The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1905-05-14

-HE field of contemporary fictior
offers no more tempting and indi-
l vidual figure perhaps, than Maui
rice Hewlett. Romancer. traveller. prose
poet. he has now some eight volumes &c
his credit, and occupies a unique position
among mon of letters of today. With the
publication of 1.-The Forest Lovers,
seven years ago. Mr. Hewlett struck the
keynote of his subsequent work, and re-
vealed new possibilities within the do
main of romance. 1t was as if, under mis-
gardening, a rare, new flower had
blossomed forth from a common, neg
lected stock. Mr.. Hewlett became at
once a marked man IN the public eye,
and his genius and manner have been a
subject of frequent discussion ever since.
His various writings-historical romances,
medieval tales, Italian studies and trav-
els-which have appeared with leisured
ease, have established his position as a
star of no small magnitude in the liter
airy armament.
Mr.. Hewlett was born in 1861, and owes
much of his training as scholar and his
literary skill as a man of letters TO his
father School life was, 1t seems, never
much to his taste. He cared nothing for
the ordinary routine lessons, but spent
most of his time reading and scribbing.
He was quite Indifferent to his chances
of an oxford scholarship, and ended his
college days without one In describing
this period of his life he has said: II
wasted my time. | dreamed | tried to
do things too big for me, and threw them
up at the first failure; | diligently pur-
= l.
very happy, and | am sure l was very
disagreeable l doubt now If / was ever
a boy, except for a short period when
by rights 7 should have been a man."
Ultimately he was sent to London, and
while still under twenty set to a steady
grind at black-letter lava study which
has been hereditary in his family ever
since his great grandfather left his Som
ersetshire house and settled in London.
Ir 1888 Mr.. Hewlett married, and in 1890
he was called to the bar. Some time
afterward he fell i'll, and a tour abroad
which followed awoke In him the desire
seriously to enter the field of literature.
He lectured at South Kensington, Uni
versty College, and other places upon
medieval thought and art wrote reviews
for the Academy along the same lines,
and. indeed, contributed to mot of the
weekly and monthly reviews from this
time on. Mr.. Hewlett now occupies the
position of head of the Land Revenue
Record office His career has not been an
adventurous one; as he himself would
put it. most of a writer's adventures
take place in his head"
The Fond Adventures Hewletts
latest volume. which has just appeared
consists of four stories, each of consider
able extent-material which in less ar
tistic hands might, with padding, have
been thought to warrant the furnishing
of novel or two Of average length. But
it is characteristic of Mr.. Hewlett to be-
stow himself lavishly: and just at his
sentences like branches richly laden with
fruit seemed to bend under a wealth of
imagery and import so these tales are
thick-clustered. and of a prodigal full
ness. There is more than bool<ful in
this volume.
OF the stories in the present collection
1.-THE Love Chase" offers an unusual
breadth and openness for the exercise of
the cunning secrets of which this author
is master-vivid cooring, poetic feeling.
robust quality of action We are told
how the young poet Nello NELL. fair
youth with golden cloud of hair be-
came the secretary of Cardinal Gonzaga
mo slight adventure in itself. as Mr.
Hewlett records IT., and how the two
iourneyed toward Venice-at least to the
castle of Simone. the Black Dog of Cit
tadella. who held an iron hand over the
surrounding country. Now 1t happened
that Simone had plghted troth. four
years before. with Donna Emilia. a pale
slip of a Lombard girl and had gone
about his business. which was war. The
intervening years has witnessed his grim
work Emilia-Ia Colombina. he had
named her-had gone to live at the court