The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-07-02
also hi. Life Of Goethe, was the first complete

biography OF the great poet ever attempted.
and was admitted even In Germany. to be
success. Then he wrote two or three
novels which we're about as good a. any novels
can be when they are only the work OF very
clever man. and not a man gifted with the
special genius OF the novelist" Unlike George
Henry Lewes. whose best work fills those who
knew him with sense OF disappointment. be-
cause they had persuaded themselves that no
haG som ethinR greater to do. George Eliot
herself gave the public her very best almost at
once. To paraphrase q saying OF Thackeray's
with regard to Dickens. she quietly stepped
out OF the crowd OF pupils and walked straight
up to the top OF the class and held her place
there. For a time nothing was talked OF but
George Eliot and het novels. There was
something very like exaggeration in GER
tain OF tho praises that were showcred
upon hor. More than one elaborate
essay written by q critical hand gave her a
place in the literature Of fiction distinctly
higher than that OF Dickens or that OF Thack-
cray. A certain amount OF reaction was inev-
liable when public opinion had been strained
so far. To Mr.. Mccarthy the comparative fail
ure OF George Ellots later novels seems easy
enough to understand. The authors original
stock OF observations and experiences had been
we'll nigh exhausted. and there was no oppor-
tunity for filling the mind with an entirely new
set OF Impressions 1t matters little. however.
to the fame OF George Eliot that some OF her
later novels showed signs OF decay. She was
more fortunate than some other novelists OF
genius; the world did not neglect her in her
meridian to adore her in her eclipse.
The last sentence brings us by a naturaltra
sition to George Meredith who. for long time
after he began to write. was not known to the
general public at all. The literary world. how
ever. had come fully to recognize George Mere
dlth before the author OF these "reminiscences
had become personally known to him Il think
the first impression that George Meredith
made on me was that OF extraordinary and cx-
uberant vitality. When saw him for the first
time he had left his younger days long way
behind him. and yet he had the appearance
and the movements Of one endowed with n
youth that could not fade: energy was in every
movement; vital energy spoke In every Ges-
ture. He loved bodily exercises Of all kinds: he
delighted to take long. brisk walks spins as
he called them-along the highways and the
byways OF the nei2hborhood and he loved to
wander through the woods. and TO lie in
the grass. and I have no doubt he would
have enjoyed elm bling the trees. He seemed
to have in him much OF the temperament of
the faun; he seemed to have sprung from the
very bosom OF nature herself. His talk was
wonderful. and. perhaps. not the least wonder
full thing about it was that 1t seemed so very
like his writing. Now 1t was Richard Feverel
who talked to you. and now Harley Adrian, and
then Beauchamp-n not that he ever repeated
any OF the recorded sayings Of these men. but
that he talked as one could imagine any OF
them capable OF talking on any suggested sub
ject." 1t Is interesting to learn that George
Meredith Is not yet an old man. as years are
counted in our long -living times. Only few
months ago his friends sent him their con-
,latiN
and the world may consequently hone
that he has many years Of intel
lectual activity still before him. In any case.
fame has come to him. and those who rerog-
nized him at the very opening OF his career
may feel certain self-compacent pride in the
thought that the world has now at last come
UP with them. and that what they said
nearly forty years ago everybody is say
ing to-day. 1t IL indeed about forty years
since Evan Harrington; or, He Would
Be Gentleman" appeared in the pages
OF Once Week. There are those who then
thought. and still think. that this story
contains the finest picture Of a certain
kind OF woman yet given in fiction. Mr. Nc
earthly. for his part. finds in "Beauchamp's
Career much that seems TO lift him hi CHER in
thought and soul and hope than any other OF
Merediths novels has done. and he says that
he knows not where In fiction one can find
love scenes more beautiful than those which
are pictured In what may be called the yene-
tian pages OF the story. For the full enjoy
ment OF these pages they should be read in
Venice. as George Sands story. La Der
nihre Aldin" ought to be.
With regard to Anthony Trollope the curious
fact ia noted that the later years Of his literary
career refuted notion current among publish
ers. and which has been propounded in these
terms: The trouble is to get hold OF the pub
lie. but once the novelist has got it, his public
never will leave him 1t will last out his lifetime
anyhow: he couldn't shake 1t off. even IL he
tried" II this be general rule Trollope GER
talniy was an exception. isfame went through
the three stages OF slow growth, splendid ma
turity and steady decline. He ended where he
began. with a sadly limited circulation We
are told that he took his decayng popularity
with as much com posure as he had taken his
early lack of popularity: as doggedly and I'M
compainingly as he took his frequent falls in the
hunting fields. which ut one time he loved well.
MIR. Mccarthy says that he Is sorry that Troll
lope was not successful in obtaining a seat in
the House OF Commons. 1t am sorry first be-
cause success would have gratifed him. and.
next. because / have always thought that a
chance still remained. even after Disroeli's
early books for great novel OF English Par
liamentary life. and that Anthony Trollope was
the man who could have written it. Thack-
cray. too. failed in obtaining a seat in the House
OF Commons. but / cannot feel any regret that
he was kept altogether for other work. We are
commonly told that Dickens had no Parliamen-
tary ambition. and would not have entered the
House OF Commons il a constituency had begged
him on Its Bonded knees. This, surely is mis-
take. Whatever Dickens may have thought
and resolved at later period OF his career, it
is quito certain. take It, that at one season OF
his popularity. he was very anxious for a seat
in Parliament" Trollope. as a matter OF fact.
did write one story about Parliamentary life.
though he had no personal experience OF It,
Mr.. Mccarthy recalls that in tho novel
" Phineas Finn" Is given ono OF the best de-
scriptions OF the feelings OF a new member
Just before he rises to deliver his maiden
speech. 1t used to be said ut the time that.
In describing his hero, Phineas Finn the novel
list had In his mind the political career OF one
man and the personal appearance OF another;
that he combined the early Parliamentary
UayS OF the late Sir John popa