Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 09.djvu/612

* HARDY. 558 HAKE. view. When he forsakes the types of these re- gions, tlie result is not convincing. A Laodicean (1881) justifies the name, in being neither cold nor hot. The tale Two on a Tower (1882) de- velops a very curious and complicated situation with much skill. But he is tethered to Wessex, and paints more conlidently on that background, in The Itomantic Adventures of a Milkmaid (1883), and in the Mayor of Casterbridgc : The Life and Death of a Man of Character (1880), a title which is no misnomer. Henchard, the hero, is a strongly drawn personality, to whose level the author has been climbing, through similar types of men. The Woodlanders (1887), though flanked by The Return of the Native and Tess of the D'Urbervilles, suffers from comparison with neither, expresses the same intimate kinship of man with nature, and gives like instances of true nobility engaged in the lowliest occupations. Of the IvWsej; Tales (1888), gathered from dif- ferent magazines, the strongest is The Three Strangers (Longman's, March, 1883), which waa dramatized under the title The Three Wayfarers, and produced at Terry's Theatre, in London (1803), eleven years after Comyns Carr's version of Far from, the Madding Crowd had been seen in Liverpool, and in the Globe Theatre, London. Another collection of short stories entitled A Group of Xoble Dames (1891) preceded the pub- lication of Tess of the D'Urhervilles: A Pure ^yoman■ Faithfully Presented (1891), through which Hardy became most widely known. What- ever may be said for or against the purity of the wonian, there cannot be two opinions re- garding the vividness of the presentation, al- though the art of Tess is marred at times by philosophic digressions that do not match the remainder of the literary fabric. Yet it is doubt- ful if any one of Hardy's stories holds the read- er's interest more closely, or makes a stronger appeal to his sympathies, than does this tragedy of Tess. Xor is there anwvvhere in Hardy's writ- ing more convincing insistence upon a logical connection and a consequent force of uncontrol- lable circumstance, or more relentless reiteration of the idea that man may be forced to reap where he has not sown. Whether here, and elsewhere when he writes in this vein. Hardy reveals him- self a fatalist, or a rigid moralist, is a question which will be answered largely in accordance with the temperament of the reader. A drama- tization of Tess, made by Lorrimer Stoddard (1897) and taking no more than the usual lib- erties with the original plot, g^ve Mrs. Minnie Madilern Fiske (q.v.) the means for bringing out even more effectively than does the author, the subtle characterization of the heroine. Whatever else may be said of Jiide the Ob- scure (1895), it seems quite apparent that here Hardy gives the fullest expression to his genius for minute and merciless character analysis. There is even a feeling, at times, that the psy- chologj' is in danger of being refined into noth- ingness. The story of Jude's early diseourage- ments in his efforts to get a university education is said to be autobiographical to a certain extent. The whole is a harrowing, and yet in the main convincing, study of the degradation of a char- acter cui%ed from the outset with certain of the most dangerous moral weaknesses, which are steadily cultivated by cunningly conceived cir- cumstances and plausibly arranged episodes. It can .scarcely be denied that both of these books are literary masterpieces in their genre; and con- sideration of the remarkable fertility and re- sourcefulness of expression which each displays, makes the more inexplicable their author's oc- casional descent to the employu.ent of indelicate metaphor and franklj- indecent 'realism.' Life's Little Ironies (1894) are short stories evidencing Hardy's grim sense of humor no less than his appreciation of values. He knows and shows how few among the coveted prizes of life are worth a struggle. The Well-Beloved, which was serially published in 1892, and in book for]u five years later, is of less importance. The reciprocal feeling of his native county found expression in his appointment as one of its mag- istrates- (1894). Some of Hardy's earliest ef- forts were in verse, and the stray poetical pro- ductions of thirty years were collected in two volumes. Tl'fssca' Poems (1899) and Poems of the Past and Present (1901). They bear his mark in the saturnine flavor of some, the sympathy with the country and country-folk of otliers, the patriotic English sentiment of all ; but the in- strument is not his own. He is hampered by the requirements of rhyme and rhythm, and has but little to say which he might not have ex- pressed at least more spontaneously in prose. Consult: W. Sherren. The Wcssex of Romance (London and Xew York, 1902) : and Windle, The Wessex of Thomas Hardg (London and Xew York, 1901) : Jfacdonell, Thomas Eardy (London, 1894) ; and Johnson, The Art of Thomas Hardy (London, 1894). HARDY, Sir Thomas DuFFDS (1804-78). An English paleographer, born at Port Royal, Ja- maica. He succeeded Petrie as editor of the Monnmenta Historica, published in 1848. .s deputy keeper of the new Record Office he did niuchto make all records accessible to the public, and brought to London the muniments of the three palatinates. He edited many of the rolls for John's reign : A Descriptive Catalogue of MSK. Relating to the History of Great Britain and Ireland (SG2-7l) ; Registrnm Palatinum Dnnel- mense (1873-78) : Catalogue of the Lords Chan- cellors, etc. (1843) ; and articles on the date of the Athanasian creed. HAR^DYNG, Joim (1378-C.1466). An Eng- lish chronicler. He was page to Sir Henry Percy, whom Shakes])eare has immortalized as 'Harry Hotspur.' and went to the wars with his master. His rhyming chronicle, a curious but entirely unreliable document, evidences the profundity of his historical knowledge and his adaptability in treating current events in a manner pleasing to his patrons. Ellis's modern edition ot this Chronicle of England unto the Reign of King Edward Y. was published in 1812. HARE (AS. hara. Icel. here, OHG. haso, Ger. Hase, hare; connected with OPiiiss. sasnis. Olr. cciiiach. Skt. svasnra, for *srasura. hare). One of a genus of rodent quadrupeds, of which there are many species very similar to each other. The Liniifpan genus Lepus now forms the family Le- porid-T?. of which a peculiar characteristic is the presence of two small incisors immediately be- hind the ordinary rodent incisors of the upper jaw, so that these teeth seem to be double. This peculiarity is also found in the pikas (q.v.) . The