The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-08-16
PAUL LEICESTER FORD
 AND HIS LITERARY WORK

rms clever young uovetfst ana uaStuftau was born of wealthy parents In the city of Brooklyn in 1865. From childhood he was afflicted with some disease of the spine. so that he remained hunch-back for fife He never enjoyed robust health. But de- spite his bodily weakness his mind was unusually vigorous and active. His pa- rents spared no pains or expense in edu- eating him, employing for him the best tutors that were to be had. He thus ob- tained a superior education. even though because of his physical infrmity, he new CT kept terms at college or at university. At a very tender age young Ford exhib- tied decided fondness for books and reading. This proclivity was encouraged. and the young man soon developed into e student and writer. Being unable as . lad to indulge in the usual boyish sports, he was compelled to turn his attention to book for entertainment, and recrea- ton. Perhaps we are to see in this fact the explanation of the rather precoCious development of his faculties and intense interest in literature.
 History and fiction vied with one an- other In claiming young Ford's attention and study. As early as 1894. when under thirty, he published his notable ssrhe Honorable Peter Stirling" which aroused much interest and enthusiasm for the author and brought him prominently be- I fore the public. This book is regarded as
 
 its author an enviabie reputation as a novelist. It deals with New York society of the present time: and 1t is generally supposed that the hero, Peter Stirling. is an ideallxed portrait of ex-President Cleveland. The novel contains some quaint and piauant observations on soc ciety and life in general. In reading the book we feel that the author was per fectly sane man who took broad. sensi- ble view ofs man and things. He was clearly not a pessimist. He makes one of the characters say fin the opening of the book: Let me give you q little advice. As you go through life. look for the fine things; not for the despicable. It won't make you any richer It won't make you famous. It won't better you in a worldly way. But it win make your lives happier, for by the time you are my age, you'll love humanity and look upon the world and call 1t good" This was probably the authors philosophy of life in 8 nutshell There is much wisdom condensed in some of his sentences. Upon the whole, "The Honorable Peter Sterling is a clever characterization, and the book is a re- markable production, for man under thirty.
 Fiction continued to engage Ford's at tention, and he produced. besides some short stories. '"Tattie Tales of Cupid" ''The Great K. and A. Train Robbery" and '@rhe Story of an Untold Love" But these are all inferior to ''The Honorable Peter Sterling,'' and never enjoyed the vogue of that popular romance. However even this novel was surpassed by Janice Meredith a story which Ford wrote of the American Revolution and first pub llshed serially in The Bookmsn in 1sg9.
 Janice Meredith" is a historical TO- nance. and very fascinating romance 1t Is. The scene of the story Is laid along the Delaware River for the most part. but 1t shifts from place to place accord ing to the success of the American forces in the great struggle for independence. The characters, of course, are men and women of revolutionary fame. the lead CTS of the contending armies themselves figuring in the story. It is no small un- dertaking for a young romancer like Ford to attempt to reproduce the spirit of, an age 30 far removed from the pres- ent both In time and character, and to re-create the men and women of that day. And yet he performed his self-im- posed task with remarkable success. and in the novel we are transported in thought and feeling back to those stirring times of our forefathers. So vivid is the re- production that we seem to see the men and women of q century and a quarter