The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-05-09
looking to the effect Of that culture and that

looking to the effect of that culture and that
activity upon other minds.
Her work was essentially chat Of the Galilean
Ito make the lame walk and the blind to see;
to preach the gospel Of right-thinkine and Of
every deed Shall bear fruit Of its V own kind ind
which the doer shall eat This was her mission.
mere IS terrible coercion in our deeds which
may at first turn the honest man into deceiver
and then reconcile him to the change, for this
reason; that the second wrong seems the only
practicable right"
There are critics of George Eliot who find in
this utterance the wisdom born with remorse for
her own misdeed. Such need to read all of her
DOCKS In the light OF the study and conscientious
LABOR bestowed upon them, and they will see a
larger purpose and q larger accomplishment in
them than the utterance of weak regrets for a
personal act. Through this Life" one sees that
george Eliot realizes her own definition OF
genius. In Daniel Deronda she says: "Genius at
celvlng discipline" This capacity she
had for receiving the discipline Of
deed, OF circumstance, of entailed
duties; and beyond it for multiplying her own
discipline thousand-fold by her ability to
transplant herself into foreign conditions through
sympathy, and through logic to receive the dis
clpllne OF those conditions as though wrought
IN her own flesh.
Apropos to much current criticism 1 quote a
single sentences: Don't you agree with me
sides about purpose in artl A nasty mind makes
nasty art whether for art or any other sake,
ana meagre mind will bring forth what is
meagren
pursued by George Eliot she might well be
chosen by her sex as guide. She was equally
removed from the intuitional and the pedantic.
She is one woman whose range of knowledge.
whose erudtion, whose logical meth.
cd loses nothing by being compared
with the greatest of men, and yet
whose purpose is distinctly feminine; for | hold
1t is the purpose of woman to spend herself for
the uplifting of the race
The chief regret one feels in closing the Life
is, perhaps, that George Eliot declined Mr.. Mac
millan's invitation to write the volume on Shak-
speare in the English Men Of Letters" series.
Her analysis of the great dramatist would have
revealed matters of iIerest beyond the reach of
any system of ciphers. In womanly quality
George Eliots most marked limitation was mani
tested in society. Mr. Cross distinctly tells us
that she had none Of the gifts which make a
successful mistress of salon. But
there are reasons in her position
which explain the absence of taste
and aptitude for general society," without resort
Ing to the theory of natural incapacity for it.
Avery complete embodiment of even so COM
pllcated an essence as ideal womanhood do we
have in the skillfal housekeeper, the founder of
sewing clubs, the dispenser of parish charities,
the dutiful daughter, the faithful friend, the
SoAC t"hAAS SISTER anu dunt, tne ueVoteu WIe,
the loving step mother, the thoughtful mother
in-law and grandmother. George Eliot's capa-
city for enjoying all domestic relations is affect
ingiy evinced in the pleasure she derived from
her welcome into Mr.. Cross's family. In her moral
development she showed, from the earliest years.
the trait that was most marked in her all through
life, namely, the absolute need of some one per-
son who should be all-in-all to her. and to whom
she should be ALMA Her genius was less a
simple endowment than a product of many gifts.
1t was the product of what she finely named
capacity for discipline" marvellous industry,
aspiration sympathy. devotion to her kind and
conscience. Perhaps all of these factors WOULD
never have been united in the product we extol
but for the presence of love- the subtle chemical,
and necessity, the relentless spur