New-York tribune., 1886-02-01
NOTES ON BOOKS.
GEORGE ELIOT AGAlN-MR. sTEVENSONS
80 STORY.

.bo il, in three volumes and the Essays III one
Il Is an edition which has been indusir!ousIy over
RAISED but it is handy and not too dear 'p'o i"r
the twenty -four volumes Is the publishers Pii'0'
S22 30 the selling price IN LohuOh. po''ei 0'
worse On imperfect set of books isa thing no lover
nj hooks can endure to own and these are circuih-
stancrs IN which, though the author DC ''|',' VIC
n,jJisber has Won still at his mercy should you
lao cnnce ho va bought tie Life as 1t hrst came out
Won are further tempted with the assurance 'nit
this new edition contains new matter III vain VIII
xou search in Preface or elsewhere ior an account
IF il or an Indication of its presence. Inc Only
Preface now given is the lIeIace 10 tho nisV
edition. ,,.
A friend tells me that tho letters to Alexander
d. oro rew George Eliot with that character
istc sense Of superiority which IN Ecr conio"'9
sook tine form OF patronage to others introduces
b,n, tn her readers: good man writes To NE from
scotland this morning" about the pronunciation
of Romola The Scotch il seems. insisted on c"liins
# Roinola with dcCent ON the pcnhlilhate ~
whereas il should he R6m0la. 1ut "eorsc Ei"t
herself does not seem to Distinguish between "oOo"'
and quantity Mr.. Main was the enthusiast
80 aditor of n book of selections from the
writings of George Eliot to winch nc S"I' 'i0
foolish title Wise. witty and Tender sayings !"
-, a,1 Vor.er she presently came to Ike HIM
reckons the acquisition of his friendship 'neho'-
olla oyant. but omits to eXpungc the hrst con-
temptuous reference to him. ,,,,
In one of the letters Mr.. Main comes charming
touch: ,,o
perhaps Won do not imagine me as writer VINO
sn,ers rpuch from selGdistrust ana deSp1HHIooSi Si
1tio ,ronIJ he eycusable if he had not IL nav
not a husband meaning George LewcSi, WI" rt,cs,n
only sympathetic, but SO saeaciouS III nrit;ng rs n
that / can rely on his pleasure ~ my fr ma 70
Satisfactory test it would be dlincut ior lho ~
bring myself into PRINT
Mr.. Lewes's sagacty in criticism IS unoen''oio
So far as George Eliot was concerned, u SHOW"
itself in unlimited adulation. lie hau supP'o
mentary function to slft the criticism oi o'u'i0
and fake care that the senstiveneSs Oh tn's ""t"o
received no rude shock from Juugmen''
q sacaciousr than his own. George Eliot ike her
oa,nircr Mr. Gladstone would not look out "l the
ird,v ar if she did liked the glass to be staheu'
Thsb ares are full of irritation and Protest
ocainst criticism Miss Evans might not oe ''iio"I"
to see IT, bat she could not be kept from 'he Nno"
edge of its existence She stores up quotations "'
So many rainparts against the attaoNo Vi W
wicked critic There is one from La Bruyele' 10
,loisir de la critiquc 6e ceiR ere rrem to""
de trGs bellies chcses" And her shrinking sou, cio'
ont that this sentence touches with the hnest poiht
t' Iisoosed srot in the literature of our time Not
ioss fine will add is the point of tins other " II
fo,t op nm apteur recOire uae fgde modesto HS
looca Il In ctoue que rOn Jait dc Ses OacraJe8 1hat
also is La Bruyere - a., I'm,
10 tool. through this Life again deepens the I'M
nression OF the first reading. Inc ei"o"i"'
nedantries of STYLE the vaingorons sell-coHSo'o"o
ness EXPRESSED in mock HUMILITY the poi"Po"'
dcton the pretentiOusness, the mcapacnS Vi say
. thing simplv the cant. the atfectauon' 'ne
ho.is the continual appeal to the pnbhc
:: Io,tors nominally private-all these traits stahu
On, mora strongly than ever. They do not hlde Dut
,hov obscure the spiritual fervor, the passion 'oi
knowing. the wide range of her thinking tho oco"
sional flashes of genius. The book Is ltereSin ~
;ts own way but is one of the most mlseauihs th"'
coud he nut INTO the hands of young OF Old lnoio
arc few autooographes of which the zone Is leS'
wholesome.
Tho nav volume of Essays by George ELIOT
appears with the triple sanction OF Mt. Oh"I9
Iewes ison of NJ George Lewes) who eo'ts IT, M
Cross VITO approves or 1t, and george Hiio'
who collected and revised these papers Iol pu'i'1
tion. The value which this writer SET OH hei own
,,or,, i tn,rn and there is nothing surprising IN
ber desire as her editor phrases II 10 rescue S'io
her o,rIv ESSAYS from Oblivion. The conunctule Oh
.ha TOO nomes Lewes and Cross implies Sllght
indifference TO conventional standards IN soclai
ral,tions George Eliot however, during inc IaI'ei
mart of her life secured degree oil toefauoh W"i'"
might well enough mislead these two gentlemen
into y triling disregard Of decolum. IL Is 700
late TO concern ourselves much an"u'
that The literary mistake is III TepubIlshhe ln'So
ESSAYS at all. They will win no do"ot tie u'u"'
applanse from those who have made up lncli minus
10 admire whatever it pleased George ELot 10
write: who admired, for example Inc 0pahiSh
Gvpsy" or Jubal,' and who are prepared 10 in"'n
+ain that the a,thor of these verses was poet
These ESSAYS are in form critical, but OF the crit
ical spirit or method not much Is here 10 DC iou,
They are readable with an effort. German VIII
with Heine as a excmplication of it IS the subject
of one essay Hene has been much written doou'
i'm the England which he detested. Two hoaNS
volumes on hiIr by Mr. Stigand nave been pup'i9ncu
within the last ten years and of essays upon MN
there are many. Mr.. Lcwes may not be aware tna'
there is one IN the Essays in Criticism OF MI
Arnold lie would hardly have wished to challenger a
cornorisop between the criticism OF MI Arnold ana
the criticism of George; Eliot But writet VINO
desires to form for himself clear idea OF what Is
criticism and what is not can hardly 90 oettcI
than compare these two essays MI AIuol" n''
defined Heines relation TO German am 10 Eui ioPe''
thought his place in literature, his claim 10 cohsu
eration as the most important successor of Goethe
in Goethes most important line OF activity. heiic
ia the master current in the epoch Iolio"'hB
Goetbe's IIelne's work when this has once been
established is Judged in relation to It's environ
1pent; the only way in which 1t can oe tiuy JuuPcu
Mr. Arnold has adopted the method oil ste. 6euVe'
George Eliot seems never to nave heaiu ol "'e.
Beuye The scientific spirit Whlch S - oltoi 9''u
To be pred ominant in that singular woman has not
led her to attempt criticism in scientific spirit
What she does is to discourse once more and with
not more than the usual result. on the Old topic OF
Wit and Humor. She is of opinion that Voitalre $
Mjcrom6gas is a perfect tale because 1t required
only wit and wisdom while Notarcs Candldc-
the immortal Candide-is not perfect because humor
isvanting to it. Can she have read CandiceT She
aims many shafts at German wit, happily unco0-
scious how like her mental attitude and equip
ment are to the Germans whom she means to rid
icula Thcn we come to the striking proposition
that Helre Is one of the'most remarkable men OF
this age lie u.s. moreover. wit, a lyric poet
hnmnrst an artist in prose literature lover OF