The Washington herald., 1919-08-15

beauty It was hardly possible to think
OF as anything but the necessarv con.
sequence Of her noble nature Ioyed
him with all the tenderness tba, snok.
IN her clear eyes, brought a strong
reaction of regret that he had not kent
himself free from that first deceit
which had dragged him into tbe dan
ger OF being dlsgraced before her
There was a spring of bitternass
mingled with that fountain NJ Sweets !"
George Eliot's magnffcent stu5v of
character concerns itself with Flor
ence at the time when Cbristonber
Soiumous was discovering America.
when Savonarola was prior of saint
Marks and ruled the citv hv his
moral energy and his fsnatic;sp
when his pious frenzies, his visions.
and his predictions of heavenly wrath
seemed to the majority OF his fellow
cltlzens as coming from a more than
mortal source; when Charles WIZ OF
france invaded Italy: when the pIague
brought dire dismay; when tbe citv
was distraught by the struggles or
the austere devotees of SavonaroIa
ana the gay partisans of pleasure;
when the mighty ones of tba Iand
were united against poor distracted
Florence: when Piero de MedIci was
conspiring to regain the DOVER once
held by Lorenzo the Magnifcent. when
finally Florence turned .g.inst Saw
onarola, and he met his deatb in tg-
nominy or martyrdom. as one viewed
IL as Zoe or partisan. Across the
scene there fit the figures ~ p,co
della Mirandola, of Fra BartoIommeo
Oh Domenico Ghirlandaio. of Cosimo
di Piero. of PoIiziano, of Bernardo del
Nero. of Strozzis and Tornabuonts ot
Niccolo Machiavelli, of a "pronnisine
youth named MicheIangelo Ruon,-
rottl and many others. All these
make the setting for the lives a, a
woman and man and the progress
of their souls. the one inward arn
the other downward, as WONDERFULLY
a own as ever human lives were por-
uayeo oy pen OF man or woman.
Florence saw Tito Melema ever
making his way upward from the dav
"heh ne found himself adrift after
shlpwreck. and was carried To the
market by the omnipresent Bratti
merchant and huckster. and intro
duced to breakfast and a kiss from
pretty little Tessa- and passed under
the deft hand of the wonder-workinr
oarber-philosopher Nello. That shrewd
craftsman with edged tools-razor or
tohgue-introduced him to the bright
ana powerful folk who freouented his
shop as If it were a club. and brought
MN TO the notice of the blind scholar
bardo. who needed Just such a clever
young student as Tito for a heIner
from that his path was easy to the
cohndence of the great; Latin secre-
tary TO the State, embassies to Rome
everything was his. even to the envy
or Niccolo Machiavelli. The world
saw only the dazzling success; there
were a few who marked the change
that came from the final departure OF
moral youthfulness." who saw tn.
pertldles and desertions of the dex-
trous and facile Greek, the baseness
that smiles and triumphs: who knew
now he had left to slavery the adopt-
I'VE father who had rescued him ana
maze him what he was, how he prov
ed false to the memory of Romola's
tather, who set him on his way TO
triumph in Florence, how he BETRAYED
MS great patrons. how he deceived
poor Tessa- that sweet. pouting. in
nocent, round thing" how he threw
away the great treasure of RouoIa's
love- and how his only bitter though,
was that timely well devised false
hood might have saved him from
every fatal consequence.
over against the figure Of the man