Item 44 - Letter from Henry Sidgwick to his mother

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Hopes that Arthur has enjoyed Dresden. Reports that he has seen many Rugby people that term, which, he predicts, will be a long one. Relates that he has several pupils and six hours a day 'at the least', but does not feel at all hard-worked, and that he breakfasts every day at half past seven. Extols the virtues of brooding and musing, but claims that 'a certain amount of Drudgery is necessary to longevity: that idleness and creative tension alike exhaust the creative force'. Reports that Kingsley 'is preaching sensation sermons on the Psalms of David'. Intends to go to Oxford the following Saturday 'for a refreshment' [probably for the first Ad Eundem Society dinner]. Asks his mother to tell Arthur to 'beg, borrow, or steel' Emilia in England, which had 'such an effect' on Henry that he spent his 'spare cash' on [George Meredith's] other works.

Part transcription in Sidgwick, Arthur, and Sidgwick, E. M, 'Henry Sidgwick'. London: Macmillan, 1906, pp. 126-127.