New-York tribune., 1905-04-15

TIE LIFE AND LETTERS OF r. s. HAWKEE
.n-lsw c. p Bylss; With two sketehes BY the
& o. "a SSrllss 9Ta3gTSpRS s 2y rf1Sts y hey Fe5S po
rograPhs. etc. Svo. %. sSs. John Lane.
The memoir of Robert Stephen Hawl1er, pub
Eshed many years ago by the Rev. S. Barring
Gould. was unsatisfactory and incomplete IN
TIE opinion os those % whom the eccentric Vicar
0f MOrwenstOw was dear. IL is an uncom-
monty entertaining book. ana we regret TO note
Mrs Hawiker's assertion that &c is fun OF mis-
statements. These aside. Sc must be admitted
that the HawlZer presented Ga Mr.. Byles's bulky
biography is not much unlike the Hawker de-
scribed BY Baring-Goul6- However. we could
IN spare the mass OF anecdote and many OF the
letters collected IN this new volume. and we may
commend it with few reservations 90 those who
feel interest IA the depletion OF an original.
quaint and lOvable character.
Hawl1sr the man is better worth remem-
brance than Hawker the writer. Some OF his
Cornish sketches win live and q couple OF his
ballads ana two or three charming lyrics VIII
keep their places forever in English antholOgies.
We cannot say much for the rest OF his WORK.
which fs cursously imperfect and often un-
poetic. even in feeling. But the big hearted
witty creature himself. now so practical. now
SO Visionary so explosive in wrath. so fatherly'
gentle IN kindness. stin has charm which is
not 20 be resisted. No one could be sharper In
a repaFtee He was an impTOvident man ana
built a more elaborate house than was needed
hence the observation OF an acquaintance:
Old Mr. King once said 20 me as he looked down
HS, fools build houses and wise men inhabt
Just So" said L unwilling to be OutdOne even in
Just so. as wise make proverbs and fools
And then We both grunted
Countless blunt answers OF this sort are re-
rnembered OF one who was. all the same. given
20 fairy visions. TO dreams OF saints and de-
mons. and who gravely assured a visitor that
he had seen mermaIds IN the bay at Morwen-
stow.
Among the heretofore unpublished manuscripts
quoted in this volume is Hawkers account OK
an event which gave him keen pleasure-the
appearance at his remote vicarage OF
stranger tan, swarthy. Spanish looking man.
with an eye Ike q sword
He safe down and we conveTsed- az once found
myself with no common mind. All poetry IN par
ficular ne seemed 10 use like household words
and, as chance led 70 the mention OF Aoner pS plcSL
ure Of Night he gave a. once EendeTlng2 "a sinPlc Ih
ana hnea When the SKY Is broken ,5 W ShG b e1S
fs dad" II struck me that the tr1te translation
Sed S iP9SS S6oat re corn%s and King Arthur my themes
and / quoted Tennyson's fine acct OF the restore
How can you live here thus alone? You DON
seem % have any nt companlons asoonG YOU a.
7 70 herd with marrow foreheads. vacant Of oul
like 9 .Bsast with lower pleasures. Ike a Beas
why. that man. said he. seems 20 be your
not mine only, but England's." answered /
Just at this dme J. Dinham went away. and
proposed 70 show my un5nSTn % friend the he, shore
DO You wish 10 Know it? don't much care
that which we call a rose etc" We'll, then "
RRid he, my name is Teanysonr' ''Whatr said L
ennysoh? am Alfred TenSySon SyS s Who O wrote os
Isocksley Hail. which you seem TO know by heart .
was glad We went on our way 70 the rocks. and
make I think. IS nice a little book As CharIotte
Elizabeth Mrs Hawkerl could herself have COM
equally adore But % as he toid e me- strange to to say
Hordsworth cannot bear its face. He said
z 5es OF which were never written down. and SO
The Bard Is a handsome. well formed man. and
eall. more Ike Speniard than Englishman--
his eyes aot only shine. but glare His garments
loose ana tull' s1ch as Bard beseems and over all
guages. both old and new. and has manifsstly =
funeful and sloW-an organ not a breath His
temper. which tried. seemed very cslH-his spirits
very low.
Hawker says that Tennyson who made on
that occasion earnest inquiry Of him about King
Arthur. had girded himself 20 write an epic on
the hero ''but finding. as infer. that he could
not wait for the judgment and requital OF A.
d. 20O4. and wanting. as know. an income for
children and wife, he broke up his purpose into
Idylls. fragments OS the great scheme"
One OF the most amusing letters in this volume
is that IN which the old vicar sets down, in 1852
his opinion Of Americans. There is something
naturally narrow and meagre IN the American
mind" he says; and he ends thus: What can
equal IN horror their mode OF Savage War?
They offer rewards for the heads OF conspicuous
Eneunies-MauTy. the Hydraulic oficer, to wit.
Their light Infantry. the ZOuaves, carry ropes
with running moose 70 hang their Prisoners,
and they have destroyed IT is said. forever the
Earbours OF the South. whence Corn and Cotton
were shipped Tor half the World"