Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-05-16

for a new serial now running Mrs.
Ward counts her first work. "Milly
and oily" story for children. which
she wrote to set off some sketches drawn
by her friend. Mrs Alma Tademl Her
tale was woven around the pictures. and
he sale of the little book was very
gratifying.
American critics are fond of saying
that Mrs Ward secs everything academ-
ically and that her novels. though selling
well and yielding fine income. VII
never bring her popularity. Dickens and
Scott and Thackeray enjoyed a personal
as we'll as literary popularity among
American readers. but Mrs. Ward is too
aloof to touch the chord responsive This
quality Is apparent in meeting her In
her books always tells what brilliant
things her heroes and heroines can say.
but she never gets them to sparkle in wit
and repartee. As one woman who talked
with her some time remarked. that hav-
ing an academic mind Mrs. Ward saw
the whole world parochially. Her public
speeches lacked force and persuasive
have wished that she had been asked
to write an article on the subject of
Fairgrounds and settlement work rather
than to make speech about them.
Her Literary Clintele.
Still. Mrs. Ward has her followers. To
see the Humphrey Ward county is now
excellent judgment be 1t said that she
placed most of her novels in good envi-
ronments. in scenes hallowed before her
| time Westmoreland. says Mrs. Ward. is
her favorite spot in all England. and
many of her books have been staged In
| that picturesque pastoral shire. Of her
environments. too there are critics. and
that Mrs. Ward planned her scenes much
as a careful gardener prepares his ground
for seeds-the soil is skillfully tended.
the germs are fostered deliberately and
tirelessly and the result is the cut-and-
dried affair of natural sequence. ills
water. Rydal Amblesde Cartwell. Fells
in Westmoreland are favorte haunts Of
Mrs. Wards book people. and tourists
go there in shoals. but they took in these
sections long before the clever daughter
of Thomas Arnold write Robert Els
mere" or speculated on the ultimate
success of the Christian religion The
lake poets and older names on the roll
of English writer's have made this ground
! holy. STILL Americans who want to be
considered in the category of those who
do the correct thing. journey off to the
beaten track to Long Sleddale thinly
disguised as Long Whindale in Robert
Elsmere. AS the coach leaves the little
hamlet. one may see where the outline
of the steepening hills is broken by rocks
and patches of plantation. Burwood farm
the lonely house in lonely valley. where
Catherine Leyburn watched over her
mother. brought up her sisters. and be-
came herself a sort of Deborah to the
Westmoreland Fells'' All around the
dales are Robert Elsmere spots and so
careful a word photographer is Mrs
Ward that one may pick out with little
trouble the places described in the book
Mrs. Ward was accompanied to this
country by her husband. Thomas Hum
phry Ward. and by her eldest daughter
Mary Augusta Ward. a slender. clear
eyed English girl with pink and white
complexion and soft brown hair Yet
one hears little of these two. In the
halo which surrounds the writer of novels
they are outdazzled Miss Ward is very
demure. and is gowned with simplicity.
One can feel that she has been repro
duced many times by her clever mother.
and there are little reminiscent strains i'm
her conversation which have surely crept
out of some of the rural sketches in Sir
George Tressady and Marcella. Mr. Ward
kept decidedly in the background during
the American tour, though he has done
excellent work in his own way and Is
quite force in his home county Con-
sidered from any standpoint whether one
admires Mrs. Wards novels or sympa
thizes with her views on sociology. her
visit to the United States must be counted
among the events of the present year.