"I do not claim to have any genius. It may be that infinite patience and an unlimited capacity for hard work have taken the place of genius, and been of service to me. When I began to study a subject or an object, I could never bring myself to stop until I had mastered all there was to be known about it."
"You believe, then, that small details are of large importance in literary work?"
"More so than in almost any other calling. I have never allowed myself to take the opinions of others when it was possible to verify facts by my own eyes and ears. While writing Ben-Hur I once took the long journey from my Indiana home to New York city, and haunted one of the great libraries there persistently for days, merely to establish beyond a doubt a very small matter concerning the interior of a Roman galley. Yet, after all, it was not a small matter; trifles make perfection, and a little inaccuracy will result in imperfect work."
"Do you advise young authors to quote largely, or depend upon others for ideas?"
"By no means. Every man and woman is self-made. Every writer should be especially so. Let him look into his own heart, and write from it, if he would reach the hearts of his readers. He may gather information and incidents from books and from every-day life, but when he writes, let it be in his own words. Above all, let him write honestly, delineating people and things as they really are, not as a vivid or romantic imagination might make them."
Our social talk ended here. May I not be allowed to add that constant study of the best writers of old English has given a certain stateliness of expression and dignity of speech to the composition of General Wallace, which will not fail to be noted by the careful reader. The volumes he read were the very choicest, and the stalwart heroes of that olden time were the boy's daily companions instead of men and women.
[REGULAR EXERCISE FOR GIRLS.]
BY EVA LOVETT.
Regularity in bodily training is the "golden rule" of all physicians and gymnasium teachers. "A little exercise every day, taken at a certain time," is worth more than all the spasmodic exertion in the world. It accomplishes more in play and work. Nor need such exercise become monotonous. The work of to-day may call into use one set of muscles, and that of to-morrow another. It is well not to develop our arms and neglect our legs, or vice versa. The pleasure accompanying them makes outdoor sports more beneficial to the health; but indoor training, according to fixed rules, has a great value in teaching you how to use your limbs and joints easily and well. The practice it gives helps you to learn anything quieter than you would without it.