as he did, on the suggestive help of the stories of the past. Few of his
novels are the entire creations of his own mind; but he used every hint and
suggestion he could find as the basis of his work. In this, George Eliot is
no more a realist than either of her great predecessors. Even Goldsmith and
Fielding were no more creative and original than she, for they depended as
much as she on the occurrences of real life for their plots. All genuine
novelists have drawn their materials from the life about them, and they
could not attain success otherwise. All depends, however, on how the
material thus used is made to bear its results. If Charlotte Bronte
borrowed more from actual life of event and scenery, yet she was not more a
realist; rather her power lies in something higher than realism, in that
subtle insight and creative power which gives originality to her work. She
was an idealist keeping close to the actual; and in this fact is to be
found her superiority to George Eliot in certain directions. George Eliot
studied life accurately and intimately, but she did not tie herself to any
individual occurrences or persons. She had so absorbed the spirit of the
life amidst which she lived, as to give a true expression to it under an
almost purely fictitious garb.

There is less of distinct teaching in the _Scenes of Clerical Life_ than in
George Eliot's later novels. Yet even in these earlier stories there is to
be found many a clear indication of her thought. In "Amos Barton" she has
especially set forth her sympathy with humble life. This fundamental canon
of her art is presented more distinctly in this story, and dwelt upon more
fully, than in any of her subsequent novels. It would be difficult to
discover any special teaching in "Mr. Gilfil's Love Story;" and this is
perhaps the only production of George Eliot's pen which has not some
distinct object beyond the telling of the story itself. The religious motif
is strong in _Janet's Repentance_, and not to be mistaken by any attentive
reader who now for the first time takes up the story. The value of religion
as a reforming force is plainly inculcated, as well as that the main and
only value of that force is altruistic. It presents a fine picture of the
Evangelical movement and its work, though mainly on its humanitarian side.
Its deeper spirit of devotion, its loftier religious ideal, its craving
after a more intimate realization of the divine presence, is not portrayed.