New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-09-30
Literary .NesOS and Criticism

Il. too. at the bidding Of fate. as men
and women, not as puppets at the ends
OF strings held in the novelist's hands.
Mr.. Hewlett's fabric is all OF a piece.
Never has he more convincingly dipped
his pen into life itself, leaving art to
take care Of itself. He has his reward
Of course. in the fact that this is not
only the most vitalized but the most ar
tistic piece Of work he has ever put 10
his credit.
That eft of portraiture which has al
ways been his is exercised upon this ac-
casion with impressive authority. Inc
scene. as we have said, is well filled. and
not only Is every figure in 1t there Tor
tangible purpose, but even the smaiies'
member Of the company has his or her
Interesting individuality. The life that
Is theirs is such that, when needs must
we have not the smallest objection In
the world to a little straining OF the
plot. 10 the use of coincidence and the
like What does il matter when the tale'
as a whole. is saturated in essential
truth? People act here as they act III
Dumas or in Scott, which Is to say that
any DETECTION OF theirs from the walk
and demeanor Of life as we know 1t In
this dusty world is explained and JUS
titled by the equally authentic ways Oh
the world OF romance. The important
thing, of course, is that we should reel
With these people, fight and suffer with
them, go their Journeys. and, when all
is said, entirely believe In them. MI
Hewlett sees to that. The genius in MIN
works in this book as genius works IN
the books Of his two great predecessors
| Only 1t works toward ends altogether
his own.
| There is a troubadour in the tale
Master Lanceilhot Paulet 1--WE wonder,
| by the way, why he Is more than once
called Corbet), and it is his mission not
only TO take part I'm the tangled game Of
! love- diplomacy and war, but to sing the
Song Of Kenny the epic bringing out
the subtler more spiritual significance OF
the whole tragic business. His char
acter counts in the development OF the
Song. Sabine comes to owe him some
thing, and, in the upshot, Mabilla owes
him more. The reader is heavily IN his
debt for through his aid one grasps the
half-hidden poetry of Mr.. Hewletts TO-
mantle design. II is Lanceilhot VINO
rings down the curtain and drives nome
the noble lesson set forth In the play
There Is nothing of the mere mouth
piece about him. nothing Of the facu-
tious commentator brought in 10 ease
the authors task. He is, we repeat, part
and parcel Of we'll knit design. YET IN
his character and in his relation TO the
evolution Of the story, he sets us 10
, thinking about the man who made MIN.
This troubadour is somehow sym
bolical He and all that he means 10
1.-THE Song Of Kenny" may be said 70
bring back the old Hewlett, to wipe out
with a blow the utilities Of the last few
years and to give us once more. IN l's
best estate, n genius that is. after ALL
unique. other men can write modern
fiction and neo-classical verse such ss
Mr.. Hewlett has lately written. But no
one else has ever done such work as lie
has done in "The Forest Lovers and
now again in "The Song Of Kenny His
responsibility can only be measured by
his high achievement. y man erecting
an original and a lofty ideal for himself
has no business wasting his time on
what may legitimately be left to the
iourneyman. When he writes books like
Little Novels Of Italy" or "The Queen s
QUAR-" he gives hostages to fortune
raising up friends as Jealous Of his re-
pute as he himself could be. There are
thousands Of readers, we believe, who
will rejoice in "The Song Of Kenny for
its own sake as an enthralling romance
and for It's significance as, in some sort,
a pledge that the author has found
himself" for good.