with the substance of her thinking, that she viewed all human
experiences in their light. They had ceased to be theory and speculation
with her. When she thought about the world, when she observed the acts of
men, the positivist explanation was at once applied, and instinctively.

That she did teach positivism is unfortunately true, so far as her literary
touch and expression is concerned. That philosophy affects all her books
with its subtly insinuating flavor, and it gives meaning and bias to most
of them. They thus gain in definiteness of purpose, in moral vigor, in
minutely faithful study of some phases of human experience, and in a
massive impression of thoughtfulness which her work creates. At the same
time, they undoubtedly lose in value as studies of life; in free range of
expression for her genius, her poetry and her art; and in that spiritual
vision which looks forward with keen gazing eyes of hope and confident
inquiry.

Her teaching, like most teaching, is a mingled good and evil. In more than
one direction her ethical and religious influence was most wholesome and
effective. She brought into clear light a few great facts, and made them
the more conspicuous by the strong emphasis she gave them. This is, in the
main, the method of all teaching and of all progress. Development seldom
proceeds in a direct line, but rather, so far as man is concerned, by
forcible emphasis laid on some great fact which has been previously
neglected. The idealism of a previous age had shown the value of certain
facts and tendencies in human nature, but it had exaggerated some faculties
and capacities of man, as well as neglected others. In consequence, our own
time swings to the other extreme, and cannot have too much of evolution and
positivism.

Idealism is in human nature, and will give itself expression. Positivism is
also a result of our experience and of our study of the universe, both
material and mental; it is a result of the desire for definite knowledge.
As a re-action against the excesses of idealism it is a powerful leaven,
and it brings into necessary prominence those facts which are neglected by
the opposite philosophy. It takes account of facts, and scorns mysticism;
and it thus appeals to a deep-seated bias of the time.

George Eliot's books have an interest as an attempt at an interpretation
of life from its more practical and realistic side, and not less as a
re-action against the influences of very nearly all