In The Queen's Quair we have a study of Mary, Queen of Scots, her court and the tragedy of her life. The Stooping Lady is laid in the Eighteenth Century, but the author shows the same peculiarity, that of making any time vividly real and preserving the atmosphere. This novel is full of imagination, yet terse and clear. Hewlett has also written some short stories of a delightful sort—Little Novels of Italy and The Madonna of the Peach Tree, quite unlike his longer books.
It is interesting to note that into all his writings the one idea is woven so skilfully as to be almost imperceptible—of the progress of the soul, either upward or downward. This key unlocks many of the puzzling passages, especially in Richard Yea-and-Nay. Clubs can follow out this suggestion in reading his books.
Read from the novels mentioned; note the strength of Jehan and the subtlety of Mary. Read also from his three delightful out-of-door stories of to-day, Half-Way House, Open Country, and Rest Harrow. Compare the descriptions of scenery in England, Scotland, France and Italy.
III—MRS. HUMPHRY WARD
Mrs. Humphry Ward, born of English parents in Tasmania in 1851, lived in Oxford and was educated in the Lake Country. The granddaughter of Thomas Arnold of Rugby, and the niece of Matthew Arnold, she inherited a strong moral sense which was increased by the atmosphere of her home, and grew up feeling that life was full of ethical problems. She married an Oxford tutor, moved to London, wrote reviews, translated Amiel's Journal into English, and then in 1888 wrote her first novel, Robert Elsmere, a brilliant presentation of the religious difficulties of a young clergyman, leading to his abandonment of orthodoxy. It attracted so much attention that Gladstone thought it worth his while to review it and combat its views.
She wrote later The History of David Grieve, contrasting the spiritual development of a brother and a sister. This is called her most vital book. Marcella, her most powerful book, deals with the problem of socialism in England. Then came Sir George Tressady, Eleanor, Lady Rose's Daughter, Fenwick's Career, and others. Her later books, if more finished, lack the strength of her earlier.
Mrs. Ward has often been compared with George Eliot; clubs will find it interesting to note resemblances and differences and compare heroines and plots. Which of the two best concealed the moral purpose both used as the theme of their books? Read from several of Mrs. Ward's earlier volumes and also some selections from George Eliot's Adam Bede and Romola. Discuss the sense of humor shown by the two authors.
IV—HALL CAINE
Hall Caine, though of Manx descent, was born in Cheshire in 1853, but he has always seemed less of an Englishman than a Manxman. His stories all have the atmosphere of the little Isle of Man, and his plots are laid there. Yet he lived in London as architect, journalist, novelist, and dramatist. There is much that is interesting about his life, especially the year that he spent with Rossetti.
His best books are The Shadow of a Crime, The Deemster, The Bondman, The Scapegoat, and The Christian. In all of them there is a definite somberness, a noticeable element of tragedy, only slightly relieved by the lighter aspects of life. His novels deal with profound issues.