The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1904-03-20
be Weak ip Society
Have You Got Your Easter BoDDet9

tied or borrowed knowledge are then su-
! per-added to form introduction and con-
/ ciusion, and the result is known as a
paper. This attempt would be thoroughly
/ commendable, too, If there was not a con-
tinual Knocking at the door of ones con-
sciousness which says: Study the man
himself and his writings in relation TO
! himself and his times Then draw your
| conclusions and express your own opin-
ions without fear
/ I heard this knocking; nevertheless I
consulted the Encyclopedia Of Biography
and Pooles Index for information on
Barrie. In the first l found a few dates;
{ in the second were references to some
/ non-accessible magazines. In my own
mind were tabulated the following FACTS:
4 l had once known a man who was a first
/ cousin to Barrie, and who wore a ring
the author had given him. l had once
heard that every boy who is the least
susceptible to artistic impulses considers
( himself embodied in Sentimental Tom
N.Y., just as every retrospective girl
| thinks George Eliot had her in mind when
Maggie Tulliver was created l further
| remembered that / had once read "The
/ Little Minister" and that Maude Adams
! played it; also that there was book or
/ play by Barrie called The Professor
! Love Story"
Not very promising was it? With
sigh l then began to read Barrie himself
and the third book ! got hold of was
Margaret Ogilvy." If 1 wished to pre-
sent Barrie to you in the most pleasing
light. I should not have written this
paper, but should read to you Margaret
! Ogilvy." 1t wasn't necessary to read any
more to know Barrie, but by that time 1
wanted TO keep on, and have not yet lost
the desire.
Margaret Ogilvy'' is the story of the
life of the authors mother, but it is also
an autobiography of Barrie himself, with
out any OF the dread and fear attached TO
much biogra phical literature. The picture
of the beginnings and the first period of
Barrie's literary career is charmingly
painted in this book, for his later works.
Sentimental Tommy" Tommy and
Grisel," and his dramas, were written
after his mothers death.
As is the case with most authors, Barrie
as a child was a great reader, and tells an
amusing story of how, after reading Pill
grim's Progress, he dug the whole garden
up into sloughs of despond. His first
attempt at literature was when he was |
greatly distressed because penny |
monthly didn't come, thus depriving him |
of the installment of a serial in which he /
was much interested. His mother pro- |
posed that he continue the chapters him /
self and he did. In his own words. They |
were all tales of adventure no characters /
I'll
in the flesh. The scene lay in unknown |
parts. desert islands. enchanted gardens, /
with knights on black chagers and |
around the first corner a lady selling /
water cress.' The last having been the |
occupation of the heroine of the serial.
Attic University of Edinburgh, Barrie |
Won honors in English literature The |
Edinburgh Eleven a series of pen pic
lures of famous men-teachers and |
.classmates-is a record of his life |
there. It is chiefly valuable |
for the sketches of Mason. the historian.
and Robert Louis Stevenson, but it does /
not held half the interest that Margaret
'Ogilvys summing up of Stevenson does.
She said That Stevenson man with
sneer; she would knit her lips and fold
her arms and reply with a stiff oh if
you. mentioned ibis aggravating name. II
you would know what was his unpardon-
able crime. it was this: He wrote better
books than mine
II was during these college days that
Barrie wrote some short essays and
sketches that are very interesting. Among
these is one, 'The Wicked Cigar" that is
perhaps the germ of his later book. My
Lady Nicotine" Now I have tried in
vain to read and enjoy My Lady Nico-
tine" for this pipe dream of Barrie some
doesn't appeal to me. One part of The
Wicked Cigar does, however and as il
illustrates besides two qualities Of Bar
ries style-his humOr oud striking man
ner of statement-I'll venture to quote it:
In writing. the only way 10 get in
touch with a villain is-you must smoke
If The villain is merely victim Of cir
cumstances, an occasional cigarette is
sufficient; villain who in the last chap
ter hears the Christmas chimes. bursts
into tears and is willing to begin a new
life in Canada can be done on cigarettes
\ pipe is needed fer a lady adventures
Cigars may be avoided except where the
villain is at the Top of his profession
Thackeray made Becky Sharp out Of
Mauilas. but has TO take Cabanas for the
chapters about Lord Steyne."
About 1885 Barrie went to London from
Thrums to begin newspaper work and it
was heer that he wrote the books thai
first made him famous. Aud LIGHT
Idyls'' and a Window in Thrums" They
were not books then, but newspaper
sketches. but they pleased the editor
nightly.
And they had grown. perhaps. out Of a
little conversation between the devoted
mother and son before he had left Scot
land when she told him that as she was
the only woman he know she would
have 10 be his heroine. When he first
sent her the Aud LIGHT Idyls- she hid
them for fear Of what the neighbors
would think. and could not see why the
editors would like that sort Of thing. But
later she supplied many plot and detail
for her son and she herself Is Jess of -
Window in Thrums
So much of the beauty Of the literature
Of Scotland comes from the closely knit
ties Of family-this has been true since
Burns wrote The Cotter's Saturday
Night" Barrie Is at his best in the de-
scriptions and stories Of the life Of these
stern. narrowed weavers, but never does
he show alone the sordid side II their
homes. Deeply tender and touching arc
the annals Of the home in a Window
in ThrumS.'
one Sunday afternoon q number OF
years aso. I lay in a hammock and read
The Little Minister" That Is began
IL, read the first paragraph. and then re-
read il Then I wished instead of a