The New York Herald Newspaper, April 15, 1876, Page 6

NEW YORK HERALD, SATURDAY, GEORGE ELIOT. The Greatest of Living Novelists. LITERARY BEGINNINGS, Her Different Works and the Price She Has Received for Them. HER ANTECEDENTS AND Her Connubial Romance Stranger Than Her Fiction. ~—timeeatielin Her Personal Appearance and Mode of Writing. —eonnnnclianes Loxpox, Mareh 31, 1876, George Eliot is, by all odds, the greatest hving writer of fiction. Her name—her pen name, at least—is known wherever the English language 1s spoken. In creative genius, in knowledge of human nature, in power of analysia, in richness and exactness of expres- sion, itis fairto say sho has been equalled by no woman, and by very few men. A RENOWNED RECLUSE, Famous as her works are, long as they hava shone under the glow of her reputation, their author, as a woman, bas never emerged from tho strictest privacy. Many who have read her books with delight, who snatch at evory line from her pen, hardly remember her real name. There is no reason why they should, since tothe whole world, a few intimate friends excepted, | she is simply a mind, Were she to walk from the k to Trafalgar square and back six times a day, | venture to doubt if she would meet any one who would recog- nize ber as the first novelist of the time. Thousands upon thousands would know George Ehot, the writer, but not George Eliot, the woman, The appearance in parts of her last novel, “Daniel Deronda,” has again set cultured tolks to thinking of her, and wondering what manner of mortal she !s who bas so mastered the mysteries of the human heart and so assimilated the treasures of the English tongue. HER ORIGIN AND PARENTAGE, George Eliot 1s now the wife of George Henry Lewes, the Jittérateur. Her maiden name was Evans, her given name being Marian C., not Mary Ann, as sho has often been called. She was born in the north of England, in atown of Forksnire, I think, in the spring of 1 She ts, therefore, nearly fifty-six. Very little is known | af her early history. She seldom ‘if ever re. lors to it herself; anything like a viographical sketch of her has never been written, and indeed the facts of her life in any positively authoritative form are un- procurable. She is reputed, however, to be the only child of a dissenting clergyman, a graduate of Ox‘ord, a man of original mind and much learning. He first took ordera and preached fora waile in the Established Church, | and would have prospered there in all probability had he not been led to doubt his creed, and, finally, to ro- sign his charge. Practically this was an unwise step, but, unlike many curates over here, being unable to profess what he could not believe, he avowed his beterodoxy and dissolved his clerical connections. He | was soon called to take the pulpit of a Presbyterian whapol in a town at some distance from the ono he had officiated in, and he accepted the call, though at a much smaller salary than he had formerly received. Not long after he fell in love with a member of his congregation as poor as himself, and with the un- worldly wisdom that marks most ministers of the Gospel promptly made her his wife, under tho theo- logico-sentimental delusion that material things would be provided by spiritual agencies, ‘They had a long and severe struggle with fortune. A PRECOCIOUS CHILD. A daughter—the renowned novelist—was born to them, adding at once to their happiness and hin- drances, The child was very precocious, though not Inclined to the routine studies of the schools she at- tended. She wasa great reador, She had av under- étanding far beyond her years. Her father spent much time and more money than he could afford on her education; but had the good luck, when Marian ‘was twelve, to inherit a few hundreds of pounds from an uncle who had had the kindness to die in this city. The child evinced at a very early age a talent for com- position, which so delighted her father that he en- couraged her in every way. He took the greatest pains to form her style—he was a strong and gracefal writer himself—and with tho best effect; for before she j was sixteen she expressed her thoughts on paper with ‘nervousness and point that men of five and twenty seldom equal. It is satd that she has never written a line of bom- bast, whith is very remarkable, since the most dis- hinguished authors have had their period of floridity and rhetorical fatuity as thoy have had mumps and theasles and other diseases, whether literary or physi- pal, that are incident to juvenility. WRITING FOR PRINT. When Marian was cightoen it is sajd that sho began to write for the newspapers and periodicals here, and earned considerable money. She had no friends im the metropolis, She merely sent her manuscripts, with the request that they sbould be returned to her address if not acceptable, Some of them went back, though not very many, and her unexpected success gave her hope and stimulated her to renewed effort, Sho revealed | nothing of her privacy. She even concealed her sex psoudonyme she still bears, and the editors and publishers with whom she dealt had no idea of her feminineness. She was enab'ed to be of much assist- ance to her parents by her slender earnings and to re- pay them substantially for what they had done for her. She had barely reached her twentieth year whon she Jost her tather, and her mother soon followed him, | Having no turthor ties she decided to come here and | load a literary Iife. By that time she had become ac- quainted throagh correspondence with several fam- Mies, and one of them cordially invited her to make their home her home, She set to work immediately | on her arrival contributing poems, stories, sketches and essays to the minor publications, Most of ber writings were printed anonymously, and as thoy were done only for pounds, shillings and pence sho has never acknowledged them. She grew steadily in abil- ity and reputation, and she labored supromely ; but her Teputation, naturally for one so young, was confined almost entirely to those who paid her and who knew her personally. HER FIRST STORIES, The first work that attracted any goneral attention | hero was ‘Scenes from Clerical Life.” They bad, I delieve, appeared separately betore they were put be- tween covers. They are very noticeable, and have the unmistakable stamp of her strong, intellect, thoagh hey ye far interior to any ot her subsequent writings. Bhe was something over thirty when the ‘Seen were published. They made the name of George Eliot familar to a number of cultured people, but the salo was notlarge. I have understood that the author @isposed of the contents of the volume outright for £150 ($750). Tro of three years later she produced “Silas Mar. Wer,” ko marked an advance