"He thought very well of all ranks, but would not himself have liked to be of any rank in which he had not such close contact with ' business' as to get often honorably decorated with marks of dust and mortar, the damp of the engine, or the sweet soil of the woods and fields. Though he had never regarded himself as other than an orthodox Christian, and would argue on prevenient grace if the. subject were proposed to him, I think his virtual divinities were good practical schemes, accurate work, and the faithful completion of undertakings; his prince of darkness was a slack workman."
The mother of the authoress was chiefly noted for her qualities as a vigorous and punctual housekeeper. Miss Mathilde Blind describes her as much resembling Mrs. Hackit in Amos Barton, "a thin woman with a chronic liver complaint, of indefatigable industry and epigrammatic speech; who, 'in the utmost enjoyment of spoiling a friend's self-satisfaction, was never known to spoil a stocking.' A notable housewife, whose clock-work regularity in all domestic affairs was such that all her farm work was done by nine o'clock in the morning, when she would sit down to her loom."
Of the special incidents of the childhood of Mary Anne Evans we know little; but many of the experiences of Tom and Maggie Tulliver are drawn from her own early life, and the sonnets entitled Brother and Sister are still more plainly autobiographical. Her early wanderings with her brother through the lovely country scenes about Nuneaton were always cherished as among the dearest memories of her life; indeed, she tells us they
My infant gladness through eye, ear, and touch,
Took easily as warmth a various food
To nourish the sweet skill of loving much."
Many of the scenes with which she then became familiar were reproduced with the most perfect fidelity in her
