Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1892-04-22
AN ACCOMPLISHED CRITIC.


Tor the New lOrk sun.
Especial Correspondcnce.l
NEW YORK, April 5-Probably the best
known writer of critiques connected with
the New York press is Mr.. Mayo w. Hazel
tine. For some fifteen years he has fur
nished every Sunday page of reviews of
the books that are deemed worthy of
specially careful criticism His authority
is accepted by the best literary men of
New York, and many of his reviews have
attracted attention from the ablest lit
terateurs of Great Britain. But besides this
NOrk Mr.. llazetine also writes for The
Bun the greater part of its editorials upon
European politics, and his pen is in con
slant demand by publishers Of weekly re-
views and the magazines. He is therefore
a very busy writer. Probably the weekly
average of matter which he turns out will
exceed 10000 words, and in fertility he sur
passes probably any American writer, I'M
less it be George Alfred Townsend and one
or two other correspondents.
When the character of Mr. lIaZeltine's
work is taken into consideration some idea
of the amount of his labor is received. 1t
is not all of the work of reviewing simply
to write the critique A very thorough ex-
animation of the book is y essary, and it
is easy to distinguish between those re-
views which are based upon n most cursory
glance of the pages of Il book and those
which result from an exhaustive reading
of it. Moreover to review a great work
requires not only familiarity with other
literature of a like kind with the book, but
an examination of the authorities, and this
of itself takes a great deal of time. 1t is
comparatively easy to serve as a reviewer
for a great monthly or quarterly, like
| Blackwood's or The North American Re
view, but when such work is to be per-
formed so as to appear every week it en-
tails an amount of consecutive labor which
is little appreciated by those who enjoy in
the comfort Of their libraries on Sunday
the articles which appear from Mr.. Hazel
tines pen.
Mr. Hazeltine has been connected with
The Sun for nearly twenty years. He is a
Massachusetts man, getting his early
training there and afterward spending sew
eral years in one of the English universities
and also upon the Continent where he
made Il thorough study not only of con-
temporary history but even of medieval
historical lore. The diplomacy of Europe
had a singular fascination for him, and he
is esteemed by many as probably the best
informed man in New York city upon that
subject When he came to The Sun his
writings attracted immediate attention.
and his personality was recognized by rea-
son of the fact that the editor of The Sun
departed from journalistic custom in New
| York, which then insisted upon imperson-
ality, and permitted Mr.. IIazeltine to sign
his initials to some of his reviews. After
few years work of this sort some of the
most popular of his writings were collected
and published in book form.
Mr. Hazeltine's manner of work NAV be
] nf N Ia
/ The sun Office, but does his writing in his
apartments on Thirty-fourth street For
some years he lived in beautiful villa on
Staten Island, for his income from his
work enables him to live in luxury He
begins work Mt 10 o'clock in the morning
and from that hour until & is not out of
his library unless his work necessitates "A
visit to the Aston library After spending
some hours of careful reading, in which he
makes frequent notes referring to various
authorities, he changes his manner of
work by studying the references and map
ping out his line of treatment. This may
90 ON for two or three days. until he has
the book at his fingers ends and his treat
ment of it thoroughly digested Then he
sits down with his stenographer and die
tates, frequently remaining in his chair
steadily for four or five hours.
Meanwhile he must furnish each dav an
editorial upon European politics or some
| subject akin thereto The subject is
usually suggested to him by the cable dis
/ patches from Europe, but very frequently
Mr.. Dana, the editor of The sun, indicates
/ to him an editorial article. Mr. Hazeltine
/ has written some famous editorials for
/ The sun, which being impersonal have not
been attributed to him. Only Il few days
ago double loaded editorial appeared at
lacking the British government and insist
ing that it had no friendship, but moth
ing but distrust dislike of America and
covert desire that American institutions
should fail. The editorial attracted
great deal of attention. 1t was written by
Mr.. Hazeltine 1t almost equaled in i'm
! portance another famous editorial which
appeared in The Sun and which con.
tanned the famous epigram that General
! Hancock is IA good man and weighs $50
pounds" The writer of that editorial was
Mr.. Bartlett, although the authorship of it
was generally attributed to Mr.. Dana him
self. Mr.. Bartlett was man of eXtraor-
binary ability, whose friendship for Mr.
| Dana began in the time of the war. and
| who contributed frequently some of the
most striking and sensational editorial ut
| terances that ever appeared in The Sun.
Mr.. Hazeltine is one of the most delight
| full of hosts, and he has so many friends
that he has abundant opportunity to dis
/ play such charm AS a Conversations
his wonderful information, his wit and his
/ anecdOtaJ resources make him one of the
| most interesting of dinner table compan
/ paniOns. Yet he is IA hard working Jour
nalist, and he is not exactly optimistic in
his ideas of the opportunities which jour
| nallsm oilers to young men. 1t is his opin-
ion that an able young man can make "A
/ fair living in it, and that is about all, I'M
less he gains proprietary interest
+. j. EDWARDS.
Joe BIackburn,s Generosity.