upon her provious work that many of her admirers, even to this day, consider SH one of her very best stories, 11 is so full of strength and sadness, asall her writing is, that tha reader constantly feels its eloquent force and penetrating | pain, Despite this, persons read and reread it, for it | bas the fascination of nature in her dark moods, She fealized from “Marner,” I have been told, £300 {$1,500), exclusive, of course, of what she has received, tince she achieved great fame, from the sale of ber - pollected works. HER LATER WORKS “Adam Bedo,” pablished in 1858, carried her name soross the Channel! and the Atiantic, It was translated wto French and German, ani many editions wero sold Im the United States, It laid the foundation of her olebrity, of her Iterary fortune; for from that date the has been able to command publishers instead of yielding to them, as most authors have to do through. out their lives Conscious of the power of “Adam Bede,” she declined to dispose of’ tt except at a fixed royalty. In this she found her advantage, for within Yhree years from its first appearance she had got for #6 £1,500 ($7,500), and fully as much more, no doubt, in | ‘Zee next pte “The Mill on tho Floss’ was pub- | | greater than “Romola,” greater than “Middlemarch,” | greater than “Dante! Deronda.” | poor and a very shy, retiring person, who was averse | duction, but in vain, Ho wrote to her and proffered | it was decided, after careful consideration, that they | lished. It had been partially written when “Adam | Bede’’ came out, and met with amost cordial reception. She had numerous bids for it from rival publishers, and finally accepted £2,000 ($10,000) down, with a cer. tain percentage after the sale of a given number ot copies, ‘Then came “Romola’’ (1863), ‘Felix Holt’? (1866), “The Spanish Gypsy” (1868), ‘Middlemarch’ (1873), and, a few months after, “The Legend of Jubal and Other Poems.”” “‘ROMOLA”” Was a new departure, being an Italian tale, the sepne laid in Florence during tho fifteenth century, It 18 one of her most artistic novels, if not her most artistic, | Its atmosphere is completely Italian; the illusion ts perfect, It reads like a translation from the literature of ‘the time. A finer and truer representation and analysis of Girolamo Savonarola have never been given, ‘“Romola” is a beauti(ul creation, and Tito Melema one of the most original, highly finished, wholly rounded charactors that the fiction of the cen- tury has turnisbed, One would think the author must have spent years In Florence and its Hbraries to so saturate herself with | the medieval spirit and with the quality of the people, | I used to beliove ber studies had been made on the banks of the Arno dntil recently, when spending a winter in the Tuscan cupital, I learned irom those who knew that she had done her readings here and gone there, so to speak, merely to catch the air and to verify her learning. She was tn: Florence, I was told, but two months, though she was extremely busy during the time, making the best uso of every leisure quarter of an bour, “Felix Holt” was a return to her accustomed chan- nel, and is remarkablo for containing more light, or less darkness, than its predecessors. A PROVESSIONAL WEAKNESS. “The Spanish Gypsy” was her first acknowledged essay in verso, and it was not very successful, Like go many artists, and meaner mortals likewise, | she is most ambitious to shine in what she js least fitted. x . Prose writers believe they should be poets; pocts that th hould be painters; painters that they should be po rators that they should bo financiers; mer- | chants that they should be authors, and so on endlessly, We care less for what we know we can do well than for what we think or try to think we can do well, George Elov, having demonstated her eminent ¢a- pacity a8 a novelist, is anxious to prove herself a poet, and she has not been ablo to. She isa poet in spirit, thought and sympathy, though not, in any high sense, in the form commonly accepted. The limitations of rhyme and rhythm fetter her expression, cramp her imagination, hamperher genius. She would rather be a poet than anything else, and her faflure to be recog- nized as such troubles her sorely, 1 Oddly, yet naturally cnough, she is persuaded that | “The Spanish Gypsy” is her greatest performance— | She received, I am informed, £4,000 ($20,000) for the “Gypsy,” and the firm which paid it has never got its money back. The public that so enjoys her stories cares comparatively little for her poetry, and for once the public is right, GOLDEN INK, “Middlemarch,” is generally considered, up to the present, her best work. It has been predicted that “Deronda” will excel it; but it 18 yet too early to hazard an opinion. For “Middlemarch’’ its writer ob tained £8,000 ($40,000) on the delivery of the manu- script, and I hear its publishers have already cleared £12,000 on it, while the sale continues to be large and steady. George Eliot's market goes regularly upward. Iam told, by one who claims to be correctly informed, that she received for Deronda” £12,000 ($60,000), with an arrangement as to future percentage that will be likely in the end to yield her at least £4,000 moro, Who sball say that literature is unrenumerative when asinglo work is capablo of pringing $80,000, the in- terest of which would be an independence in the United States, and something positively handsome over here? Such instances, however, are purely ox- coptional. Great gentus for many years has been con- vertibic into gold on both sides of the Atlantic, Even talent is often very fairly paid, though it may starve, unless it have tho popular clement, and is, on the whole, more hkely to grow lean than fat in any and every quarter of the globe. AN ACTUAL ROMANCE, George Eliot has hal quite a romance In hor life, and still has itin fall force. When she pablished “Adam Bede,” if Tremembor rightly, {t attracted the atten- | tion of George Henry Lewes, among other critics. Ho | pronounced ita work of consummate genius, and was surprised, on inquiry, to learn that its author was to receiving any of her many literary admirers. The | intelligence piqued his curiosity. Me was more desir- ous than ever to know her, and be sought an intro- | her any practical assistance that lay in bis power—in- fluence with reviews, publishers and the like. She thanked him kindly, and this led to a correspondence in which ho displayed sueh delicacy and chivairy that | she consented at last to meet him, A CONNUBIAL DILKMOMA. At this time Lewes was legally abusband and actu- ally a widower. Then nearly forty-two, he had mar- ried, a number of years before, a handsome but eccen- tric woman, who soon wearied of the conjugal yoke and cloped