Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1883-03-25
GEORGE ELIOT.
4 Portrait by a Loving Hand-AotWIth-
standing Her High Qualities, She
Was, in the Best Sense,
A Practical Woman, Whose Cardinal
Greed was Duty-Her Reverence or
Every Form OF Worship.

tisbed is written with admirable COCO taste
nd Judgment and with notable sali-re1lralEl |
/. does net weary the reader with crl'lcai
dIscursiTsnsss nor with attempts 10 search
out high-Aown msaainzI and Tecosdlte Or
acles in the plain yea" and may" Ell lie. |
Itisz graceful snd unpretsutlous Ilttl9 Do
graphY, add tells all that need be told con-
cerniug on. Of the greatest writers OF the time.
1t q deeply interesting II not fascinating
wozau whom Miss 3 ind presents. As
child. girl aud woman Marian Evans Tss
ever original, sinCer5 and generously sym
pathstic. Her habitual gravity was lrrsai-
st.d row and thsn by lightning flashes Of
Wit or by the warm glow OF fumor; and
while she talked OF high themes suited to
the lips of = phi osephsr, II was WIN
"a amer and z tone full Of the most WiHnlng
womanliness. She mad = deicats compre-
benrion of and sympathy for the suherinss
Of the MIST sen.itively spiritual organic =
tor. IS shs had pity aud tenderness Tor the
bun.ed raongrel, whether brute or human.
Her knowledge vas profound, her talk
marvel Of depth and grace; yet she cared
for practical work, and ooCe pointed out 10
a trlerd that one OF her beautiful hands was
broader scross than the other, saying with
Soma prise tn at it was due to the quantity
of butter and cheese she had made duriog
the DAYS when she kept house Tor ner father
at Grit.
There ia little that is new 10 matters OF
fact in Miss Blinds work, but abe has skli-
fully comoins snd arranged what materials
we're At hand. There is q touch OF hum5r
in the snecdo.s of Isaac Evans, the unculti-
waited countrv-bres brother Of the novelist,
VINO was the only person who ImAesIsiely
penetrated tho disguise Of "George Eliot
He could not but recognise irnumerable IN
cidsutS. CD arscters and sayings in the Scenes
| and in Adam Bsde, ior all had bsen familiar
| To his youth and Msrian's. But he kept his
dircoytry closely locked within hIs eva
| breast, and trent led lest anyone elss should
| find out tbs sscret, fearing the cutlery Of
bsRely bejghborI wko might not always
| feel that tie author had represented
| taem Ia colers sufficiently hatterIns.
| TIE frat sugsestion Of noVei-"rltIEg
| came about for Mira. Lswss IL = very simple
| fashion. She and Lswes lad returned 70
| London from the Cor,iseRt and we're not toe
| WeII Of. One day an idea struck the viva
cious, versatile and unsuccessful author OF
| Ranthorpe. "My dear" he said, u think
you could write a ospital story. soon alter
| ward ssme dinner engagement vas "a 1se
but as LsUes prepared 10 leave the house als
| wife said: 81 won't &c out this evening, and
| when you come in don't disturb me. shaIl
be very busy" And thus cane into the
world the Scenes of Clerical LIe. To The
| genius of othsrs George Eliot" always OF
fered the NEST generous recognition, WhIie
| to their spiritual belisfs Ebe gave the larses
hospitality. She has, indeed, seen heard Ia
cay that "the best lesson Of to!ersncs we Aav'
| 10 leara is to tolerate intolerance" VI heI
own beliefs her biographer Gays:
| Up to the sge or seventeen or eighteen Mar ar
had been considered the most truly plous man bel
OF her family, being earnestly pent a. sne 81 :
Ito shape this anomalous English Christian ne
OF ours Into soHe consistency with the spirit aad
simple verbal tenor Of tse New Testament
| was brought up" abe informs another CORES pon1
\ ent, I'm The Church OF England, and nave hevsl
Joined any other religious society; but nave mac
| close Acquaintance with many oissenters iro 4
| various sects, from CAlv1nistic An2DApusH 70
Unitarians." Her inner life at this time ls lAlth-
| fully mirrOred in the spiritual experiences o.
