The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1896-08-02
GEORGE HENRY LEWES.
The Man who Won George Eliot Not
Pleasing to All Women.

Mrs. Lynn Linton, in the Bookman.
But chief of all the constant friends and
visitors were George Henry Lewes and his
pretty little wife Agnes.
OF the secret history wherein these two
bore their part will say nothing. Let the
dead past bury its dead. / nave already.
spoken out and done my best to rescue
from obloquy the name of the one who
was made the scapegoat-the one who was
by far the more steadfast. the more loyal.
the more logical of the two. In all that
followed the world elected 10 crown the
successful and to brand the comparatively
obscure; but the world does not always
judge Alright. and moral astigmatism is
quite as general as Is the physical.
Lewes was a ~singularly plain man. deep
ly pitted with the smallpox. with narrow
Jaws and somewhat drawn-in cheeks. He
had bright, vivacious and well-shaped ewes.
n quantity of bright brown hair and a 1ex-
ible mouth of singular moistness. He was
the first of the audacious men of my ac-
quaintance. and about the most extreme.
He had neither shame nor reticence in his
choice of subjects. but would discourse on
the most delicate matters OF physiology
with no more perception that he was
transgressing the bounds of propriety than
IL he had been a learned savage ] learned
more startling things from LeweS. in full
conclave of young and old. married and
single. men and women. than / had ever
dreamt of or heard limited at before. And
L know that men complained of his after
dinner talk and anecdotes as being beyond
the license accorded to. or taken by. even
the boldest takers of the messtable and
~ NAsf I'M TIC aIa " 81 ~
far as this in public. but he went very far:
and TO a Young girl. fresh from the coun-
try life where the faint echoes of ''plums.
prunes and prisms'' still fingered. il was
all embarrassing and shocking enough.
His manners. too. were as fresh as his
talk. 1t was said of another notable man
in his day that his way of shaking hands
suggested the divorce court: and the same
might be said Of Lewes's manners to the
women he liked and was intimate with. /
myself was at Mrs. Miner Gibson's when
he shouted across the room: ''Arethusa.
come herel" and I saw him perch himself
Familiarity on the arm of the chair in which
she was sitting. Yet he had no cause for
such a breach of good taste and good man.
ners- Mrs. Miner Gibson was his good
many whom her kindly social patronage
could serve: for she was one of the most
generous. most trge-he2rted women of
her day. But know that Mr.. Lewes's
familiarity tried her temper. as ii would
have tried the temper OF any woman. l
remember. too. his Offering to kiss a pref
family one Sunday night. and his offended
and reproachful tone when she turned
S@sy tb eef ron nea %bi shd sh hedIsef ba n,s b s,ss. usa II
had she submitted to this or any other
like familiarity. That. too, was a start
ling experience to me. which upset nv
moral arithmetic for many DAYS .
Time has now swept away the whole of
that group of early friends save one-Ag-
ty. rosebud-like woman. whose "dono
fatale di hellezza" worked its usual tale of
woe to all concerned. Those who were
children in arms at the time of which ]
write are now mature men and women:
those who were strapping boys and girls.
just emerging fsom the nursery. are now
gray-headed and gray-hearded. The rest
have played their part. and only dear
memories and the loyalty of ancient love
remain az imperishable wreaths on their
graves. Samuel Laurence and his friends.
James SPEEDING. Fitzgerald. the Coleridees.
Joshua Strangers. and others. have closed
their eyes 10 the things OF time. and the
provocations of poor. harassed Anastasia
are over for ever. Thornton Hunt. with
all his vital nobleness. because of his
absolute sincerity of nature. all his
strength of purpose and gentleness of man.
ner. all his fire and all his tenderness. he
and his wife-one of the sweetest and best
women that ever ~lived-they. too. have
drained their wine cup to the lees and
made their liberation to Death. And
George Lewes. who sacrificed some part of
his integrity for the gain that accrued. he
and his gifts and intellectual graces. his
mistakes and his lapses. his brilliancy and
his want of absolute thoroughness. to-
gether with all that was lovable and gen.
erous in his nature-he. too. has learnt the
great secret, and knows no more of life's
perplexities.