142 Four-in-Hand in BrUain. 



Who shall doubt that it is well with the dear, kind 

 soul who planted the thousand trees which delighted us 

 this day, nodding their graceful boughs in genial wel- 

 come to the strangers and forming a triumphal arch 

 in their honor. 



Coventry, June 24. 

 Coventry in these days has a greater than Godiva. 

 George Eliot stands alone among women ; no second 

 near that throne. We visited the little school-room 

 where she learnt her first lessons ; but more than that, 

 the Mayor, who kindly conducted us through the city, 

 introduced us to a man who had been her teacher. " I 

 knew the strange little thing well," he' said. A proud 

 privilege indeed ! I would have given much to know 

 George Eliot, for many reasons. I heard with some- 

 thing akin to fellowship that she longed to be at every 

 symphony, oratorio, or concert of classical music, and 

 rarely was that strong, brooding face missed at such 

 feasts. Indeed, it was through attending one of these 

 that she caught the cold which terminated fatally. 

 Music was a passion with her, as she found in it calm 

 and peace for the troubled soul tossed and tried by the 

 sad, sad things of life. I understand this. A friend 

 told me that a lady friend of hers, who was staying at 

 the hotel in Florence where George Eliot was, made 

 her acquaintance casually without knowing her name. 

 Something, she knew not what, attracted her to her, 

 and after a few days she began sending flowers to the 



