The Washington times., 1902-01-02
Talk With Of Fright
Of Way"
ONE OF TIE PENALTIES OF SUCCESS.
Writer in Receipt of Hundreds of
Letters Asking All Sorts of Ques-
tions Soma M Mattors of Environ
ment The Canadian and the Em-
pire-Photographic Fiction,

Mr. Gilbert Parker, whose name has
leaped into prominence with the sue
cess of his recent novel, THE Right of
way. was in town yesterday, and rep
resentative of The Times found him at
Wizards just as he was finishing some
correspondence. Incidentally, it may be
stated that a part of this correspondence
consisted of answers TO letters from peo-
pie who wanted to know how he came TO
write The Right of Way" and where he
got his ideas and his local color, and
VINO was the original of his heroine. and
what he meant by it ALL anyway.
Penalty OF Success.
This is the sort of thing which all SUE
cessful authors have TO endure, and while.
of course, Mr. Parker did not say that all
these questions had been asked him, any
one with working knowledge OF the
public may safely infer that they have
been. He did say. however, in reply to
a tentative question concerning his IA
nous novel that he had been Obliged to
refuse 10 discuss the book. its origin. or
its teachings. but must let each reader
arrive at his own conclusions.
do not see he said. that the life
of an author, his private affairs. or his
methods of WORK need be public proper
ty So far as my public life is concerned,
VIII gladly answer any questions. but
there are other things too intimate to
be discussed.
Like asking man how much he loves
his wife and children?" suggested the re-
porte.
perhaps. Now. in regard TO these"
he took up letter which lay ready for
me post these questions about my work
simply answer by saying that each
reader must interpret the book himself
And really. when one considers the ma
'ure and scope of such book as The
Right cf Way" it seems as if that were
The only thing to do At any rate. some
"co letters from people in this country
and elsewhere have been answered in thai
fashion.
Mr. Parlcr's PersonaIity
In appearance Mr.. Parker is not the
typical Canadian. nor the typical Eng
lishnan. nor any other type in particular.
He is an individual. The best of the nuh- |
Hshed photographs of him give as good |
an idea OF his personality as can be had
without actual acquaintance. His manner
Is ordinarily slightly reserved. almost
cold; but when he is thoroughly interested
in a subject, it is magnetic
At such times his idea dominates him.
ana he does not stop TO measure words.
but the epigrams make themselves His
remarkable command of language shows
itself in conversation as Enthusiastically as
in his books. There is nothing of the
poseur about him: he meyer stops to ad
mire sentence after he has said it; but
ne instinctively seeks and finds the form
OF words best adapted to express his |
meaning.
One feels that a clumsy or inadequate |
wording of any earnest thought would af- |
feet Mr.. Parker like a jarring note in |
music Whatever power is in his work |
has come from long and keen observation |
of men, from experience, and from a |
singularly acute perception of the right |
relations of things
An Intuitive Perception.
When he speaks of anything in which |
he is deeply interested, one can see how
some of the most powerful chapters of
his books were written, with intuitive per-
ception of the idea to be brought ou. aud |
AN almost passionate determination to
make the form of that idea perfect.
Mr. Parker is man who writes be-
cause there is something in him which
demands that he should write but when
il comes to explaining how the thing is
done. he probably would not know how
TO do it so that the world in general
would understand. IL they could under
stand it, they might be able to write in
that way themselves
Not an Authority on CANADA.
When the reporter suggested that the
American public would undoubtedly be in
terested in anything which Mr.. Parker
might have to say about Canadian life,
he replied. with a SMILE
4 am afraid l might not be thought
an up-to-date authority on that subject.
l have not lived in Canada for long
time
Then these Canadian stories are rem
inisceut:''
mot exactly. But 1 don't believe the
Canadian people would think l had a right
to speak as authority on their AFFAIRS
In regard to the attitude of the colonial
Englishmen toward the United States, Mr.
Parker said that while there was a warm
interest in American affairs. as the life
OF great republic, there was not nor
merged in that republic. II would be. he
said ID sort of loss of identity. The CO.
lonial Englishman now regards England
as his nome; his father, his grandfather |
were born there, and he himself was born |
a British subject. in any annexation
scheme the colonial Briton would kave to
rproot this hereditary allegiance. and
such a desire is foreign to his nature.
Environment and Opinion.
The fact is he said, 'the question of
or republican government is
one which. in the majority of cases. does
not depend on individual choice man |
is what his heredity and his experience
make him. He cannot come to the age
of twenty-one free of these influences.
and choose with an unprejudiced mind ,
which he Will be, monarchist or a re-
publican and if he could his choice
might not be the same twenty years /,
IL; er.
He must live, observe. go through tho
experiences of life. before he can know
"hat sort of man he is. or what he really
wants. He is what his experience makes d
him in the end
Loyalty to the Empire seems to have
grown stronger in the last twentv-fve L
years, remarked the reporter. DO Won I
-hink his is due TO any particular cause p, b
Nes; facility OF communication. This h
l|s made IL possible for the various col n
mics and the home staying English peo- n
lie 10 know each other The events of T
he past few years. and the crises through N
which the nation has passed. have had Il
something to do with il. A war. for ex- Y
st.l. I,4.,, L.