with a lover, Becoming contrite, sho begged to be restored to marital favor, and Lewer, with great generosity, forgave her usually unpardonaple | offence. Their second matrimonial experience was not unpleasant until, with a ficklessness she could not control, she ran away with another man, Her ha: band then wanted a divorce; but, naving condoned he: dialoyaity and desertion once, he was by the English | law (it is the same in the States, I think) debarred | from anything more than a separation, In other words, he could not marry again while his wite lived, Mrs. Lewes was alive and in robust neaith when her | legul husband became interested in George Eliot, as ho did, and very deeply, a8 soon as he had been intro- duced to her. The two seemed to be mutually at- tracted, chiefly through the mind, however, for neither ot them was young, handsome or particularly graceful, The more they saw of one another the better they likea one another, Their affection was founded on intellec- tual sympathy and mutual esteem. They wanted to marry; but how could th, except in violation of the | law? There are no Connecticut nor Indiana courts in England, where divorce can be'and is made, easy; and if there were it is doubtful whether the pair would have had recourse to them. They believed they | could be of great mutual help spiritually and mentally by hving together, and they contemplated it in face of | legal technical ities. A LAW UNTO TITEMSELVER, They consulted their friends, among them some of | the best known men and women in Great Britain, and should dispense with the usnal formalities until they could ve legally united. They were fully aware of the | gravity of the step they were about to take, Bat they | took it, nevertheiess. While their immediato friends | countenanced them in their course society necessarily | frowned upon it, and they were largely isolated. | About six of soven y ago the first Mra Lewes, fortunately, or shall 1 say superfluously for Georgo Eliot, bestook herself permanently to an English churchyard, and Lewes was at once joined in wedlock to his friend by the laws of the land. The novelist was known as and called Mrs. Lewes immediately after her informal wedding, so that the legal wedding neither | banged nor added anything to their domestic relations, Thoir deflance of average public opinion, however, has | aided to eat off the lady from general society and in- creased the shyness of which she originally had an excess, She scarcely ever goes out, thougn she receives a fow of her own and her husband's friends. Her oppo- | Fitton to being liontzed is, and has always been, very — determmed. She distinctly declares she does not wish to moet any one who merely admires her literarily; that those who have not some per- sonal regard for her will oblige ber by remaining away, This is very queer, since, while hundreds of thousands know and esteem her as a writer, almost nobody knows of esteems her as a | Woman or oan sv /now or esteem her on account of | her persistent seclusion, An introduction is counted 48 a raro good fortune for any stranger, because she is seldom willing to make new acquaintances, and, in- aed, she holds herself so rigorously aloof from social approaches that few persons of pride and sensibility care to make them, | THE WOMAN MERSELE, Mrs. Lowes is very plain and not at all elegant, having, very naturally ander the circumstances, « slender stock of the small talk aud minor graces that | | portrait of Washington in | A very fine example of FE. Caston ts called * | There are also son, Edward | Portland avenue, Brooklyn, eut bis throat with a razor, 80 largely constitute social agreeableness. Many people think it is im consequence of these defects that she shrinks from the world, which is probably untrue, because she is temperamentally reserved and averse to miscellaneous company. Her husbend has a good deal of tho same feeling concerning g«neral society, though he is very far from modest or diffident, as those can attest who have read his ‘History of Philosophy,” “Life of Goethe” or any of his brilliantand scholarly though not always pro- found works, He ts as devoid of beauty as she, albeit an admirable talker, or, rather, monologist, on au t- finite variety of subjects. Opinions differ widely as to George Eliot's personal interest, I have beard her calied a charming woman “by some, and by.others a woman who, one wou!d sup- pose, hac never read balfa dozen clever books, much less bave written so many great ones, She is men- tioned, on one band, as a most eloquent and wonder- ful talker; on tho other, as a writer who puts all her good things into her manuscripts, leaving nothing for her friends to recognize her genius by. The trutn lies between these extremes, She is dif- ferent at different times, She may talk remarkably well to-day and very poorly to-morrow, She is a vic- tim of moods, a8 genius 1s apt to be, and she obeys her moods unswervingly. Still, at her highest and best, she can make nosuch use of her tongue as sho can of her pen; and her speech must invariably prove more or less a disappointment, A GREAT WORKER. Sho is a tremendous though an irregular worker, She loves towrite. She says writing is imperative with hor; that she could no more stop writing than she could stop breathing. She is by no means free from ambition either, She enjoys the world’s applause, little as she has todo with the world, and sbe hasa clear appreciation—it would be strange if she had not—of hor high intellectual gifts, She nearly lives in her study. Day after day she will spend ten and twelve hours a day on her manuscripts, and then will not touch them tor forty-eight hours. Her work will | average thirty-five or forty hours a week. She writog slow or tast, according tv her intellectual temper, but never without irequent revision, She does not permit aline of autograph oF proof to loave her until she has made it precisely what s! nts. In addition to com- position, she studies hard, and is constantly in pursuit of knowledge. Like her husband she is an excellent linguist, read- ing French, German, Italian, Spanish and Dutch with the greatest caso and with critical comprehension, Her sole recreation is about two months in the summer, when she usually accompanies her lege to the Conti- nent, Her constitution is good, but her health is delicate on account of the perpetual strain she puts upon it, Thore are no signs Of her physical or mental failuro, and she expects to write quite as many novels as she bas already published. Her husband is her agent and financial manager, and has the reputation of bargain- ing very shrewdly with publishers both for his own and his wile’s writings, She has earned by her pen, it is