New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-06-14

though the author were constantly saying:
"Of course my theme Is bit f1ashy and in any
other hands it might easily seem vulgar, but l.
being an artist, will show the world how simple
it is to make literature out of the most unprom-
Using material-when you know how" The re-
suit however. of this high and mighty ambition
is almost funny. Mr. Hichens has chosen for his
hero an innocent English youth, whose country
life has kept him in very happy state of igno-
rance about many things. Young Felix goes to
France and reads Balzac. He comes home full
of curiosity about life and insists upon going to
live alone in London. There he sees much or
Mrs. IsIney and her friend, Lady Caroline hurst,
both victims Of the morphine habit We expect
Felix to fall in love with Mrs. 1smey and we are
not disappointed, but at this stage of his enter
prise the author seems TO have been baffed. APP
parentIy all power to develop anything ike an
interesting plot deserted him, and unfortunate
ly in the analysis of character to which he
thereupon turned he found himself no better off.
He makes nothing of any of his personages-
The most that he can accomplish is the sketch
ing of some of the aspects of the morphine VIC
tins aforesaid. OF this he seems to be very
proud taking his work with terrible seriousness.
Prefxed to the book is a note in which he states
his acknowledgment of Indebtedness to Dr.
Henri GuimbaiI, of Ivry-sur-S Seine, for the &C
count given of the proceedings in a certain
house in Paris" That note may, in some quar-
ters seem full of dark meaning and do a good
deal to help sell the book But as matter OF
fact there is nothing in FELIX to justify this
portentous warning. 1t is a duh book. long
drawn out and not in the slightest measure
worthy Of the clever man who wrote it. His
gensationalism and his art make a singulariy IN
sipid mixture, each reacting upon the other,
with disastrous results
It is pleasant TO turn from this morbid and in
effectual production to Miss Hayden's tale Of
life among the humble people Of the English
downs She, too, has her tragical elements to
deal with but she looks for them amid the inter
play Of natural feelings in genuine human
beings, and she develops them with sincerity
and the force of simplicity. From a Thatched
Cottage is sad book in some respects yet it
is not depressing one. Partly this is due TO
the sincerity to which have just alluded, and
partly to the fact that the author has brought
into her pages the atmosphere of the pastoral
region in which the scene of her story is laid
Moreover, she knows how to tighten the strain
of her drama with a CLEAN of humor here and
there. She is wholesome and she is interesting.
Mr.. Robertson calls Sinful Peck novel We
would hesitate so to describe It. It is rather
loosely constructed fabric, the essential stuff of
which is found in just such episodes of sea life
as the author has hitherto put into his short
stories But need not quarrel with ques-
ton of form. The main point is that the rough
sailors in this book are amusing in their rather
startling way, and that the incidents which fol-
low one another in swift succession through the
tale, though sometimes almost too violent, are,
on the whole, very well narrated. It is a spir-
tied piece of work, readable and even little
exciting.
The anonymous author Of THE Kempton-
WAGE Letters writes fiction in this fashion:
~pre-eminently she is a poet-this must be al
ways understood. She Is the greater poet. take