Clubs should notice the relations' of fathers and sons in the books mentioned. Discuss the problems presented; read the descriptions of Manx life among the people; compare the heroes. Read several of the dramatic chapters from The Scapegoat and The Deemster. Does the play The Christian show more strength than the novel of the same name?
V—STANLEY J. WEYMAN
In striking contrast with this last novelist is Stanley J. Weyman, the writer of fascinating historical novels which rank among the very first of their kind. Born in Shropshire in 1855 and educated at Oxford, he became first a lawyer and then a novelist. His Gentleman of France brought him immediately into prominence.
The scenes of most of his books are laid in France, either in the period of the Great Cardinal, or later in that of the Revolution. They are crowded with adventure, the plots are of absorbing interest and his characters are full of life and individuality. The times of which he writes are described with accurate fidelity, and his pictures of the court, of campaigning, of travel, of village life, are romantic yet historically correct. Under the Red Robe, The Red Cockade, The Castle Inn, and The Abbess of Vlaye are all fascinating. Read from any one of these and then from a good history giving an idea of the same period, and note the precise study Weyman gave to his settings.
A paper might be prepared on Sir Walter Scott, Dumas, Hewlett and Weyman as historical novelists. The differences might be brought out by comparing the character of Richard Cœur de Lion in The Talisman and Richard Yea-and-Nay, and that of Richelieu in The Three Musketeers and Under the Red Robe.
VI—JAMES M. BARRIE
James M. Barrie is a Scotchman, born in 1860 and educated at Edinburgh University. He knows thoroughly his own people. He does not write with any defined moral purpose, nor does he have any great events to record; but he has in an unusual degree the power to charm. His sympathetic insight, delightfully sly humor, play of fancy and light touch of pathos are all unique.
A Window in Thrums, describing the lives of the weavers, so apart from the world yet so full of interest, Auld Licht Idylls, with its amusing difficulties of the old churches, and Margaret Ogilvy, the exquisite portrait of the author's mother, are unsurpassed in delicate beauty. In Sentimental Tommy, Tommy and Grizel, and The Little Minister there is more of plot and more also of a certain gaiety. The Little White Bird shows the fancy which comes out more strongly in the incomparable Peter Pan.
Read from as many of Barrie's books as possible, and then discuss his work as a playwright. Do his books lend themselves to the stage? Let those who have seen The Little Minister, The Admirable Crichton, Peter Pan and Little Mary describe them.