The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-03-20
WITH THOMAS HARDY
The Author of "Tess" Tells How
He Came to Write It,
WHAT THE NovELIsTLooKs LIKE
sentiment and Romance Among the
simple Country PeopIe-The
Sights of Dorchester.

LONDON, March Especial Correspond
ence- The author of Tess" and sat by
me preside one bitter cold evening in
February discussing his recent brilliant
success.
NOW, pray tell me how you first came
TO the writing of Tess Mr.. Hardy"
said I.
"Well,'' he replied, "a chance remark
led me to the idea at first. A laborer 60
ing by this house one evening was over
heard by my wife to say to a companion,
1 be of very old family, an old Norman
family, and we have family vault in the
church OF Bere Regis full of skelingtons,
no finer skelingtons in all the country
Now, this l discovered to be
the actual fact; indeed, there are
many poor laboring men here who bear
the nobiest Norman names. So deter
mined on the writing of Tess l will
fetch you, before We go any further with
our conversation, very elaborate pedi-
gree which / possess of the D'Urberville's
family, though the real name is slightly
different. Take look around the draw
ing-room and get my wife to show you
about the different pictures, etc. shall
be back in few minutes"
When he was gone Mrs. Hardy said to
me: "Ahi you don't know what work
there is in an authors house, Mr.. Bath
wayt. So much to do in the way of look
ing after papers. so much copying such
care in the dusting."
81 can quite imagine it," replied. do
you ever help Mr.. Hardy with his stories
at all?"
no" said Mrs. Hardy, who, may re-
mark, is pleasant. clever woman of five
and forty. mo, | never presume to do
that, though | make suggestions now and
again. 1t was my idea that Angel Glare
should try his mothers jewels on Tess the
night they were married. OF course take
great interest in all he writes. But must
tell you about the pictures. That large
pen and ink SKETCH" she went on, point
ing to beautiful drawing by Hubert
Herkomer which hung upon the wall,
represents Tess and Angel Clare and the
dairy maids at work in the field. The
sketch beside it was done by Alfred Par
sons to illustrate the Group of Noble
Danes Bye the bye, 1 am going to stay
with lineal descendant of one of them,
the Countess of Wessex, tomorrow. The
group of little sketches is from Far
From the Madding Crowd You ought
to notice that piece of pottery there. 1t
was dug up here, and is a very fine piece
OF Roman work. You know this was a
regular Roman encampment here in the
days of Vespasian. Some of the people
show distinctly by their faces that they
are descended from the Romans, and even
old Latin words linger here as they do
nowhere else. There is one interesting
fact about this ground here. My husband
is the first subject to own land here. This
ground for miles around was given by
Edward III. to the black prince, and Mr..
Hardy bought it from the Prince of Wales.
Old families abound here and old tradi-
tions. We often entertain Americans who
come here to seek out their pedigrees.
Some of these water colors are my own
illustrations of my husbands stories"
And very pretty sketches they were, too.
| was much struck with Mrs. Hardy, who
was full of information and very bright.
was greatly interested when she told me
she had been staying with her husband
last summer in Scotland, and there they
met one night at dinner an old gentleman
who knew Walter Scott well, and who had