Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, January 19, 1873, Page 7

e T B et S VTR 517 3T et 1 ] W ST e 2 ® THE CHICAGO DAILY TRIBUNE: SUN — AY, 3 ANUARY 19, 1873. 7 LCUIS NAPOLEON. The Career of a French Politi- cian---His Resemblance to Fremont. Raisirg Men Like Vegetables— THethods of the Emperor--- Tho Coup d'Etat. Napoleon’s Moral Influence---ZEis Theatricial Royalty. From OQur Qun Correspondent. ‘WasHixGTON, Jan, 14, hero be had often lived the life of a politi- cian with the Presidency oa iho brain, Napoleon died, near the metropoliten district of tho Eng- lish. Ho hzd mot the other and grester politi- ciszs of his party there, and they bad Letched Liftlo conspiracics against the Freuch people, which pipped o the French cosst, and hopped o little, and perished. Io went into Franco st Jsst when tho gate was wido open, and overlhrew the Republic by judicious demagogery and by the weakness of French socioty. i Louis Nepoleon wes eustained by all the timid side.of the world ; in France, by the tradespoople of the towns, and, in the provinces, by the small farmers. Ho was sustained in Englend by the commercial and banking clements, and by capi talists, and, to o great dogree, by tho master- spinners. He was sustainod by tho Times, and by Cobden, and by the vulgar revercnce which ua always existed in English oporativelifo for 10 name of Napolson. o was sustained by North Germany even more than by Englsnd, and particularly by tho officers of the Prussian army. - The Germans of . the Valler of the Rhine looked to Nepoleon as o protector rather thanta covetons neighbor, and hoped tostay the Prussian’s rapacity by tho Jealonsy of tho Empire. In Italy, the Emperor Was at all periods popular with some one party i and, in Spain, with _pert of sl He had zn obligation to Switzorland which was a stesdfast bond of courteéy; and, in Turkey, Egypt, sud Barbary, ho waa probbly the ‘most popuiar Frank in Europo. e all know that the Irish in America, 0s at bome, lived" in_slnott personal loyalty to his neme; and the Slaveholders of the United States covertly admired his form of Gov- ernment, snd might probably havo imitated it in tho South had they achioved & nationality rent from us. i And yot, thero was nothing substantial in this- man's Empire, except s standing army recraited by conscription. Io ruled by reprossion, and appropriated tho genins and fervor of France to bis own roputation. The beet-of him was his courage, and he wes at .tho highest when Le sat st Solferino, on the back of his stellion. and mede both Vernet end Meissorior paint him there. ¥ - % é A PARALLEL. £ T have always sssocisted bim in my mind with Jobn C. Fremont, and I still thinlk that Fremont - was more nearly like Napoleon than any “politi- cienin Europe. To go into particulars would throw me off my throad. They woro both ad- Sentarore; started in lifo nnder strong family patronago ; botir showily capable:and fond of gimp;; both with immeasurable claime, and both refractory soldiers; in . both, mankind . was deceived, and a - pact of 16 vill_slways. con- tinno to be; both had ambitious wives, and both hesded the newost party in their ro- epective countrics. Mental pointsof rosemblanco ore scais to havo been also. . They were suc- -cessful, superficial, and versatile Bohemians, ettached somehow Lo great orbits. Who can ox- plain un sdventarer,—the good that is in him, 2ho dramatic that is put on by him, the value o his momcntary impulsions, or what Lo might havo dono with his possibilities? Lut wo Inow that nothing is genuino which will ndt stick. Of Fromont thers is nothing durablo; he waa alvagaa groat manin tho boginning of everything, snd he petercd out about the tinie it came to gat some real consistency. Bat, under Popular Govornment, there is no mischief in such examplea. It ia oaly whon they wear thos gorgeous blazonry of o Kivg, and anoint them- Eoites with {ho fareical oil Jeft over o us fzom barbaric Judaiem, that they maka irls, snobs, and travellng Americans skeplical on popular institniions. 5 REMINISCENCE. Y During Nspoleon's meridianal career, T spent thizty months in Earope. Thoy wero parts of €62, 1864, 196, and 1567, and tho whole of 1863. Asthe time, I'was a diligent newspaper-reader, fcnd of locality, snd willing to walk twenty miles tc seo something suggestive. I was s Radical from my childbocd, and nover sympathized with Napoleon, except wheu- tome advocato of 4 long- erline of covercignty abusod him. From the “Torvism of Kingfako aad the tosdyism of Rus- &€l I ntood cqually resioved ; but it antll T sbandoned the subject of the Ol -and settled in Washington amongst politicians, ‘that 1 could comprehend an apoiogy for Louid Napoleon. e was necessary to a cliqno of unscrapulous :politicians who wanted to master France sothoy “could get and kecp tho great offices. The wholo e which Victor Hugo describes in Napoleon -l Pelit, snd which Kinglake mede his book -doubly interesting by stoaling almost bodily, was nearly identical with tho nature of somé Frusideutial campaigns in America. The differ- ~euce in the mental robusiness of tho people of the two countrics is vast. An American child has that royal irreverence which is in perpotual -ebullition aganst. suy effort to patrouize him, A Erench man is o child, and not by nature, but by s thousand years of vicious culture, end the :most vicious of all have been the years.of tho ‘Empire. Tho Empire raised men s gardens Taito celery, covering them from the Liglit in military rows, and undor watch and ward always. “Seo_my citizen,” eays tho Imperial -gar- dener, holding out his Licached stalk. “ Tho object of Govorumont is to muke mzu o ro- spectablo vegetablo. Thisis & specific against Dervousness!” The game of the French politician has_beon made eaey by tho preparation of this kind of atizen for Lis victim. Tho politician is tho same in both countries, but the mau ho is to Zperate upon is not the same. NAPOLEON'S METHODS. - Even the vices of the American charscter #ateit from despotism. An arms-boearing raco, * good ehots” with tho rifle, and perfectiy alive and competitive in neighborhood-organization, can never be overrun, except by s vast army, silently supported by a vast offico-holding clo- ment,” which® is virtually expatristed from the Very neighborhood in which it lives, aad looks ond lesns toward . the Capital. The postmasters, tho tobacco-sellers, tle licensed liquor shops, the telegraph-opera- tors, the village gendarmerie, the orthodox priests, the sheriffalty,—all theso had paseed under & Central Directory before Napoleon came. A standing class of ofice-holders i3 always on tha watch for a now hirer, and_Louis Napoleon becama N-Y’olnon 100. when Penugny, St. Ar- Daud, and Do Morny had * soen " tho_Depa ment (eame thing as an American State) polit; cians, and given the_local “journals some print- ing. "The song which the peasantry is said to ::-" been captured by was short ‘and to the Francaise, voulez vous dubon? - Cholsez Napoleon | _ The army, police, rogistry. ctc., were all un- der cantral control, and acted their part. Tho Coup O Elat way werely & good deal of murder done in the Capital in_the namo of the Pros- inces (otherwise * the Nation™) ; cud thic same machinsry whiclymada & ** Prince-Preeident " confirmed an Emperor end acquitted 2 murderer, NAPOLEON'S ARMY. , The Coup & Fite! might bave Leen impossible 33 the soldiers been justly considered by the Parisian people; but Socislism murdersd the hm:fla by ecores and hundreds during the days +0f the Republic, and the Coup d'Llat was the . Tengeanco of the army, as well a8 the porjury of ‘the French President. Here we derive a lesson for the treatment of our cwn regular soldiery, which is too often abused in Congress from tero envy and tho spirit of interference. It ¥28 the ‘unts of John Randolph and otber un- charitable civilians which had so nearly destroyed the morale of the army that, after the acquicition of Louisiana, it Li2d nently bocoms the Government there, and in 1512 was generally ineficient. Tho fraqdent ngo of troops in lavgo after tho prevailing fashion in New cities, Orleane, is hazardous to Lite:ty, because it familitrizes the public mind with the i ference, . and