The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1876-04-15
The Greatest of Living
NOvelistS.
her NTECEDENTS And LITERARY BEGINNINGS.
Her Different Works and the Price
She Has Received for Them.
Her Connubial Romance Stranger Than
Her Fiction.
HER NTRCRDENTS and LITERARY BEGINNINGS
Her Personal Appearance and
Mode OF Writing.

known wherever the English language spoken. In
creative genius, in knowledge OF human nature, in
power of anaysA in richness and OF express
son is say she has been equalled by woman,
and by very few men.
A RENOWNED REcLusE.
Famous as her works are long thcy have shonc
under the glow of her reputation their author,
woman, has never emerged from tho strictc privacy
Many who have read her books with delight who
snatch at every line from her pen hardly remember her
real namc. There is why they should since
TO tho whole world, few intimate friends excepted,
she Is simply mind. Were she 10 walk from the Bank
TO Trafalgar square and back six times day. ven urs
10 doubt II she would meet any who would rccos-
her the first novelist Of the time. Thousands
upon thousands would know George Eliot the writer,
but not George Eliot, the woman
The appearance in parts OF her last novel, "Danic
Dcronda" has again set cultured folks to thinking OF
her, and wondering what manner OF mortal she Is who
has so mastered the mysteries OF the human heart
ind assmilacd the treasures OF the English tongue
HER pARESTAGE
George Eliot is now the wife or George Henry Lcwcs.
the htterdteur her maiden name was Evans her
given being Marian c., not Mary Ann shc has
often been called.
She was born in the north OF England, in town OF
Torksnro, think, in the spring Of 1920 She s
therefore, nearly hfty.sx Very little is known
III her early history Sho seldom " ever
icrs to il herscf anything like biographical sketch
Of her has been written, and indeed the facts
Of her life in any positively authoritative form
procurabe.
She is rcputed, however. to be tho only child Of a
dissenting clergyman, graduate of oxford, of
original mind and much learning He FIRST took orders
and preached for a while in the Established Church,
and would have prospcred there In all probability had
he not been led to DOUBT his creed, and finally, to re
sign his charge Practically this step,
but unlike many curates here, beng unable to
profess what he could not believe, he avowcd his
hetcrodoxy and dissolved his clerical connections Hc
called to take the pulpit OF Presbyterian
phapcl in town at some distance from the he
had ofcated in, and he accepted the CALL though
much smaller salary than he had formerly received.
Not long after he fell In love with member Of his
congregation as poor himself and with the IN
worldly wisdom that marks most ministers of the
Gospel promptly made her his vile, under tho theo-
ogco-sentmenal delusion that material things would
be provided by spiritual agencies They had long
and severe struggle with fortune.
cnILp.
A daugher-thc renowned noveist--was born to
thcm adding ut TO their happiness and hi n
ORANGES. The child was very precocious. though
Inclined 10 the routine studies Of the schools she
tended. She was great reader. She had an under
standing lar beyond her years Her father spent
much time and more money than he could afford
her education; but had tho good luck, when Marian
twelve to inherit few hundreds OF pounds from
uncle who had had the kindness die in this city
The child cvnced at a very early ags talent for
position which delighted her father that he en-
rouraged her in way He took the greatest
pains form her stye--he a strong aud graceful
writer hmself-and with tho best effect; for before she
sixteen she expressed her thoughts paper with
nd hat me m OF nye md fuen "
seldom equal
II is said that she has written line OF bonn
bast, which is very remarkable since tho most dis
hnguished authors have had their period OF noridty
and rhetorical faulty as they have had humps and
measles and other diseases whether literary ply
SAL that are incident to juvcnility
PRINT.
When Marian eighteen ii is said that sho began
TO write for the newspapers and periodicals here and
earned considerable money She had friends tn Q
metropolis. She merely sent her manuscripts with the
request that they should be returned her address il
not acceptable some OF them went back though not
very many and her unexpected gave her hope
and stimulated her to renewed effort Sho revealed
nothing OF her privacy. She concealed her sex
under the pseudonymc she still bears and the editors
and publishers with she had idea OF her
feminineness. She enabled 10 be Of much assist
to her parents by her slender earnings and to
pay them substantially for what they had done for
her
She had barely reached her twentieth year whom sh o
lost her father, and her mother followed him.
Having no further tics she decided to here and
lead literary life. BY that time shc had become
quaintcd through correspondence with several fam
Ics, and OF them cordially invited her TO make
their home her home. She set to work immediately
her arrival contributing poems, stories, sketches
and essays to the minor publications. Most Of her
writings were printed anonymously, and as they were
done only for pounds, shillings aud pence she has
never acknowledged them She grew steadily In ab-
y and reputation and she labored supcmcly but her
reputation naturally for young was confined
almost entirely to those who paid her and who knew
her personally.
FIRST STORIES
The FIRST work that attracted any general attention
hero was "Sccncs from Clerical Life. " They had,
believe appeared separately before they were put be-
tween They very noticeable and have the
unmistakable stamp of her strong. intellect though
hcy ere far interior TO any OF her subsequent writings
She was something thirty whea tho Scenes
we're published They made the name Of George Eliot
familiar TO number Of cultured people, hu, the saIo
vas not large. have understood ina, the author
disposed Of the contents OF the volume outright for
ESQ $780,
Two three years later she produced sSlas Mar
pcr,"so marked m advance upon her prc-ious work
that many Of her amircrs 10 this day, consider
ono Of her very best II ull OF strength
and sadness, as all her writing Is that tho reader
constantly feels It's eloquent force and penetrating
pam Despite this, persons read and rcrcad IT, for ii
has the fascination OF in her dark moods She
realized from Manner have been told, E3oo
5oo exclusive of course. OF what she has received
nnce she achieved great fame, from tho sale OF her
selected works.
sAdam Bcdc,r published IN 1885, carried her namc
scross The Channel and the Atlantic II was translated
INTO French and German, AMI many editions were sold
In the TINTED States. II laid tho foundation OF her
celebrity OF her literary fortune; tor from that date
she has been able to command publishers instead OF
yielding them, most authors have TO do through
sut their lives Conscious OF the power Of adam
81 n 49,