New-York tribune., 1885-02-08

for me-are not In the least oraces to me- IL lust
possible that may not embrace one o. tnoI pp;ts
| ions: that NAV wish my life to be shaped quite
differently from theirs. For instance, IL wouia sly
Nifty nothing TO If very wise Person wefG a ;fa "
stun me with proofs that ;ssTahv srroneous
that he was guilty of OF the worst edsseses ni M
have degraded civilized man. mlght & aaiiit thai a
! Ronssean;s genius has sent that electro thru
through my intellectual and moral frame which mas
awakened me to new perceptlons5i " thon@bt and
feeling to me- and this not by teaching me any new
belief 1t simply that the rushing mighty ytina Ttha
| that have been able to shape more dennitely ior
myself ideas which had previously dwelt as diin
Ahnugea in my soul Ihe nro and o nseiudices that
| have been ready to make new combinations.
| Here Is a good od-humored criticism of Brougham
| you sbould read the debates on the opening OF
Parliament in The Times Lord BrOugham, the great
est of English orators. perpetrates the most dsn-
| cious non Sequtur have seen for long Time. " MY
Lords. believe that any disturbance OF the repose
of the world is very remote because Is our anaen,
able rqh and an anquesionabte duty to be prepared
| with the means of defence. should such an event
| occur" These be thy gods D Israeli
| After the death Of her father she passed some
months In Switzerland, her letters from which
country are delightful. Then followediher connec-
ton with George Henry Lewes, which produced
painful sensation among her friends. but ushered
| in a union apparently unbroken by the least
dscord and the source of the most complete happi-
ness to both until his death Mr. Cross says OF TINS
| event,
| In forming a Judgment 80 momentous
question 1t is above all things necessary 70 alGo as
| actually achieved and in my opinion. tns can
best be arrived at, not from any outside staemeht
| or arguments but by consideration OF the whole
tenor of the life which follows, the development
| of which Mr.. Lewes's true character, as wen as
George EIots will unfold Itself No wof%s ns ,lse slse
can use. will l think. be SO Impressive as the iio
itself.
He gives a letter of George Eliot on the occur
renee but it does not certainly afford any explana
ton of her action though it may be regarded as
showing that she considered herself entirely ]ustl
fed.
The next event was the most important in her
life namely. the beginning of her fiction writing
and she has put on record an interesting account of
it,
September, 1886. made new era In my life, for
IL was then began to write fiction. 1t had always
been vague dream Of mine that some time or oth"r
might write novel; and my shadowy conception
of what the novel was to be- varied, OF course IRON
one epoch of my life to another But never went
further toward the actual writing OF the mover thah
an Introductory chapter describing Stah0rdshire
village aud the life of tho neighboring
and 5 the s9 years S be to 0 write novel just
desponded about everything else IN my future ne
/ always thought was deficient in dramatic power;
both of construction and dialogue, out / IeIt !
should be at my ease in the descriptive parts oil q
novel Nv "introductory chapter" was pure
description. though there were Eooi matofias IN III IL
for dramatic presentation. IL happened TO De
among the papers had with me III Germany ana
one evening at Berlin something led me to read 1t to
George lie was struck with II as bit oi concrete
description and it suggested to him the posi- bity
of my being able TO write a novel though ne dlss
rustednaeed 1osr Stiff he began 20 thnR that
| might as well try some time. what could do IN
6ction, and by AMI by. when we came back TO
England, and had greater success than he ever
expected in other knds of writing. his impression
that Ii was worth while TO see how FAR my mental
power would 20 toward the production OF novel
was siren gtlened. He began TO say very positively,
You must try and write story aud wheh We
were at Tenby he urged me to begin at once !
deferred it, however, after my usual fashion WIN
work that does not present itself as on absolute
duty But one morning. as was thinking what
should be the subject OF my-rst story my thougAts
nr1nsd myself writing q story of which the title
"The Sad Fortunes OF the Reverend amos barton;
was soon wide awake again and told g. He said -;
had settled in nv mind that this should De my hrst
story George used to SAY II may 'e ge dsiou laae or
your trying again" Again; aYoT ,,,Iy may Sri Srit@ "a
PREVALENT impression was. that though | could
hardly write a poor novel my effort would want
ton. BE used to say You have w.t. description
pPodue5aH pR% q novel; # is worth while for you
We determined that II my story turned out good
enough we would send it to Blackwood; but .;
thought the probable result was that should
have to lay il aside and try again.
The whole OF the correspondence with Backwood |
about the Scenes from Clerical Life" is full of
interest and it is curious that Charles Dickens was
one of the first to declare that the author was
woman In a letter to the unknown author he said
IL have observed such womanly touches in these
moving fctions that the the titlc-page
is insufficient to satisfy me even now. II they
ever before had the art of making himself mentally
30 like woman since tho world began" This was
shrewd insight Froude thought the author a
clergyman. Mrs. Carlyle thought the author" "a
man of middle age with a.wife from whom he has
got those beautiful feminine touches In his book.
Mrs Oliphant was confident the writer was not n
woman Thackeray held the same opinion. And
then came the pirat:cal Liggns. and for a long
time audacously fattened the reputation of
being the. real George Eliot.
The history of Adam Bedeo is given fully in
the letters but it differs little from tho account
already familiar to the world though the true
genesis of such book must always be very inter
estng.
AS illustrating the lighter side of naturally grave
character. the following playful description Of
little dog who had been given TO her is quoted:
Pug is come come to fill up the void left by false
and narrow hearted friends. see already that ho
Is without envy ndtIeu OF IudllCc-tndl no Will
befray no secrets and feel neither pain at my
success nor pleasure in my chagrin | hope the
expressive: full of gentleness and affection, and
radiant with intelligence when there is q savory
morse In question: hopeful indication Of his
mental capacity. dstrust all intellectual preten-
sion that announces itself by obuseness Of palate
| wish you could see him In his best pose se-when l
have arrested him In violent career of carpet
scratching, and he looks at me with forelegs very
wide apart trying to penetrate the deep mystery
of this arbitrary not to say capricious prohibition
He is snoring by my side at this moment, with y
serene promise of remaining quiet for length of
time he couldn't behave better II be had been