The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-03-05

once l asked him. Because said he.
You We're ugly, dirty, rickety, under
slzed, underfed and wholly uninterest-
lnR. Also beca your mother was
me very worst Vasherwon'ar hat
ever breathed gin into a shirt
front. Note, too. how In the first
chapte of Simon the Jester Simon
eScltes our curiosity by inquiring the
whereabouts OF the most God-for-
spot in England-"a place COM
pared to which Golgotha, Aceldama. |
the Dead Sea, the Valley Of Jehosha-
phat, and the Bowery would be leafy |
powers of uninterrupted delight
and when told hat Observation-Disclosures /
is such a place. he says: L start for
MurgIebed-on-Sea tomorrow
His Characters.
With reference to characters, it
will scarcely be denied that not since
he death Of Dickens. and very few
times before his advent. has any
writer OF fiction given to the world
nearly so many vivid, clear-cut, alb
solutely unforgettable characters as
has w. J. Locke. Take. for instance,
the erstwhile dowdy u ultimately
glorious Clementina Wing. or the
"eumOiristic' Simon de Gex, or the
nomadic Paragot. TAX also Septimus
Dix. whose hobby for guns is so
strong that he even uses a gun in
stead Of q call-bell to summon his
valet: or Professor Papadapolous, the
insane but lOvable dwarf, who keeps
trained cats and who imagines that
his supreme mission in life Is to APP
prehend and punish the william who
has WrOnged Lola Brandt. These
are characters that email fixed in
the memory as firmly as do Micawber
or Captain Cutie or Mrs. Bardell.
Whether. however. Locke's creations
are e fesh-and-blood men and
women. OF whether. like Dickens. he
| has laid himself open to the charge Of
being a creator of mere p~ersonified
types or at best a c~aricaturist rather
than a realistic interpreter Of unan-
ity. | shall discuss later.
His Optimism.
Now let is return for a moment
to the question of Locke's optimism.
In looking yer the noNelists Of the
present age. it is difficult to find one
who has a brighter outlook on the
world OF who can see more good in
people or things than can William J.
Locke. An optimist has been defined
as one who sees blue sky in q mud
puddle and poetry in a dandelion, and
that definition applies admirably, ]
think, to MIR. Locke 1t has been re-
marked by more than one critic that
all OF Loche's heroes and heroines
are quixotic. Paragot, for instance.
twice marriage for the
sake Of the Woman he loves; Septimus
Dix meets a girl who has bee be-
tr:ayed, and marries her in order to
save her reputation; Simon de Gex
starts Out to save an innocent boy
from the Wiles Of q supposed adven-
turess, and ends by saving the sup
; posed adventures from 4 wicked
husband; and Clementina Wing com
plete]y changes her mode of living
in order that she may rescue a mid
dle-aged but very naive gentleman
from Il designing woman who has had
a rather questionable past. Lockes
heroes and heroines are, therefore,
, very altruistic, a fact which goes tai
: toward making his world an exceed
ingly pleasant place. Furthermorc
F.; he shows with consistent optimism
: his unfaiIing delight III the married.
and-lived-ha pDily-ever-afte ending
/ His Realism.
Everyone Will grant that Locke j:
. an optimist of optimists. Many
however, All too accustomed TO as
!, sociating realism inseparably will
g pessimisln, regard Locke as a thor
$ ough-going sentirnental!st. Why
they exciairn, every life ends II
: death. and here is this visionary MI
Locke ending all his tales with happ.
y marriages.! lDSen ana t1arNy, IlHeT'
and Suderrnann, Flaubert and TOlsto
q these are the phOtoSraphicaDy &C
S curate r~eproducers Of life, and AL Q
q them show Us that life ls q Srea
\ tragedy And this aroslseS the cues
ton: has the bright side OF life a
much artistic value as the gloom
st side. and if not. why not? OR t
d put the query in slightly diffeTen
l. form: has Locke as good q right t
l. direct his camera at pleasant thlng
l. as had lola to direct his at sordl
d things. and if not. why not? But,
|e object some critics. MIR. Locke
o characters are altruistic to . faul
% Human beings have motive for thei
j. IODINE whereas MIR. Locke's pee
is pie do their deeds of Kindness out {
d sheer delight in goodness III he at
IS stract. They are. III other words, 10
p men or women. but angels No
20 this ! SUblnit. ia a most Supcftcls