The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1879-09-24
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George Eliot andher Work

George Eliot andher Work
THE TRUE STORY OF HER VERY
REMARKABLE LIFE.
A Strange Platonic Marriage =. How
She has Earned q Quarter OF a MIL
lion Of Dollars by Her Pen s.. Her
Marvellous Mind. =
LONDON, August 3O.-It seems to be gener-
ally understood-indeed, those In aposition
that Marian G. Evans, better known as
George Eliot. has published her last book,
and has, so far as the public Is concerned, act
uaily Withdrawn from literary life. II this
for she Is incontcstably the greatest living
writer OF fiction In this, or probably In any
country. She liz often spoken Of as the most
gifted OF women novclists, which Is more
woman to compare with her, aud since gent
us has never been and never should be con-
sidered seXually. She Is n master, and Il
mighty one. Her novels are totally unlike
scope. TO mention them in connection with
the flctiOns OF Mary Braddon, Mrs. Henry
Wood, "Ouida," Mrs. Beecher stowe, Mrs. Re.
becca Harding Davis, or any other English or
American feminine author, Is little less than
grOtesque. They have no kindred with the
higl-colored, morbidly sentimental, feverish
stories OF. DeStael and George Sand, two Of
the most eminent women OF literary France.
In no sense are they romances. They are sig
nally .philosophic; they are studies OF n
from ~ife-extracts, as It were,
FROM THE oUL or HUMANITY, :.
revelations of mlnd to mind. Theyare In the
same vein as BalZac and Thackeray, and yet
very different: they arc In some sense unique.
George Eliot's novels do not live, what will
live In literature? They are CONVERSATIONS OF
thought, pictures. OF the real. and models OF
nervous eplgrammatlc expression. George
Eiiots lTsspnD!ished work; Life and opln-
lytic essays, has not been written, as many
think, since she produced Daniel Deronda.o
The essays have been done through a series Of
years In the intervals Of more protracted-n
not more s~erious-labor, when she had leisure
and was In the mood to do them. They ore
subtle n sagacious, as all her performances
are, and clearly, indicate the authorship OF
adam Bede,"' Mill on the Floss" and Felix
Holt" She has definitely announced IT. I'M
derstnnd, as her flnRl publication, SO that her
extraordinary literary career may be said to
be closed, making this a fit time to review her
professional and private life, one Of the most
extraordinary lives, on The whole, OF any
writer OF the present time. Notwithstanding
her very wide fame, hardly anything has been.
known o1 her personally, 50 that any and oil
It Is singular that the everyday existence Of
the greatest and most renowned OF English
novelists should be as hidden from the mass
Of her readers at home as though she were a
dwellcri In the heart OF Africa In no biogra-
phical record with which l am acquainted can
any details Of her antecedents be found. She
seems from the beginning TO have shrunk
from publicity, even 10 the extent OF conceal.
f,,u 1nr nrnpnr Dom SaprnQ Eliot q MI 20 h0f
she has written Is her entire history, and I
have been told that she once sud to o friend
that. when she WIS buried. she wished only
her pen-name to be placed on o single slab.
MARIAN C. EVANS
was born in q town In Warwickshire, In many
respects the most interesting county In Great
Britain, for It contains Stratford. Warwick
Castle. Guys Gin. Kenilworth, the quaint
old tower OF Coventry, and many other his.
tOric places and monuments. She Is the
daughter OF q country curate who, having
nothing but his small salary and u number Of
children, had not the means to give her such
an education az her precoci0us mind and con:
splcuous talents deserved. While he was de-
batting what means to adopt to secure the dc.
sired end, a brother clergyman, q friend OF
his, possessed OF a handsome independence.
became interested IN her, and asked the priyi-
lege to take charge Of the training OF her IN.
~tellect. The privilege was granted. and, that
the purpose might be more conveniently and
thoroughly carried out, she was virtually
adopted by her clerical friend and went to re-
side under his ROOF. There she had the best
teachers procurable, aud. as she was tortured
by on Unsuitable thirst for knowledge, she Inn
proved astonishiDgly, and Ut eighteen had nc
luired an extent and variety OF culture such
us few persons Of either sex attain at that nge.
