Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1913-03-07
LIFELONG SECRET OF
MEREDITH LEAKS OUT
Vain Novelist Wrapped His
Ancestry In Veil Of Mys-
tery-Story Told.
From London Correspondence of the New
York World.

From London Correspondence of the New
York World.
The mystery of George Mere
dlth's origin has long tantalized
the world. The reticence of the great
novelist himself on that subject helped
TO beget various fantastic rumors-one
being that his birth was Swallowed by
the bar sinister. Not only has no one
attempted his biography, through lack
OF authentic information as to his be-
sinnings, but all have been held back
by superstition such as has prevented
those confronted with the inscription in
Stratford church from disturbing
Shakespeare's bones.
II will horribly haunt any one who
attempts my biography" was the dying
exclamation of the author of The
Egoist" to Il friend. who in spite of his
Intimacy never succeeded in extracting
the slightest clew as to from whom or
whence Meredith sprung. The first
clew to the mystery was given in The
World at the time of the novelist's
death, but now the secret is out; and
the world hardly knows whether to
laugh at or sympathize with the false
pride which was the cause OF the
writer's lifelong silence.
The Son Of q Tailor.
George Meredith was the son Of a
Portsmouth tailor, and the early years
over which he drew so determined a
veil were associated with the
of his father seated with thread and
needle in his hand.
A relative, S. Nj. Ellis, defying the
indignant shade of Genius, has revealed
the fact in order that he may tardily
bask in the glory of kinship with one
who rejected the destiny of the tail
ors' goose for the Immortality OF the
pen. BY one stroke of his own natter
of-fact quill, this writer. in the current
number of the Fortnightly, has dis
posed of the romantic Pigment of high
born illegitimacy that Meredith pre-
ferred to allow to live; Notwithstanding
the reflection Upon his mother, rather
than have the truth proclaimed, so
sensitive was the spirit of the author
names bestowed by snobbery on a call
ing which his rugged rival, Carlyle.
devoted his best talents to potheosiz-
ing in "Sartor Resatus!'
Yet II Meredith was q. snob at soul
and the greatest of writer's have had
their nfirmities-he excOriated the
failing in himself after an immortal
n In Evan Harrington" one
of his most brilliant novels, he has be-
aueathed to posterity a biting analysis
of this same weakness, pillorying the
agonies of his W false shame in the
person of the hero. Evan Harrington
as we learn from Mr.. Ellis. is a con-
science-tormented exploitation of his
great relatives family history, the fact
of which was only lightly juggled with
in responce to the demands OF
The Great Mel of its pages, the flower
of Tailordom, the Beau Brummel of
the town, the boon companion of local
aristocrats. wax<aor other than George
Meredith's grandfather, from whom his
grandson drew his own love of titled
society; while those other characters.
called the Daughters of the Shearers,'
almost equally the delight of the reader,
were his great aunts.
Thus did the artist in Meredith mock
the n passion for mastery ma
terial triumph owe the pangs of pri-
vate vanity in giving to the world a
che d'Oeuvre, the existence of which is
a shining example of the inconsistency
of human nature.
Melchixedek Meredith.
1t was from the Great Mel of his
novel, who in real life was Melchizedek
Meredith, an eccentric Portsmouth
tailor, that the author inherited his
classic, high-bred looks, as well as his
social aspirations. Handsome, gallant,
with the finished manners Of q GENTLE
man, Melchizedek. by his extravagances
and hobnobbing with local swells,
brought his family to financial ruin.
To the neglect of his trade, he hunted
with his w horses; was an officer in
Portsmouth Yeoman cavalry-no small
luxury in those days-displaying his
patriotism in the threatened invasion
Of England by Napoleon; and as