The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-03-21

by more sooistirs than one can easily men
ton, and two years ago he was invited to
Italy. where his self Help" ia regarded as
& classic. and where he was known beside
as having been q friend of Garibaldj. and
King Humbert invested him with the cross
of cavalier of the order of st. Maurice. In
an address to him it WAS asserted that he
had ''done more to make Italy than Cayour
or Garibaldi ever did, The then minister
of France said that he had had his children
educated by reading DR.. smiles works.
DR.. Smiles fame will rest on mis- self
Help" which has been translated into seven
teen languages and has been one of the
of this centurr. 1t was written st the time
OF the Crimean war, and had the experience
of many other successful works in the re-
spect that the publishers would at fl tst have
nothing to do with the manuscript. Mur-
ray. the publisher, took it finally and agreed
to give the author two thirds of the profits
without much hope that there would be any.
The sales OF the book have now run up into
the hundreds of thousands and it is still
selling steadily not only in England, but for
that matter. wherever the English language
is spoken, while it's traDslations are to be
found in every non-English speaking
nation.
You may say what you please about Eng
land being slow and old fogyish; but, ons
thing here must impress the observing man
very strongly. Men grow old in England
very gracefully-more 30, to my mind, than
anywhere else, and no one whom ! have
seen here, not even Mr.. Gladstone or Cardi-
nal Manning, who are Englanta's two most
famous men in the eyes of most people since
the death of Cardinal Newman and the
practical retirement of Lord Tennyson,
seemed to me- better examples of graceful
old age than waa presented by DR.. Smiles.
1t was early on a bright pleasant morn
ing that l called on DIR. Smiles at his pleas
ant homo, but. early as it was, the yenera-
ole phllanthfopist and author was at his
desk and hard at work. He dropped his
pen, however, and welcomed his visitor
with a quiet geniality that immediately put
the latter at his ease.
You find me at work, he said smilinply,
but for that matter | always manage TO be
at work at something. | am pretty we'll
along IN ysars. | shall be 30 very soon.
but | have been us work all my life and the
habit has become confirmed.'
DR.. Smiles certainly DOES not look his
age. Irne, big hair and beard are white AZ
snow, but his form is still erect, and when
he walked about, as he did at times while
talking, his step was rs firm and vigorou.
as that Of a much younger man. The
writer remarked this to DIR. Smiles, and the
old man laughed nqain.
Yes, ne sand, my physician tells ms
that | ought to have bsen dsad long ago
You see | had a stroke of paralysis some
twenty years since. Bnt | tell the doctor as
! do others that tina whole matter ia yary
simple. | have always taken good care ot
myself. | have led a temperate life, I have
worked hard, but not too hard, and hnye
always INDUCED in healthy outdoor eyer
clses. l have written Il good deal: I corn
menced in 1883, but writing has nlwav W.
been an amusement to me and it still IN
1t has had a fascination for me ever aimee
first became editor of the London Times
more than fifty years ago.
There have been come changes in iour-
naliam since That time | suggested.
well, yes, there have been, and imnor-
tant ones, too. journalism did not paw i,
those days very immensely. l remember
that when | got married | could not sun.
port O. wife on what | earned. Editor,
came cheap in those days. / had to throw
up my position and take one AZ secretary O
u railroad company. | remained in tn,
railroad business until 1866"
But you still wrots?'
vi yes" came the quick reply, II wrot,
all the time. AS | have said before, writin,
has been my ~favorite amusement. II tn,
public has enjoyed reading my books a
much as l have writing them, then | am in
deed content. Since 1888 1 have write,
some twenty books, not to speak of pam
phlets and miscellaneous articles. So yo1
see have used up a deal of paper and in]
in my time"
You had your own trials as an author,
suppose"
Yes" said the old gentleman primly, 8.
once thought ! was getting my W shar