George Eliot | Page 2

home, the
plain village life, the humble, toiling country folk, shaped for her the
scenes and characters about which she was to write. Some knowledge
of her early home and the influences amidst which her mind was
formed, help largely to an appreciation of her books and the views of
life which she presents in them.
The Midland region of England she has pictured with something of that
accuracy with which Scott described the Border. It is a country of
historic memories. Near by her childhood home was the forest of Arden
and Astly Castle, the home of Sir John Grey, whose widow, Elizabeth
Woodville, became the queen of Edward IV. This was also one of the
homes of Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk, who was found in a hollow tree
near by after his rebellion; and the home, likewise, of his daughter,
Lady Jane Grey. In another direction was Bosworth Field; and within
twenty miles was Stratford-upon-Avon. The ancient city of Coventry
was not far distant. It was not these historic regions which attracted her,
however, so much as the pleasant country, the common people, the
quiet villages. With observant eyes she saw the world about her as it
was and she entered into the heart of its life, and has painted it for us in
a most sympathetic, appreciative spirit. The simple, homely,
unromantic life of middle England she has made immortal with her wit,
her satire, her fine description, and her keen love of all that is human.
She herself recognized the importance of her early surroundings. In one
of her letters she used these words:
It is interesting, I think, to know whether a writer was born in a central

or border district--a condition which always has a strongly determining
influence. I was born in Warwickshire, but certain family traditions
connected with more northerly districts made these districts a region of
poetry to me in my early childhood. I was brought up in the Church of
England, and have never joined any other religious society, but I have
had close acquaintance with many Dissenters of various sects, from
Calvinistic Anabaptists to Unitarians.
The influence of the surroundings of childhood upon character she has
more than once touched upon in her books. In the second chapter of
Theophrastus Such, she says,--
I cherish my childish loves--the memory of that warm little nest where
my affections were fledged.
In the same essay she says,--
Our Midland plains have never lost their familiar expression and
conservative spirit for me.
In Daniel Deronda she most tenderly expresses the same deep
conviction concerning the soul's need of anchorage in some familiar
and inspiring scene, with which the memories of childhood may be
delightfully associated. Her own fond recollections lent force to
whatever philosophical significance such a theory may have had for
her.
A human life should be well rooted in some spot of a native land,
where it may get the love of tender kinship for the face of the earth, for
the labors men go forth to, for the sounds and accents that haunt it, for
whatever will give that home a familiar, unmistakable difference
amidst the future widening of knowledge; a spot where the definiteness
of early knowledge may be inwrought with affection, and kindly
acquaintance with all neighbors, even to the dogs and monkeys, may
spread, not by sentimental effort and reflection, but as a sweet habit of
the blood.
Mary Ann Evans was born at South Farm, a mile from Griff, in the

parish of Colton, Warwickshire, England, November 22, 1819. In after
years she adopted the abbreviated form of her name, and was known by
her friends as Marian. When she was six months old the family moved
to Griff House, which was situated half-way between Bedworth, a
mining village, and the manufacturing town of Nuneaton. In
approaching Griff from Nuneaton, a little valley, known as Griff
Hollows, is passed, much resembling the "Red Deeps" of The Mill on
the Floss. On the right, a little beyond, is Griff House, a comfortable
and substantial dwelling surrounded by pleasant gardens and lawns.
Robert Evans, her father, was born at Ellaston, Staffordshire, of a
substantial family of mechanics and craftsmen. He was of massive
build, tall, wide-shouldered and strong, and his features were of a
marked, emphatic cast. He began life as a master carpenter, then
became a forester, and finally a land agent. He was induced to settle in
Warwickshire by Sir Roger Newdigate, his principal employer, and for
the remainder of his life he had charge of five large estates in the
neighborhood. In this employment he was successful, being respected
and trusted to the fullest extent by his employers, his name becoming a
synonym for trustworthiness. Marian many times sketched the main
traits of her father's character,