! The more she knew the more, she wanted to
know, and she amazed her masters by
HER oU1cKSEss, %rRoEUSDITY AND oRIGI-
NALITY. 81
She got beyond them ere long. and ct TWEEN
ty-tw0 resolved 10 come to London, having
demonstrated her remarkable capacity TO
write TO everybody acquainted wiCh her.
They all agreed that literature was her yocsi-
lion, and that 1t would he a SIN against
nature to prevent her from following H.. She
wished, roreo ger, generous as her benefactor
was, to be independents, and she was confident
that this great capital would ultimately insure
her the Independence which she craved: She
was near h, r twenty-third year when she de-
cided to make London her homes and It has
continued 10 be her home over since. Marian
Evans came here with q few letters OF intro.
ductiOn. and began at once to write for the
periodicals, not the merely popular but the
intellectual sort, like Frdxer, BtacEUo0d and
the leading reviews. Instead or verses. stories
and SIX etcles, to which the feminine mind Is
addicted, she produced
THOUGHTFUL, SOLID PAPERS,
demanding erudition and research, such as
are usually called OF q masculine order. After
Il wnllG SIG DcCItIUe u TeSutuT COLlLTlDuIOT w
the Edinburgh and WestnIiuster, few persons,
save the editor, suspecting that the contribu.
tons cAlme from q woman. AS. she had no
general reputation, her earnings were small.
but sufficient TO defrpy her expenses In the
economical way she lived. She did her best
work for the TeFtHinster, because she WAS
more In sympathy with Its spirit, from the
outset thoroughly Independent and liberal,
and because her welcome there Ind been cor
dial md generous. So sincerely was she mp.
preciatcd thut, during the temporary absence
Of tho editor, she acted In his stead, and dis
charged the arduous duties OF the OPPOSITION ex-
cellently. She was barely y at that time,
and that O. woman could be capable of edit
Ing the Westminster, at such al age, proves Of
what O high order or mind she must have
been possessed. Her first sustained work was
O translation of Strauss's "Ieben Jesu' (Life
Of CHRISTI which appeared In ls48, succeeded
soon after by n translation OF Fcuerbachts
Essence OF Christianity" Her. English YER
sion denoted cOnclusively her accurate knowl-
edge of German and her power over her own
tongue.
order OF magazines and reviews fur q number
OF years, rarely. II ever, %yenturing upon iis.
ton. Her papers were then OF so phil0sophic
n stamp that nobody would have expected
that she would have developed into a novel
ist. She was 81 when she RnbltShed. under
tho signature OF George Eliot," q series Of
| stories in BLackC0od bearing the title OF
'.Scenes of Clerical Lifet,' They were marked
by q fresh, racy, vigorous style. and speedily
drew attention, for they proclaimed the I'd
vent OF
A NEW NOVELIST OF SIGNAL ABILITY.
The signature was generally understood to
bea pseudonym, and great curiosity was ielt
woman? Most persons decided that 1t was q
man (: thai no oma had such grasp. or
strength; that the diction was unquestionably
masculine. The year ioliowing the admita-
appearance, in numbers, Of adam Bede,""
which gained vast success in the magazine;
and had an immense sale when put between
covers. The story placed her among the first
novelists OF the day, and rendered George
Kingdom, and introduced her, I believe, To
your side of the water. The work was in due
time translated into French and German. and
has since been done into Spanish, Italian,
It brought her the acquaintance OF o number
OF literary men (she had always been shy ard
had scdulously avoided society," among them
ems, Adolphus TrolIope, T~hackeray. Matthew
Arnold, Milkie Collins, Leslie Stephen. and
Charles ReAde. Spencer and Lewes wero par
ticularly interested In her, and a close intel
~iectual friendship sprang up between them.
tenn OF philosophy, and Loves added largely,
TO her stock OF culture by his own diversified
attainments: Spencer, albeit O phflosophtc
bachelor,
WISHED TO MARRY HER,,
1t Is said: but she declined his proposal.
Lewes was strongly drawn TO her through In,
tcllectual sympathy. far more SO than he had
ever been Or believed he ever could be to any
human being. He said that they needed one
another; tina he felt he could help her as
much as she could help him; that their minds
were correlated land mutually responsive.
Lcwes would have been only too happy 70
make her his wife. But there was an obstacle
in tho way OF their nuptials then or ut any
other definite time. There was q Mrs. Lewes
already, and, what was worse, although she