The sun., 1919-01-19

double Staying. Nor does he relate what RAY
Villas and Cora said to each other in that last
interview which Immediately preceded the crime.
Probably" says Mr.. HARRINGTON, CORA told
him the TRUTH all of it though of she seldom
told quite the truth about anything IN which she
herself was concerned''-or words to that effect.
Where oh where is the strong scenef All, one
man S strength is another S weakness The Flirt is
full of strong scenes, but they infrequenty the
scenes which the intending novel writer reviewing
his tale before setting to work. would select as the
most promising.
Some Ingredients
Besides the instinct of paternity-or perhaps in
place of 1.-THE novelist may feel an instinct to
build something, to paint beautiful picture, or
mold lovely figure. This yearnng of the artist,
so-called is sometimes denoted by the word "self-
expression pisnomer, if it be not a euphuism,
for the longing to fatherhood There is Just as
much 'self-expression' in the paternity of a boy
or girl as in the creation of book, picture or
building The child, in any ease, has innumerabe
other ancestors; you not the first to have writ
ten such book or painted such picture.
How about the second motive in novel writing
the desire to please or instruct othersf The only
safe generalization about it seems to be this: A
novel written exclusively from this motive will be
bad novel, novel is not, above everything a
didactic enterprise. Yet even those enterprises of
the human race which in their essence purely
didactic, designed ''to warn, to comfort to COM
mand, " such as sermons and lessons in school,
seldom achieve their greatest possible effect if in
struction or improvement be the preachers or
teachers unadorned and unconcealed and only
purpose.
Take school lesson. Teachers who get the best
results are invariably found to have added some
element besides bare instruction to their work
Sometimes they have made the lesson entertaining;
sometimes they have exercised that imponderable
thing we call personal magnetsm'' sometimes
they have supplied incentive to learn that didn't
exist in the lesson itself.
Intellect's Shortcomings.
Take Il sermon. If the auditor does not feel the
presence in it of something besides the mere intel
ligence the words convey the sermon leaves the
auditor cold.
Pure intellect is not force in human affairs.
BACH wrote music with very high intellectual
content but the small leavcn of sublime melody is
present in his work that lasts through the centuries
SHAKESPEARE and BEETHOVEN employed intellect
and emotionalism in the proportion Of ffty-ffty.
Sir JOSHUA REYNOLDS mixed his paint with
brains sir but the significant thing is that Sir
JOSHUA did not use only gray matter On his
palette Those who economic on emotonalism in
one direction usually make up for it, not always
consciously, in another. JOSEPH lIERGESIIEIMER
writing Jard Head, is very sparing in the emotion
alism bound up with action and decidedly lavish
in the emotionasm inscparabe from sensuous
cooring and Atmosphere
No, novel written wholly to instruct will never
do but neither will novel written entirely to
please, to give aesthetic Scnsuous enjoyment to
the reader. Such novel is like portion of fine
French sauce-with nothing to spread it on. 1t is
honey without crust to dip.
Sordid Stuff.
Writing a novel purely 10 make money has a
tainted air, thanks to the long vogue Of a false
tradition. If so, The Vicar Of Wakefield ought to
be banished from public libraries; for GoI.sMITH
needed the money and made no bones about saying
So The facts are, of course masccrtainabe, but
would be willing 10 wager, were there any way
Of deciding The bet, that more novels of the first
rank have been written either solely or prepon
derautly to earn money than for any other reason