makes usurpgtion easy. - Nieo indeed wero tho feunders of country thet thes pitched its Capital in a quiet t, nd witer the ways of, Providence which uted the poople inmarycities, each weteh- fu, independent, and resisting. Tho Capital of France, eftor the dowefall of Napoledh. is re- moved to Versaiiles, which in 2 cily nearly of :qual porzlation with Washington, and thres bouss' march from Paris. THE ZMPRESS’ MONAL INFLIENCE. Tho ago of Nopoloon when his becamo Preei- dex twes o Tittle short of 41. . e served mearly one Americun {era, or three years barring a month, and, elter iy usurpation, enjuyed ile purple nearly nineleen years, or more than two veara longer than Louis Philippe, fohr yedrs 10ore tkan Louis XVI., sud nine years mors {han Napcleon I. It hasbeon charged that he was llegitimato, like Do Moy, hin half-brother, and without 2ay of the blood of Louis Bonaparta of oilaud; but this rests upon no inore than a Perisinn weandal, apd, If true, would ceisblish nothing; for ho mads. his sileged uncle bLis providenco aud guide, sazrificad (o his memory, and wore ail’ his togs, Even in his marriage Nupoloou imitated General Bonaparto, taking a wife amongst the noble: ‘Thero was' very littlo differenco botween ki Empire and that of some of the Spanish-Amer- ican Fresidents, OId Santa Anna §a o faint re- mindez of the man ; and, a8 tho greatest pro- duct of Santa Anna’s reign was the Jiberation of "loxss and Califorhis, aud their gettlemont by & rationai psoplo, o the greatest advantazes at- tribnted to Napoleon a7o tho relesso of Germany snd Htaly from _constrained provincialiom. 1o could not sisy tho worl ho started in Italy, and ks eilly interforonce with Germany on tho Spanish protoxt made a powerful - Protestaut Kingdom on tho Continent, Topeired tl:o larce- nies of the past, gavo Spain o tolerant King, and reduced tho Papal Stato to mecular correction. Some peoplo like some of these things, A good many do. Lonis Napoleon's reign reduced tho prowess of France by ovor- banting, eo that it was unable to provent the Tearrangement of Europe. Tho I'rench Em- oror ia thus like the painted womsn in the tablean, central and spangled; but the real actors are disuributed &round jn plain clothes. They gre_Cavour, Diemarck, Juarez, Beward, Prim, Thiere, Garibaldi. Tho moral valeo of Nupoleon to {ho woild may be measured#y the fect thar, at his surrendor, the creditof his country ‘suffered nothing, oven with the vast olligations of lis failuro heaped mpon it; whild the Christian “Church in all its branciios took courage, aud Socialism and Commun- ism dclayed mot fo perish upon his prre. Tho Gennan canuoncers in the eight of Paris weited till tho Republic' Dhsd bombarded the Commune ; and, sinco then, TFrance, strugglivg with debts, has been hap- pior than France struggling with (ho illnsions of Glory tind the counter-illusions of Socialivm. M. Thiera i8 too old to insure o stable Govern- ment to Fracce, and too much infatuated with tho First Napolcou's genius to go vers wide of the Third Napoleon’s mistakes, Dut the public debt will sober France, as it was svbored after 1814, when an numistakablo despotism, wearing no illusions, 1:at £l the dismalness of Bourbon- iem, provoked a National spirit, a patriotic liter- ature, and foloranco amongst partizans. That was the period ‘of Lafayette, of Lamertino, 6f Beranver, Arago, and Aanuel. Political Franco undor Louis P'hilippo was corrupt as the Awmer- ican Senato;. but it was watenal, sober, and in- dua'rious, and it achieved nearlysll the great in- terpal works which should have mado liberty easy aftor tho Resolution of 1815, FRANCE'S MATERIAL INCREASE. Much has been said of the splendor of the architectural revival of Paria and tho French cities under the Empire; but this weut on con- temporancouely with the improvement of Chris- tendom. New York, Londou, and the cities of interior Amorica and Australia developed rels- tively like Paris; for the mines of the world were opened, exchanga and travel wero general, andthe elder Continentstoiled for Burope, eo that Europeans a} leisure made Frence their Mabille. Life 1n the cities was made immeasurably more complete, whilo tho Provinces, which were tlio politicsl bulwarks of the Imperial politicians, lay in the ezsy toils of ignorance,—uninquiritive, boozy, aad truly loyal. The gront material ‘works of the Empire were the Alpiue Tunnel and tho Suez Canal, and the rehabilitation of the ports and docks; but the commerce of Franco was subsidized in vaio, and the great navy, and the several schemes of colonization in Cochin L;Si:n, arbary, and Polynesia, were barran of re- [ . . IMPERIAL POLIOY. Tho Emperor's Life of Czsr but proved tho restless conecience end childieh assumption of its author, who resemblod_his prototype chicfly in that ho had conquered Ganl. As a soldist ho was coutented with tho estliest ealutations of victory, and tho peace at Villefranca was made with the hasto of ouo whose heart wes ot on Bearing the peans of Paris rather then tho full gratulations of a blecding countrs redoemed. Thie campaign of the Ciimea secms, oven at our distance, fiko a fluali in the pan, whose bencti- cent offccta require book {0 explain them, And then comes Alesico, where Napoeon played Burr ond Meximilian Blonherbsssett, und the Mexican loan av homo dissatisfied oven the sor- did bourgcoize. Atlust, the crazy sdvance ou Germauy, with an army ciphered up aecording to fraudulent rolls, weapons whoss eflicacy ap- peared chiefly in tho bluster about them, and Generala snd Marshals debeuclied by huxury | 4 ia with wonder that wo remember how such o Theatre-King os this Lad nearly had it in his power to interfere in tho American contest, and in favor of Blavery, of course. But bo would Lavamade no impression, with only France to back him, upon tho concta of the United State His novy bad_not, the material, and his peop Ziad not (he disposition, to do ua serions iejury. He might have relessed some blockaders, whoso bills France must have scttlod af lest; bt our merchant mavino was docmed clzeady,—uot by tho coreair, but by politicnl cconomy. A5°A SHOWMAX. Th lifo and reigu of Louis Napoleon abound in rovelations of . the parvenue. His farco of a plebiseitum in Venice, Lombacis, aud Tuscans is coining of phrasch to sct {ho valgar td gap- ing,—such s “Tho Empiro is Pesce:” Lis spasmodic appearances in public, and gpedches to throw Europe buck on its haunches; Lis o importation _of Spahis and Turcos; his camp ot Chofons; his policy of en- ervation, tompered by surprisos; _ his discovery of Kings for other peoplo; his fond- ness for adventurers and big operators,—theso thinga ho never cczsed to do until he sprung the quarrol upon Prussis ,on a foolish pretext, and gnve up hie sword * ginco he could not dio on the ficld of battle.” In his period, the morals of France grew £0 bad that it drams and literaturo were the pest of civilization. French debauchery passed As atic excasses, and French atheism and French bigotry divided tho populstion betwoen them, giving neither consorvatism nor progress & 8paca to stand upon. It is to the honor of France that tho material i Teft to rebuild upon after this Showman's Empiro. Gatn. i el Fhe Louisville Lottery. ¥ _Tho Louisville Commercial has been ** foves- tigating” the grest Louisvillo Library lotteries and their ransgement, with a view of discovor- ing how much monoy the Library got, and who divided tho belance. For the first gréat concert there were 35,000 tickets £old at S10 each, mak- ing $330,000 receipts. The amount expended in gifts was 192,500 : over $46,000 was paid to agents ; over $59,000 for advertising ; ond Alr. Toters, the export who got up tho concert end managed it, -divided with the Library.Associa- tion_the remainder, tho sharoof ench being 22,700, Petors feoms to have made a good thing out' of it. The nccount of oxpenditures for the Library shows thot £9,600 was used in purchasing books, which the Commercial iste- epectfully seys * would not hiwve brought over 10 centa & pound under tho bammer,” and tho remander went in paymeuts on building, sala- Ties, and the like. ‘The eccond concert was managed by Governor Brumlette, who succeeded Peters in thie contract. Tor