reported, including her pay for “Deronda,” from £36,000 to £40,000 ($180,000 to $200,000). The literary couple live very comfortably but quietly near Regent’s Park, spending part of the year inthe country, Their house contains a number of pictures, broazes and objects of virtu, and they are as harmonious and contented as if neither had ever seen an inketaund, FINE ARTS. Mr, John Phillip’s centennial picture, “1776 and 1876,” will be on exhibition at Snedecor’s Gallery, Fifth avenue, near Twenty-third strect, until Tuesday next, when it will be sent to the New York State building in the Centennial grounds, EXUIBITION OF PAINTINGS AT LEAVITT'S. There are now on exhibition at Leavitt’s Art Rooms, No, 817 Broadway, the paintings contamed in the pri- vate collection of William Monsies, and a number from another private collection, to be sold by order of Mr, John D. Townsend, attorney. The greater portion of them were painted by the artists for the collectors, They are gencrally of cabinet size and, almost without exception, are first class specimens of the artists rep- resented. A largo number of them are by our best American artists and many were painted ten or twenty years ago. One of the most interesting of the cabinot size paint- ings, 1s “The Herald in the Country,” by the late W. 8, Mount, A bunter has thrown aside his gun and game, and 1s standing by a rail fence reading to an old farmer, who is leaning on a pitchtork, and listening intently to a piece of important news from a copy of the New York Henanp. The figure of the hunter isa perfect portrait of the artist himself, and the picture itself, aside from the local interest attachmng to it, 18 a good one, A picture by G. H. Boughton, about threo by two | feet in size, represents a battie field by moonlight, and contains a number of figures, dead and dying, with the watch fires of the living scattered over the field, There are two by Constant Meyer, one ot them, “Re- hgious Meditation,” being a life size figure of a young woman in deep thought over the tiluminate Bibio which rests on ber lap. The othér 18a smaller figure of a young girl in a garret, and from the window may be seen the roofs and steeples of the city in the earl roorning. [thas mach of the sane sentiment whiel the artist worked into bis last work, “The Song of the Shirt,” though it bears the date of 1869 Two little pictures by 8. J. Gay are full of the poetry of every day life, “Youth and Age’ being rej nted by a Hittle schoolgirl, who, with her school books thrown down, is tastening to the dress of her grandmother a | bunch of spring flowers, The oid lady holds a large book, and has taken trom between its leaves a spray of pressed autumn leaves. The other picture contains a balf-clad little child shielding her head from | the sun with a large burdock leaf and” blowing the seeds of a dandelion. “Dominte Sampson” 1s one of tho beat figures over painted by George H. Hall. “The | Tender Passion,” by J. G Brown, ts an early example botn of the sentiment and the artist. A boy and girl are seated in a swing making sheep’s eyes at cach other. A picture by the late J. F. Weir gives the in- torior of his studio. “Early. Morning.” a vigorous cattle picture, is by Bispham. “The Mountain .” by J. F. Cropsey; “View on Lake George,” tt; ‘Morning on the Rhine,’ by George In- ness; ‘Pleasant Valley, Adirondacks,” by A. Lamrie; “Normandy Girl,” by Hoary Peters Gray; “A Summer Day,” ‘by James MM. Hart, and ‘Sum- mer Afternoon,” by #. W. Hubbard, are pictares painted by these artists some years ago, and may be classed among their best works. ‘North Conway Meadows,” by Sanford R. Gifford; “View from Keantorskil! Clove,” by J.D.’ Smillie, and “Whale Cave,” by Wilham Hart are works painted Dy theae about twenty years ago, and are entirely dil- ferent in treatment from their manner of painting at Pres A small sketch of zouaves in camp is by ‘nomas Hicks, in 1861. An interior with figures by Henry Bacon, bears the date of 1867, “Spring,”” “summer” and “Autumn” are br Beme Gignoux, ‘A — by J. Sharpless was one of three done at Mt. Vernon, and presented by to General McHenry, A _ portrait in oil General Lafayet was painted by S& F. B. Morse, in Washington in 1825. Amon; foreign pictures the most conspicuous is “The of Tasso,’’ by Professor Bower, of Dusseldorf, which was engraved for the Art Union, A small beach, by Esensora, a ‘al interest attached to it from the fact of the ire being that of Baldini, who ts repre- sented at work in the midst of his sketching apparatus, icka.’? by Leroy, i Mec l ucks.’? by » is also very Politictan,”’ by Schino! 3 “The Reader,” by Alexander Marini; ‘Oh! How Good,’’ a merry little girl, eatin and jelly, by EK. Labrihon, of Paris; “The Pet Lamb,” by L. de Buel; “View m Holland,” by W_ Raeiofs; “Lake Geneva,” by Girardet, and ‘Lake Treat,” by H. L. Rolfe, one of the fucat in the world, are alt ¥ery fine works by arti examples of Paul Soyer, William- ‘ore J. Autrey, Pecras, Zuber, Buhler and others, inoluding water colors and etch de Brackelear, B..P. Smith, F. 8, Cozzens, Lo a marble bush and a head in alto relievo by Thompson. They will be on exhibition until the even- ings of Tuesday and Wednesday, April 1! CUT HIS THROAT. About six o'clock Iasi evening Thomas McCauley, thirty-five years of age, a junk dealer, of No, 36 North 3 “Feeding | the od, = The He had been despondent for some time past. A sign in front of hvs touse had been removed by the authori- ties and he was afraid some trouble would arise con- cerning his license. Last evening when he went bome his wite asked bim to he down as bi ked tired, He complied with her request, and while she was down siairs on an eri he took his iife in the manner above CUTTING OFF A CHILD'S TONGUE, A very peculiar accident occurred in Moadow street, Hoboken, on Thursday night Three children were laying together in aroom, One of them, named Mary ki ian, stuck her tongue through the crevice of tho | door. ‘Suddenly one of her playmates shut the door, cutting off a portion of her tongue, SUICIDE OF A BARBER. Rudolph Demond, a barber, of No, 698 Grand street, committed saicide yesterday morning by shooting himself in the left side, He had been sick for some time with disease of the heart and lungs and became despondent in He leaves an only Coroner Fickhoft held an inquest yeatorday, and the jury rendered a verdict im accordance with the tacts, NEW BEDFORD’S NARCISSUS. THAT IMMORAL IMAGE STILL BUFFLING THE PUBLIC’ SURFACE IN VAIN—EFFORTS OF THE OWNER TO GET POSSESSION OF HIS STAT- VETTE, New Bepvoxv, Mass., April 13, 1876 ‘That “terrible outrage’ upon the public morals of New Bedford, which was enacted here some three | years ago by the public exhibition in a store window | Of the nude statuette of Narcissus, continues to be a | turn fruitful theme of ridiculous comment throughout the | community. Periodically and continuously ever since | the seizure of the harmless but offending work of art by the chaste and righteous City Marshal, the matter has been before the courts, Legislature and public, and | even now the momentous question of whether the | statuette shall be restored to its owner or not, is being | considered by the grave and dignified justices of the Superior Court of Bristol county, . THY OFFENDER AND MIN OFFENCE, The individual who so seriously shocked the morals of the Sperm City 1s Charles Hazietine, a dealer in music and works of art, an honorary local Secretary and an agent of the Art Union, of London, and informally ageus of another London Art Association, In October, 1873, Mr, Hazle- tine’ placed o smajl statuette of the Pompetian Narcissus in his show window in connec- tion with some other works of art, and tho special statuette mentioued was seized by the City Marshal on the ground that it was an immoral exhibition, Tho case bas had four separate tr Is, tho ultimatum being that Mr. Hazlotine was acquitted, but in his acquittal there was nothing said about what should be done with | the offending work of art, and it bas ever since been held in the possession of the authorities. Both at the Jast and present session of the Legislature Mr. Hazle- tine petitioned that the Jinags might be restored to him, and the chairman of the Judiciary Committee of | the present body instructed him to apply for the same to the Court which is now in session in Taunton, and the decision 1s daily expected. A SERIRS OF BLUNDERS. Mr. Hazleting, in his petition to the Court, indulges m the soleriey observations In iurther explana- tion, | respectiuliy submit that the affair throaghout was a sorics of blunders, First, your petitioner mis- took so much of this commanity’as to place the image | in his window; the Marshal mistook in setang | it, especially without # warrant; the Judge | of the Police Court misapprehended the | whole matter; the District Attorney erred it ho advised the Grand Jury to find a bill; Judge Bacou gravely erred in charging that ‘a man intends what he does’; on the third trial the jury to the extent of nine out of twelve mistook in voung your petitioner “guilty”; and, finally, | call the attention of your honors to tho seeming absurdity of the autoorities for holding from me my property tor nearly three years, THE PARLE OF NARCISSUS. A proper ostimate of the design of the author of this j litle work of art can only be formed by those who are familiar with the fable which it illustrates; and as the | person of persons instigating this prosecution must be presumed to be ignorant of It, the following account, abridged from Ov.d’s Metamorphoses, may be of ser- vico:— Narcissus, a beautiful boy of sixt love full years, says tho poet, was ha, among them te him, but do net | the goddess of retribution, a prayer that Narciss shall fall in love, may be in li lenied the obje his affection, The goddess gives her assent to this pra; and when at length the youth fatigued with the labor of hunting and overcome by the burning heat of ¢! repose by the brink of a shaded fountain, he bel beautiful form reflected, asin ® mirrcr, irom the surface of the water. He strives to embrace it, and tailing, becomes conscious at last that it is his own image, and that his efforts will be fruitioss. As this consciousness docs not diminish his passion, he gradual); and the trultiessness of "hi ‘This is the fable in prose, divested of the poetic imagery in which Ovid has clothed it, Those who tind ‘n the ancient mythologies a moral purpose, affirm that moral lesson, disclosing the nd add that “he pursuit by Narcissus of his own image, ever retreating from his embrace, strongly resombles the little reality that ox ists in many those pleasures which mankind so eagerly pursue.” If this be the meaning of the fable, what is to be said of the work of art in which it is embodied? The aim of art is to bring the miad, througu the medium of ap- propriate material forms, into communion with that which these forms symbolize. By the thought symbol- ized, therefore, and by the truthfulness of its embodi- ment, a work of art must be judged. If this view be correct, a statuette iike that in question serves to strengthen the seuse of poetic beauty; and only the uncultured or the wilfully vicious can see in it apy- tning to stimalate 1mmoral tendencies. THE PROPOSED ELEVEN THOUSAND DOLLARS FUND. EXAMINATION OF POLICEMEN DEFORE THE COMMISSIONERS—ASTUTE OFFICERS 8CHEMING IN THE CITY HALL PARK. The testimony given by the policemen who wore parties to the recent movement to raise $11,000 among ‘the members of the force for the purpose of deieat- ing the Police bill now pending betore the Leg! lature is of a Inghly amusing character. The ideas entertained by the leaders of the movement with respect to the press and the general | stupidity they displayed in the management of the affair are a ead commentary on the intelligence of “the best police force in the world." Commissioner Erhardt, who conducted the examination, refused to give the names of the witnesses, although he permit- ted a portion of the testimony to be made public The testimony of one officer, given below, is not a little amusing and may be token as a sample of the lot:— Said he:—I come, Mr. Commissioner, as a square man. There was a meeting, origmating through lob. hying between station houses, before any notices were written. The first caucus was in reference to how the | precincts could be got together. This was held on a seat in City Hall Park, Passing along there we met, A great many propositions were made. Jt was a party onthe square, Iam undera certain afiidavit not to | divuige the names of those present One suggested that we act through the press; another said that if this was done the Commissioncrs would get it all in the | morning, and they would issue an order to | stop it forthwith, I said the way to do it was to | got the notices written out, and that each should take @ number of precincts and notify them ip that way, Another proposed to notify the treasurers of the Mutual Aid. [ came to this meeting in this way:—an Officer was standing at the corner ou our day of, and Dine of us sat down in the park to consult about the matter of grading the force and reducing our salarics, It was said that some of us had largo families, and our pay must not be cut down now, and that when so many ew men were going into the force it would only take twelve monthe to clear cut the twelve hundred dollar men, Tho now men coming into the torce are so numerous, and the old are