to do so, but that if I was turned from the door at a reasonable hour again, I should leave the house. His reply was that I could leave it then, if I chose. I then left the room, went into my own and began to work. Suddenly the door opens and in stalks R. saying that he would report this case also to you, if I did not give him a written apology for coming late. My answer was "So you can!"
This put him in an awful rage, so, calling me an insolent dog, he made his shoeleather acquainted with my posterity. You need not ask me what I did; I did what you would have done in my place -- knocked him down (This is what his face is like today
, a dark red mark under the eye, 2 spots above this mark, and two bruises on the forehead.) I of course left the house, as he told me to, and proceeded to Dr. Schmitz's to ask his advice, because I did not think it possible that R. would take me back after flooring him. So I spent the night at the Drs. In the evening R. came, not knowing that I was there, and Dr. Schmitz showed him so ably how wrong he had been, that he wrote me a full apology, which of course I willingly accepted, and came back here this morning. When he saw [me] he shook hands and said that he was very sorry for it, but that he hoped it would be buried in oblivion and forgotten, and that we should go on as formerly. And so we are all right again. You will of course not speak about it to him, as it is forgiven and forgotten.
This is all the news I have to tell you, so with love to Mutter and Charlie, I remain
Your affectionate Son
Thornton Lewes.
P.S. Charles will no doubt be desirous of knowing whether I got any blows, so you can inform him that I got one on the cheek, which cut it slightly internally. That is all, as Sayers said to Heenan, 571 when he split the latter's eye open. Dr. Schmitz said to me after having seen Mr. R., "Lewes, you have given him a terrible pummelling, he has got a black eye!"
MS: Yale. Partly published: Haight, George Eliot, p. 363.
2. Duncan Street | Newington | Edinburgh | December 22d 1861.
Dearest Pater,
Many thanks for the cheque. I do not know how you interpret my letter in an offhand way, for I did not pen it with that intention. In answer to your saying that I should have saved up; pray p'e4terchen how much can I save out of 1/ per week, considering that I have to buy my lunch usually as it is by far too much trouble to come home every day at this time of year.
Dr. Schmitz has none of the commentaries on Aristotle that you mentioned, nothing but the plain text. He is off to London tomorrow morning, on his way to Rome where he intends to spend the Christmas holidays.
I do not know whether I told you last letter that I was Dux for the first quarter, i.e. from October to Christmas? It therefore looks as if I am to be Dux for the other three quarters, and though the High school medal is not worth much compared with passing 1st in the Civil Service examination, still I suppose you won't object to have my name printed in big letters on the board in our classroom, and to have a gold medal to keep (which bye the bye, being good gold can always easily be pawned!!!)
Tomorrow at 9.45 a.m. I am off to Blackwoods so you may look out for game. Dr. Schmitz is coming, I think, to pay you a visit when he is in London.
I am now going to tell you something about which you must reinen Mund halten, that is to say, it is not necessary to mention it in any letter to Mr. R. On Friday night I went to the theatre, having won a shilling from Mrs. R. by a bet. I came out at a quarter to 11, and was home by 10 minutes past. I found the gate and door locked, and nobody opened though I rang four times. I knew that Mr. R. was still up, as his light was burning. I therefore, went round to the end of the street, jumped into the lane which goes at the back of our garden, got on the wall, and walked to my window, which not being bolted, I easily pushed up, and I then got in. I went to bed. Got up the next morning and went into town at 10 o'clock, nobody being up. I came back at 2, and then went to Mr. R. and asked why I had been locked out. He said because I was beyond the hour, (which was not true, for we rarely are in, when we go to the theatre before 11'bc, Mr. R. himself did not come back till 12'bd only 2 nights ago), and that if it happened again he would report every case to you. I said he was at liberty to do so, but that if I was turned from the door at a reasonable hour again, I should leave the house. His reply was that I could leave it then, if I chose. I then left the room, went into my own and began to work. Suddenly the door opens and in stalks R. saying that he would report this case also to you, if I did not give him a written apology for coming late. My answer was "So you can!"
This put him in an awful rage, so, calling me an insolent dog, he made his shoeleather acquainted with my posterity. You need not ask me what I did; I did what you would have done in my place -- knocked him down (This is what his face is like today
, a dark red mark under the eye, 2 spots above this mark, and two bruises on the forehead.) I of course left the house, as he told me to, and proceeded to Dr. Schmitz's to ask his advice, because I did not think it possible that R. would take me back after flooring him. So I spent the night at the Drs. In the evening R. came, not knowing that I was there, and Dr. Schmitz showed him so ably how wrong he had been, that he wrote me a full apology, which of course I willingly accepted, and came back here this morning. When he saw [me] he shook hands and said that he was very sorry for it, but that he hoped it would be buried in oblivion and forgotten, and that we should go on as formerly. And so we are all right again. You will of course not speak about it to him, as it is forgiven and forgotten.
This is all the news I have to tell you, so with love to Mutter and Charlie, I remain
Your affectionate Son
Thornton Lewes.
P.S. Charles will no doubt be desirous of knowing whether I got any blows, so you can inform him that I got one on the cheek, which cut it slightly internally. That is all, as Sayers said to Heenan, 571 when he split the latter's eye open. Dr. Schmitz said to me after having seen Mr. R., "Lewes, you have given him a terrible pummelling, he has got a black eye!"
Signature
Thornton Lewes.
Citation
Thornton Arnott Lewes, Thornton Arnott Lewes to GHL, Edinburgh, 22 December 1861, 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/95615