The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-03-26
GREAT SUCCESS MARKS
 CAREER OF MRS. WARD

agreeable and fresh-colored English face. She said, also that Mrs. Wards chief at traction was her delightful manner-a manner which combines graciousness with the dignity of a grande dame. She has all ways been considered a very difficult sub ject for portrait-painters, but recently MT. Albert Sterner, who with rare sym pathy illustrated her latest book, has drawn a most artistic and satisfactory likeness. The portrait Ca reproduction of which accompanies this article) has vital ity and character, and her friends unite in saying that it is the best which has ever been made of her. Mrs. Ward her self was so we'll pleased with 1t that she has purchased it for her own house.
 Mrs. Humphry Wards country home Is Stocks" Tring England. The estate which lies on the dividing line between Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, is within a convenient distance of London, and is large and attractive. The gardens are quaint and old-fashioned with gay rows of flowers and statuary here and there, and Mrs. Ward has had nine hole golf cource laid out on the grounds. The place is very old, so old that it was mentioned in the Domesday Book. It was the home of the Poet Waller in the sev enteenth century. Sir Walter Scott Is said to have frequently visited the house, and to have taken the name of Ivanhoe from Ivinghoe, a nearby village.
 It is said of Mrs. Humphry Ward by a London writer that she is of "the type of womanhood which accepts the responsi- bilites of life which sees both the mo- bility of motherhood and the nobility of knowledge" Mrs. Ward Is a woman first and a writer afterwards. She guards her S.o ~ ff<1 1~e he. only author of note who has never grart- ed an interview. Mrs. Ward is the last person in the world to lend herself to any species of Advertisement. though she cannot avoid being written about. She is keenly interested In all that concerns her Husband and children She has also great love for nature, and enjoys her beautiful surroundings at Stocks" as a happy retreat from London life. Many of the rural types and past incidents in her historic neighborhood have been utilized in her novels.
 Besides being a great novelist, Mrs. Ward Is a phllanthropist of note. The Passmore Edwards Settlement in Lon don owes Its origin to her novel, Robert Elsmere, and during the past six years she has been largely influential in main taining this school. Her special interest IS m tnt lTdiniDS bl pHySiCeiiy ilcipiCSo children, so that by use of their braias their lives may be happy and self-support- ing, in spite of their infirmities. She established branch for the special in- struction and care of crippled children in the vacation school attached to this settlement some five years ago. Here the little cripples, besides being cared for. are also taught arts and trades. Mrs. Ward was much interested in the vacation schools started in this country a few years ago. After reading an article on New York vacation schools in liar per's Magazine. she was at once prompt ed to try the experiment in connection with her London work The Duke rf Bedford allowed the school garden adjoining the rear of the Settlement house, and outdoor classes have been held there with great pleasure and profit during the past three summers. Mrs. Ward Is so enthusiastic over the succ SIS of this vacation school that she wants ro see the idea carried still further. What we hope to see some time. she said last spring, lis the organization of a London league of play for the capturing of child rens playtime. I should like to see evcn- Ing playcenters established in every dis-