, 1873-01-05
"MIDDLEMARCH."

Id "MlDDLEMARCH."
" Excerpts from q George E1iot,s,, La
!. Novel.
We rnorta1s, men and women, deyour many
a disappointment between breakfast and Dime
time; Keep back tho tears, and look little pa
y about tho lips; and, In answor to inquiries, sa
= "Oh, nothing!" Pride helps us; and pride
i not had thing when it only urges ua to hide OF
;. own hurts-not to hurt others.
D. Lifo could mover have gono on at nny perio
y but for liberal allowance Of conclusions vl,ic
facilitates marriages under tho difficulties c
civilization. Has any ono ever pinchod into it
, plulous smallneBo the cobweb Of prematrimo
nial acquaintaucaship
, Miss Brooke argued from words and disposi
, lions not less unhesitatingly than other young
Ladies' Of her ago. Signs are small, measurable
things, but interpretations arc iuimitable, and
in girls Of sweet, ardent nature, every sign ID
apt to conju1e up wonder, hope, belief, vast as Z
sky, and colored by dftfused tllimblaful Of
matter in the ahapo Of knowledge. They are moi
always too grossly deceived; for sinbad himself
may haye fallen By good luck Oh d true doscrip-
ton, aud wrong reasoning sometimes lands poor
mortals in right conclusions.
"A woman dictates before marriage in order
that she may have IN appetite for submission
afterward.
Suppose We turn from outside estimates Of i
J man, to wonder with kecner interest what is tho
report OF his own consciousness about his
doinga or capacity with what hindrances he ia
carrying on lis daiiy iabors what fading Of
hopes, or what deeper fsity OF sef-delusion,
the years are marking OF for him; and with
what spirit he wrestles aga'nt universal pressure
1 T. r.
! him and bring his heart to final
pause. Doubtless his lot is important
in his own eyes, and the chief 1eason We think
| he asks too large place in onr consideration
must be our want OF favor for him, since ne re-
| for him to the Divine regard with perfect conf
| denco nay, it il even held sublime for our
| neighbor to expect tho utmost thore, however
! little be may hare got from us.
! Tho old lawyer, Who lad been go long con-
cerncd with the landed gentry that he had be-
como landed himself.
! ANY one watching keenly the slow convey
ance Of human lots secs slow preparation Of
effects from one life on another, which tells like
q calculated irony on the indifference or the
frozen stare with which ne look at IN unintro-
duced ncishbor: Destiny stands by sarcastic,
with our d'dnlatis persone1folded in her hand.
We 1nortals have Our divine moments when
lore is satisfied in tho completeness Of the be-
loved object.
-Dulstrode-and what's hea He's got no
4aao netsaooat th1t esef heafa tell or. A
speculating fellow! He may come down any
day when the dovil leaves OF backing him. Aud
that's What his religion means-he wants God
Almighty to como III. That's not SENSE There's
one On thing made ont Pretty clear when used
sticks to the land. Ho promises land, and |
He gives land; and He makes chaps rich with |
corn and cattle.
One can begin so many things with new (
acquaintance !-evon begin to be = better man. |
in tina nnt1t113a Cf mii(1a mar ysxr}4f
about their vocations in daily course deter
mined for them much in tho salaa way es the tie
OF their cravats, there is always q good number
alter the world little. The story Of their COM
ing to be shapen after the average, and fit to be
packed by tho gross, is h1rd1y eyer told, even in
their consciousness; for perhaps their own ardor
for generous unpaid toll cooled as imperceptiby
their earlier self walked like q ghost in
its old home, and mado tho new
furniture ghastly. Nothing in the world more
subtitle than tho process Of their gradual change.
you and may have sent some Of our breath TO-
ward injecting them, when we uttered our con-
forming falsities, or drew our ally conclusions
or perhaps. it came with the vibrations from .
=" Hang your Reforms said Mr.. chichely.
"Iheles nc greater humbus in the world. You
never hear of Reform but it means trick to
put in new. men,"
Some encouragement, some faintnssa Of
heart, at the new real future which replaces tho
imaginary, ia not unusual aad .7o do not expect
people to be moved by What is not unusual.
That element Of tragedy which lies in the vorY
fact OF frequency has not ye: wrought itself into
tho coarBe emotion OF mankind. End perhapg our
frames could hardly bear much of It, II We had I
. Keen vision and fealing Of all ordinary human
life, it would be like hearing tho grass grow, and
the squirrels heart beat, snd No should die OF
that roar which liea on tho other side OF enen~e
in courtship, everything Is regarded as pro-
visiona1 aud preliminary, aud the smallest SAM |
pie OF virtue or accomplishment is taken to : :
guarantee delightful stores which the broad
leisure OF marriage will reveal But, the door Z
sill Of marriage onco crossed expectation is con-
centreted on the present. Having once embark
ed on your marital voyage, it il Impossible not
to bo aware that you make no way, End that the 2,
sea is not within sight; that, in fact, you arc ]
exploring an incioscd basin.
Young 1o7c-nlaking-that goBsamer web!
Even tho points it clingB to-the things whence its
subtle interlacings arc swung-are scarcely per
ceptiblo: momenta1y touches Of fuger-tips
fnisled phrases, Ightest chauges Of check and
lips, faintest tremors. The neb itself ia made Of
spontaneous boIiefs and indefnable joys, yearn-
1T is in these acts called trivialities that tho
seeds OF Joy are proven wasted, until men and Z
Eomen look round With hasgard faces at the de-
Tastation their own waste has made, and say tho !
earth bears no harvest Of sweetness calling
That controlled self-conaciousness Of man. e
7er which is the expensive substitute for sim
plicity, =
1t is little too trying to human flesh to be I
conscious of expressing ones self better than =
otheEs, and never to have it noticed and, in the
general dearth OF admirstion for the right I
hing, cven chance ray Of applause falling ex- {
.ctly in time is rather fortifying. {
by desiring whstisperteetly good, even when
ne don't quite know what it ia, and cannot do :
FhAt We would, VIC are part Of the divine power +!
against vil,-widening the skirts OF Light, and !
making the struggle with darkness narrower.
Il have always been thinking Of the different !
rays in which Christianity is taught, and, When I
,yer find one way that is wider blessing than I
my other, cling to that IS the t1uest-l mean
hat which takes in tho most good Of Ill kinds,
nd brings in the most people as sha1ers in It. {
What ne call OUT despair ia often the pain ,
nj eagerness Of unfed hope
When tender affection has been storing it. q
elf in us for many Of our years, the ides That (
re- could accept any exchange for it seems to be
cheapening OF our lives. And We can Set q {
A.t.- q. i q