The philosophy which represents Meredith's "criticism of life," is broadly speaking a belief in the rightness and wholesome ness of Nature, when Nature—"Sacred Reality"—is lovingly and faithfully and trustfully sought and known by the pure use of reason. Man must be "obedient to Nature, not her slave." Mystical as this philosophy occasionally becomes, it is yet an inspiring one, clean, austere and practical; and it is always domi nated by the categorical imperative of self-knowledge and the striving after honesty of purpose and thought. A strong vein of political Radicalism runs through Meredith's creed. It is, how ever, a Radicalism allied to that of the French philosophes, rather than to the contemporary developments of British party politics, though in later life he gave his open support to the Liberal Party. In spite of his German upbringing Meredith was always strongly French in his sympathies, and his appreciation of French character at its best and at its worst is finely shown in his Napoleon odes.
Meredith died at Flint cottage, Box hill, Surrey, on May 18, 1909. A strong feeling existed that he should be buried in Westminster Abbey, and a petition to that effect, which was approved by the prime minister, H. H. Asquith, was signed by a large number of men of letters. But this was not to be. A memorial service was held in the abbey, but Meredith's own re mains, after cremation, were interred at Dorking by the grave of his second wife. He died just after his old friend (H. C.) BIBLIOGRAPHY.—The first edition of Meredith's collected works was
published by Messrs. Chapman and Hall (1885-95) ; other editions are the edition de luxe (39 vols., 1896-1912), the library edition (18 vols., 1897-1910), the memorial edition (27 vols., 1909-11), and the standard edition (1914, etc.), all published by Messrs. Constable. The Poetical Works of George Meredith were published with notes by G. M. Trevelyan (1912). See M. B. Forman, Bibliography of the Writings in Prose and Verse of George Meredith (1922) and Meredithiana (1924). The Letters of George Meredith have been collected and edited by his son, W. M. Meredith (2 vols., 1912) ; see also Letters to Edward Clodd and Clement K. Shorter (1913); Letters to Richard Henry Horne (Cape Town, 1919) ; Letters to Swinburne and Watts-Dunton (Cape Town, 1922) ; Letters to Various Correspondents (Pretoria, 1924) ; Letters to Alice Meynell, . . . 1896-1907 (Nonesuch Press, 1923). For biography and criticism see R. Le Gallienne, George Mere dith : Some Characteristics (1890) , which includes a bibliography by John Lane ; M. Sturge Henderson, George Meredith, Novelist, Poet, Reformer (1907) ; G. M. Trevelyan, The Poetry and Philosophy of George Meredith (1912) ; C. Photiades, George Meredith sa vie (1910, Eng. trans. 1913) ; Lady Alice M. Butcher, Memories of George Meredith (1919) ; R. Galland, George Meredith and British Criticism (1923) ; J. B. Priestly, George Meredith (1926) ; Robert E. Sencourt, The Life of George Meredith (1929).