| "NSrrie TulIiysr' Marian Evans was not one wEc
| could resS satisfied with outward observances arc
| lip worship; she nesded faith which sh0ulc
give unity and ssnctity to the concepiloa Oh NE
| something to be lived for beyond the mer;
| satisfaction OF self, which is TO the moral hi'
| animal life" At one time Evangelicalism sup
| piled her with the most erzcutl<l eonoiuoss 81
religious lie; with All me ycnenenee % -
scceptance Of the teaching of Christianity, caTryln
| her zeal to the pitch of Ssceticism. Geort
| Eliot had the highest regard Tor LeWess oPlhion'
| but held TO her own. One of the Chief subjects Q
| difference consisted in their attitude to"ar
| ChristiInity; whersa, he was its uucOm promtsin
| opponent she hid the greatest sympathy with H.
| various manifestations from Roman canon
| aLerticiSn TO Evangelical austeTity and Methods
| ferYor Her reverence for every form OF worshl
| in which mankind has more or less conscious
embodied its sense of the mystery oil az TN
| years she was deeply penetrated by that teaG
| eucy of the PoSiuvist spirit which recognizes N
| sees the close, nay indissoluble, connection be
| tween the faith of former generations and tn
ideal of our OWL she herself ionna ape sSe2i
ture in the reiisisn 81 humanity. AZ h.s -ITsad
been repeatedly pointed out, tnore runs thIou
all her works the same persistent teaching Of II
Infinite Nature OF Duty" And with Comte 81
refers the oongAtloa OF outy as wen :. az seu =
ments Of devotion, 10 q concrete OBJ ct: at one
ideal aud real; the human race, co nceiVsd as
continuous whole, including the past. the preseI
Though George Eliot drew many of her ides
of II al cultivation from the doctrines Of Com te
Philssophic Positive PoIitivist in u
strictest sense OF too word. Her mind was far &c
creative by nature TO We an unqualified sdhes Q
TO such q system as Conste's Indeed her deyotio
to tbs idea OF mankind, conceived IS a collecti'
| whole is not So much Characteristic of Positivis
, | a. Of the greatest modern minds, minds such
| Hugo InaSmuch COate co-srdiua ted the
idess into consistent doctrine George Eliot four
| herself sreItly attracted to HIS system; and NJ
. | geeIly, after an acquaintance Of eighteen yeaI
= | considered himself justified in stating that h
powerful intellect had accepted the teaching
Augaste Comte, and that she looked forward to Il
reorganization OF belief on the lines whish he Ia
lald down. still her adherence, ike that OF g.
= ! Lewes, was only partial and spplisd Dainly Is
philosophy, and net to his icheme Of social polio
: She went farther than the latter, however, in
! concurrence. Fer Mr.. Lewes. speaking of Il
G. | admits that his antagonistic attitude bad bee
considerably medised on learning from the I
Q | mark of one very sear to him. ito regard il
Utopia. presenting hypotheses rather than do
Neutrality-suspicious. for future inquiriesrather ths
n | dogmAs for adopts"
On the whole, although George Eliot did n
i sgree with Comtes later theories concerning Il
| reconstruction of society, she regarded them wi
| sympathy ''ss the efforts of az Individual to a
y | ticipRte the work of future generations" Til
y | sympathy with the general POsitivist NOV enle
II She showed ey subacribi regularly to POSITIVE
| objects especially to the fund of the Central Q
gauization presised over by u. Lafitte but she /
:. Vsrisbly refused al membership with the Pos
| tiVist community. In conversation with m o
2 and valued friend, she also repeatedly express,
, her objection to much in Comte's later specul
d | tons, saying on one occasion, i cannot subm
= my intsIlecI nay soul to the guidsnce of Co 4 to
The fact IS that, although George Eliot great
e Influenced by the lsadisE Posititvist ideas, b
1 mind was too original not to work out her oE
Il | Individual conception OF life.
