, 1873-01-19

young creature wh had worEtlprctl ha with re,fee:
t-,:st had quickly turned into tho critical Wife mr.,
early Instances Of criticism. and Ssec:n.crs had sade
an impression which no tenderness and submission
Afterwards could remove. To his suspicious inter!
taton, Dorothc.s silence suppressed -elal
Goa remark from her which b. hal not in any way
he, gentle as1swars had IN i-rsta.is cauton-nc Ii,
them: aud. wnen fto acqai.seesi, It was sci-ap-
proved effort q fo:heaEance Tte tcnscit5 w; rTatch
vivid for him; bear with tie mo-e teennc4s
what We wish others not to hcar-
We ara not allowed to Wow this misary from
'sDorotlea's" standpoint alone. Tho authoE
protests against al our interest, all effort at
understanding, being given to 'the young skins
that look blooming in sD;to OF trouble IN
spite Of his blinking eyes aud white n,5los, aud
his want Of muscular curTc, 'sls. Casaubon.
she says, had IN intense consciousness within
him, and was spiritually a-hnase1ed Ike tue
rest Of us. Thero- arc not many writer's who
could carry on this contrast OF eelflsh gloom
aud suspicion with tho noble adorable self
sacrifice OF "Dorothea, without herself show
lug bins against SO unlovablo creature,
aud communicating it to us hut 'tGoorgo Eliot
does not need to create 4 'aIurestone," or 4
Marquis Of Steyno, and then, In concert with
the reader, hound tho unfortunate being
through the book. Even the Five Points, says
Emerson, ha:o their. peculiar virtues, ns,l
insight.
There il not fai1ure in this history OF fail
ures Eore lamentabto than *.Casa1bon's."
There ia no character for whom T. greater pity is
commanded. He was not responsible for tho
illusions OF "Dorothea" concerning himself.
lIo was as genuine 8 character as any rutuinant
1uima1. most ropellans character he certainly
was. It WAS only - Durothca" who SAT-: in him,
before the marriage, her ideal hero uer sister
s:Celn," her father, ssMr. Brooke" Ill her rela-
othea's" " delusion Was her Own, and her mar
rtago was her own, Tor sIo coasuEin1tel 1t in
spite Of tho protests OF every: ona who lo7ol ho7
But tho author takes care tint all our ioyc and
do ''Casaubon injustice. VIC must dislike
him. That vas one OF tho cruolest limitatiorsof
his nature, that ie could not loye or be loved:
And when "Dorothea," going into the summer
Louise finds him with his ARMS resting on tho
table and his brow bowed down On them, dead,
no cannot but forget the horror Of his repellaut
nature, since it forced On him 80 pitiful failure
in life and love.
Last, "Dorothea" was failure. "The
3neannsss n Of oppostnnity" 9n:e yanausi:efd
career is sad enough All her youthful pas
s1orf WIS ground into her sonl-hnnscr, aud s!o
looked forward to her marriage with ''Casau-
gir,ish subsection aad her oWn igno-aaeoo,
and givo her tho freedom Of vol
nntary submission to guiio who
would take her, along tho grandest path"
And yet "Dorothea," in flTo weeks, finds her
SELF, in her toudoir in the Via sistina, 4ob1ing
bitterly. She hsd no compliant to make, sho
had married tho man Of her choice, aud had no
distinctly-shapon grievances. Dit, ales! tho
continuity OF married companionship, which
scatters illusions rapidly as sharing lodgings
sitting depression to s. Dorothe:'s" heat, as
she perceived that tho large yisi:5, and
wide, fresh air, which she. had dreamed
of finding in her Lusta.,d's mind, wero
replaced By ente-Tuo7n3 and winding passages
that seemed to lead nowhitllcr. It was not only
that, except c8 reader oz.a2aaEcus!s, her L,'s-
band seemed to ehun her companiunship in hia
laborB, but his osseouB unlovability gave hcg no
encouragement to pour forth her giElish and
womaniy feeling: II he would hare held her
hands between lis, and listened, with tho delight
Of tenderness and understanding. to eli the little
histories which made up her experience, and
would hsVe given her tho ssma sort OF intimacy
in return, SO that the past lie OF each could BIO
included in their mutual knowledge and afTec-
tion, or il she could have fed her affection with
those c1il11ike cazesses which arc tho bent Of
every sWeet woman, wlo has begun b. shower
ing kisses on the hard PATE of her bald DOLL
creating happy soul within that wootsennesa
from the wealth OF her own lOTe,-" Mr.; Ea3au-
bon's" pecuIiarltics might have been longer un-
fcl. by.' 'Dorothca." But what lovo could Bur-
Eiye for a man who, when 80 divine woman ap-
proached him With ardor enough to have c.resse1
bis shoe-latchet in her yearning. would mako ITO
failing propriety, to be OF most a1ectionate
and truly feminine nature,-iliiicating at tho
came time, By politely reaching chair for her,
that be regarded these manifestations Us ratner
crudo and startling lfasins made his clerical
toilet in the morning, lie was prepared only for
those amenities Of Life which nre suited to tho
well-adjusted stin cravat Of tho period, and 3
mind Weighted with unpublished matter. Hor
blooming, fu1l-pulsed youth stood in moral i'm
priaonmgnt-
: There is ono scene in Which al the character
igtics Of each nro compressed in one vivid incl
dent. ':Casaubon" had just boon told By tho
doctor that death might level him ct any mo-
mont. He was Walking in tho garden, where
the dark ycw-troes gave him n mute companion.
ship in melancholy, and tho lit,le shadows OF
pird leaf that hcctcd across tho iales Of sun
Light stole along in silence, III tho presence of
q sorrow." ''Dorothea ~ stepped into the gar
den withf"tlo impulse 1T once to, 60 her hus-
band But she hes:tatcl, fearing to offend him |
repulscd, served, with her intense memory. to
heighten her dread, Us thWarte1 energy subsidies |
into shndder; and she Wandered slowly round |
The nearer clumpB OF trees, until ale saw him ]
might have represented o Hcaven-sent angel |
coming with promise that the short hours re- !
naming should yet bo filed with that faithful t
love which clings the closer to comprchented
grief. Ills glance in reply to hers was 80 chill /
that she felt her tirnidlty increased; yet Sho
Mr. Casauton kept his hands behind him.
md alo,red her plant arm 70 cling ,ciM difficulty
against his rigid arm" There was something
horrible to '' Uorothea y in the sensation which
.his unrceponavo hardness inflicted on her.
That ID strong word. but not too strong it ID
n these acts called triviaities that the seeds Of
Jog. nre forever wasted, until men and women
ook round with haggard faces a: tho deyasta-
ion their own waste has made, aud say the
Earth benrs no harvest OF sweetness.
INN frr Ht1cf RI hn
orgottcn; and yet, in tlreo pagcs, "Doroihea"
:orgiYes the dosolate mau and 60 does tho
chdeT. |
.'Dorothea," alone Of oil tho people in tho
,ook, is condemned 10 two failures. Her eec-
md failure, like tho first, and Ike all those in
ho book, is caused by marriage. We mtat
!grec with her bro:her-in-law, nor uncle, her
lister, and Midd1cna7ch generally, that her ecc-
md Gas her first) marriage was failure. Dor
'thea" nevcr repented that she had married
Lalislaw." But as tho author, with
II her fondness for 'LadisIaw," plainly
utimates, go substantive and rare a creature
ught not to ha7e merged all her early dreams
nto the life Of another. With what raptu1ouB
SEPARATIONS had her life begin! With what