The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-05-27
INTERESTING TALK WITH
NOTED SOUTHERN WRITER
BY ETHEL ARMIES,

:
toms of England.
THAT first season in London was
most memorable one for me. You may inn
agine the impression on a young girl who
had seen nothing more vivid than could
be found in Richmond Baltimore and
Norfolk. My relatives had a large hous
at Queens Gate, went to court and were
very gay people. 1t was like chapter
out of DIsraelis novels to me. OF course,
have been to Europe since, but nothing
could be half so delightful as that first
visit.
1T is worth while to be unsophisticated
to enjoy anything SO much There is
strong affinity between southern people
and the English. Besides the tie of blood
there Is that sympathy which exists
among all landed people. But the mis-
conceptions of my English friends often
made me laugh. Because my father had
owned much land they assumed that it
must have been very valuable and when
| mentioned that he had always been
hunting man and kept hounds, it was
mere waste of breath to try and convince
them that he had not been rich landed
proprietor and The Shelter was not a
magnificent estate. All my disclaimers
were taken as evidences of modesty.
ct was from these English relatives.
who had been much in st. Petersburg
that | learned many things concerning
life in Russia, and when | returned to
this country | wrote a Russian story
which | sent under Russian name to
Lippncott's Magazine. That was my first
story. It was promptly accepted and
more of the same kind requested so that
fixed my destiny. | began to write in
good earnest, tales and sketches for both
magazines and newspapers After COM
ing to Washington | took a great in
terest in politics, and wrote political arti-
cles for the New York Sun and several
other leading papers of the country.
About this time | had a morbid fear of
ever seeing my own name in print, and I
used no less than five different pen names.
for which | am now truly thankful All
of my early rubbish is out of sight. No
body knows or cares where 1t Is 1t can
never be resurrected thank heaven!
Few writer's are so lucky as that Per-
haps much of the kindness of the critics
to me Is because they never saw the
worst of my work and they never shall
If ] can keep 1t"
The first story with which Miss
Seawells own name was identified. which
appeared In Lippincotts, was Maid Ma
rion,' afterwards dramatized by Miss
Seawel and played with great success
by Rosina VoSes. 1t had, in fact, the
longest consecutive run of any play in
that unique little condolences repertoire
except the "Pantomime Rehearsal" thus
having financial as well as artistic sue
cess. Miss Seawell's first novel, Hale
Weston" appeared soon after this, in
1899, and was followed by 1.-The Berkeleys
and Their Neighbors" .'Throckmorton,"
Children OF Destiny THE History of
the Lady Betty Stair" The Sprightly Ro-
nance of Marsac," "The House of Eyre
mont" and this latest one, THE For
tunes of Fla" which little actress has
been termed by some enthusiastic critic
"the bulliest girl out In addition
to these novels, Miss Seawell has pub
lshed innumerable stories, tales and
sketches. many of them relating to navy
life. THE Sprghtly Romance of Marsac"
was dramatized and presented in Wash
ington four years ago, with Mr.. ArbuclSle
in the leading role
Indeed the most encouraging thing
to me about the theatre today is the
turning to books for plays observed Miss
Seawell. at means that literature and
the stage are closely allied as they
should be. There are many solid advan-
tages in dramatzng popular book. The
public already knows the people in the
book and likes them.
This insures large number OF play
theirs on the stage who would otherwise
not go to the theatre at all. Then the
elaboration and detail of the book reveal
the characters to the actors who repre-
sent them with a color and vividness no
manuscript of a play could. Thus the
actor has much clearer idea of what
he Is expected to create. and he gener-
ally creates 1t better i'm consequence The !
greatest successes of our times have been
made from books. Remember 'Fauntle-
roy. .Trilby, The Christian The Little
Minister, Ben Hur,' Richard Carvel'
and many others. Shakespeare and Mo-
liere took their plays from books. and
that, too, without troubling themselves
about giving the author any royalty
but there was no international copyright
In those days"
so many of my stories on French
ground? Yes, / think 1t a positive ad-
vantage to have the scene of a play laid
in France-the French are such a dra-
matte people. They are far enough away
from us to give us a glamour. an Illusion, |
and near enough to have a human in
terest. An English manager who liked
Marsac wanted me to transpose the
scene and characters from French to
English, but | refused, because it would
have ruined the piece. Marsac. il he is
really made OF flesh and blood, is a
Frenchman. The story happens easily
enough in Paris-anything can happen in
Paris-and Marsac could not happen
elsewhere. The gaiety of the French peo-
pie the merry philosophy of that wise
peope-for they are a wise people-is
proverbialy charming.
NO ! have never spent so much time
in Paris. but I have often been there |
was in Paris first when I was quite
young girl. spent my time being taken
seemed to me a good deal like our sleepy
about to see church yards. That isNmy
present recollection of that visit. Paris
old Alexandria here in Virginia" Miss
Seawel paused, and the CLEAN of fun lit
up her face.
But / believe [ was mistaken-and