New-York tribune., 1909-05-19
GE0RGE NEREnITH

The last novel written by George Meredith,
THE Amazing Marriage" published In 1870
Thenceforth he gave no sign Of renewing his
contact with the art Of fiction, and accordingly
the news Of his death wakes wistfui thoughts
OF books that might have been vouchsafed TO
II he had lived beyond his fourscore years and
one. He had an exceptionally long career, dur
ing which he probably said all that hs had to
saw as a novelist. He could sit down In his old
age TO the happy reflection that his work
done, and he left full rounded whole, for pos
terity to consider in its usual leisurely fashion
Yet It Is no exaggeration 10 say that his death
excites sense of loss which could not have been
more poignant if he had been stricken when in
the full tide Of his activity. 1t takes from us
the last great creative force IN English litera-
ture The lifelong friend whom he follows so
soon to the grave. Algernon Charles Swinburne.
owed much Of the glory which rested upon him
in his closing years TO the fact that he had no
rival among contemporary poets. In other days,
when England nest Of singing birds, Swim
burne would have doomed less large. George
Neredth's genius was of a stronger type. win
ming admiration for it's own sake, owing moth
ing of it's fame 70 the absence of competitors.
He had in him certain power, a certain fire.
which linked him to the historic masters, and
now that he is gone, though he had ceased to
exercise his rare gifts We feel very keenly that
the poorer
With his removal from the it is. of
course. to be expected that the old battles
around his work will be fought over again; the
Meredithians who cannot see his faults and the
critics who cannot anything else: will
sharply revive their ancient quarrel But the
dust of conflict will soon subside and dispss-
sionate readers will go on undisturbed. rejoicing
IN the qualities of an author who went as far
it is humanity possible for an author TO go in
fects of style. The joking reader who expressed
the hope that George Meredith would some day
be translated into living language brought
against him the same charge which has been
brought against writer's such Browning and
Walter Pater. But the novelist's obscurities
and difficulties generally had their source in
neither the preciosity of Pater the Grass in
sensitiveness to style which makes Browning
one Of the most curious figures In the annals of
poetry They proceeded. rather, from an ex-
cess of ideas. from highly wrought a creative
passion that the artist pretty nearly over
whelmed in the current of his own energy We
see him peering into the human heart and find
ing so much there that in the hurry and excite
ment of interpreting its secrets he grows turbid
mixed, and, indeed, at times almost unintel-
ligible. But at the bottom of his seemingly
forced and entangled language there is a mag
nfcent sincerity; there is the instinct for life
for truth which marks the man of genius
In pages of so rich texture as that which he
gave to his work, disclosures of personal feel
ing and conviction are naturally everywhere TO
be found. In what he makes his characters saw
is repeatedly recognized the expression of his
own point of view. There is a conversation in
"Sandra Belloni" significant, in one of its
passages, Of the attitude which Meredith held
throughout his career a novelist Our Ian
guage is not rich in subtleties for prose" saws
Mr. Barrett "the writer who is not servile and
'has insight must coin from his own mint In
poetry rich enough; but in prose also we
"owe everything to the license our poets have
taken in the teeth of critics" Merediths prose
is packed with subtleties. and he felt that the
only way to deal with them was to coin from mis-
own mint in order to make them clear I'm
fortunately, the genius of the language was too
strong for him; he could not completely remouId
it TO his uses. and the issue of that mint of
his turned out to be a rather hybrid affair which
will always restrict his vogue IL ii does not at
last, conclusively deprive him of really high
rank. From subtlety. too. he wont to pass
TO mere whmsicaity. Dame Wilson logged
her husbands arm" he writes. ''tc make him re-
member that talking was his dangerous pas