tho *concert” given under his mansgment thero wero 75,000 tickets, which, at $10 each, amounted to $750.000. Of this’ sum 875,000 was oxpended in gifts, §109,000 and upward in adrertizing, over 383,000 to agents, snd the re- mainder was divided between the Library and Governor Prantlette, being s little over £90,000 toeack. A pretty good thing for Eramletto. A B et White vw. Black. From the New Orleans Picayne, Jan, 14, That was o charming levee yesterdsy in Mr. Kellogg's parlor after tho inauguration_ cera— ‘monics at Meckanic's Institute were concludod. Tho *‘influcntial " colored element was ox- cluded from the first fable; in fact, the so- cellod Gevernor-clect preferred the' © wlite trash,” end his hospitality was accordingly shared by Chief Justico Ludeling, Judges Durell, Diblle, sud Howe; Dr. Gaines, of the Tnited States. Navy: Chiof of Police Badgor, Collector Caaoy, ex-Moyor Flanders, and many others, Senatorsand Representatives, and last, but xnot lesst, His Excollomcy, P. B. 5. Pinchback! Congratulations followed; huge bumpers in honor of the occasion were emptiod ; but all this timo the faithful Samho remained on the outside stupidly wordering why it was there was no placo st tho festive board for him. Presto change! Keilogg msde his exii in kome mysterious macner, followed by Pinchbeck end the remaining distinguished guests. Then tho -doors weis thrown wide open, and in potred the faithfal, with his Maj- ety Don Cipssr at their head. . 3o wine remsit: ¢d, however. Groat was tho astonisbmeat, an~ not loud but decp were the murmurs of discon- tent, Thereis & moralin this, which it would be well for the colored peoplo to pondar. 3 -can be chilled. by your indifferonce or injured by “MIDDLEMARCH.” When' Charles Dickens saw *“ George Eliot's" firet story, *“Socnes from Clerical Life,” then publishing in Blackwood's Magazine, ho wroto to his friend Forster: “Do read thom; they are the best things I Lave seen since I began my course,” Tt was such praise this incomparuble writer won by her first work. Ehe was theu struggling for recognition; bLut, in tho yoears that have clapsed since this master-mind knew her kindred genius, “ Georgo Eliot™ has taken hor placo s tho grestest of living writers of English fiction. What Dickezs eaid of “Cler- ical Life " can bo eaid of all her writings. Thoy ore tho best. ~ ““ Georgo Eliot” is hursslf her only rival. Hor last book, “lfifldlemnrchl"in the greatest novel wo have had since the ono that proceded it from the same hand. It is moro than fiction ; it1s trath, It is marked by an anatomical inright into social and individual naturo ; it is full of humor as delieate, to use ono of her own oxpressions, a3 tha flash ¢ from & sunlit wing.” Not by transcanding, but by uncovoring, tho life around us, tho puthor bas woven = story of entrencing beanty. Sho ignores tho trap-loors, nssassinstions, intrigues, and catastrophon of onlindzy novelwrights, aud moves us with that deepor ovory-dsy tragedy which lies in the very fact of frequency. On every pagoe of her narrative aro thoaghts that delight us by their completion of our own half-formod ideas. Tho stylo in which the book is written is, to our mind, the clearest, freshest Englishi of the day. “Ifiddlemarch™ is, wbove all, &' work of art, beautiful aad truo in its de- lineations. F “ GeozgoEliot's " work haan deep significanco. Bhe represents tho feminino side of modern thought. Snheis the intellectual mate of men liko Sponcer, Buckle, Tyndall, Hugley, and Darwin. Sho does not reprodaco their theories and terms; her book docs not serve to lure tho render into ambuscades of .pro- toplasms, - evolutions, . and Darwiniem. She is too fine and too honest an artist to per- vert her novel, in the impertinent fashion of the dy, into’s mero artifice for propagandiem,—a sugar-coating for pilulous srguments on the suilrago, or prison-reform, or religions dogmas. No fiction was ever more free from such ulterior purpose than * Middlsmarch.” It is astory, nota treatise. Butit is the complement of the stronger scientific work of tho present. day “Goorge Eliot " stands by thoside,of tha thinkers of to- day, thinking. Whil they are npplying to tho problems of life! thelriraiis, and aitempting o solution by maseilime methods of historic, scientific, metaphysical research, sho, with her womanly intnitions and sympatlies, is survey- ing tho limitations of modern life, and is puiting to its socisl problams ler bheart. This she does with tlw muconscious directuess of genius. She rises far sbove the didactic dul- nesses of tho novel “with a purpose,” to mako ua feol “*tho meanncss of opportunity,” tho “unattained gooducss,” and tho “ tragic fail- ure," which tho social storility of the dsy brings to * passionate ideal ‘raturos which demand an epiclife.” . «3Middlemarch” is singularly frea from tho pretension of n purpose, the irof having some good lesson cloated under its brilliancics, of amusing us ard making'us good-natured, in order, at the propitious moment, to insort o nsuseous doso of medicinal adwico or morality between our relaxed lips. It is simply the story of an ardent, wndisciplined, noblo, * and bLeautifil girl, yearning for an ideal lifo, 2nd besten down “o common-place by the crush- ing “menrnoss of opportunity.” Nomoral is given, but cven eluggish minds ure forced to draw tho obvious lesson. Suchimothods are asmuch above thoso of tho Utilitarinn roformer cs tho winged logic of the iutnitions is above tho crawling syllogiems which tho latter sots inmotion. Thera is & spiritual followship betwoen the faculica, which transmautes sensction in one into action in another. In this wayour Shakspeares, Mendele- sohos, and Thorwaldsens, by quickening our eouls, better our daily lifo, and art becomes tho elly of morality. % Georgo Eliot” ia an artist in words, who Pli:ts‘ sings, sculps charactern, aud sceks, like er follow, Shakspeare, to hold tho mirror up to Nadure. She has po “ purpose” further thaa to be t No one has. Letter described hor aim than ** George Eliot” herself in tl:o seventoenth chapter of ** Adam Bede.” “1f she were o clever noveliet, slw says, not obliged to creep servile- Iy after Nafuro and fsct, but ablo to represent things as taey never were and pever will be, her charseters would be of her own choosing, and wonld be unexceptionable. As it is. ghe fecls coutent to tell ber simple story, with- oat trying to make things scem _ better than they are; dreading nothing, indeod, 80 much as faleity. Tho pencil is conscious of adelightful facility ir drewing & gritiu; the longer tho clawa and the larger tho wings tho Dotter ; but that marvelous facility for when we ‘sout to w o real, unexaggerntod lion. *Ivrould not,” she goys, evenif I had tho choice, o the clevor novelist wha can ereato a world g0 amuch better than this in which we got up in the morning to do our daily work, ihat You would Iss likely to turn. s, colder, harder 650 onthe dusty streets 2nd the comuon groen fields, —on the r2al breathiog men and women who your projudice, who can bo cheered and helped ‘onward by your fellow-feeling, your forbearaace, sour outipoken, brave justic.” Theso prinei- ples are carried out in ¢ Middlomarch” in o sway that will delight M. Taino. ; . Baid “*Gradgrind,” with Lis obstinate earriage, squaro ccat, squarc logs, square shouldars,~—nay his very necieloth trained to take him by the throst ~with on unaccommodating _grasp, like s slubborn fect: *‘In this lifo wa:l want _mothing but Facts, sir; noth- ing but Facts” Truo enough; but palpable wares, coins, volumes of polifical scon omy, statistics, are not tho ouly Facis. They aronot the chief Facls. Sympsthy. s strain of ‘mausic, the porfumo of flowers, tho dolusions of childliood, tho dreams of youth, end tho_ambi- tions of maturity aro Facts; all tho sbifting currents of humanity aro froightod with subtle Tacts, which defy measara or scalo; tears aro TFacts, and g0 are smiles,—Facts quito 05 im~ portent as the figures in tho report of tho Secro- tary of the Treasury, ‘““George Eliot,” with tho ceasclosa and minute cbeervafion, decp insight, tendor intuition, vast comprehension, that £ho Drings to the Joring study of tho Facté of human lifo £nd charzcter, s