The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-10-07

e Qibraitsr, telsgrnphs that the stateuent % J.
J.Psson e robins less thss fssrcss,sicn.
70 the realism Of the story. 70 ssy the least
Hfs METHODS or woHK.
DR.. Conan Doyle is a methodicsl worker. and
hard worker. lie pastee M over his mnntel
shelf list OF the things he intends to do in the
coming six months and be sticks TO his task un-
70 Ss old tesdR sst %bsS be bsS
school the teacher called the boy up before him
Doyle, ! have known you nov. tor seven
years, and know you thoroughly. I am going
70 say something that you will remember In after
The making Of an historical novel Involves
much hard reading The results 81 tbs hard
reading Doyle sets down In a note book. Some
times ali he gets out Of several volumes Is rep
rpsented 10y couple W pages In this hyok For
ia Tic Nnp5Is"ne revival and las recently writ
ten some mnrvellnusly god short stories SCI IN
the stormy period OF the first empire; When
Corrican. DIR. Doyle replied:
He was wonderful man -psrh9p; the most
wonderful man who ever lived. What strikes
me is the lack OF hnallty In his character. When
yon make mp your mind that he Is a complete
villain you come some noble trait. and then
your admiration Of this Is lost IN some act Of In
credible meanness. But just think OF IT,! Here
s"ca y%dHnS and b., ssht
training. a member OF y yorty-stricken FAMILY,
entering room with troop OF kings az his
heels. and all the rest Of them Jealous II he
spoke a moment longer TO one than to the others;
Then there must have been great personal
with him loved him
LITERARY TAsTEs AND OPINIONS.
Conan Doyle takes very optimistic view ~
the future Of romantic literature. He says: II
think there never was n time when there was a
better promise. There are at least dozen men
and women who have made a deep mark, and
they may so Some Of them are sure to develop.
for the past shows us that fiction is an art which
%rg d n Of e O. Comes ,y G power
Essy.s ssn s.S oss rsnd T. T k9s oS:
bert Parker, Quiller-Co Couch. Hall Game. Steven
stsne anthony aogs CrS snt
Russell. George Moore-many Of them under
thirty and few Of them much over IT. Then ia
work in mechanical way he steadily advances
Why. many Of the greatest writers in our fiction
about ' for ta " Scott v was past forty Charles
Reade and George Elliot were as much. Rich
Il. Ny experience Is that when a man is ATTY
he knows he will improve until he Is sixty. and
when he is sixty h f feels that r
he is twenty he thinks that perhaps he will
know. moro when he is thirty, but Is not sure
Man IL an amusing animal.
lean fiction as / should like. what ! have read
Cs6les WORK ot ana Eugene Feds and Hamin
Gsrland's and Edgar Fawcett's. and Richard
toricai romnnces. The danger for American
nCttOn Is, thlnk. That IL snOuld run IN many
brooks instead of one broad stream. There "
tendency TO overaccentuate local peculiarities:
differences, after all. are very superficial things.
and good old human nature Is always there
under a coat OF varnish. When one hears OF n
literature OF the West or OF the South II sounds
know, have the same charge brought against
them. unless one reads closely enough To appre-
ciate that they have gained success by showing
how the Scotch or Wessex peasant shares our
common human nature. not by accentuating the
points In which they diner from us"
THE OBJECT OF FICTION.
The author OF Sherlock Holmes expressed
himself strongly concerning William Dean
Howells's structures upon art In romance writ
we tend TO forget what this art was ever in
vented for. II was 10 amuae mankind-to help
the sick and the dull and the weary. IL Scott
and Dickens have done this for millions. they
Gulliver and Don Quxote and Dante and Goethe
be II our sole object was 10 draw life exactly as
Il exists No: the object Of fiction Is to interest,
and the best fiction Is that which interests most.
II you interest by drawing life as Is. do 80.
But there IL no reason why you should object
10 your neighbor using other means.
think the age of fiction is cominR-the age
when religious and social and political changes
will all be affected by means Of the novelist.
Look. within recent years, how much has been
Robert Elsmere.' Everybody Is educated now.
but comparatively few are very educated. To
get an idea to penetrate to the masses Of the
people you must put fiction round it, like sugar
round pill. No statesman and no ecclesfastic
will have the influence on public opinion which
strong convictions, he will have wonderful ia
cilities for impressing them on others. still his
first business will he to interest II he can't get
his sugar right people will refuse his pill"