, 1873-01-19

ler wonderful sketches Of cLaractor, Their,
are 3: lcast q dozen, any one Of which woult
| gire the the average novelist material for
series. y Doro:hea" is the centre Of intereat
in the story. 1t is her lovellness Of person and ar
| dor OF character that win our sympathy-dis
hoartcned not seldom, it must be admitted, b.
her almost vilfui self-dclrsons-from tie irs:
and it il her Life that ia most involved in the
| cataatrophcs Of the story. Bat, although the
| best character in tho book. hers Ia no. the bes
drawn. She is rather subject for worahip tlat
study. There are in her no spots Of commounes.
asin "Lydgate, mo hypocrisy % IN q Dulstroda,
| rone Of s'Rosamonl's terrihla selfish.
uoss, to give occasion for fine dissection. It i:
in tho portrayal OF natures in which there arc
analysis. s'Dorothea" affords no opportunity
for such work. We know her from tho .tirHt
She IS had TINT kind Of beauty which seems te
DO thrown into relief by poor dress; and 1lcl
profile, as well ns her stature, seemed to gain
which, BY the side OF provincial fashions, gave
her the imprcssiyeness Of n Gns quotation from
the Bible, Or from one Of our older poets, in a
| paragraph Of to-day's newspaper"
1Tso'ee and 'nS q 5s1smg 5ssage' ry
TIMES Of mankind made the solicitudcs OF femi-
nine fashion appenr al occupation ut for Led
lam. Sac could not reconcile tho an1ietiea Of q
| bptfttual uicY luFu4fu!6 eteltl&1 Consequences
! with a.keen interest in gimp and artificial pro-
trusions Of drapery. Her mind YES theoretic,
| and yc2rned by its nature after some lofty con-
-ception Of the world which might frankly in-
clude tho Parish Of Upton, and her own rule Of
! conduct thero: hle was enau,orcd OF intensity
and greatness, and rash in embracing whatever
| seemed to her to have ttcse aspects; likely to
seek martyrdom, to mako rct7acta:ions, and then
| to incur rnaltyrdom after Ill in Quarter whore
| she had not sought it.
| Hran n nd kTnA 1HY1Ff.
denly down On brick floor By tho side Of sick
laboreT, and prav as forvcntly as il She thought
hcrscf living in the time Of the Apostles; who
Ind strange whims OF sitting mp at night to
| Papist. She had odd viens Of mardago. She
would Lavo accepted the judicious Hooker, il
| sho had been born in time to save him from
that wrctchcd mistake he made in matrimony /;
! or John Milton, when his blindness had come
| on the really delightful marriage must be that
when your husband was d sort of father, md
| conld teach yon oven Hebrew, If You wished it,
| She was, Is Is Ladialaw styled Ler, aaorabfy
! nimple md full Of feeling. Sho was not q
| woman to be spoken OF az other women wore
| The ordinary phrases which might apply to
| mere bodily prettinesses we're not applicable to
her. She Lad little vanity, but tho ardent
wo.nan's need to rule beneticentlyb by muking tho
joy OF another soul. It ia aho who utters these
the credit foT tLcm 10 . George Eliot, who is
speaking through :. ..Dorothea y: s. by desiring
what is perfectly good, even when, we don't
| know quite What it is, and cannot
do What we wonl1, nc arc part Of
deping der tho the skirts Of IsLt, and making
tho struggle with darkness narrower." Aud
again: II have been thinking Of tho different
why's in which Christianity is taught, and, 1heu-
ever find one that makes it i wider blessing
thaa any other, cling to that as tho tr1:est,--l
mean TINT which takes in the most good Of all
kinds, and brings III tho most people a. sharers
! in it. It il surely bot}er to psrdon too much
is accused Of hayin; been briboi to permit the
death Of a person under his care who held
secrets troublesome to his bencfactor, ''Bul-
strode," Ler geiseIous wonan1ood rises up
against the poisonous suspicious Of Middle
1pnrch, and ahe exclaims, eEergetically: "You
don't believe that Mr. Lydgate is guilty
OF anything base win not bo1eve it. Let ua
find out tho truth aud clear him." With moist
Brightness in her oyaa, sho says: people
glorifF all sorts OF bravery but that which they
might show on behalf Of their nearest neigh
bora." ''Lydgate" might well say of her:
g THIS young creature has heart large enough
for tho Virgin Mary. e..o evidently thinks noth-
ing Of her own future, and would pledge away
l1ai: !1er income 8! out~, as if sho wanted moth
ing for herself but cLnir to sit in from which
ahe can look down with those clcar eyes at tho
poor mortais who pray to her. 6ho Seeing to
have What / never saW IN auy woman BEFORE
fnnutam Of friendship toward non. 4 man
a az man more lhan he,. money" . sDorolhoa's'
natures was one Of those in which, if they
lore us, Ee are CONSCIOUS OF Il eort OF baptism
and consecration. They bind us over to recti-
tude and purity by their pure belief about III,
aad our sins l,econo that worst kind Of sacrilego
which tears down the iuylciblo nltar OF Trust
Tho author does not conceal the fact that this
exquisite creature WAS like other mortals. She
had her faults; well, VIC wish wo had them, too.
There arc two men in tho story whose lives
noro f1,nS s.
ward Cssaubon,'' old enough to bo her father,
snd his cousin, ''Will Lallslav,' young enough
to he Ills eou, To tho former-ono Of tic most
rcpellant characters in iictiou-the author is
wonderfully lust, and we can but wonder at tic
BkilI with which sl1p co1pels us to pity while va
dizliko, For "Will Ladslaw she evidently has
fo,.dness,-op OF tho few points i'll which e4o
ehovg . sign Of weakness. Both characters are
mrryels OF studious portraiture.
In the :" Eey. Edward casaubon, Dorothea "
yycro vcrv dienifea; tho set Of his irou-gray
hair and lis deep oye-aockcts male him
resemble the portrait of Locke. He
was a learned and retired. scholar, who had
spent thirty years in making hugo col1ec-