MEREDITH'S LETTERS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1545, 14 September 1912, Page 9

MEREDITH'S LETTERS.

The August "Scribiier" contains one article of extraordinary interest—aji "inetalment of the , letters by George -Meredith that are presently to be published by "his son. The earliest of these letters are. dated more than fifty years back, and the latest of those given in "Scribner" was written'early in 1870. A continuous of • Meredith's life cannot be supplied from -them, for there are great gaps in his'correspondence, but they must nevertheless be invaluable to his biographer, for thoy discuss freely the vital interests of his life. Those who find magic in his namo. have..nothing., to" fear from these intimate revelations, which can only deepen our interest in one of .the attractive of men. The letters are addressed chiefly to close friends and members of his family and it is well said in the introduction to them that he "has Ms note for each"; there) are several to hjs' little boy, in one of which he enunciates the great guiding principlo for much fun as you like, but J* follv - . A good many are to Captain Maxse, who was the model for Nevil Beanchamp, and some of the most chnrral n ? f ? ¥ rs \, :!aD ? t Eoss - wh ° i- , acknowledged by Meredith to have been the original of Rose Jocolyn. It is interesting _tQ hear of the anxiety of Novil to be introduced to Rose and of Meredith's belief- And yet I think I missed you"— that Rose did not do justice to tho real woman. In the wider circle of critical interests.there are many notable remarks. Carlyle, Ruskin, Mill (whose "L f berty" is "very noble and brave"), Tennyson, Byron, and many others come within this circle of chance illumination, and there is a curious passage in which Meredith declares that he tb/nks Leicrhtin's "Paolo arid Franceses." the "sole English picture' exhibiting passion that I have seen." We learn that the title originally intended for the novel that has had two others was "Emilia Belloni," that "The Sentimentalists," which came to lipht almost the other day, was germinatinfr in Meredith's brain fifty years ago, and that when "Modern Lovo" appeared one critic said he was a genius tgd another "a meretricious, clever, bold man." Browning told him that ho was "astounded nt tho originality, delighted with the naturalness and beauty" of the "Modern Love" volume, but generally people thought little of it. Meredith, does not blame them, for if a man "follows out vagaries of his own brain lie cannot hope for general esteem, and, he adds—and hero is the chance for dull people who want to scorei points a»ainst him—"he' dips smaller work." In a most interestin? letter to Swinburne l<e tells in that "Vittoria" "is not liked," and though-Swinburne thought-it fine, he was only on old po pt V° no co "'d n °t m ™ it from .being out of print for a good mi.ny years of the nineteenth century; r.ovhops before we sav much about this it ;vonld bo' well. to.investigate the report that "Lord Jim" is out of print now. But Meredith is established now, and these letters, so ■ brilliant and easy and [ii'-g----rant and high-ininded, will. a-Jd. to his glory.—"Manchester Guardian." ■•-■ ■—■ .