Charles D. Stewart was born at Zanesville, Ohio, in 1868, and
came with his people to Wisconsin when but a young boy. He
received his elementary education in the public schools of
Milwaukee, after which he attended Wayland Academy at Beaver
Dam. Like many others of our authors, Mr. Stewart has had
considerable connection with newspapers, but it is as an
author of stories, poems, and critical articles, both in
magazines and in published volumes, that he is best known.
Perhaps the readers of this book are already familiar with
his "The Fugitive Blacksmith," "Partners of Providence,"
"Essays on the Spot," "The Wrong Woman," etc. He is now
executive clerk in Governor Philipp's office.
Mr. Stewart is an author with whom the reader frequently
finds himself in disagreement. This is particularly true of
his critical work, which has itself received severe criticism
at the hands of some other critics, while in the opinion of
still others Mr. Stewart has made distinct contributions to
the field of English criticism, particularly with respect to
Shakespeare. His style is rich and at times diffuse. He has a
wealth of illustrative material at hand, and one might be
inclined to say that at times Mr. Stewart allows himself to
stray too far from his main theme in drawing upon these
resources. On the other hand, the reader is constantly
interested and frequently challenged, so that his
intelligence is always brought into play in reading this
author's work; and it is well to remember, as Ruskin says,
that if we never read anything with which we disagreed we
should never grow. It is the author who makes us think who
does us the greatest service.
The selection here given is from "On a Moraine." It
illustrates all the points of which we have spoken. To the
editors it appeals as a piece of useful, patriotic Wisconsin
literature. The whole article will well repay reading for
anyone who loves the Badger state and wishes to know it
better. It shows a keen appreciation of the beautiful, and
ready imagination in making comparisons where one least
expects to find them, as in the suggestion of likeness
between the freshly exposed surfaces of a newly split rock,
on the one hand, and the wings of a moth on the other.
The article also well illustrates the treatment of a somewhat
technical and supposedly dry subject in a delightful and
imaginative manner.