wiclding sn influenco not second to that of kuy mvest: sator of the day. Even Scienco has its scxes, and our scvercr shilogophies are incompleto unless supplemented y the feminine studies of minds like * Georgo ' Eliot," which will classify tho sentimeutal facts of Nature. Thishigh fanctionmay provent her from being reached by tho majority of noval.rondors; but her influenico will not be lost on them, for the fruits of her labors will be distributed to them by tho intellectual middlemen of our msg- azines, and hour-strutting novelists, who can oquip themselves for life from Ler etores. “ Middlemarch,” a8 the author states,is a study. Its greatest interest will be found in its display of haman character in oil ity varieties. Thera is a story, andan absorbing one. “ George Eliot " Las & band powerful enough to so en- ‘tangle events and perons os to produco in read- ery’ minds that agrecablo titillation of uncer- teinty which gives a plot_to them tho sgreeable spico of rappes or maccaboy to a veteran snufl- taker. But hero sho is not at her best, much ‘otter than others as ehe may be. Shakepearcan is & word much used in conucction with ©* Georgo Eliot's” work, and it seems approprizto ap- lied to her insight inta human pature. Eho s Shakspearcs power of _peychological qbservation, but his boundlcss fancy and cxubernnt imagiation are not hers, She finds ber inspiration in the great spectacle of life, of reality,—not of fancy, where Shak- speare_rioted. ‘This view of “her bent ia strengthened by the fact thaf her poctry, al- though chaste znd beautiful, plainly lacks tha true imaginative €oul that alone gives verse poetical life. y “3fiddlemarch” might bo called aslory of ‘marrisge as wall as & study of lifec, for the fale of all the prominent personages in’ the book, with, etarcely one exception, depends upon their mar- riage. “*Dorothes™ ' and “‘Casaubon,” and “Ladislaw,” “Lydgate” and - * Rosamond,” “Fred. Vincy” and *Mary Garth,”are the chief actors, and the most carefully-drawn char- acters in tho book, * Bulstrode” excepted, and the port they play is matrimorial. 3 Tho characters of * Middlomarch ™ aro verita- ble studics. Not one of them is a creation; ihoy are reproductions. The author does not make her pereoneges ; she finds them. Hence, none of tho persons of her drama ace perfectly ood or entirely tad. Sho ehows s, in her bad feople, fitful impulses for zood, a=d somotimes aoble acts ; and alicws the inequalitics. of her | for such work. Letter ones to throw their patural shadows. 1t is not thoreviewer's buiuces to tel: the story, and we will eimnly follow the author in aome of Ler wonderful skotches of charactor, Thare | are at least a dozen, any ome of which would givo the the avcrage novelist material for a serics. * Dorothea” is the centre of interoat in the story. It is her lovelinessof person and ar- dor of character that win ounr sympathy—dis- leartened not seldom, it must ba admit: by her almost wilful self-delusions—from the Arst, aod it is her life that i3 most.involved in the catastrophes of the story. Bat, alhoush the best chazacter in tho book, hers 'is not the best drawn, Sho ia rathor a subjoct for worahip than study. There are in her no spots of commonness asin ““Lydgate,"no hypocrisy aain “ Bulstrode,” nona of *Hoscmond's” ° terrible scliish- uoess, o give occasiou for fine digsection. 1Iti3 in tho portreyal of natures in which thero ara stor clemeuts that there i room for skill in “ Dorothes™ affords no opportunity ‘We know her from' tho “firsf. 8he ‘“ had that kind of beruty which seoms to bo thrown into relief by poor drase; and Ler {Jrofile, s well as her staturo, secmed to gain ho moro dignity from Lor plain garmente, which, by tho sido of provincial fashions, gave her the impressivencas of o fing quotation from the Bible, or from one of our dlder pocts, in a pa‘r‘ngmph of to-day's nowspaper.” si sualysis. orotlea” kiew many ’ passages of Pascal's * Pensees” sud of Joremy Tay- lor by heart, and, to her, tho des- tinies of mankind made the solicitudes of fomi- nine fashion appear au occupation it for Bed~ lam, 8he could not reconcile tho anxietios of a spiritual lifo, involsing eternal consequences, with 8 keen interest in_gip and artificial pro- trusions of drapery. Ier mind wes' theoretic, end yearned by its nature after some lofty con- veption of the world which might frankly in~ clude the Parish of Tipton, nud her own rule of conduct thero; she was enamored of intensity and groatness, and rash in embrazing whatever £eomed to her to have thoso aspects; likely to seck martyrdom, to mako retractazions, andthen to incur martyrdom after all in n duarter whore &ho had mot sought it. . She was a young lady who wonld kneel sud- doniy down on 8 brick toor by tho side of a sick Iaboror, and pray as forvently as if sho thought Bersclf living in the time of the Apostles; who Lod strango whims of sitting upat night to read old theological books, nd of fasting like & Papist. She had odd views:of mardago. She would ave accepted tho judicious Hooker, if sho had beon bomn in time to eave him from that wrotchied mistake he mads in matrimony ; or John Milton, when bhis blindness had come on; the reslly delightfal marrage must bo that when your husbaid was' o sort of father, and conld téach yon uven Hebrow, -if yon wishod it. Sho was, 2 ** Ladislaw ” stylod Ler, adorably vimple and fall of fecling. Sho was not a worman to be spoken of a3 other women woro. Thé ordinary phrases which might apply to mere bodily prettineszes were not appheable to cr. She bLad littlo vanity, but tho ardent woman's need to rule beneficently by muking tho joy of another sonl. It is sho who utters these beautiful thoughts (wo must not forget to give the eredit for tlem to * George Eliot,” who is epeaking throngh * Dorothea'): * By deziring whatis perfocily good, oven when we don't know quite ~what it s, sud cannot do wlat we would, we ara part of the Divine _power ogainst ovil,—wi- dewing the skirts of lpht, and making tho straggle with darkness narrower.” Aud again: 1 bave Leen thinking of the different ways in which Christianity is taught, and, wheu- ever I find one that makes it s wider Llessing than any other, I cling to that aa tho truest,—1 mesn that which takes in tho most good of all kinds, and briugy in tho wost peopla as sherers init. Itissurcly betfer to pardon too much than to condemn too much.” When Dr. Lydgato i3 accused of having been bribed to peruiv _tho doath of & person under his care who held sccrota troublosome to his benefactor, *Bul- strode,” Ler gewesous womanhood rises up against the poiscnous suspicions of Middle- _arch, and sbe exclaims, ccergetically: * You don’t beliove that Mr. Lydgate is guilsy of anything base ? I will not bolieve it. Let us find ont the truth and clear Lim.” With a moist bnghtness in Ler oyes, sho says: * People glorify all sorts of bravery but thiat which thoy might show on behalf of their nearest neigh- bora,” * Lydgate” might well -say of her: ¢ Thiis young cresturo_has s heart large enough for the Virgn Mary. -0 evidently thunks noth- ingof Lerown futuro, and would pledge away Laif hor income sl onc-, us if sho wanted noth- ing for herself buta cliair to sit in from which slio can loois down with those clear eyes at the pour mortais who pray to ber. Sho seeme to Dbave what I never saw in aby woman beforo,— 2 foantain of friendship toward mon. A man can mako n friend of her. Hur iote might help a man more than her money.” ** Dorathea's” natures was one of those i which, if they love us, W6 are consciousof neortof baptism and consecration. They bind us over to recti- tude #nd purity by their pure beliof zbout us, gnd our sins Licono that worat kind of sacrilego which tears down the invicible altar of Prust. 