The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-02-20

partial endowment in certain in
stances of authorship. OF this there
can be little doubt among those ia
miliar with the situation. Still, I do
not think that leisure in "a general
way. that Is. unlimited leisure. is at
all necessary to literary work or sue
cess.
THE prompting is within: and the
writer who has genius usually has not
only the courage hut the bYoyancy
of his cndeavors and prefers to ac-
complish his destiny himself. The
cases in which b~enefactions are really
necessary are very rare. The man
having unmistakable genius usually
succeeds.
1T must not be forgotten. however.
that the Authors Club has q fund
which in many an instance has helped
authors n thcir families 10 tide over
a period of serious emergency. And
this aid by fellow craftsmen Is given
SO quietly that the Authors Club
members themselves do no know who
are the b~ereflciaries.
II am not sure that IL is easier
now to obtain a salaried position on
the stan of IL periodical or with n
publishing house than II was, say.
NIFTY years ago. or as easy. The num-
Der Of periodicals and Of publishers
has multiplied. Of course. hut the
number of literary workers also has
increased enormously. Yet the author
not seeking employment at regular
salary, the man or tho m who
earns n living by writing. has far
greater opportunities than ever before
to sell manuscripts and at q higher
price than formerly.
The change in fiction written stncs
tho sos Is greater. I think, than the
change In any other Of tho arts. To-
day fiction Is direct and natural, truer
to life than ever before. We also sea
n corresponding change in cratc-y.
It's theatrical investiture Of former
years has almost wholly passed away"
That Is n field. the field of fiction,
where women have full freedom with
men," suggested the visitor.
Yes MIR. Alden assented, "and in
modern fiction. since the social novel
came IN with Richardson, women have
showed ufirnistakable genius in the
portrayal OF life. They have portrayed
life much moro intimately than the
contemporary male novelist. Since
N time Of Fanny Burncy. who was so
much admired by Or. johnson, women
have been taking a larger place in nc.
ton. u they have handled all the ele-
ments differently from men-as Miss
Radcliffe is different from Poe in tho
treatment Of mystery. for example.
Maria Edgeworth. contemporary
with Fanny Burney, also was among
the first OF women 70 a~dventuse In hc-
ton. She shared SCOTS admiration
for Jane Austen. and he placed their
work his own. although they did
not have what he termed the Big Bow
WOW Style
Coming down to Our " country
and more recent times. ono may recall
Elizabeth Stoddard's early novel. Tho
Morgensons.' which. like her other
work. was characterized by uncommon
strength az compared with that Of
other ONE Of her time. Mrs. Stod-
dard's novels At any rate We're free Of
sentiInentality. which was the vice OF
romantic literature Of that time"
d sou remember tho first manu-.
script you accepted for publication In
H~drpers?"
Mr.. AldenS eyes eparkied With en-
joyment.
II remember distinctly tho frst
manuscript ! ever read for Harpers
M~agd-tnc." he said. although I did not
then have authority 10 accept II. At
the time. the summer OF 1863. I was as
sisting DIR. Guernsey. then the editor,
and the first manuscript I took up
happened to be q short love story by
Louise Chandler Moulton.'
! This contribution Mr.. Alden stamped