decreasing £0 fast that in about a year we would be reduced to eight hun- dred dollar men, and that we could not support furmifies on that pay. It would be awful to present such a bill to the Legislature. We discussed the matter Jor about three hours, abd a committee was appointed to sce that the notices were sent. I do not want to give their names; they all travelas I do myself, Wo gave our words to each other in proper form in tho way people do who understand each other. Rather | than divulge this 1 would thank you to throw me out of that window and smash my head. There were nine | of us, apd L admit that one of them was a represent tive of the newspaper, aud we ali pledged our- selves, Iwas seoretary of the meeting held subse. | jaently. Some one proposed that we send a sinart fellow to Alvany; the person named was a stranger to me on Mr. ‘as named, and then a lawyer in et was named, and he Dar my 4 agroed on. I was asked to go on the Committee of Arrangemente, but declined, aa I did not know the man J heard me: tion of $5, $10 and $1 a man being raised, but a upright aud square man T heard no sum stated. | wi rathet NOt AusWer any questions about any of the other men’s business. "” ‘With respect to the last three meetings most of the | Witnesses attemuted to make the Commissioners be- | heve that they did not fairly understand the object in | view when they atiended, but supposed it was to raiso | money for the Mutual Aid fund in some way, One witness, however, admitted that with a full knowledg: of the object in view he would havo received contribu- tions as treasurer. Said be, don’t want to stand behind the door." THE WESTCHESTER OUTRAGE, ARREST OF A NEGRO ON SUSPICION—118 IDEN- TIFICATION BY THE UNFORTUNATE VICTIM. Acolored tramp, calling himself David Asvens and giving his age a8 twenty-one, applied for lodgings at the Yonkers police station on Thursday night. As he answered the description given of the nogro who out. raged Nettie Many, tho young white girl, near Hall's Corners, on the 6th inst., Captain Mangia took him to | Tarrytown yesterday morning, alter a consultation with Constable Alfred Lawrence, of that vil- lago, they conveyed tho prisoner to the scene of the crime, some four or five miles distar On being confronted by the young woman for identifl- cation, sho riveted her gaze upon him for a few mo- menta, apparently n doubt, until Constable Lawrence unbuttoned the negro’s coat collar, when Nettie, burs‘ing into tears, exclaimed, “Oh, you are the man, you are the man; how could you do such a thing to a poor, innocent girl like me.’ The scene was a most pathetic one, but the accused never winced, remark- | County ist to await further i laws, The bill advocates the advancing by the government of $400 each to persons out. of employment im the large cities to enable | them to out and settle on the lands | | how unoceupied in the Western States, the loan to be | stizated and encouraged by them, two or three members | industry, but cotton must always be the chict reliance ing earnest! “Madam, are mistaken; © a not’ the, wan? By this ume. & crowd of some fifty mon had assembled around the store kept by tho stepfather of the young woman, and threats of on negro wero uttored, at this jaanites deemed ad- to bring yato of Delia McNamara, an in! it child of it nine yoars APRIL 15, 1876-WITH SUPPLEMENT. i 2 4 fi eagle to lynch him cation of him had viet of the assault, ed to fs teolnehng bed Sam Silene denies that hi before, and was ever in that on the beth, N, J., wi @ white woman living not far from the depot at that place gave him a shirt, This garment has been secured, and will proba be the means of proving the guilt or innocence of prisoner. TAMMANY PRIMARIES. Delegates from the different election districts in the Fighth Assembly district met in convention last even- ing at Nos 77 and 79 Essex street and elected the fol- Jowing delegates and alternates to represent Tammany Hall at the State Convention in Utica: — Delegates—Fdward D, Gale, Thomas Carleton, George Hall. Alternates—William Campbell, George 3. Stauf and Jacob Morton. These delegates are not pledged to the support of any particular Presidential candidate. ANTI-TAMMANY PRIMARY. The Anti-Tammany Convention of the Twentieth As- sombly district was held last evening. Tho following delegates and alternates to the Utica Convention wera elected without opposition :—Delogates—Judge John B. Barbour, Emmanuel B, Hart, Francis M. Bixby. Al- ternates—Dr. Feodor Mierson, Stephen H, Turnbull, John Russell, LIBERAL CLUB, At the annual meeting of tho Liberal Club last night the following officers were elected:—President, James Parton; Vice Presidente, W. I. Ormsby. Jr, & S Nash and J. H. Johnston; Recording Secretary, D, T. Gardner; Corresponding Secretary, P. H. Vander Weyde; Librarian, Henry Evans; Treasurer, James M. McKinlay: Trustees, @ B. Wakeman, Courtlandt Palmer and Edward Moran. INDEPENDENT LABOR PARTY. The delegates to tho Independent Labor Party met Jast night at Masonic Hall, A letter was read from Mr. Egbert Hasard, of Wash- ington, D. C., stating that General Banks was doing his utmost to secure the passage of tho bill now before the Senate extending the benefits of the homestead paid back with interest and the land and improve- ments to be held as security therefor. The object of the bill, is to relieve the cities of the mass of unem- ployed persons now encumbering them. A vote of thanks was passed to Senator Morrissey tor intro- ducing a bill making the office of Comptroller of tho city of New York elective. A resolution was pussed os against the passage of the bill by the Logis- jature limiting the annual outlay for public works in this city to $1,000,000. ‘ WOMAN SUFFRAGE. The National Woman Suffrage Association will hold its ninth annual Convention in Masunic Hall, in this city, on the 10th and litbofnext month. The circular announcing the convention declares that tho men alone of this country live ina republic, that women enter the second hundred years of vational life as political slaves, and that only through equal and impartial sut- frage tor all citizens, without distinction of sex, can a true republican government be established, The call is signed by Matilda Joslyn Gi Susan B. Anthon; nd 1. Devereux Blake. weet i! GRANT'S FRIEND CONKLING, [From the Cincinnati Commercial.) General Grant's reputation for political diplomacy is not such as to be assuring of his neutrality in a scramble for the succession, Itisa habit of bis to stick to his friends, and of all of them none has been so unwavering in bis attachment or so ardent in de- fence of the administration and its measaresas Senator Conkling. We are disposed to credit the report of tho New York Herarp that the President told Congress man Jere, Haralson that Conkling was his mao, especi- ally as there has been no authoritative contradiction of the statement. But what can an adininistration do for Conkiing that has not sufficient sirength to avert its own disasters? CAMERON, CONKLING AND PENN- SYLVANIA, [From the Philadelphia Star.