The Essays of "George Eliot": CompleteEliot, George
History
The Essays of "George Eliot": Complete
Eliot, George
Literature -- History and criticism
“I have great joy in Dr. Young, whom I disturbed in a reverie. At
first he started, then bowed, then fell back into a surprise; then
began a speech, relapsed into his astonishment two or three times,
forgot what he had been saying; began a new subject, and so went on.
I told him your grace desired he would write longer letters; to which
he cried ‘Ha!’ most emphatically, and I leave you to interpret what
it meant. He has made a friendship with one person here, whom I
believe you would not imagine to have been made for his bosom friend.
You would, perhaps, suppose it was a bishop or dean, a prebend, a
pious preacher, a clergyman of exemplary life, or, if a layman, of
most virtuous conversation, one that had paraphrased St. Matthew, or
wrote comments on St. Paul. . . . You would not guess that this
associate of the doctor’s was—old Cibber! Certainly, in their
religious, moral, and civil character, there is no relation; but in
their dramatic capacity there is some.—Mrs. Montagu was not aware
that Cibber, whom Young had named not disparagingly in his Satires,
was the brother of his old school-fellow; but to return to our hero.
‘The waters,’ says Mrs. Montagu, ‘have raised his spirits to a fine
pitch, as your grace will imagine, when I tell you how sublime an
answer he made to a very vulgar question. I asked him how long he
stayed at the Wells; he said, ‘As long as my rival stayed;—as long as
the sun did.’ Among the visitors at the Wells were Lady Sunderland
(wife of Sir Robert Sutton), and her sister, Mrs. Tichborne. ‘He did
an admirable thing to Lady Sunderland: on her mentioning Sir Robert
Sutton, he asked her where Sir Robert’s lady was; on which we all
laughed very heartily, and I brought him off, half ashamed, to my
lodgings, where, during breakfast, he assured me he had asked after
Lady Sunderland, because he had a great honor for her; and that,
having a respect for her sister, he designed to have inquired after
her, if we had not put it out of his head by laughing at him. You
must know, Mrs. Tichborne sat next to Lady Sunderland. It would have
been admirable to have had him finish his compliment in that manner.’
. . . ‘His expressions all bear the stamp of novelty, and his
thoughts of sterling sense. He practises a kind of philosophical
abstinence. . . . He carried Mrs. Rolt and myself to Tunbridge, five
miles from hence, where we were to see some fine old ruins. First
rode the doctor on a tall steed, decently caparisoned in dark gray;
next, ambled Mrs. Rolt on a hackney horse; . . . then followed your
humble servant on a milk-white palfrey. I rode on in safety, and at
leisure to observe the company, especially the two figures that
brought up the rear. The first was my servant, valiantly armed with
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account