Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-03-08

lu.trations. 3 vols. New York: Harper
Bros.
1t would be strange If any work pur-
porting to show the life of this, the most
gifted female writer in English, did not
provoke much and varied criticism. She
herself, during that part of her life in
which she was known at all, was the sub
ject of verdicts widely divergent, not only
by reason of The fact that Intellectual per-
ception of her literary qualities came to
most readers tinged and colored by an in
separable sense of moral heresy. but be-
cause there has always been, aud proba-
bly, always will be, on account uf her sub
tlety of thought, an appreciation of her
mental products as varying as the
minds Of the readers themselves,
even amongst those who are able
TO diyest themselves of all sentiment
concerning the personality of the artist
IN the enjoyment of the creations of her
brain. 1t would, therefore, not be sur
prising if the present work, in when Mr..
Cross has endeavOred to portray her, had
divided the reading world as widely as are
moral spectators concerning her morals
and novel readers over her books. That
he has performed valuable service TO
literature, by merely giving US many of
her authentic letters, is in contes table;
whether he has done all that could reason
ably he expected of him, taking into con-
slderation the means at his disposal, may
well be doubted, even by those VINO
are accustomed to regard every word
uttered or written by her as
of priceless merit. We are among those
to whom his performance of his task
brings chiefly regret that so much was
left undone. What Mr.. Cross has actually
placed before us is this: He has selected
from many sources of wealth, we may
fairly presume-letters which in his judg-
ment give the best idea Of herlntellectual,
and, in faint, shadOwy way, her pt ysi-
cal progress, and claiming them together
with an occasional but rare narrative or
comment by himself, and emitting from
each letter all such matter as seemed to
him unnecessary or undesirable, and sell
dom naming the persons to whom they
we're written, he has endeavOred to pre-
sent an entire picture OF her life. The
actual result is that you see something
more Of the authOress than you knew
before, and fundamentally little
more Ofthe woman. 1t is doubtful il any
such plan could be successful under any
circumstances. We can give our full
confidence to the wise intelligence of few
persons to the extent CT that submission to
their judgment concerning eXcessio,
which has been required Of US by Sir.
Cross. a life exhibited by letters, to be-
complete and real, must be shown by the
letters In their fullRess-as they wera
Written-thOSe things only suppressed
which disclose privacy without charac-
teriStic illustration. They must have
all the strength, all the weakness, all
the fOllies. and all the unlnteutional
self>eXhibitlon of the person 80
portrayed. While it is possible that
Mr. Cross may have displayed
in his selection and expurgatiOn the best
of Judgment, having regard to his own
opinions as to the qualities OF George Eliot
that should be displayed, we are conscious.
nevertheless, from the slightest glance of
the portions retained, that the result has
not shown US the woman as she really
was, if ever that pleasure could be con-
ferred through the medium of her letters
alone. The truth is, however, that every
reader must doubt whether anV life can
be gotten at clearly without more light
than comes from letters. No one care
much for dates and events. They do not
make the life for which the admlrer
looks. But there is no more universal
sentiment amongst the lovers OF
literature than the desire to know the
person alty OF the nan or woman who So
wrote, % know her well, intimately. AS
few attain the realization of that desire.
so, TO The world Of readers, that only is
biography which gives the best substItutp
for personal acquaintance. d. these mere
letters ever give 10 the reader a fair
Idea Of life and character. in very truth
and fact? Do they not reflect merely the
feeling, the Judgment, the exposition.
50 to speak, OF the writer upon herself?
Whatever may be the general case our
mad, we think, in George EliOt's pub !
llshed works vastly more ana better ma |
terlal from which 10 draw conclusions as
to the woman and writer, ii we were con- !
tent TO abide tie test OF self expression |
alone. What we wanted 10 know and see |
was the person herself, with as many de- |
tails OF daily action and talk as could |
properly ne given. We have in this day !
100 many real biographies which have |
almost satisfied the requirements of thar |
art to be content with works which either !
convey the authors nigh estimate Of bis |
subject, or the subjects generally |
mistaken views OF himself. Tuat
Mr.. Cross should have been
the husband of such a splendid /
genius, that he should have known her /
rs she seemed to the observer, WheUn-r /
intimate friend or casual acquaintance,
that he could nave drawn on such a
wealth Of fact as to her personality, and !
that he should have presented US with !
this meagre, selected, revised, and eX-
view of herself, by herself, is
Disappointing. Let us
hope that he himself does not consider his
duty performed, and that 1T some day,
not distant, we will have in fact George
EliOt's life.
'ALLIsTo." By John Emersies. John D.
Williams, a W. Fourteenth street, New
YORK, publisher.
The material OF this striking story COM
Dues the realistic with the mystical, and
they are woven into plot of singular
md fascinating interest. Through the
medium Of a charming narrative, the
struggle of an ambitions and highly or
yanized mind after the realization of the
unknown is painted with the hand Of a
master. American fiction does not con-
ain many characters as delightfully."- |
irawn as the tender and sensitive Allena.
n more vigorously and powerfully de-
1icted than the mysterious Allisto.
MAGAZINES.
The March number of the MAGAZINE of
american History is filed with choice
1t opens with graphic account
Of THE FairfaXes of Yorkshire and Vir-
ginia," from the pen Of Rev. Richard
W heatley, D. D., admirably illustrated
with portraits and homes. The most no.
table portrait is that of Lord Fairfax, the |
great General Of the Cromwell period, On
horseback; and the home that Will at
tract the most notice is Steeton Hail,
the original mansion of the famly-siX or
more centuries old; Charles 1. sitting be-
tore his Judges is made the frontispiece to |
the number. The second article, entitled |
Personal RecOllec:ions of Gen. Nathan
tel Lyon" by the eminent scholar aud |
writer, DR.. VIM. A. Hammond, will COM
mand a wide circle Of interested readers. !
80 Lafayette Place, New York city.
Outing and the Wbeclmau for March |
contains a great deal Of interesting |
matter. "a Winter in Sonora" by |
Sylvester Baxter, and ''The Tricycle. fer |
Women" by Minna Caroline Smith, are |
articles that will command attention. |
l75 fremont stree Boston.
The English Illustrated Magazine for |
March, besides some very interesting
fiction and miscellany, contains number |
Of superb illustrations. The illustrations
in this magazine are surpassed by those
of no other. liz Fourth avenue, New
York.
The Atlanta Medical and Surgical
Journal for March contains some very
papers and reports. James
Harrison q Co., Atlanta.
MIR. BLAINE'S RELIGION.