The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-07-25

Peremptory Rules Laid Down for the Guild
ance of Story-Tellers.

Hotel last night, to consider a communication
from Mr.. Nude. The chair was taken at s
oes?ck by Mr.. Wilkie Collins, supported by Dir.
WALKER Besant, Mr.. James Payn, Miss Braddon,
ar, William Black, Mrs. Henry Wood, Mr.. w.
ID. Howells, Miss Florence Marryat, Mi. +. w.
Robinson, Mr.. Arrowsmlth, Mr.. Christie Murray
and others. They were pale, but collected, and
there was a large attendance.
The chairman, who was received with cheers,
said he saw no more satisfactory way of opening
the meeting than by requesting Mr.. Nudes rep
reSentative to read the communication that had
called them together. He understood that copies
OF this had been forwarded TO persons it affected,
bat some of these might have gone astray. he
would, therefore, without further expenditure of
words. call upon Mr.. Nudes representative
Applause
circular letter from Mr.. Nude, of which the
following is q copy:
NUDES SELECT LIBRARY,
NEW OXFORD STREET, June "a, 1885.
$50 the Novelists of Great Britain and Ireland:
Ladies and Conference.-The time has come
when. in your own interests not less than my
own, | must address to you a friendly word Of
warning and expostulation. For some time back
my relations with my customers have been
strained. and L believe an open rupture to be
now imminent. | do not hesitate to affirm that
for this you are directly responsible. By every
pest letters reach me from subscribers complain
ing that l send them the same novels again and
again. Only this forenoon seven works Of fiction,
fresh from the press, were refused at the
counter by a lady who, having glanced at the
third volume of each, maintained that she had
had them all already. This only being an in
stance of what happens every day, | adopted,
with extreme reluctance, the unusual course
OF dipping into your novels myself. The
result of my inquiries is the conviction that the
pablo have a good case. Except in the rare
Instances in which they take the precautlon Of
noting the names Of the novels they receive, it is
impossible that they can distinguish the new
oaas from the old. IL is far from my intention
to tie your hands in any way; and. having merely
mentioned them for your consideration, [ will
say no more at present about the secret cham
Der, the county ball and the private detective.
1t is the villain that is the chief difficulty. AS
he is, and has been for many years, / am con
WINGED that novel readers will rot stand him
mach longer. [ see them looking up his death
at once; and when they find him perishing, for
instance, in a railway accident, as he has done
eighty four times since the 1st of January, they
ask for another. Ladies and gentlemen, if the
cordial relations that formerly existed between
me and my subscribers are to be regained. you
must find some new methods of d~isposiIg Of
your villain. Recommending this matter to
your earnest consideration, and with apologies
for troubling you, L remain, etc.
This letter having been read, the chairman
expressed the belief that it was unnecessary for
HIM to say one word as to the propriety of their
giving their best attention to any communication
from Mr.. Nude. Their interests and his were
IDENTICAL Not being a sensational writer him
self, he felt that no could take the chair on this
occasion with unprejudiced mind. What they
must first consider was, what were the usual
methods of dispOsing of the villain? Until they
came to an understanding on that point, they
could not expect to grapple successfully with the
difficulty to which Mr.. Nude had called their
attention. Doubtless there were sensational
noyelists present who had come there prepared
to make some remarks on this important sub
jeet, and they would now have an opportunity
of doing so.
After q pause, during which there were loud
cries of ''Braddon," Robinson" it was intimat-
ed to the chairman that, unfortunately, there
was no sensational novelist present.
Mr.. James Payn expressed a hope that, in the
absence OF a sensational novelist, Miss Braddon
would give the meeting the benefit of her great
experience. Cheers.
Miss Braddon, who was warmly received. had
no objection to stating her views. She had little
time, however, for reading other peoples books,
and the only really sensational novel she knew
was called Lost Sir Massingberd." The villain
here, she very well remembered, died horribly
in the trunk of a rotten tree. Perhaps Mr.. Payn.
who had the reputation of being an omnivorous
reader, could acQuaint the meeting with the au-
thor's name.
Mr. Payn explained that he did not know the
work. Miss Braddon resumed. She was strongly
OF opinion that a collision at sea, with q loss of
all hands might be worked to advantage. APP
plause. Another method, with much to recon-
mend it, consisted of a fall from 4 Scaffolding.
1.-The flooring suddenly gave way and Rupert
Dubois felt himself sinking. 1t was an awful
moment. He chung to the ledge of the house
antil his numbed hands lost their hold and then,
with q wild cry that rings in my ears still, fell
down, Town to a fearful death" [Great cheer
ing. She did not herself believe in such mild
expedients as shipping a villain off to Australia,
allowing him to land safely, though that was a
way of getting rid of him for which there was
undoubtedly n precedent. A well in the garden
Or underneath a secret staircase might lack
novelty somewhat nowadays, but there was still
something to be made out of them with a little
ingenuity. A deep pond in an adjacent field had
the advantage of recalling to the readers mind
an actual murder Of perennial interest, that of
Mr. Weare. She would also observe that it was
not a bad sentimental touch to make the villain
turn the corner and be seen no more" Or he
might grind his teeth for the last time, land so
pass out of our herolne's life" 1t had not been
done so very often, she believed. On the whole,
however, she thought nothing so effective as a
desperate struggle and the dispatch of the vii
lain on one of his numerous scenes of crime.
loud applause
"Ouida" was of opinion that. out and out the
better way Of ~disposing of the villain was to al
low the grandly larguid hero to lift him up in
one hand and drop him out of window into the
moonlit water below. Having then busted his
finger on his lace handkerchief, the hero should
resume his rose-scented cigar. The idea was so
excellent in itself, that she was convinced it
would stand a good deal of repetition-of, course,
with judicious variation.
Mr.. G.. r. Sims, who said he was a novelist DIS
we'll as a playwright, begged to say a few words.
How would it do for the policeman lhe presumed
they were to be allowed to retain the pollcemanl,
when the villain orders him to arrest the perse-
cuted hero, to advance suddenly and put the
handouts on the villain himse!f9 He felt conf
dent that the originality of this suggestion would
commend it to Mr.. Nude.
Mr.. +. w. Robinson was glad that no one had
risen to second this suggestion. He was pre-
pared to take an oath. if necessary, that he had
seen the villain dismissed in this very way on
the stage upwards of fifty times. But, if Mr..
Nude wanted a real novelty. ne had one in his
mind. What did that gentleman say to making
the villain drink by mistake the poison he had
prepared for another2
A hundred and nineteen novelists present
jumped to their feet to insist and prove that they
had worked out this idea before it seemed to have
struck Mr.. Robinson.
The author of ''Alack-a-day" and $50 Runs