'Tho anthor daes not conceal the fact that this exquisite creaturo was like other mortals, She bad her fualts; well, we wish wo had them, too. ‘Lhere aro twomen in tho story whose lives wero woven into “ Dorothea's,"—the “* Lev. Ed- wesd Cagaubon,” old enough to Lo _ler father, «nd his cougin, ** Will Ladislaw,” young enough «t0 be his gon, * To tho former—ono of tho most repellant_characters in fiction—tie nuthor is wonderfully just, and wa can but wonder at tho skill with which sl compels us to pity while we dislike, For “Will Ladislaw ” she evidontly has a fondness,—one of tho few poiuts iu which eho Bhows 3 sign of weakness. oth characters are marvels of studious porirsiture. - In tho ¢ Rev. Edward Casaubon,” % Dorothea " saw Ler ideal bero. 1iis mauners, sho thouglt, wero very, dignified; the set of his irou-gray hair and his ‘ desp oye-sockets medo him rescmble the portrait of Locke. —He wes a learned and retired- scholsr, who' had epent thirky veers in making & hugo collec- tion of manuscript notes for a work which bo wag going to_write, entitled “The Key of All Mythologies.” - To ' people who looked st him coolly, he is variously described -as resembling G d’;:iflx‘u head skinned for the occasion,” a “ mummy," o - dried-up pedant.” To ** Celin,” “ Dorothea's " gensible sister, ho was * ves ugly,” ** sallow,” with * Dlinking eyes,” the cf- feci of continual study. When ho spoke, he delivercd himsolf with precison, a3 if he had been called - upon to amake a public statement. When he smiled; his faco was lit up by pale, wintry san- shine. A wife, ho thought, was to be taken to adorn the remainder of his quadrant, ns 2 little moon that would causo no perceptiblo aborra- tion in hin prouder orbit, He was one of tiose peoplo who alwsys say_* my love” when their manuer is coldost; and wss described by his cousin, “Will Ladielaw,” as ‘a cused, whito-bléoded, pedzntic coxcomb.” This was the man who, Dorothea” thought, could understand the bigher, inward lifo, and | with whom there could Le somo epiritual com- munion, To her he was a living Boesnet, whoso work could reconcile complete knowledge with devoted pioty. Lo was a modern Augustine, whounited tho glories of doctor and saint. Nothing conld bo more unliko than the nucle and the miephew. “ Dorothea " first 8oca the Intter in his uncle’s garden. She saw o peir of gray eyes, rather near together, a delicate, frrégular nose,. with s little ripple in it, and hair falling backsward ; but there was a mouth zud chin of a prominent aspect. His very features sometimes changad their form; his jaw looked sometimes largo and sometimes small ; and tho littlo ripplo in hia nozo wes & preparation for metamorphosis. When he turned his head quickly, his bair scomed to sboke out light, and some persons thought they saw_ decided genius “in this corus- cation. *‘3fr, Cosaubon,” by contrast, was ray- less. Some thought ** Ladislaw” a dangerous young eprig, with Lie opera-songs and his ready tongue ; s sort of Byronic hero,—sn amorous conepirafor. He 'is not only tho opposite of “Casnubon,” but of “*Dorothea.” He Las no yearnings for a higher lifs, or for knowledgo. As “Casaubon”™ complained: “So far is from having any deeiro for & more accurats knowlodge of the earth's surface, ihat he said be ehould prefer not to know the gources of the Nile, and that thero elould be some own regions preserved 88 hunting- grounds for tho poetic imagination. I bave Pointed to my own manuscript volumes, whicl represent the toil of years, preparatory to s work not yet ccompliched. = But in vain. To careful reasoning of this kind he replica by call- ing_himeelf a Pegnsus, and every form of pre- ecribed work, harness.” Genius, *Ladislaw” held,. must await those messages from the Universe which summon itto prculiar work, only placing itself in an attitudo of recoptivity toward ell soblime chances. Tho attitudes of receptivity ere variona, and “ Will™ had sincorely tried many of them. -Fo was ot ox- cessively fond of wine, but he had eeveral times taken toomuch, simply a8 an experiment in that form of ecstacy ; he had fasted till e was fain, and Irad then supped on lobstor; he bad made bimself iil with P s opinm. Notbing great- 1y original had resulted from these measures, and the effects of the opium had_convinced hir. that there wasan entire diesimilarity botween Lis constitation and that of De Qaincey's. These two are the men with whom * Dorothes® ia to spend her lifo, and 80 her ardent yearning: digappear like her youth. E ‘Every personage in the book, however brie! his part in thé story, is made to be remem. bered. “Celia™ 18 #aid to have always lookec uapon her sister * Dorothea” with s miztue o criticism and awe. Bhe bad always worn s yoke, creature has not its private opin- Celia™ thought * Dorothea™ by ous for family comfort. Her no- tions and seraples wera like split needles, making one efraid of treading, or sitting down, or even ealing. ‘‘Celia,” a3 well ag “ Roa- amond,”—who is, perhsps, the moat caroful study in the book of femalo character,—~was 3 blonde,~a class against whom the sathor is ovi- dently projudicol; Lluo eyes and light Lair, ehe ofton broadly hints, are disingennous. * Calia™ a3 affectionato cnough in s goneral way. When her baby was born, vhe had @ new eenso of her mental solidity and calm wisdom. It ecemed clear to her that, chere there was @ baby, things were right enough, and that error in general wag amaro lack of ihat contral poising forvo. Dosidea, wo havo Standiah,” the old Tawyer, who had been g0 long concernod with the land- ed gentry that he had becomo landed him- eclf: and “ Chichely,” who thoaght thero shomld be s Littlo devil in a woman,~his study of the fair vox haviog_evidently boen detrimental to his theology. ~Moro comical than all waa ** Doro- thea's” shutling, hazy-minded, disjointed uncle, *Alr. Brooke,” whom we first meet at dia- per “8ir Humpbroy Davy,” emid ©Ar. Brooke,” over the soup, in bLis easy, smiling way; *well, now, BSir Hum- Thieey Disx, T dinedsith Line Soats 250, at CartwTight's ; and Wordsworth waa thero, t00,— the poet Viordaworth, you kuow. Now, thero was somothing singulur.” I wes at Cambridge whon Wordsworth was there, and I uever mot him; and I dined with him twenty years afterat Cartwright's. Thore's sn oddity in things, now, But Davy was thero; he was a poet, too; or, e I mey say, Wordsworth was post one, and Davy was post two. That was truo in overy sonse, you know.” “Mr. Brooke,” when Lo was youny, bLad “Ind idess you know,” and L had documents. *Yes,” Enid Mr. Brooke, with &n casy smilo, “I havo documents. I bogan, & long while a7o, to col- lect docnments. They want arranging; but, when a question baa strack mo, I have written to somelody to got sn answer. I havedocu- ments at my beok.” - . This fighty individual catches the Reform fo- ver,—it was in the days of Sir Robert, Peel — end presonted himaelf ta tho electors of Liddle- . march as cavdidate to repreeent them in Parlia- mont. Thers are not many more humorous pas- eages in electoral literature than Lis speech o them from the baleony of the White Hart. Quotable passages, strokes of Lhumor, and tar- rible slashes of sarcasm that often cut into the reader’s own consciousness, ate as froquent ag in “Georgo Eliot’s " former books. In ono of ber dialogucs, sho gives an_admirable dofinition of that lutherto conveuiont but indefinablo word, g “ But now, tell us"—speaking of “Dr. Lyd- gato"—+ wlat sort of man he is."” *Ob, tallish, dark, clever, talks woll,—rather s prig, T think " “Thover can make out what you mean by & pri e “A fellow who wants to show that he has opinions.” . Why, my dear, doctors musthavo opinions.” ¢Yes, tho opinions they aro paid for, Buta prig1s a fellow wcho is alicays making you a pres- ent of i coinions.” “3Ir. Chichely's” opinion of Reform would not have been popular in tho last canvass,—with ono sidg, at least. *IHang your reforms,” said Bo. “There's no greater humbug in the'world. You nover Licar of b roform but it'means some trick to put in pew men.” “Mrs. Waulo” stays beforo us only & moment, but Tong_enough ts bo rememlored for her “Jow, mufiled, noutrel tone, =s of = voice lioard through coztor wool ;" and for her opinion that entire froedom from tho nocessity of bolsving egreeably was included in the Alnighty’s inteu- tion about familics. Z The suthor gives us the koy-note of *3fiddlo- march” st tiie very beginning. It is “ihe meanness of opportunity.” It 13 a record of failures; all tho chief actors fail wraichedly, from *Bulstrode,” the ovangelical bankor, o “ Dorotlie,” whote failuro ia greator than all, as ehio failed i » groater purposo than uay. 1£ ia only