Chapter 20: George Eliot.
- Correspondence with George Eliot. -- George Eliot's first impressions of Mrs. Stowe. -- Mrs. Stowe's letter to Mrs. Follen. -- George Eliot's letter to Mrs. Stowe. -- Mrs. Stowe's reply. -- life in Florida. -- Robert Dale Owen and modern spiritualism. -- George Eliot's letter on the phenomena of spiritualism. -- Mrs. Stowe's description of scenery in Florida. -- Mrs. Stowe concerning “Middlemarch.” -- George Eliot to Mrs. Stowe during Rev. H. W. Beecher's trial. -- Mrs. Stowe concerning her life experience with her brother, H. W. Beecher, and his trial. -- Mrs. Lewes' last letter to Mrs. Stowe. -- diverse mental characteristics of these two women. -- Mrs. Stowe's final estimate of modern spiritualism.
It is with a feeling of relief that we turn from one of the most disagreeable experiences of Mrs. Stowe's life to one of the most delightful, namely, the warm friendship of one of the most eminent women of this age, George Eliot.
There seems to have been some deep affinity of feeling that drew them closely together in spite of diversity of intellectual tastes.
George Eliot's attention was first personally attracted to Mrs. Stowe in 1853, by means of a letter which the latter had written to Mrs. Follen. Speaking of this incident she (George Eliot) writes:
Mrs. Follen showed me a delightful letter which she has just had from Mrs. Stowe, telling all about herself. She begins
