The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-02-20
TIE FIELD OF LITERATURE.
Cross,s Life of George Eliot.

| brief portion of her life. He was, too q man
without special literary reputation, and, all
| things considered, it was feared that he would
prove unequal to the task That on the con-
j trary, he has succeeded admirably, must now be
admitted by all former doubters With the
wealth of material which was at his command
/ he could scarcely have made an uninteresting
book, but in the editing and arranging of matter
| he has displayed such skill and excellent taste
to leave no room for criticism. The work is
published By Harper Brothers. in three volumes
and in two FORMS one in the Franklin Square
Library, and the other uniform with their
standard library edition 1t is made
up almost exclusively of extracts from
George Eliot's own letters and diary, the
comments of the biographer being brief. and in
/ troduced mainly for the purpose Of weaving to-
gether fragments of the writings of "my wife"
as he frequently and proudly calls her. Indeed,
! he modesty disclaims all merit in the matter,
and speaks of the work as an autobiography"
which it may fairly enough be considered Aft
er short account Of her child-life. and sur
roundings, and her early girlhood, given by Mr.
Cross, her own hand has penned, in correspond
] ence and private journal, q comprehensive
record of her life during period of nearly forty
years. Had she been writing for the public,
something more of fact and detail might have
been given, but it is likely that the revelations
of her inner life, here made so freely, would
have been lacking Once, in her later years. when
| some one suggested an autobiography. she said
meditatively 1.-THE only thing l should care
much to dwell upon would be the abso-
lutte despair suffered from of ever being able
~. nj I'll
greater dispair, and knowledge of this might
be help to some other struggler; but on the
other hand" with smile, might only lead to an
increase of bad writing" This distrust of her
/ own powers is one of the most striking char
acteristics, and is constantly revealed The
| other attribute most notable, from it's lack of
harmony with what might be expected of one
with such wonderful strength of intellect, is her
| clinging dependence of nature, ard her craving
! for affection. While amply able to form clear
/ judgments for herself, she easily swayed
| through her tender emotions as the merest child.
These peculiarities of disposition go far to
plain the most singular act Of her life-her illegal
union with Lewes. This event did not occur
until she was of mature years. though she had
/ by no means reached the highest development
of her genius at that time. Her mind was
plant of slow growth During her early years
she was extremely religious, her diary at that
time reading like echoes from Methodist class
! meeting 20. that we could live only for
eternity" she wrote at the age of sixteen or
thereabouts ''That we could realize our
nearness! feel myself to be mere cumberer
of the ground. May the Lord give me such an
insight into what is truly good that l may not
rest with making Christianity mere addendum
to my pursuits. or with lacking it as fringe to
my garments! May seek to be sanctifed wholly!"
At the age of twenty she experienced change
of belief, and withdrew from the Established
Church, much to the sorrow and displeasure of
her father, who was devout churchman. This
action, indeed, temporarily estranged her from
her father, but, through the mediation of friends
he became reconced to her. Just what her re-
| ligious convictions were, as finally adopted, is
not made clear. Nowhere either in her books
or in these letters, is her creed entirely formu-
lated. but, so far as may be judged she differed
from the orthodox in doubling the divinity of
Christ At this period of her life she gave utter
ance to severe denunciations of fiction, and also
expressed an antipathy to Jews The germ of
Daniel Deronda" had not awakened in her mind
then. About this time she became acquainted
with Mr.. and Mrs. Bray. and the sister of the
latter all persons OF literary taste and abilities
and friendship sprang up which lasted
for many years. Through their influence,
she was led to make trausations of Strauss
| and afterwards of Feuerbach, the work engross
ing the most Of her time for two or three years.
and gaining her something of a reputation
among writer's Later. she was solicited to con.
tribute to the Westminster Review and assisted
for time III its editorial management 1t was
through this means that she became acquainted
with Herbert Spencer, the friendship then
formed continuing until the end of her life She
wrote of him on one occasion: ITO the opera
with Herbert Spencer We have agreed that we
are not in love with each other, and that there is
no reason why we should not have as much Of
each others society as we like He is good,
| delightful creature, and always feel the better
for being with him" She was an omnivorous
reader. scarcely letter in the three volumes
emitting to record the names of volumes she had
| finished, or was then reading, It is remarkable
however that she contents herself with a mere
catalogue of the books, seldom giving her
| opinion of one or commenting upon
them in any way. An exception worthy of
| note occurs in the case of Jane Eyre her re-
mark curiously foreshadowing her actions in
! similar important crisis of her own life To
friend she says II have read Jane Eyre and
shall be glad to know what you admire in it.
/ All selfsacrifce is good, but would like it to
be in a somewhat nobler cause than that of a
diabolcal law which chains a man, soul and
body, to a putrefying carcass" At this time she
had not made the acquaintance of Mr. Lewes, so
that the comment had personal coloring
Her sympathetic reference to Margaret Fuller
is of interest just now, when that lady's proper
! literary and moral standing is matter of such
warm dispute. ut is help" she says ito read
such life as Margaret Fuller's. How inexpress-
| IDLY touching that passage from her journal: 4