thoge who essayed no flight—such 18 the scnsible Celia " and tho selfish * Rosamond,” the quict, unideal “Mary Garth ”and the vapi * Fred Viney "—who scem to succeed. “Dr. Lydgatc's" failure is one of tho worat. When lio first appesrs beforo us, ho is but seven- snd-twenty,—an age at which many men aro not uite commion. ' Ho_did not mean to be one of that multitude of middle-szed men who go sbout in their vocatious in & daily course determined for them much in the samo way as tho tie of their cravats, He was dooply attashed to his profession: it neoded reform. Ho was fired with the possibility that_ho might woslk out the roof of an anztomical conception, and mako & fuk in tho chnin of disccvery. Mo was, more- cver, dotermined to bold himself ' aboso sordid cares and might make a c his course toward finel compazionship with tho immortals. Te bad bad a_scrious love-acrapo, from which ho bod extricated himsalf, snd ho had more reason than ever for trusting bLis judg- ment, now that it was eo exporiencad, and fwnce- forth le would take a strictly_scicnlific tiaw o woman. He wzs young, proud, ambitious; tool & triumphaat dolight in Lis atudics. The author places him in every possiblo aspect of fresh menhiood rejoicing ia_ its strength, in- epired witlshigh purposs to do something for which the world should bo forever tho botter. Where does it end? Ho married *Rosamond,"” whom every ove in Middlemarh—exeepl her rother—thought s perfect voung woman; sho was, he thought, o creaturs who would bring him tho sweet furtheraice of satisfying aection— boguty,— repoec, — guch _ help ad our thonghts ~got from the summer-eky and the flower-fringed mendows. Bat ho toon finds, with a growing tertor, that ho has no con- trol oter this wild, beautifal, sylph-like creature. Hia suporior knowledge a:d mental force, in- stead of boing, 88 ho had imagined, shrine to consult on all oceasions, was simply et aside on every practical question. He find that there is but one porson in *Rosammod's™ world whom sho does not regard as blameworthy, and that was the graceful creature, with Llondo plaits sud with little hands crossed’ before hor, who never oxpressed hersclf unbecomingly, and had always acted for thebest,—thobest boing naturallywhat eho best liked. Other tronbles press Lim; Lo geta into debt, aud only those who kaow tho enpremacy of the intellcetual lifo which © Lyd- gate™ aspired lo—tho lifo which has o end of cnnobling thought and purpose in it--csn un- derstand the grief of ono who falls from that serena activity into tho abeorbing, soul-wasting struggle with worldly sunogances. And Eo on “ Lydgnte’s” enthusissm there began to weigh ot only the sorrow his ill-omened marringo Lronght him, but the biting prescnca of & a1 peity degrading caro, such ss casts the light of irony over all higher eflort. His_wifo, who was to bavo been 0 much to him, washis first great disappoint- ment; ho must renouace thio tender devoted- nees and docile adoration of the ideal wife, and take up Lis life on o lower stage of oxpectation, like @ man who has lost his lower limbs. We fol- low bim through hia carecr to his death, which occurred st 50 years of age. Hewos called s succossful man by the world, s Lad geinod au excellent practice. His acquaintances thought him envisblo to havo o charming a wifo ; but Lo knor, and wo know, tLat his life was a failaro, a3 Rosamond, but for the impenetrablo stupidity of her sclfishness, might have known when 4 Lrdgate” called her hia basil plant, which, ho dded, was & plant which flourished wonderfully on a murdered ma's braine. 3 “ Bulstroda” was a failuro not less calami- tous ; but this wo must_leave to the reader, ro- markiqg that thero is not ia English fiction & finer work of vivisection than the delineation of his character and struggles. “ Casgnbon” wasa feilure. Ho failed not oaly in his pet work, *‘ Tho Key to.All Mytholo- ies,” to which wo have referred, but in his love. $lia hrst premonition of failuro was in finding that, 18 bis marriago came nearer, his epirits did not rise. He had 1magined—poor feilow !—that his long, studious backelorhood had stéred up for him a compound-intercat of onjoyment, and that large drafts on his affections would not fail to be honored. But now he began to grow ead with tho very conviction that kis circum- stancea wero unusually bappy ; - there wa3 a cor-" tain blankness of sensibility coming over him, 23 bo toiled in the morasa of authorship, secm- ing, after thirty years, no nearer the goal. Even bid religious faith wavered with hid wavering trost o his _ own _authorship, and the consolation of hig Christisn hopo of immortality seemed to rest on the immorzality of the still-unwrition *‘Key to All Mythologies.” **For my part,” says ““George Lfiot,” **1 am very sorry for him." And so must we be. We, as well a3 “‘DorotLea,” follow him with pity us disepro makea deeper and deeper inroads upou bim; and yet Le shrinks from pity. - Desides the morbid consciousness that others did not give him the place he had not de- monetrably merited, there was pressing upon Lim the irritation of contact with *Dorothea,” whose ardent nature, in conflict with hia utter unlovsbility, gave constant pain. = " She nursed him, she tesd to him, she anticipated 1uia wants, and was sclicitous about his feclinge; but - ibere hud entered intothe Lusband's mind tbe cer- iainty that ehe Judged hir, and that her wifely devot- edacss was lika a penitentinl expiation of untelieving thoughts,—was sccompanied with 8 power of compari- son by which himself and his doings were seen too fuminously as & part of thivgs in geaeral. His discon- izmt vapor-iike, through ail her geatle, loving passed, estations, and clung £o that inappreciative world il “¥1ch she had only brougnt Bearer to Lim. Poor Mr. Cwaubon! This suffering was the ‘beéar becauso it soemed like 8 betrayal: the {oung creature whe had morshipred it pefect st bad quick!y turned into tho cr! wife ; ant early lostances of criticism and rosentment had made ipression which no tendernoss utmission e afterwzrds could remore. To his enspiciocs inte tation, Dorothez's silence now was 3 suppreared Yion ; 1 not in anyw: anticipated wus an acseriion of cor: ity 3 her geatle auawers had ireitatir g ory {n them: and, when rhe acqaieced, 1t wata eolfeap- proved oort of forhearance. Tke tenzeity with which #ke strove to hido this fnward dramna mads it the more vivid for him; as wo bear with tlie more Leennces ‘what we wish others not to hear. Wo ara not ellowod to viow this misary from “Dorothes’s” stadpoint alone, Tho author torest, all our oifort at n to tho young skins that look blooming in spita of tronble. In spito of his linking eves and whito malas, aud Lis want of museular curvo, “Mr. Casaubon,” sho eaye, Lad an intonso conscioasncas within bim, and was_spiritually s-hungered liko the Test of us. Thero- aro nob many writors who could carry on this contrast of eelfish gloom aud_suspicion with tho noble, adorable self- sacrific of *Dorothas,” witliout Lereelf show- ing a Dbins sgainst fo unlovablo o creature, aud communicating it to us ; but **Ooorgo Eliot” docanot_need to create o+ Murdstone,” or & *}arquis of Stoyno,” aud then, inconcert with tha reader, hound the uofortumate being through tho book. Even the Fivo Points, uays Emerson, havo their peculiss virtues, anl o Goorgo'Eliok ™ treats Ler chsructors Wi oqual sight, o Wors ia not a faifaro it this history of fail- ares more lamentabla than * Casimbon’e.” There ia no character for whom e greater pity is commanded, He was nob responsible for tho illusions of * Dorothea" concerning himsalf. 