The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-09-21
Inc True Story Of Her Very Re-
markable Life,
q Strange Platonic Marriage-How
She Has Earned a Quarter of a
Million Of Dollars by Her
Pen-Her Marvel
GUS Mind.
[Chicago Trihune.l


Marian G. Evans, better known as George
Eliot, has published her last book, and has, SO
far as the public is concerned, actually with
drawn from literary life. Ii this be true. II Ia
a very important literary event, for she Is In
contestably the greatest living writer OF fic-
ton In this or probably In any country She
10 often spoken OF as the most gifted OF woman
nOvelists, which is more than unjust-it Is
there IL no woman to compare
with her, and since genius has never been and
never should be considered sexually. She is a
master, and a mighty one. Her novels are
totally unlike novels generally In spirit, aim,
character and scope. To mention them In
connection with the tictions Of Mary Braddon,
Mrs. Henry Wood, "Ouida," Mrs. Beecher
Stowe, Mrs. Rebecca Harding Davis, or any
other English or American feminine author,
Is little less than grotesque. They have no
kindred with the high-colored, morbldlysen-
timental, feverish stories OF De Stael and
George Sand, two Of the most eminent women
OF literary France. In no sense are they
romances. They are signally philosophic;
they are studies OF and from life EXTRACTS as
1t were,
FROM THE SOUL OF HUMANITY
revelations OF mind to mind. They are In the
same vein as Balzac and fhackeray, and yet
very different; they are in some sense unique,
and seem destined to long continued fame. II
George Eiiats novels do not live, what will
live In Iiterature2 They are CONVERSATIONS Of
thought, pictures of the real, and models OF
nervous epigrammatic expression. George
Eliot's just published work, Life and Opin-
ions Of Iheophrastus Such" series oil ana-
lytic essays, has not been written, as many
think, since she produced "Daniel Deronda."
The essays have been done through series
Of years In the intervals OF more protracted-
If not more serious-labOr. when she mad lei
sure and was In the mood TO do them. They
are subtitle and sagacons, as all her perform
ances are, and clearly indicate the authorship
of .Adam Bede," "Mll on the Floss" and
Felix Holt" She has definitely announced
1t, / understand, as her final publication, so
that her extraordinary literary career may be
said to be closed, making this tit time to re-
view her professional aud private life, one OF
the most extraordinary lives, on the whole, OF
any writer OF the present Time NOtwith-
standing her very wide fame, hardly any
thing has been known of her personally, so
that any and all details of the woman havesa
double interest. 1t 10 singular thai the every
day existence OF the greatest and most re-
nowned of English novelists should be as
hidden from the mass Of her readers at home
as though she were dweIler In the heart OF
Africa. In no biographical record with which
am acquainted Can any details 81 her ante
cedents be found. She seems from the Begin
the extent of conceaIing her proper name.
George Elut aud what she has written 10 her
entire history, and | have been told that she
once said to friend that. when she was
buried she wished Gully her pen name to be
placed on single SLAB.
MARIAN G. EVANS
was born In q town In Warwickshire In many
respects the most interesting county in Great
Britain, for 1t contains Stafford, Warwick
Castle, Guys Cliff. Kenil worth, the quaint
old tower IF Coventry, and many other his
toric places and monuments. She Is the
daughter of country curate who, having
nothing but bis small salary and a number Of
children had not the means to give her such
an education as her precocous tnlnd ana con-
spiciOus talents deserved While he was
debating what means to adopt to secure the
desired end, a brother Clergyman, friend OF
his possessed OF d handsome Independence,
became Interested In her, and asked the priv
iIege to take charge OF the training OF her
intellect The privilege was granted, and,
that the purpose might be more conveniently
and thoroughly carried out, she was virtually
adopted by ner clerical friend and went to re-
side under his roof. There she had the best
teachers procurable, and, as she was tortured
by an Unsuitable thirst tor knowledge, she
improved astonishingly, and at eighteen had
acquired an extent and variety Of culture
such as few persons Of either sex attain at
that age The more she knew the more she
wanted to know, and she amazed her masters
HER QUICKNEss, PRoFUNDITY AND oEIGI-
She got beyond them ere long, and at % re-
solved to come to London having demon
strated her remarkable capacity to write to
anybody acquainted with her. They all
that it would be q sin against nature to pre-
vent her from following 1t. She wished,
moreover, generous as her benefactOr was. to
be independent, and she was confident that
this great capital would ultimately insure
her the independence which she craved. She
was near her twenty third year when she de-
cded to make London her home, and 1t has
continued TO be- her home ever since. Marian
Evans came here with few letters OF intro
ductiOn and began at once to write for the
periodicals, not the merely popular but the
intellectual sort like Fraser, Btackwood and
the leading reviews. Instead OF verses,
stories and sketches, to which the feminine
mind Is addicted, she produced
TRUTHFUL, SOLID PAPERS,
demanding erudition and research, such as
are usually called Of q masculine order. After
awhile she became regular contributor to
the EdinbMrg and Westntmster, lew persons
save the editor suspecting that the contribu-
tions came from woman. AS she had no
general reputation, her earnings were small,
but sufficient to defray her expenses In the
economical way she lived. She did her best
work for the Westminster, because she was
more In sympathy with its spirit, from the
outset thoroughly Independent and liberal,
and because her welcome there had been cor
dial and generous. so sincerely was she ap-
preciated that, during the temporary absence
Of the editor she acted in his stead, and dis
charged the arduous duties OF the position ex.
cellently She was barely 27 at that time, and
that q woman could be capable OF editing the
Westminster, at such an age, proves OF what a
high order Of mind she must have been pos
gessed. Her first sustained work was trans
IatIon of Strauss eLeben Jesu" life of
Christi, which appeared in 1876. succeeded
soon after by q translation Of Feuerbach's
Essence OF Christianity" Her English YER
sion denoted conclusively her accurate knowl-
edge Of German and her power over her own
tongue.
She continued to furnish articles to the best
order of magazines and reviews for number
Of years, rarely, if ever, venturing upon fic-
tion. Her papers were then OF SO philoso-
phic stamp that nobody would have ex-
pected that she would have developed into a
novelist. Sh. was thirty-seven when she
published, under the signature OF George