} By the way, we are a little puzzled to understand what the result of the Republican Convention at Har. | risbarg means. The Convention, of course, indorsed Hartranft as a fit candidate for President. Of course he is, ‘Is there a free born Amertean citizen who docs not think to himself that he is as good os any other free born American citizen, and theretore a Mt candi- date for the Presidency? And this is about all there ts of Hartrapft’s candidacy, He is a8 good as the average Pennsylvania politician, But then he stands no more bow for the nomination at Cincinnati than he does of succeeding the present Czar of Russia. Nor will he have any controi in shaping the policy of the deiegates selected to Nae nt Pennsylvania ip the Cincinnati Convention. ere is where Blaine made a big mis- in showing Hartranft so much attention when on a Visit to this city recently. He argued to himself that uf Hartravft could receive au indorsement from his State Convention he must necessarily have tall control of the delegates and vote them at his gy oat Now, Conkling showed more wdness wi be gave his attention to Mr, Don Cameron. This eminent son of Pennsylvania was here for a week about two months ‘ago, and very attontive to him was Senator Conkling. I remember one ¢ two sat side by side on one of the lounges in the ate chamber in deep convorsa- tion for fully three hours, which is a long time for New York’s favorite son to give to any human being. We think the Pennsylvania delegation mean Conkling or | eine a totally new man. [From the Springfield Republican. } It will be news to the majority of the republicans that they came near having Don Cameron for a vice- Presidential candidate, four years ago. It is a his- torical fact, nevertheless, Simon’s agents had fixed things satisfactorily with a number of delegations, in- cluding that from New York. Tho only thit mained to be done was to induce the Pennsylvania delagates to present son Don's name as the unanimous choice of the Keystone republicans for the second place on the ticket, it was the proverbial slip between the cup and the ip, A few mfuential Pennsylvanians (not delegates) interfered and spoiled everything. In- of the delegation stood out, tho opportunit and Henry Wilson was nominated. This year, Mr. ‘Cameron senior is more modest, His price is a Cabinet portfolio for Don. If Adams or Bristow is nominated at Cincinnati, Dou will bo Jef out in the cold. If Morton or Conkling, he wou’t, If Blaine, it depends, SOUTHERN CAPITAL, [From the Springfield Republican.) The repeated cry of poverty from the South is rather anomalous in view of a constant succession of good crops, The cotton, now being marketed, has alreaay reached 3,813,000 bales, and will provably. run upa | total ot 4,500,000 before September 1. The exports of Taw cottons to foreign countries has risen from | 2,158,000 bales in 1875 to 2,643.000 im 1876, the demand howing an unexpected elasticity. Of course, prices have been tow, but the return on the whole ought to profit the Sooth. The Charleston News, however, com- plains that there 1 jess money (capital?) m South Carolina bow than there was ten years ago, and warns the agents of Northern fertihzers that “the planters are very poor” and cannot invest, It notes a tendency to rely on the small grains and make cotton an inci- dental crop, There ix wisdom ina diversitication of of the cotton States for profitable agricultare. Thrift is the great need, whatever the crop. JOHN DOLAN'S FATE. William F, Howe, counsel for John Dolan, the con- domned murderer, exprosses a hope that Governor Tilden will commute the sentence of his clieu, The petition in his behalf, which has been in course of | preparation for the past week or more, is not yet quite ready, bot Mr. Howe expects to be able to send itto Albany by Monday at the farthest. Governor Tilden 1s expected to arrive in this city to-morrow evening, and wt the intention of Dolan’s couusel vo cali upon bine | his resitence and use every endeavor to it- | duce His Excellency to commute the sentence | to imprisonment for lf. The petition is signed by @ large pumber of well known readents of this city, It is said to be the intention of several to the Governor and plead for mercy. The unfort @ man himself says that he has no hope of acommutation, He was ie nee Bene nus toe hanno te eee fev. e uw ie ura. him for some woeks mths Convent of pent Ta rparied tbe also vial ‘ono of the Sisters | the Centennial grounds and wor THE STATE CAPITAL The Quarantine Question in Statu Quo. BELIEF FOR THE EMIGRATION COMMISSION OLD PROB. AS A LEGAL WITNESS. ‘ - Auayy, April 14, 1876. ‘The scttloment of the Quarantine question is still @ matter of uncertainty. A majority of the Committee ou Commerce and Navigation appear determined not to Teport the bill placing the affairs of Quarantine in the hands of the Commissioners, with authority to collect the fees, pay the Health Officer a salary of $10,000 5 year and discharge all the current obligations of the establishment without any expense to the State, The defeat of Mr. Camp bell’s motion last evening to discharge the committee from the further consideration of the bill is taken to mean that a formidable opposition to the measure has been organized in the Assowbly in the interest of Dr. Vanderpocl. The committee ovnsists ot Messrs. Worth, Campbell, Lawson, Powen, ‘Townsend, Watts, Patten, Carty and Maher, Three @ this number (Worth, Campbell and Power) are in favot of reporting the bill. Two weeks azo there was a ma- jority for it, but at the present time, it appoars, sev- eral members of the committee have changed their viows. It the Health OMcor succeeds im doteating the bill things will remain as before, with tho exception that the State will be saved the expense of making any appropriation for this'year ut least, which will bes clear loss to Dr, Vanderpool of $50,000; but as bit net income, apart from that, is said to overlap the is prospects cannot be said to GOVERNMENT OF CITIRS. The following communication was read in the Assem- bly to-day, laid on the table and ordored prinsed:— ‘To THe SeNATR AND AsaEMBLY :— ‘The commission appointed under the concurrent reso- Iution of the Senate and Assembly, pa 22d of May, 1875, to devise 9 plan for tae government of citien, re- smecktally Feport that ura receiving, notice of thelr aposins. ment they vasombled pursuant to a