New-York tribune., 1908-06-27
. Nopd of Modern Life by Mr.,
Maurice Hcsrletf.

| r.-~hner'S sons
-. course Of bis literary career MFR. Eew-
,s,0en scn,e long strides where the pc
y" =. has deal; with have been concerned.
1902 :. wrote The Forest Lovers he drew
W. -,-.t;on from the England OF the Middle
y ..>,aliins not so much the substance OF
AsN, n,s;nry as the spirit OF the early no
- meets ana ohronsciers. That meaiseTal
u'Sn-- .,s5e a deep impression upon him was
d'n- ~ his production of smother novel dedi-
= tbe7a. the story he wrote around the
o. = % Richard Coeur-de-Lion. In Other
some Of them among his best-he
-, 10 evoke she passion and colcr OF the
s-.-x.nce. srd as we have more than once
.,,.esen 10 remark. produced In his shorter
- tales group of little masterpieces,
- - -rA~ent.v he has shown sn interest In the
- oe modern life.
-. s,,,oping Lady" treated OF London folk
=. Georgian era. types OF that transitional
=, which Enenaced the tradition OF the
F,,osn.h century with the democratic aspsra-
.s the nineteenth. The brief narrative
- v-a reviewed last month, The Spanish
- had FOR its hero an Englishmaa Of fifty
.~n Now IN Halfway House." Nr.
,5---,s-- turns his back upon old unhappy far-os
-.,.-s and boldly piunges into the fun current
:, ou- oyn time. The plunge. we half divine,
: ,Aa1 q little difficult. No man can rid HIM
- NJ his temperament, and Mr.. Hewlett, IN
s.,.inr his TO new conditions, has had TO ex-
,,ise 3 stern resolution which somehow makes
,..f felt through the seeming ease and fexi-
airy of his narrative For q full blooded TO
-cs- OF his type, accustomed TO painting il
-sss strokes the execution OF a work like
au.exsy House, has demanded, necessarily,
..in rsnunciations a certain restraint. But
-estIees to the Judgment and skill for which
:. have repeatedly praised Mr.. Hewlett the
.sg7ent and skill OF the man Of letters, that
..s ,alurne Is a singulaTly satisfactory per
hrmance-
Tbe author of it has always been q devoted
-asts-nan Il has been natural to him TO de-
.lap artistic veF2>aI effects, 30 play with words
ss upon an instrument In fact, this gift OF his
bss sometimes proved his undoing. His style
sss GOT out OF hand, and the thing to be ex-
r-sssed has suffered through his mode OF ex-
--sssinc it. Emulation Of George Meredith has
-aeIy betrayed him, as in 1.-The STOPPING Lady"
no wanton and wearisome display OF empty
-znaerisns Possibly the failure OF that book
-as due to-an incurable want of harmony be-
tween matter and method Georgian society,
IL al its glitter and Journalism, had something
trthrig.t about il, kind Of brutal sincerity
H Hewlett treated il with artifce that was
"a lot quite the right key. In Halfway House
a5stance and style are perfectly blended The
Es-edithian vein is the more legitimately adopt
tt because the theme itself, al the actors in the
sznedy the background and the prevailing SEN
azent. are themselves Meredithian. The author
10 not need TO look in TWO directions at once,
& his story and at his style. The two keep pace
rzsther Thus there is scarcely anywhere the
zggestion Of phrase made for its own sake.
Tlen We read on page 20 that she laughed him
lS" or on page 50 that she volleyed him
lrng q questions" We recognize too faithful
Etat.on 4 the master, bat il Is significant that
,sa Instances occur very early in the book. AS
I comes 10 grips with his story Mr.. Hewlett Is
DO interested to allow himself be diverted into
laths Of purely rhetorical Furnishings Then
he masters manner ceases TO seem a borrowed
ne: Il is the authors own, and he uses il with
s5mething Ike gusto. His next book may mark
return 10 medi4val or Renaissance material
but IN the mean time il is tempting 10 speculate
Is 10 whether the general scheme and tone Of
Halfway House" are not. perhaps, just what he
las been moving toward as his natural destiny
We spoke not long ago Of the brief narrative as
possibly Offering him his best medium The book
5et9re US suggests. rather. that the question Of
lgrpens 10 be such as to find a fitting garment
e his very characteristic prose
This is q rnodernized version Of the story Of
King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid The hero
ss high bred Englishman Of fifty, prosperous
ui stately. The heroine is a nursery govern
IS whom he first observes throwing herself
sart and soul into the chidren's game at a
Sunday school feast in the country. The elderly
vi5over g sitting at the moment, among rela-
Ives and friends. q group Of men and women
#rhoss atnosphere is absolutely inimical to any
|erg like romance. and most Of all TO the cul-
.traion of such 2 fancy as he allows 10 drift
trough his head. Nevertheless. Mr.. John Ger
nsn lets himself 30, and. with what would be
,ssttless haste even in q youth, he pursues and
ETtu7es the object OF his reawak kened ardors-
x doubt 2 matter Of contrast has something 10
with il 2 half unconscious feeling that a
I'll 50 young and innocent might assauge the
Tagnd which he has long concealed out mas
azer ceased 70 feel. The Lady Diana whom he
ai had the IT fortune to marry had been
ssv,iful. haggard. swift. violent creature tear
z lie 10 tatters that she might find some eX-
risrner+ in the lining" There had come year
'rhen 7Erer7restra threatened TO be her proper
Ens" and poor German had had his Work cut
~ for him 10 save his family life from puoAo
ki1Rreck Then years after his tormentor haa
I'd The good grace 10 break her back IN the
,1ing fed the memory Of what she mad cost
n sil made him vince What WONDER iheie
'ais ihas the sight Of Mary Middieham sho"'o
ave SCI him 10 dreaming Of new Ilfe!
he author has something TO say OF her loNeh-
as and says it frequently enough but ne Is
aT ooncerned-and so is the reacer-"lth her
'arsrier Rejecting on this. one Of the men IA
y hook, a cynical young fellow, plays WIN
1ghI n her as follows: How she at
'sesed meu-lvith her pallor and heavy Hos' ana
-se peeriag. looming, speaking eyes beneath
sn. Whac cid she want Of them? Love loFe'