1.a few hours ago是指“以现在/直接引语时说话之时为准,在这之前的几个小时”,带有该时间状语的句子只能用一般过去时或过去进行时
如：He was here a few hours ago.
He said,"I was playing basketball a few hours ago."
2.楼主应该是打错了吧,因为early本身可做形容词和副词,绝对没有什么earlily的单词.
如果是A few hours earlier 的话,则其动作所发生时间的计算是相对于另外一个动作而言“更早几个小时”,而并不是以现在或当时某个时间（说话人说话的时间）为准来计算,带有这样成分的句子的时态使用一般没有限制.
如：He got up a few hours earlier than I.
He'll always get up a few hours earlier than I in future,I think.
He said he had finished the job a few hours than I.