The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1891-05-17

year had been passed that her attention az an
| author was attracted 10 fiction, ana 'na'
fore she wrote her novels she had been long
occupied with philosophical composai,lD ,a
| either original or In the form OF transiatlons.
| IA the editor of the Westminster heSle"
| and the translator of Strauss and SplnoIs,
| II was hardly 10 have been expected tnat sne
| would have shown an inventive genius W
| biased by the strongest philosophers Ie"s
| mos With her philosophical disposition =.
I'D both In the substance of her thought
| and lis EXPRESSION il is remarkable tnat sue
| LIQUID have been endowed with dramatic ge--
| nins at all. Her first venture IN the nelu oi
fiction disclosed Enthusiastically that sne hat
sse ss rorelv been surpassed, but
| from the first sentence in Amos Barton 10 ING
| last word in Daniel Deronda the most casual
| reader of her works recognizes that IneH RRl-
| vailinc spirit is the spirit OF philosophy Inc
| etrdent of manners the delineator OF charac-
go AZ najnter of pathetic humorous pas
| sionate and powerful scenes, she Is All OF
| these with the highest degree Of skill, but
above them all and dominating them all, she
! il tie philosophical moralist, lnquiring INTO
! the secrets Of the mysteries OF life, searching
! with a Gaze nj once acute profound and COM
nrebensive into the motives of human ac-
| tons, weighing, balancing, questioning.
| doubling and always melancholy because she
| detects only sorrOwful issues for the lndl-
vidu ais and the race.
There is not single novel in the series
which we have from her pen which q rs not
leave the same impression upon the nnd.
however careless the perusal namely. that
she regarded the social lie which she de-
scribed and the chara tiers which she
represented as taking part III 1t not
from the point of view OF one VINO
was simply a novelist. but from tie
point of view of one whose hrst object
was 10 probe into the complex laws that gov
ern the course of events even III the smallest
communities. and control the relations which
men bear TO each other in every line OF their
intercourse. We cannot but ask ourselves
did not George Eliot deepen too much the
colors in her pictures Of lie and portraits OF
individuals? Is not there greater truth 10
nature after all in what we ind reflected I'D
the pages of Jane Austin Compare
for a moment the village OF Mid
demarch with the village Of Hlghbury III
Emma. Both are ordinary English rnral
towns. lying far from the tumults of the great
centre Of English commercial and social actiy-
ity. The social features of the two communi-
ties are precisely similar. the social conditions
are the same the types OF character are alike,
but how essentially. radically. and fundament-
ally the drama of life differs IN the two, as
described by these famous authOres5es. Illus
trating the opposition in their mental and
moral attitudes. Highbury IS quiet country
village full Of people whose lndiyldualtes are
as distinct as II they had really existed instead
of being mere pigments OF the brain. Their
lives move onward. rarely disturbed even by
the tragedies TO which flesh is heir and which
occur only TO be fully healed by time. There
is no mighty stress of passion, no tar-reach-
ing conflict of emotions. no tremendous
ground swell Of feeling which agitates and
controls the whole community as II, NOR
ally speaking, 1t was as vast as the globe
itself This is the case in Middlemarch. The
drama performed on the contracted stage or
sc ann teh * tragedy
and comedy as if il were acted on the boards
of universal society. All that varies. elevates
and depresses human existence IS here most
graphically and powerfully reflected. Inc
narrOwness of the local lines IS lost, ana we
are merged in the world at large on It's broad
est scale in its most comprehensive sweep and
it's profoundest meaning. There Is no re-
striction upon the scope of feeling and pas
sion, and no obstruction TO the operation OF
circumstance in the village OF Ahddlemarch
no more than if il were the central circle IN an
infinite number Of circles broadening out
from one point on the ocean OF lie.
second general characteristic OF George
Eliot and it is hardly less conspicuous than
the philosophical spirit to which we have Just
referred. is very keen and poetic apprecla-
ton Of the past associated with the most I'M
pulsive sympathy with the inqulrlng spirit OF
the present age. Mine" she wrote on the
initial page Of her first novel, is not we'll
regulated mind: it has an occasional tender
ness for old abuses; it fingers with a certain
fondness over the days of nasal clerks and
top-boOted parsons and has q sigh tor the de-
parted shades of vulgar errors"
In Daniel Deronda she alludes in language
of exquisite beauty to another phase OF the
same thought A human life" she declared,
should be well rooted III some spot OF native
land where it may get the love of tender kin
ship for the face of earth, for the labors men
90 forth to- for the sounds and accents that
haunt it, for whatever will give that early
home n familiar, unmistakable difference
amidst the future widening Of knowledge.
spot where detniteness of early knowledge
NAV be inwrought with affection and kindly
acquaintance with all neighbOTs, even 10 the
dogs and monkeys, may spread, not by SEN
timental effort and reflection. but as a sweet
habit of the blood. The best Introduction 10
astronomy is to think of the nightly heavens
as little lot of stars belonging 10 ones own
homestead" On another occasion she asks:
How should oil the apparatus of heaven and
earth from the farthest armament 70 the ten
der bosom of the mother who nOurlshed us,
make poetry for mind that has no move
ments of awe and tenderness, no sense OF tel
lowship which thrills from the near TO the
distant and back again from the distant 10
the neary"
IL is this prospective and retrospective
spirit, this ability to look before and after
with gaze that is equally appreciative OF all
that is attractive In the past and inspiring in
the future this disposition at once conserva-
tive and liberal, viii CHI constitutes one of the
most notable features of George Eliot as a
novelist. In her philosophy of life. as may be
detected throughout her works, she Is the
voice of the nineteenth century-inquistiye
skeptica, analytical and meancholy-while
as an artist her whole soul melts in the COM
pleteness of its responsiveness TO the emo
tions Of kinship, the charm of ancient custom
and tradition. the love of home, the JOYS and
sorrows of the fireside. pity and charity,
pathos and humor, the beauty of landscapes
the serenity of rural occupations the stability
of ancient homesteads. the claims OF dumb
animal life There are few pages of her earlier
novels that do not reveal the intimacy
OF her association with the scenes
and characters of country life at the
time that her nature was most sensitive TO
impressions. No particular has escaped her
sympathetic and scrutinizing eye. Il find"
she wrote in Adam Bede "a sort of delicious
pleasure in these faithful pictures Of a
monotonous, homely existence which has
been the fate of so many more among my
fellow mortals than a life of pomp or of alb
solute Indulgence, Of tragic suffering or of
Notwithstanding actions. In this
world there are so many of these common,
coarse people who have no picturesque senti-
mental wretchedness Let art always re-
mind us of Them therefore, LET us always
have men who see beauty IN these common
place things and delight in showing how
kindly the light of heaven falls on them"
Such WAS the shirt in which GeOrOe Eliot