1o was a8 genuive a character a8 auy ruminant auimal. A'most repetlanc character ko certainly was. It was only * Dorothes” who saw in him, bofore tho marriaze, her ideal hero. ~Jor sistor” 4 Colis,” her father, *Xr. Brooko,” a1l hor rola- tives and friends, saw him as howa3. *Dor- othea's™ delusion wa3 her own, and her mar- risgo was her own, for sho cousuaumated it in &pite of tho protests of every.ona who lovad hor. But the anthor takes cars that all our love and sympathy for “ Dorothea” shall not lead ns to do *Cassubon” injustice. We must dislik him. That wes one of tho cruclest limitationsof Lis naturo, that I conld not love or bo loved: And when * Dorothes,” going into the summer- L:ouse, finds him with Liaarms resting on tho table and his brow bowed down on them, dead, wo cannot bui forget the horror of his repclaut nature, since it fozced on him so pitital a failuro in life and love. Last, “Dorothea” was a failure. *The meanness of opportunity” qnite vanquishod her. Glunco pack at the fervid aspirations with which her life began, asd her subsequent carcer is ead enonghi. All hier yonthfal pas- siof was gronnd into her sonl-knagar, oud sho looked forward to her marriaga with “ Casau- bon" as ono * that would deliver ber from her X from ber which habk: girlish _subjection aad ber own ignoruce, and givo her tho frecdom of vol- untary submission to a guido who vould tako Ler along tho ~grandest path” And yet “Dorothea,” in_fivo weeks, fuds her- self, in her Loudoir in the Via Sistina, sobuing bitterly. She hed no complsint to mako, Sho 1:ad married tho man of Ler choice, aud had no distinetly-shapon grievances. Dat, ales! the continuity of married_companionihip, which ecattera illusiona as rapidly as sharing fodginzs with s brillinnt dinner companion, hod brought 2 stifling depression to * Dorothed’s ™ heazt, as ho percaived that tho lago visics, aad wide, " frosh_air, which sho had dremmned of finding in. her Lustand’s mind, wero roplaced by eite-rooms_zud winding passagos that scemed to lead nowhither. © It was not ouly that, except 2 a reader or.amanzenyis, hor hus- band secmed to shun her companionship in his Inbors, but his osscous unlovability gave her no encouragement. to pour forti her girlish and womauiy fecling. If he would Luva held her hands between Lis, and listenod, with the delight of tendorness aud nnderatanding, to =1l the littlo Listories which made up her experienco, and would have given her tho kzme sort of -intimacy in return, 50 that the past life of each could ba includod in their matoal knowledge aud effcc- tion, or if she could have fed her aflcction with those childlike caresses which are tho bent of every awcet woman, who has began by shore: ing kisses on the hard pate of her bald doll,— creating a bappy soul within that woodenness From tho Wealih of her owa love,—* Mrs-Casiae bon's” peculianties might havo been lenger un- felt by * Dorothea.” Iut what Jove conid sur- vive £0r a man who, when 80 ivine & Woman ap- roached him with ardor enough to Lnve caressed i» shioe-latchot in bor yearning, would mako no other sign than to pronounco her, with his ua- failing propricty, to bo of a tost affectionate and truly feminine pature,—indicating st tho eame {ime, by politely reaching o chair for her, that be regarded theso mawfestations as rataer crado snd siartling. Having mado his clerical toilet in the morning, Lie was_ prepared only for thoso amenities of Life which are snited to tho well-adjusted sliff cravat of tho period, and = mind weighted with unpublished matter. Hor blooming, full-pulsed youth stood in & moral im- prisonmont. Thero is ono sceno in which all the character- istica of each nro compressed in ono vivid inci- dent. * Casaubon” had just been told by tho’ doctor that death might level him a¢ any mo- ment. Ho was walking in tho garden, * whero the dark yew-troes gave him a mute companion- ghip in_melancholy, and tho litile shadows of pird or leaf that floéted across tho isles of sun- light stole along in silence, as in tho presenco of a-sorrow.” + Dorothea ” stepped into the gar- den with/“tho impuleo at one to_go- her hus- Dand. But sbe hesitated, fearing to offend him Ly cbtruding herself, for Ler ardor, continuslly Tepulaed, sersed, with Ler intenso wemory, to heighten her dread, as thvarted cncrgy subsides ijuto a shndder; and sho waadered slowly round the nearer clumps of trecs, until she saw him advancing. Thon she wont foward Lim, and might hevo representod o Hoaven-sent angel coming with & promiso that the ehort honrs re- mainiig should yet bo fillod with that faithfal Iovo which clinga the closer to a comprehended grief. His glanco in reply to hers was 8o chill that ‘sbo felt her timidity incroased; ot sho tumed and pascod Lor Land through bis arm. ¢ Mr. Casqubon’ kepl his hands beiind him, and allowed ker pliant arm to cling with dificully against his vigid arm.” Thero wzs something yorriblo to “ Dorothea ” in the_sonsation which this nnrcsponsive bardness inflicted on her. That is strong word, but not too strong ; it i in thoso ety called trivialities that the secds of joy nre forover wasted, until men and women look ronnd with haggard faces at the dovasta- tion their own wasto hes mado, nud say the earth bears 1o barvest of aweetnes. It seems impossiblo for such conduct to bo forgotten; and yet, in three pagea, ** Dorvihea” forgives tho dcsolate mau;—and eo does tho render. “ Dorothes,” alone of ail the people in tho book, is condémued o two failurcs. Her sec- ond failure, like tho first, and Liko all thoso in tho Look, is caused by marriage. Wo mbat sgreo with her brother-ineaw, hor uncle, her sivter, and Middlemazch genorally, that Ler gce- ond (2 ber first) maniago wss a failare. Dor- othea ™ never repentod that she Lad married #Ladislaw.” Dut as tho suthor, with ol her fondness for * Ladielaw,” ' plaiuly intimates, 60 substaniive apd rarea creature ought not to have merged all her early droams into tho life of unother. With what rapturous aspirations bad ber life begun! .Withr what unideal mistalies hod these boon quenched ! “ Casaubon " and “ Ledislaw ™ Such blunderiug lives meat us at every hand. Thero is in'them “that element of tragedy which lics in the sery fact of froquencr.” They nro the mited rtesults of young snd moblo impulscs - stroggling = undor hoatile conditions. Theso later-born Theresss ara helped by no coherent gocial faith and order. They have no opportunity. Among the many remurks, eays _tho sathor, poesed on “Dorothea’s ” mistakes, it was never Exid, in tho ncighborhood of Middlemarch, that sich mistakes could not have happened if the society into which ghe was born lrad not smiled on prop- csitions of marriago from a sickly man to a girl Ieas than haif hia own age ; on modes of oduca~ tion which makoa woman's knosledge acother name for motley ignorance; or rules of conduct which are in fla con- n with our own londly-ssserted belicfa. While thisis thesocial air in which mortals begin to breathe, thero will bo collisions suchas those in * Dorothea's™ life, when great feelings will take tho azpect of error, and great faich the aspect of illusion, For thero s noereaturc whoso inward being is £ostrong that it ia not greatly determined by what lies outstde it. “ Dorothes'a” life was only another of the manylives of mistakes,—tho offspringof acertziz spiritusl grandeur ill-matched with tho mean- ness of OpporLunity. . (New York: Harper & Bros. Chicago ;. Jan- sen, McClurg & Co., State of Culture Amoéng English veraity Men. Tho Englieh, discontent with “ths low state of scienco and learning in the two older wniver- sities " of Oxford and Cambridge seems likely to secure some radical reform. Great dissatis- faction natnrally exists “at the present Lestowal of the endowments, An annual revenue of some - $830,000 is spent on about 2,000 stu- dente. " Of ‘these 2,000, eaya the Academny, it is a low estimate that moro than Lalf are pass- men,” who may be £a-d to learn nothing wortk learzing, but to spend three years in arriving at Tni- the caze i3 ibo degree of a T Dr. Pac worso fhan the Acadsmy makes 8on, ractor of Lincoln C fied Lot long since that fully 70 cent of tho so-called *-stu- dents™ at Oxtord rein nO §8n30, O¥eR in pro- fession, etudants atzil, Bat “luxurions, indo- lout, and unictorested tenanis of collego Tooms." As soon, ho £278, a3 tHo summer westhor sets in, tho colleges are disorpanized ; study, oven the protanze of . it, isztanend: laria thenceforsesd the only th raminer declaras that the prodigi of tho past has not provented a Japlarabla atate of middla-claas elnenti that with sploa- did -resources, noither learaing mor stionco flonrishes ; that S:otch universifias, poor ms oveity, &re far mora ofiirient than rich xford ‘and Cambridye; that theso last hava not merely fallen short of their propar