eal one of their number on the loth day of December last, and proceeded to the discharge of the duty devolved apon them. From that time to the present they have beld regular and protracted sessions cach sh neacl, woek, at all of whic! every tended. The subject in- trusted to them bas been assicnod to the several members for separate investigation, and much of the time of the membors In the inte! between the sessions has been oo cupied in the examination of tho various questions pre- sented and in the drawing of reports to. she commission ete bracing the results o! investigations, mmnissioners feel warranted in saying that they have ailigently and faithfully given themsclves to the per. formanes of thelr duties, bus they have found the task t@ increase in magnitude wand difficn) ty asthey advanced, and now, alter occupying themselves with-it for period of three months and upward, they peresive it to be quite impossible to briny their work to a conclusion within th» time limited by the concurrent resolution, and they are of the o that « much longer time ds requisite to digest the informa- tiou they have collected aud mature a consistent plau fit to be submitted to the wiadam of the Legislature. Deeply impressed with the importance of the duty assigned to them, and difident of their ability to ade- quately pertorm it, they are yet willing td devote much ihore of their time and thelr best efforts to the task, and are not without the hope that they tear, spaele ets labore. Be cont ion continued, be able to make a use caune of Texret wt therr inability to make « tip Legislature. for the reason that, sion that s¢ dx essential to the wee reach con usefulness of any scheme be desired that it should, in part, be entrenched tional forms, and as no proposed amendments to f the provisions of mticle 13, second Legisiative sanction until after the ‘next general election of Senators, a report at the present session would not groatly expedite the adoption of be yep which might be proposed. ey therefore Tespockiully submit, te the Logis whetlier it is expedient to extend the tlme of mak Teport to the next session. WM. M. KVAKTS, ‘nw Youk, April 7, 1876. THR BMIGRATION COMMISSION. The Joint Committee on ie eager appointed on motion vi Mr, Muller, of New York, tom days ago, to devise some means for the reliet of the Emigration Commission, Peported to-day by a bill which authorizes the State Cumptrolier to draw his warrant the constitation could, ui section 1, thereof receiv upon the tate Treasurer ior the sums of mouey which the Commissioners may, | time to time, deem to on thee necessary carry business and ior the protection of the emigrants. The exercise of this authority to draw money for this par- po-e is limited to one year from the lst of next May, and the amount to be fixed in the bill by the two houses (the commitiee not mentioning any definite sum) 16 to be taken irom any lunds in the hands of the treasurer not otherwise mated. The amount that will ve required by the Commissioners for the year will be, it 16 said, about $160,000, ‘ digital aren Nor wait. sehas Page boy and ope of the messengers a littte spat in the lobby to-day, during which the page made a dart into the Assembiy. He was closely pur- sued by the messenger, who rushed into the Chambor ona Tuo, The Speaker ordered him to come back, but he could not see it in that light and walked lewurely back to the door. ana di id, The Sergeant-at-Arms was ordered to arrest him, but Goss, luckily for the lad, imagined that hia prey hud flown im one direction and acted accord: while the jact was that the sly youth bad mad hue through the State Library. While the pursuer and the pursued were looking for one anotner the business of the House was brought to standstill, and the Speaker, leaning on bis gavel and awaiting the ap- pearance of the culprit at the bar, stood looking ae savage as a meataxe. Several minutes having clapsed and neither the Sergeant-at-Arms nor the Fuuavey putting in an appearance the Assembly went on wi 108 work as usual. THE COMMISSIONER OF JURORS. When the biil in relation to the Commissioner of Jurors in New York came up for a third reading in the Senate Mr, Gerard moved to refer, with orders to strike out the section providing that the term of office of the present Commissioner of Jurors shall terminate twenty days after the passage of the act, A debate, in which Rogers Bradioy Senators Gerard, Starbuck, aod participated, followed, Starbuck taking strong grounds against the principle of legislating men out of office, Finding a more advefse sentiment to the main feature of the bill than he ant: Bixby withdrew his bill tor the present under. standing being that as the settlement of the question ot Taylor vs. Duulap is pending in the Court of Ap- Fare it would be wiser to await the decision before ing final action on the bill “OLD PROBS’! RELIABILITY. Tho bill Lagan ape any record of the observa- tions m regard to. condition of the weather taken by the Signal Service of the United States may de read in evidence in any court of this State, when certified beeen rg by the oflicers in charge, has passed the ssembly, LEGISLATIVE NOTES. The Senate concurred i the Assembly amendment striking out the clause relative to the Court of Arbitra~ hon in the Appropriation bill. ADJOURNMEST OF THR LEGISLATURE, It Is generaily understood now that the final adjourn. ment of the yelaiure will take place on the 20th inst, two weeks [rom to-morrow, GENERAL PRADO. Alter attending the complimentary entertainment at the Filth Avenuo Theatre on Thurrday night General Prado and party departed for Philadelphia on the mid- night train, accompanied by Mr. Charles R. Flint, who das charge of the reception arrangements, On their arrival they were recetved by Mr. Thomas Clarke and Mr, Edward H. Wilhams, and escorted to enabled to buildings and inspect the various Exvosition | obtain statistics of the cost of the wor to the present | time. The party pext drove through Fairmount Park, eral expressing much interest in the Girard avenue bridge, fro: idea of the Ameri The party on returning to the city were shown the principal buildings, among them the Masonic Temple, tne new City Hail, in process of construction, and the Baldwin locomotive works, tho largest in the wortd, The General and party were then entertained r the Soctal Art Club, and company the Chiet heer of the Centennial Exhibition, Mr. Henry Pettit. Doparting on the eleven o'clock A, train the party arrived at the Jersey City depot at twe o'clock, Wi ro they were met by a number of y by Rent citizens, among whom were Mi Eats Colonel Rarique Senator Carlos Lyte $ Captains Ulises . Mertro, José Ugart Leontco Pt jatare ig their * Provident. =< »