Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-05-31

By the BOokIoVer

was very generally estimated as one of
i the two or three greatest Victorian nov
| elists. did not desire that a biography
of himself should be written, as he be-
lieved that a man should be known
through his work alone. He had no
sympathy with the human curiosity
which demands intimate details of the
personal life of great or prominent
nan-what he liked to eat, how he
dressed, what he did to amuse himself,
| how he treated his wife and children
| and especially how many love affairs he
| had and how he conducted himself in
| them. Yet Meredith, like many an
other who has believed as he did, was
not able to enforce his wishes. Bio
| graphical material has been published
about him, and more will undoubtedly
be published. His most recent biog-
rapher, Robert Esmonde Sencourt, in
| the preface to his Life of George
| Meredith" says the result Meredith did
not foresee was that men would insist
on having knowledge about him." OF
| course, the Dictionary of National BIZ
| ography" would have Meredith's biog-
raphy in the first supplement published
| after his death, and accordingly an ex-
! cellent one was written by Thomas
| Seccombe. In 1912 his Letters" were
| published, with biographical notes. by
his son. The biography by Mr. Sem
court draws upon these sources and
upon many unpublished letters, as well
as upon information from the son and
! friends OF Meredith. The result is a
well annotated biography, not at all of
the sensational type, yet one which sue
| ceeds in making its subject seem human,
~ 4
George Meredith was the descendant
OF three generations of naval outfitters
at Portsmouth. Old Mel Harrington,
the tailor in the novel Evan Harring-
ton" represented Meredith's grand
IaCher, Melchizedeck Meredith. The
son OF tradeSman, Meredith went to
couple of English private schools and
a school in Germany, but not to a uni
Versity. When only 18 he was writing
poems and articles and when only 81
ne was marrying widow nine years his
senior, entirely carried away on a flood
OF rapture" Perhaps the beginning was
TOO rapturous for permanence; perhaps
Meredith was too young to know what
was likely to be enduring with him:
perhaps his wife was too old and too
unsuited to him temperamentally. At
any rate, happiness in their marriage
dld not last long. Mr., Sencourt records
OF mary Meredith: THE fascinating
young widow lived too much in the
oellclouSneSS OF her own feelings and
the tension of her nerves for which
she sought relaxation, now in senti-
mental outpourings, now in sharp
flashes OF wit" The rapture wore thin,
they quarreled, she fell in love with
another man and eloped with him to
CAPRI When this man deserted her
she begged Meredith to take her back.
He refused and also refused to let her
sse her son. Always nervouslystlnst
she became mentally unbalanced and
finally died. At 80 Meredith was a
WidoWer with son, whom he spoiled
with his devotion. "A word that all was
not well with him was enough to make
meredith wild with anxiety. If Arthur
cropped from too high in the GYM
naslum; II Jessopp (the boys school
mastery said that he felt anxious for
any reason; if the boy caught a COM
plant like measles, the fathers heart
peat last and high" second mar
riage brought about "Arthur,s abdica-
ton" and henceforward father and son
saw little OF each other and grew rapidly
apart. "A spoilt boy with a poor
digestion and an inheritance of nerves :
a handsome, clever, self-suficient bow.
with a temperament sensitive and re-
served, to whom his father had given
the mperiousness Of an idol, had no
place for his stepmother's love-" After
about 20 years of happy married life
WIN ms second wife, Marie Vulliamy
Meredith entered upon the descending
acClon OF his history. In 1884 his wife
died and in the same year he wrote to
Robert Louis Stevenson, II can't walk
any OF my old strides" "It was the
beginning of his locomotor ataxia
which In another 10 years time became
acute" and which, though he lived to
be over 30, finally made him complete
cripple.
Many of Meredith's novels have at1to-
biographical significance, specially those
OF his earlier period. Among these are
Evan Harrington" in which I'VE see
MS youth identified with his own
we see Dickens Identified with his own
ideal life in David Copperfield,' Harry
richmond the record of his later bow
hood; and The Ordeal of Richard
Feverel,' which reflects the strain of
! his disastrous first marriage" Mr. Sem
court says Of 1.-The Egoist'': ut has been
OF course suggested that. in Sir VIII
loughby (Patterne), Meredith was
painting portrait of himself. But the
time. when he was the hero of his own
novels was long gone by; he had
reached the stage now when his aim
was to read himself into the lives of
other people"
The violent contrasts in the character
OF Bolivar, South American patriot and
llberator. are emphasized in the biogra-
ply Simon Bolivar" by Hildegarde
Angel. Dying in exile at Santa Maria,
in Colombia, nearly hundred years
ago, Bolivar left behind him a record
! of achievement which has placed him
among the great revolutionists of the
Western Hemisphere. RuthlessnesS
characterized his methods. He decreed
no quarter for enemies of his cause,
imprisoned and put to death former
companions in his enterprises and
caused hundreds of prisoners to be
slaughtered. In crossing the Andes in
his campaigns he showed little mercy
toward his soldiers but regarded only
the end he had In view In this he
differed little from many other great
generals. He never spared himself and
seemed to have almost unlimited en-
durance. Yet this man Of iron loved
pleasure, and pleasure OF no escetic
type. His amours were many He
loved elaborate uniforms and INDUCED
in cologne. Dancing was a favorite
amusement, for which he often inter-
rupted his dictation. Ills diversions
were never allowed however, to inter-
fere with his ambitions nor to encroach
| upon time needed for their accomplish
ment.
Mad Anthony Wayne" one of the
| epithets of American history which
impresses the imagination. and clings
In he tVnI nf cHh00lRhiId