The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-08-06

THE FOOL ERRANT.-By Maurice Hew-:
lett. PIP, SCI $3.50 The Macmillan
Co., New York. rs @
An aptititle is a novels coronation, and
this certainly Is an apt title; for We
have here Il beyond question or cavi a
fool, and equally positively, fool who
was Grant in the extreme. tDerivativeiy
speaking, we take It that the term err
rant denotes wandering both of the body
and the mind, the quality Of rambling
ness in either acceptation. the erring from
the path Of common earth or OF common
sense: and In whichever interpretation
Mr.. Hewlett's fool was truly Grant. He
erred, sln short, In thinking 1t was neces-
sary to go a-wanderng, his reasons for
making the eccentric expedition detailed
in this book being never clear to any
body not even, perhaps, to himself.
THE Fool Errant''8is the story Of the
sentimental journey OF a youthful and
excessively i6eallstic dreamer Of dreams.
The lad in ques ton was Francis Strelley,
tBriton, student at the University OF
Padna and with the Unborn knack OF
proving his right to the nomlnative which.
the author has bestowed upon him. Hav-.
Ing in moment Of youthful ardor I'M
printed a swift salute upon the lips Of
the Strelley dairymaid, young Francis
saw nothing for 1t TO redeem the girls
fair name, as he himself phrased It, but
to marry her. a proposition which so
incensed the old man.! his father, that
he dubbed his son an amazing young
fool and packed him off to Padna.5 Here,
however, Francis promptly duplicated
though with variations. his experience
with Betty Coy; for he fell head over
heels In. love with the wife Of his tutor,
the eccentric DR.. Lanfranchi, and sue
ceeded. with perfect innocence, in SO COM
promising her hat her husband sent her
1,ao oh to her X
the young hopeful conceived the novel
and Intensely romantic plan Of tramp
ing on foot and in lowly and penltent.
guise to Siena, and suing for pardon Of
the wronged and beautiful Amelia. Just
why it occurred to him that lie would
ness, If he reduced his apparel to mere
shirt and breeches, minus both hat and
shoes, is not altogether clear.
OF the many and diverse adventures
that befel this extraordinary young man
en- this scarcely less extraordinary mis-
sion It is not our purpose to speak here
Suffice 1t to say that, despite the pure
aesthetics OF his ethics, he had adven-
lures Of the most lively and strictly ply
seal sort. An accomplished and some-
what mpious priest, whose rather intrl-
cate character Mr.. Hewlett has eXcellent-
y delinented, becomes his occasional and
Wholly undesired companion. A fellow
traveller of far more consequence is the
Girl Virginia, whom the errant fool found
in circumstances of indescrihable poverty.
rescued from degradation Of tho kind
deemed worse than DEATH and strangely
took with him upon his quest. With all
his intellectual frailtles and trans
cendental whmsles. Francis was n
youth fora girls eye; Virginia is his
\ willing slave from the first. and alter
he at length finds Amelia, to his COM
pete disillusionment, nothing could be
more natural than that the pair should
marry, 5{ IB ,a
@ 1T is n quaint book Of apparent quasi
allegorlcal intent.
In brief closing chapter, which is
+ Francis Strelleys "apologic pro Vita sua,'
Mr.. Hewlett makes 1t plain that his story
4 IL at least partly subservent to the moral
he would point. Hero the fool Grant is
made to say: IF am justly to be called
Il fool, then, and my folly vice. Vt Is
because 1t has ever been q ruling need
of my nature to be naked, and to desire
to deal markedly With my neighhors, Wuo,
to serve my ends. must themselves BIO
@vncad. Let tho light scoffer understand
me, speak of the soul and of spiritual
md moral matters, The Englishman, hh
says, dare not even strip before his
God" while here among tho Tuscan poor,
x mot only man Is naked before God, hut
q God stands naked before man. With
them the soul of man is not oYerlald with
the trappings and DISCUSSES OF q manu-
featured civilization, but stands forth
ydenuded and unashamed for all men to
see So Young streley. casting all his
tar or ri ut a