Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1884-06-30

sa,us lShent that MANS inhumap-
ny 20 man makes countless thousands
mourn" there is especial need of
george Eliots teachings. What she
tells us about duty to Others IL %.
peclaiiy needed. We must NOT only
LOOK above us that we may climb
nigner ourselves, but in order To enjoy
tne greatest happiness aud success
must ever have a hand to reach down
level. " '" our own
II Will be impossible TO give more
snan the briesest gllmfses here of some
She lays great stress unon fee,,ny
ana says; Even In the most hichiv
developed intellects there IL n subron-
scious mental activity and ipstinctiye
lie OF feeling, which IA rather In he
trusted than reason itself.
The law of hereditary transmission
was one in which she most stronvlv he.
neveu. truly we are not responsible
LOT the acts OF our ancestors hut thew
are argely responsible for ours. As
". w. hoimes says, ito get rid of
"scais we must stop raising them,n
IN accepting the intellectual conclu.
sions OF evolution she has filled in the
outline with poetry and feeling. Her
stories ABOUND in the hardness,
cruelty, anguish and mystery of the
world ana her constant effort was to
snow now these elements enter into
ana help TO form the destiny Of the
She constantly reminds one Of duty
ana teaches a graceful submission TO
the inevitable. Both she and Matthew
Arnold believe that there Is no i'm.
mortality for the soul, but while he
seems DESTROYS of escaping the gloom
OF his own belief, she accepts the be.
iief; looks 1t squarely In the face and
proceeds TO make the most of IL.
In her youth she came In contact
with Chas. Bray, a philosopher of con
siderable ability, who believed among
other things that death and birth,
the means of renewal and succession.
bear the same relation TO this body OF
society rs the system of waste and re-
production do to the human body. the
old and useless and decsyed material
Is carried out and fresh substituted
and thus the frame Is renovated and
rendered capable of ever increasing
happiness The minds, that
is 10 say the ideas and feelings OF
winch they were composed. of Soc.
rates, Plato, Epicurus, Calico, Bacon,
Locke, Newton, are thus forever
IN existence, and the Immortal.
ity OF the soul Is preserved, not
IN individuals, but In the great body
oil humanity. To the race, though not
to individuals, all beautiful things are
preserved forever; all that IL really
good and profitable Is immortal No
This she readily assented, aud all OF
her artistic creations We're afterwards
based ON that notion. Her poem on
Subjective Immortality nicely illus
trates her belief about future exist
encs.
She did not uphold any church
organization, and all membership with
the positivist community she decl tped
she disliked anything which Looked
to be sectarian.
But the force of her earlier religious
teaching never left her.
She not only appreciated Chris
tianity IA IA vehicle Of the accumulated
hopes and traditions of the worlds
feeling and sorrow, but she expressed
more sympathy with the simple faith
| OF the multitude than with the intel
lectusl speculations aud theories OF
theologians and philosophers.
Having in early life been fairly
| grounded In the principles of Chris
tianity, she was enabled to appreciate
and portray the religious experiences Of
men most sympathetically. To her IL
was mn expressed satisfaction 10 keep
In unbroken sympathy with religious
experiences of her childhood, while
her intellect was unable To accept the
beliefs y which these experiences
rested. Re maintained the religious
sent.me IN all their glow and depth
Of influ ace, but rejected the doctrines
on which they rested.
She did not believe In the personal
immortality of the soul, but believed
that our good deeds or bad live after us
in the human race, and that we can
only hope to live hereafter in the lives
of Others. She regards the human
race immortal, but denies Immortality
10 the human being.
| Her view of Immortality IN expressed
very beautifully IN one of her latest
poems as follows
"a may join the choir invisible
| Of those Immortal dead who live again
| In minds made better by their presence; live
4 III nultth htlfftb w ftHtIbNitSt
| IN deeds OF daring rectifude. In acorn
| For miserable aims that end with self,
| Infhoushts sublime that pierce tne night
And with their mild persistence urge mans
| search
| To vaster issues
IL seems like email hope for 30
large mind us George Eliots to look
not beyond this earthly span; but con-
sidering the hopelessness of her out
| look for the future did she not net well
| her part? Though we should have =
larger hope for the future. IL Will In no
sense be impaired by observing the
cardinal principles OF George Eliops
philosophy. She insured to her
self the only kind Of immortality
In which she believed, and will be all
| the better prepared to enjoy our larger
hone IL IL shall be realized.
In her own words:
$40 us IL is conceivable that la some
minds the deep pathos lying IN the
Thought of human mOrtality--that we
are here for . little while, and then
vanish away; that this earthly life IL
ali that Is given to our loved ones, and
to our many suffering fellow men
| lies nearer the fountains OF moral emo.
tion than the conception OF extended
existence"
George w. Cooke says Of her relig-
ious attitude: George Ellots religion
n without God, without Immortality,
without . transcendent spiritual aim
aud duty. II consists In an humble
submission 10 the inyariable laws OF
the universe, profound love OF hu.
m,anity. . glorification OF feeling and
affection and a reconciliation Of personal
and selfish desires for All altruistic de-
yotion to the good Of the race. piety
without God, remuneration. without