The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-04-27

Mr.. WILLIAM BLACK started out in life
with the high and honorable ambition
of becoming portrait painter. That
ambition failed, but he became instead
painter of words, and 10 this line of art
work has been distinct success. AsEs
himself says, referring to his early
efforts, "As an artist was a complete
failure; and SO qualified myself for be-
coming in after life-for a time-an art
critic" There were other events in Mr..
Blacks early life which seem to have
had an influence on the character of his
writings. One of the charms of his
stories are the bits of description of nat
ural scenery scattered through them,
showing true love of nature. This
love was innate and developed early. Mr..
Black was born in Glasgow in 1841, and
his taste for botany led him, when
young, into the Highlands of Western
Scotland, near his native town, and i'm
planted in him the ambitious resolve to
form a complete collection of British
Towering plants. In the brief biography
which Mr.. Black wrote for a London
weekly. The Portrait, he tells us that
the result was "a poor enough treasure
house of botanical lore, but rich treas
ure house of memories-memories of in
Vulnerable and healthful wanderings by
hill and moorland and sea-shore, through
the rain and sunlight and beautiful
colors of the Western Highlands"
Then followed period of newspaper
work, first in Glasgow and later in Lon
don. During this time Blacks passion
for out-of-doors sports. especially for
yachting and shooting. grew apace. and
his indulgence in these recreations
gave him a sturdy frame. 1t is his GUS
tom now to spend the summer months,
from April to October. on his yacht, or
among the grouse on the Scottish moor
lands, varying the nature of his summer
outing occasionally by a leisurely trip
through some part of England in phae-
ton or in house boat.
1t is during his summer sails and ram
bles that Mr.. Black plans his stories.
The real work of the year-the labor of
transferring one Of these stories from
the mind into "copy"for the printer-be-
gins in October, when Mr.. Black returns
to his house in Brighton. The rooms
are filed with relics of foreign travel
and with the trophies which sportsman
prizes. The writing room is at the top
of the house. Here Mr.. Black is free
from Interruptions and is not disturbed
by the slightest noise. 1t is one OF his
wife's duties to see that while he is at
his desk everything is quiet in the upper
part of the house. He writes all day,
beginning early in the morning. for two
or three days in the week. from October
until April. His handwriting is small,
but is read without difficulty.
The long room in which Mr.. Black
does his work is bare, il one compares it
with the luxuriously furnished apart
ments on the floors below. His desk
stands between two windows, through
which one can look out upon the white
sails in the Channel. On the wall hangs
an Admiralty Chart of the Western
Highlands. the scene of some of his most
popular stories. One side of the room
is filed with book cases. and on one of
the shelves are bound volumes of the
manuscripts of his novels. His favorite
authors, as indicated by their position
on the shelves. are Alfred de Musset
and Thackeray.