GEORGE ELIOT
EVENTEEN years ago the Christmas week was darkened by the death of Thackeray. Once again the festive season has been saddened in many a household by the knowledge that George Eliot was no more. It is not too much to say that with many her works have been far more than novels; they have formed an animating principle co-operating with some of the most powerful spiritual influences of the time. It appears, therefore, to be an appropriate occasion to pass in critical review the works she has left behind her and to estimate their importance.
As is well known, her earlier productions were translations of German works on the metaphysics of religion. Strauss's Life of Jesus appeared in an English form in 1846, and Feuerbach's Essence of Christianity in 1853. As translations they were excellent, but it cannot be said that they have had any