e la her girlhood, Miss Blind says, GsorJ
y Eliot had quantity of soft pRle-broWn ha
Wora in ringlets "Hsr head was mastiv
: her features powerful and rugged, her mou
e large but shapely, the jaw singularly squa
i Tor a woman, yet having certain delicst
:. | OF outline. A neutral tone OF colori1g d
no: help TO relieve this general heaviness
structure, ths complexion being pale but n
d fair"
p Nevertheless the play Of expression aud the VIC
n | defful mobility of ths mouth, which incress
y | with sge gave a womanly softnass to the cou a
u nance in curious contrast with its FRAMEWORK
| Her eyes, of 6 6ray-blue constantly varying
IS | color, striking SEINE ~ intensely blue, Others
@ | Of q pale, washed-out gray, were small and I
3 beautiful within themselves, but when she 81,
n | animated in conversation those eyes lit up t
1 whele face seeming in manner "a trsns69urs
. So much was this the ciae; that young lady "
| had once aujoysd an hour's conversation with
% came away under its spell with the impression Il
ir she was beautiful, but sftsrward, on sect
y could hardly believe her to be the same peTst
. | The charm of her natnre disclosed itself in
# OF Dorothea in beizg like the voice of soul Il
has ones lived in an EeliRn harp" 1t was Il
ID and dsep, vibrating with sym PATTY.
Il was much struck with the grand pro portions
r. | her head that he took Marian Evans 10 Lsns
to have a cast made. He thinks that after that
" Napoleon, her head showed the largest deVelt
"a neEt from brow to ear OF any persons recoId'
= and SavasarolI's has been frequently pointed o
Some afinity in their Natures may have led her
h uneonscously, to select that epoch OF Floren ii
De Though not above the middle hight Mari
IL | gave people the impression of being much tai
III | slight, being wei poised ana not without c
tain Iiursinesz ei make. She ~aS never robust
10 health, being delic.tsly strung, and OF hi:l
| bilitV OF her nature often made her Maynard 3
ID hysterical. In fact her extraordinary intellect
vigor did not exclude the suscepubilitier q
n weaknesses of 9 peculiarly feminine orgsnizRli
n | Vita all her mental sctivity she YET led an
.ansely emotional life, q life which must hi
be neA hidden trials for her, in those days
A. was kh0Wn by her friends ito weep bueketsiul
ei tears" Her long pale face, with It's stron
lt marked feA,ure was less rugged in tie msti
prime Of life han in youth, the inner mesniagi
10 aer nature naV1E worked themselves more
- more 10 the Surface the mouth, with its Der
NE nant GuaY1ty OF Expression, especially soften
Sc the too prominent Rnder-ip and mass
jaw. Her abundant hair, untiuged W
On gray, whose smooth aands made q <
A., OF frame to the face, was covered kya lace
10 muslin cap, with lsppets ef rich point or Val
of | cieRnes lace fastened Hzder her chfn Her on
| blue eyeI, under noticeable Sralsxhes eYnrs.
on | the same acute EensitiveHesI a ~ lar, =
beautifully shared hands she had 4 go
IN lauga and Emiie, her voice being low, distinct
| intensely 81 pathetic in quality; it was contri
in singing but she seldom sang or played bel
more than one or two friends Though her C
vsrsstion was perfectly easy, each sentence wa
finished, as perfectly formed, as the style of
lts published works. Indeed she laid great stress
the value Of correct sTeakiug AID clearness
enunciation: ard in TheephrdstUs Such she laElt
, | 1.-The general ambition to speak every language
I | cspts our mother EngliSh, which perSorS of ST
rot ashamed of corruPunE with slArE, 4
at | foreign equivalents and 4 pronunciation
I'D brushes out all color from the vowelz, and j
on them between jostlng consonants.'
an Girls Who Wear Bangs.
rs Bags Gu girl give her an uuruly lo
!, like = COW with a board oysr her face