The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-10-05

1@ONDoN, September 24.-(spe H cial Correspondence.) )-Mau rice Hewlett author of 9Th,
 eMz45J Forest Lovers" and man, 1 another famous novel, f.
 wishing that he might find some wa,
 Of going to the front to fight for hi
 beloved England He has given ul
 work for the time being on the nove
 he had hoped to have ready for nex
 spring, and Is giving all of his enegr, to Whatever work the government ma,
 have in hand for him.
 In view of the fact that Hewlett wa
 not In sympathy with the Boer war
 and has been so outspoken an advo cate of peace. it seemed likely to b, | of interest to ask him why he ha, thrown himself so wholeheartedly int, this unprecedented blood pool. So h, was sought out in his book walled library in Northwick Terrace, and wa. found so full of the subject that h.
 was willing to talk about it, although ordinarily he abominates interviews We are face to face with the req
 thing, said Hewlett and at first fl was like the shock of cold water. Il took the breath away. 1t Is dreadful real to some of us; to me indeed it is perhaps as dreadful as 1t can be tc few others. My only son is in the fly. ing corps of the navy. and goes to joir the Grand Fleet as soon as his machine is ready. His service is more certainl, dangerous than most; but I can assure Inn At
 England would see his son go out ano die in such service as this with a proud heart"
 You think that England means busi- lness?"
 If you look about you he answered
 you will see England as you and l have never seen her yet. You woufc have to cast back a hundred years to see anything like the tide of passion which is swelling over this country.
 Tt is slow wave; we are a people slow to provoke; but it is gathered now at the heart of the people, and will be flood-tide, flowing to the very limits of the land-ah, and further than that. Whenever the English blood beats. wherever the English tradition Is planted this tide will lap and flow
 po you dsh ne, Wnut mas draWn II up? It Is curious, and to me as a stu dent of history deeply interesting. But first I will tell you what has not drawn 1t up to this abnormal height
 Tt is not military fever, what you may call the smell of war: that's cer- tain. We are not warlike people, though no people can fight better when fight they must. The real Eng lish--I don't mean the hothead few xyh hn (no goes)-the real English will never fight if they can help it. Love of coun- try and pride of race are deep in them, and not effervescent. We value life; we neither take it nor give it lightly Our race jealousy is not quick; our feeling for what is called honor Is not so near the surface as it is with the French We don't mind a few scratches on it. we laugh and say that 1t hurts the scratcher more than the scratched Wrong headed and offensive vary often as our insular pride Is, I do think it helps us there. We aren't easily hurt
 Do you fear invasion then?"
 He shook his head. No, not at all We aren't making war because we feel that We are in immediate or imminent danger. Our people don't believe that they are fighting for their hearths."
 We'll" l said, what is the matter with you, then? Belgium"
 "Yes, there Is a real passion of sym pathy for Belgium, little people, like ourselves, fagrantly violated by those who had guaranteed her immunity. That was perhaps the spark that set the kindling alight--but the spark doesn't make the fire"
 France then?'
 "Another spark. said Hewlett 'Loy- alty to our allies the French, invaded by the Germans without a declaration of war. shameful act which makes the blood boil These two things set England alight. but the great body of the fire. once kindled. was something else altogether"
 What is 1t then?"
 'Ill tell you. It Is our instinct for freedom, for liberty. which has been aroused: the one instinct, as I hold, for which the English will fight to the last man. It Is that which makes thIs war a war of passion, 8 war of the heart. It makes holy war of 1t, do you see? The nearest approach to any thing of the kind was William Pitts stand against Napoleon; but this is a bigger thing Than that, because the people are much more intelligent now They travel. they read the papers They see that liberty is threatened and they will fight for ever to save that"
 sThat is' what you believer"
 He got pand faced me That Is why" he said, "this war will last until he Germans are beaten to their knees ,r the English are exterminated. I hope smerca will understand that know ny people well. It Is my business to snow them And I am English of the English myself, descendant of a yeo- nan family which was in Somerset be- ore the Normans came. I have worked # history all my lifes and I find that he English as 8 people have only ought spontaneously and wholeheart- dly for freedom. Freedom or person. reedom of thought, freedom of con cience-even for freedom of speech. We have always been excessively in- olerant of restraint. Any Englishman 'ou choose to pick out will spend the ast ounce of himself to be free. or to