Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1896-12-04
DRUMT0OHTY FOLK.
clan Maclaren" Speaks of His PrIncI.
pal Characters.

pal OharncNeras
When Rev. DR.. John Watson appeared
before Philadelphia audience the other
day he was announced TO give "Readings
from the Annals of Drumtochty," but he
did very little reading Instead, he gave
his audience what most of them, probably,
thought was far BETTER bright, chatty,
confidential talk about the principal char
acters in his books. To readers of "Be-
side the Bonnie Briar Bush" 1t may be
sufficient description to say that DR.. Wat
son talks just as he writes-in a racy style,
full of quiet humor, favored with quaint
conceits and with the air of one friend ia
miliarly chatting with another. He has
Just enough Scottish brogue to give a
quaint but pleasing accent TO his speech,
but his enunciation is clear, and he made
himself heard in every part of the hall, APP
parently with no more effort than If he
were in an ordinary pulpit.
At the beginning, when he alluded to
the warm reception he had met with in
Philadelphia and afterward began to notice
certain criticisms on his books, DIR. Wat
son spoke in his proper person; but he
soon dropped that strain and during the
rest of his entertainment spoke of his char
acters in such familiar terms and with such
an evident recognition of them as actual
beings that it was easy to see the preacher
had been retired and the audience was lis
tening to "Ian Maclaren."
He began by replying to "certain criti-
cisms that his characters we're too good to
live,' and should have been taken TO
heaven before they fell under the notice of
their biographer.'" He deprecated this
kind of talk. "Why," he asked, "is it not
open to fiction to hold out to men and
women the ideals that have been in the
! background of all their minds? Why
should there not be model ideas of self
sacrifice and good livingP Why should the
man be allowed to claim the title of realist
who exposes the leprous sores of humanity,
and he be discredited who holds up the
better side of our natures?" He claimed,
therefore, to have merely typifed the bet
ter part of human nature; for "there is
nothing in literature half so beautiful as
the thoughts, hopes and aspirations of hui
mainly"
Other critics thought his characters too
bad, and took special exception to that of
Archibald MacKittrick," better known as
"Posty," who will be remembered as the
hero of the story well described by its title,
past Redemption" people" said DR..
Watson-no, it was "Ian Maclaren' who
was speaking now-"people think an au-
thor makes his characters and moves them
at his will, like so many jumping jacks,
controlled by hidden springs. If that were
so each character would be a repetition of
the author himself, and nobody would read
the book. An authors characters are be-
yond his control; they do as they please,
and il anybody thinks the men Of Drum
tochty are to be easily handled he does not
know them" Then he went on to say
that "Postys" biographer did not always
approve of that gentleman's conduct, es-
pecially in the matter of drinking, and had
made trouble with him on that account
He related in perfectly serious way how
hard he tried TO reform "Postie," and
especially of a solemn argument he had
with him before "Postie" jumped into the
Tochty and lost his life in saving "Elspeth
Macfadyen's' child. He pointed out the
risk the postman ran in departing this life
while in his condition of wickedness, but
the latter closed the discussion by saying,
in Scottish brogue, "Well, | think I'd
rather take my chances by jumping in and
saving the child than standing here look
ing on while she drowned"
The authors account of how he attained
the atmosphere of his stories was mas
terpiece of word painting, and his descrip-
ton of Scotch farmer and his wife going
to Edinburgh to see their son take the de-
gree-apropos of "a Lad O'Pairts'-was
thrillingly eloquent. He gave his first
reading from this story, but so wove it in
with comment and explanation that the
audience, unless familiar with the nara
tive, could not tell when he was reading
and when commenting. The second Sc
lection was the witnesses testimony in 1.-The
Cunning Speech of Drumtochty," and this
was almost the only bit of humor that he
read. He seemed to think more of his
pathetic passages, and most of his seec-
tions were from deathbed scenes, though
he gave quite long extract from Through
the Flood" descriptive of "Dr. MacLure's"
heroic treatment of Thomas MITCHELL
and his wife.
One of his favorite characters was "Jamie
Soutar," the "cynic-in ordinary to the
glen," another reprobate, whom the critics
thought too bad TO be put in book, but
who had many good points about him
nevertheless. He seemed to think, how
ever, that the finest of them all was "Dr.
MacLure'" and in describing this charac-
ter he returned to the proposition with
which he started-that the novelist only
puts in shape the lives and characters he
sees around him. He had been asked fire.
quently whether "Dr. Mcclure" was an
actual person. He was not; but he was
drawn from life. He was composite por-
trait of four physicians, three of whom
were dead, while the fourth, on reading the
story, sighed to think that his unworthy
self could never hope to accomplish such
grand work for humanity as did the hero of
"a Doctor of the Old School," "But,"
said the speaker, in effect, "there are plenty
of DIR. MacLuIes' in the world. doubt
not that many of you know some of them.
| am finding new cues every week. / have
been particularly fortunate this week, for
this is only Friday, and l have already dis
covered four"