ims, but have actually preveniod thom ; that wealth' left by charitablo souls for tho snstenance and on- couragement of poor scholars, anl tho advénce- ment of lc:\mlnF. has been tumed asido to pro- vide what is littlo boiter timu sn elegant lounge for the young sprigs of uobility; tha whether England bo comparad with Frence, Germany, or Beotland, tho misapplication of endowments in the English universities i3 1 most gigaitic wasta of chagitable funds; and that it is o scandal and disgraco that money left for purposes of lcarning should be divorted o tho mezo victualing of tha ‘wealthiest class in the country. i i N SHALL ouR M.Qfi N BE PAID? Tothe Tiitor of The Chicaso Tribz: Smm: It lus been a ‘question with masy, whether our Aldermen shoald bo paid for their services in vulgar graenbacks, or whathar their compsnsation should be entirely “lLouorary.” I oute2zin no doubts 6a.tho subject. Payments in *honos "—wlich mezna compli- ments on oze sido and abuso oo the otier—es- porienco has shown tobo aa utterly fallacioas and inadequato compenzation. Such Teman tion, a3 a.general rule, will not socare the time and command the 2l N raliablo ci thorefore, is ia- dispensable, Tho exporiment of just payment shicald b tried. . ¢ Our Lest citizons aro onr busiest ¢! ‘The time of such with thom, is money. Thoir dovotod usefully ta 1k paliic be, without guestion, liorally Sach payment is cozsos economy. ~ Tho e valuablo. estruvazanco, al they ofZer tow pav. b citeapers 1king is good fovesimen:. Wo can senrcely pay 00 tuch fur it, and wo caa al payment. nd intnential citizoa thie pub- may be willing to sacritica his tima for lic welfare. Bub it is fooli<h to build weak o foundation. In the admiu tho offains of & city, man of vouad minds, of chrracter, and experiezce, are the men who ere swanted. And such mor: cannot be had for noth- ing. Wo par our fircmen, our police, and otker city ofiicinls; nad. the moze livorally we pey thim, the botter and mura reliaule tien Wo obe tain, Depend npon it, thea ia no e men to vervo the puslic prolty ccrtain Lo-veimb way.~ Suppokc o mexc! clerk offers to work withoat pag, is it not reasonebly cortain that Lo will steal? * And have cll our Aldermen Leretoforo becn moduls of horesty ? And, if not, . why ? 1lave not xomo of them been in- ted for bribery, o i arged aud proved o v wero guiliy 5 but I caanos think that we, who elected tliese mon, are outirely innczent. If wo senk t obtain tho timo aud labar of men for nuthing, thiey aro very apt to clica® us, aud I do not knowy but wo deservo to be chcajed. We should not eubject mon fo ench tempta- tion. Temptaticn iv & dangerous thing. Any man who affects to b bovond tho reach of pos. sible temptation is ot e 5o tristed; bo 18 & Bypocsite. . Baintw in this ceniury are scarce, No man is 50 strong but he may fwll. Thoro aro weak moments in the livea of every man, whon an unexpected and feerful burst of passion may carry hil to extromea thet, in Lis cooler mo- ments, be would Liavo deemed 1rpousiblo. We all know that this fa trus, aud yav we arg more inclinod to =ply this fct to othors than ta ourselves. If tlose 1n our omploy defraud us, wo may ba 83 much to biamo ay thor. Justico is liko o two-edged sword. I focl cesured that, if thoso who ara employed, whethier in public or private service, were vwoll paid, wo should hear Inuch leas of dishouesty and fraud. Wrong begets wroug, As tiings now ate, 1t i difficnlé to get a first- class mau to sorve iu any pubiic cupacity. e cunnot. aiford todouo. Adventurcrs nad swine dlors got oitices, becsuse thes can afford to sorva withont pay; fhatis, tiey chargo nothing their services, but liey take, without scruple, all, they can_get. II:if of tho public money, therefore, 15, in ono wey or another, stofen by thoso scoun.dzola. No wonder our taxes aro 50 high; no wonder that all work donc for (ho city or county costa twico asmuch #sif the samo work were per- formed by any honost and onterprising citizen for Lia own beucit. Bat this somo peoplo stylo economy. It is, on thie other hand, to call it by ita truo name, tha wildost and moet insano oxtravagence that could Do devisad. Ty it not timo that this farce should bs ended ? Bat it will never cud ustil the peoplo open thisir oyes, and determine thu!_ such n shamoful stato of nifairs shall enduro no longer. ‘The first mova in the right direction would bo to s0e that our Mayor and Aidernien aro paid, . not a nominal, but a fiberal salary. I would epoctfelly call the atlentivn of tho press to this point. Thio press reproscats tiio peoplo; whit it tosay? Janot this subject worthy of ar exrnest reflection? - 1 venture the acsertion that tho cggregass of fair salaries poid to the Aldermen would not ~ amount to onc-quarter of the sum Lis: is an- nunflyflundumd from tho cily. Besides, under a vew dispensation, we should, ‘have an honeeter and more faithful City Gov- erument, Stealing wonld Lecome disreputabla sod rare. ‘Whenever Aldermen were ebsent withoat real cause, & certain sum ehould bo withdrawa from their salaries. This would sscure a full and Iet’\flnr attondsoce. Vhenever anything of dishonorble charae- tor should b proved sgtinst nny Aldorman, he showld promptly lose both hia salary and his attice, aud bo ataadoned to general .cbloquy. This would prove a most wholesome check. To be o good Alderman, undog such circamstances, would be a real *‘honuor.” ‘Who can doubt that such a course would be productive of immenso end incalcalsblo beaofit to tho public? Chicaza is rapidly attaining to 'a Digh rank among tho citica of the country, not only from a_matecial, but-s moral point of vics. Let us set the oxample of a radically sound and perfect sratem of Cicy Government, by in- sugurating a eystem of houest pay for honest work. Beyond ail oar wonderful material progrees, this would e the star that would shine tho brightest throughout tie land, and reflect the greatest credit upon the city. The daya of fraud and rascality wonld then be numbered, d Chicago would be aa “a city set upon & LilL™ Yours, respectlally, J. Esans WARREN. Crresco, Jan. 17, 1873, - The New Dictionary of the Erench . Language. 31, Liffre,” says the Pacis correspondent of the London Daily News, *‘has just finisiicd the ‘publication of his dictionary of ths French lun- gusge, ono of the most romarkablo undertak- ingy ever conceived aud bronght to complotion by a single mind. All who havo hud occasion ta consult this noble work, can bear testimony to its valuable qualitics, and to the conecicntious zeal with which it has beon compiled. On an~ other occasion [ will attempt to do justice to its cculiar merits. _For tho prosent, sn idea of the Jitor which the Diciionary has eatatled upoa ita author (who, bo it remembered, has beeu con- tinually working at tho uame tims in otber flelds) may b6 obtained from tho following.curious cal- gulation, which I find in the Zemps : The work is divided into four volumes, of lerge quarto Bize, containing in all 4,776 pagea of three col- umps each. Tio columns, piaced end to en would give s fotal leugth of 3,723 metres, and the lines, disposed in the same maaner, would extend ovor & distance of £4,000 metres, or 20 ieagues of ground.” St AT The second volume of the Memoirs of os- cheles, edited by bis widow, has just appeared at Leipzig. The work, which is now complote, ia fall of interoating information abont the mu- sical everits of th last haltcentury. Morcheles kept, up to tho day of bis death. two yeara ago, u diary, 1n which bo minutely recorded all bia experiences, and his constant intezcourss with such ‘men 24 Deethoven, Weber, Mendelssokn, and Schumann, enabled him to collect & mass of facta and anccdotes which tlrow much vafastlo light on recent musical history. ‘Tho greater part of tliis diary was written in London, whiro Moscheles settled in 1826 ; and bo describes in o vivid and attractive style the ‘various incidenta of bis carcer in England as Director of the Phil- harmonic Concerts, and the events which most intercsted the Eritiah musical pablic during <hat time, such as the great Handal festival of 1334 in Westmiuster Abbey, for * s e Y PR e gL Ao ommeense T i : H j } 13 i § S et A e s [ e s e R | 4NN e . g e SR o mpemner g o