Thornton Arnott Lewes to GHL, Hofwyl, 11 September 1860
Title
Thornton Arnott Lewes to GHL, Hofwyl, 11 September 1860
Title
Thornton Arnott Lewes to GHL, Hofwyl, 11 September 1860
Sender
Thornton Arnott Lewes
Recipient
M
Date(s)
- 1860-09-11
Place
Hofwyl
Letter Content
Thornton Arnott Lewes to GHL, Hofwyl, 11 September 1860
MS: Yale.
Hofwyl September 11. 1860.
Dearest Father
Last night I received your letter, and answer it now at 7 o'clock a.m., so that you may get my answer soon. I will tell Dr. M'fcller about the clothes, and will go to Berne about them one of these days. Must the trowsers and waistcoat be black or only very dark brown?
I hope you will soon be settled as the sooner I am off, the better; I have no lessons, but walk about, catch moths, write letters etc. the whole day. I hope I shall be able to start by the 20th, as I suppose in a fortnight you will have been quite settled. 515 When did you begin moveing? I am glad to hear that Charles is getting on well. Give my love to Nursie, I hope she will always live with us. I hope you will soon settle where I am to live at Edinburgh, I do not care who was there before me, and were they Kings of England, so long as it is comfortable. I am already, (in imagination) an
Edinburgh student, kicking up rows, and attacking the peelers, the most poetic part of students life. I am very glad there is a Garibaldi there, I hope he is a good fellow, if so, I shall fraternize with him with a vengeance, and who knows if I don't run away some day with him to Sicily, and make the world ring with the glory of my name, so that when in future any one asks, who were the three liberators of Sicily? the answer will be Garibaldi, T'fcrr 516 and Thornton Lewes. (Ein w'fcrdiges Kleeblatt!)
You did not translate Goethe's life into Polish and Hungarian, did you? Better translate it into Latin or Greek.
About my journey: I hardly think we agree on that for you will want me to sleep at B'e2le first night, M'fclhausen, the second, Belfort, third, Paris fourth, I suppose; not a bit. I travel as fast as steam can carry me. Here is my Programme. We will say I start the 20, well and good. The first night I sleep at Paris, on the 21 I pay a visit to Mrs. Brown, to whom I have to carry a load of photographs and sleep in the evening at Boulogne. I take the first steamer, (if it is tolerable weather, but I prefer waiting if there is a storm, like when we came) and arrive at London as fast as possible on the 22. Do you approve this way of travelling? It will cost less than the other, anyhow. And as to company, I don't want that, so all the Hofwyl boys may remain at work, I don't wish to take them with me. About my stuffed birds, you need not fear, I have got no more, they are all given away a long while ago. All my stuffing apparatus is packed up in a box, a foot long. And all my unnecessary books have been given away. Shall I take Adam Bede, or give it to Mrs. Charles M'fcller? I have read it, and can always read it again when I want in England. I have given Scenes of clerical life to Dr. M'fcller's sister, a great friend of mine, with whom I used, two years ago, to rid her garden of snails, which we killed afterwards in hot water; a nice amusement for a liberator of Sicily. I hope Mother is all right today, I send her another hundred kisses back, and Bertie says ditto to Mr. Burke.
I have nothing more to say, i.e. what I have still got, I shall say when I arrive home. So good bye, Dear Father
Ever your affectionate Son
Thornton Lewes.
P.S. How long shall I remain at home? Please answer me as soon as you get this letter.
MS: Yale.
Hofwyl September 11. 1860.
Dearest Father
Last night I received your letter, and answer it now at 7 o'clock a.m., so that you may get my answer soon. I will tell Dr. M'fcller about the clothes, and will go to Berne about them one of these days. Must the trowsers and waistcoat be black or only very dark brown?
I hope you will soon be settled as the sooner I am off, the better; I have no lessons, but walk about, catch moths, write letters etc. the whole day. I hope I shall be able to start by the 20th, as I suppose in a fortnight you will have been quite settled. 515 When did you begin moveing? I am glad to hear that Charles is getting on well. Give my love to Nursie, I hope she will always live with us. I hope you will soon settle where I am to live at Edinburgh, I do not care who was there before me, and were they Kings of England, so long as it is comfortable. I am already, (in imagination) an
Edinburgh student, kicking up rows, and attacking the peelers, the most poetic part of students life. I am very glad there is a Garibaldi there, I hope he is a good fellow, if so, I shall fraternize with him with a vengeance, and who knows if I don't run away some day with him to Sicily, and make the world ring with the glory of my name, so that when in future any one asks, who were the three liberators of Sicily? the answer will be Garibaldi, T'fcrr 516 and Thornton Lewes. (Ein w'fcrdiges Kleeblatt!)
You did not translate Goethe's life into Polish and Hungarian, did you? Better translate it into Latin or Greek.
About my journey: I hardly think we agree on that for you will want me to sleep at B'e2le first night, M'fclhausen, the second, Belfort, third, Paris fourth, I suppose; not a bit. I travel as fast as steam can carry me. Here is my Programme. We will say I start the 20, well and good. The first night I sleep at Paris, on the 21 I pay a visit to Mrs. Brown, to whom I have to carry a load of photographs and sleep in the evening at Boulogne. I take the first steamer, (if it is tolerable weather, but I prefer waiting if there is a storm, like when we came) and arrive at London as fast as possible on the 22. Do you approve this way of travelling? It will cost less than the other, anyhow. And as to company, I don't want that, so all the Hofwyl boys may remain at work, I don't wish to take them with me. About my stuffed birds, you need not fear, I have got no more, they are all given away a long while ago. All my stuffing apparatus is packed up in a box, a foot long. And all my unnecessary books have been given away. Shall I take Adam Bede, or give it to Mrs. Charles M'fcller? I have read it, and can always read it again when I want in England. I have given Scenes of clerical life to Dr. M'fcller's sister, a great friend of mine, with whom I used, two years ago, to rid her garden of snails, which we killed afterwards in hot water; a nice amusement for a liberator of Sicily. I hope Mother is all right today, I send her another hundred kisses back, and Bertie says ditto to Mr. Burke.
I have nothing more to say, i.e. what I have still got, I shall say when I arrive home. So good bye, Dear Father
Ever your affectionate Son
Thornton Lewes.
P.S. How long shall I remain at home? Please answer me as soon as you get this letter.
Signature
Thornton Lewes.
Citation
Thornton Arnott Lewes, Thornton Arnott Lewes to GHL, Hofwyl, 11 September 1860, 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/95617