New-York tribune., 1894-01-14

| unes IL the fortunes are seldom 50 large IS
those built up In America. the energy required
| for the building Of them is al least as great.
| Probably it Is greater The dcnser the throng
the more effort it takes to push your way to the
| front.
Sir George Elliot ffors at any rate a sufficient
| ly striking contrast 70 Edward StanhOpe whom !
have bracketed with him Cor the sake of The CON
trast. Stanhope. however. was younger son.
and the lot Of the younger son IN this country
is not always happy one. He is hand 'appod
by his birth, his position, his title. and generally
by the want Of means adequate 10 support thes.
dignites Circumstances are often too much for
him. II he gets even with them it IS only ly
superior ability, or by 4 rich marriage which
implies, perhaps kind Of ability. Otherwise.
he too often vegetables on a few hundl eds a year
or grief on the Turf or In The city. either
| Of which affords him large facilities FOR ruin. |
wrote yesterday Of Sranhope as Indebted 70 his
surroundings. and s. he was but IT was because
he knew how TO make use OF them. There are
scores and hundreds Of young aristocrais in Eng
land who are crushed by them
Nothing could crush such a nature as George
Eots. One of the last incidents which brought
him before The public was an action In ;he law
courts by woman. He was then. | think past
seventy years Of age. It not denied that he
had been intimate with the woman. lie went
into the wtnessboX and admitted it. But she
sought 10 recover damages for breach Of an al
legged promise of marriage which he denied. The
jury believed his denial, AMI 50 did the public
None the less was the scandal Of such an action
considerable. lie could have avoided it all by
paying sum of money. Many men would have
paid. Sir George Elliot preferred to fight It out In
court lie has had that sort Of courage and self
reliance all his life. The matter might be passed
over in silence. 1t Is one Of those matters In
which silence is commonly best. But since he
preferred publicity he is entitled to the credit Of
his courage. Nobody thought the worse Of him
at the time. Ii was said with truth that # other
men in similar positions would behave he did,
there would presently be an end Of one very
profitable and shameful sort Of industry.
George Elliot began life at eight or nine years
Of age as Il coer-boy. lie went down into
coalpit and worked fourteen hours day lie
ended life as one Of The largest coal owners in
England or in the world. ! never heard that he
owed any part Of his success 10 anybody but
himself lie was not bcfriended by rich men.
lie worked his way steadily from the bottom Of
the coalpi 10 the top. His progress was rapid as
well steady. lie became manager Of the very
pit in which he had begun coer-boy. In the
end, he owned IL. He early show cd a marked
aptitude for organizing and m'naging. as he did
later a not less marked aptitude for business and
for the larger operations OF finance. He became
a power In the City. He created industries and
where he ala not create. developed Wales knew
him as well as Durham and Yorkshire. and his
hand reached out to Egypt. and beneath the seas
over haf :he globe The list Of his requirements
and Investments and great operations would III
a column two There is no very visible con-
nect.on between cOllieries and the making Of wire
rope. but Elliot's interests in both were large
He was a partner with Glass when the trans
atlantic cable Of 1866 was laid. and the firm
which was at first Glass Il Elliot. finally became
Elliot & Co.. and as such exists to-day He was
4 great parsonage in places so remote. and so to-
tally unlike each other, as Cardiff and Whitby.
Before long his Will must be on file az Somorse:
House. and the papers will publish an abstract OF
It. and the world will know with some exactness
the amount OF his persona! property. The Curl
osiy OF the world in such matters Is Unsuitable.
Ii was, believe, in Whitby that first met Sir
George Elliot. That delightful little port and