10
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07eiGXMAL OE THE
WHEN an utnor wants a charac
ter he got and take! what he
requires. It may be a President,
a general, a bishop or a atreet aweeper;
o long as the character suits his need
the author appropriates him. He will
even make his own kindred, or himself,
sit as a model If need be. Frobably all
really great characters of fiction have
been drawn with modifications from
real persons, or are the result of a
skillful blending of the salient points
" In the characters of two, or possibly
more, persons.
Sometimes the author copies his
model so closely that there can be no
mistake as to the original. Bishop
'"Ethelbert Talbot, the Protestant Epis-
copal blhop of Central Pennsylv mia.
Is the Bishop in Owen Wlstor's novel
"The Virginian," and the author h.-.s
stuck so closely to the original that
. every one who knows the novel prac
tically knows Bishop Talbot; and all
who "know the bishop recognize his
portrait as drawn by Wlster. Of course,
" liberties are taken with the character
.and story of the right reverend gentle
"man the exigencies of the story re--
quired that but the artist has strayed
no further from the truth than he was
obliged to.
Bishop Talbot was a well-nown man
when Wister took him up and added
to his fame. He Is a native of Mis
. sour!, and after his graduation and
ordination In 1ST3 he wss pastor in
the little town of Macon. Missouri, for
14 years. Then he became missionary
Mshop of Wyoming and Idaho. From
this charge he was translated, after
, ten years In the West, to the See of
Central Pennsylvanla-
The bishop is something of a writer
himself, and some day may turn about
and put Owen Wlster Into a book. His
experiences In the West are told in "My
People of the Plains." He is fond of
- hearing and telling a good story, but
withal has much native dignity. When
he was a missionary bishop the people
under his charge were primitive and
rude, a class of Westerners which live
now almost nowhere but in books.
They had not much respect for ecclesi
astical authority or. in fact, for re-
, llgion. but the bishop soon got on their
right side and they came to respect and
love him.
Once, during his career in the West
the bishop held services in a saloon
the walls of which were covered with
rloth to conceal some decorations which
were decidedly uneccleslastical: and
once, when a drunken man told him
he had "got full to celebrate his (the
bishop's) arrival." the bishop let the
man sit In a front pew. With thl.s aw-
. ful example before him the bishop be
gan a sermon on temperance. At first
the man appeared dejected, but finally
. brightened up and at last the bishop
" heard him muttering. "That's right
bishop: go for 'em'." By and by he be
came more "enthused" and Jumping to
his feet exclaimed. "Good, good! Give
"em hell, bishop:"
Another of the bishop's Western ser
mons, which had the Pharisee and the
Publican as Its text, caused such a
rolsy protest on the part of one mem
ber of the congregation that the man
had to be forcibly ejected. "Did you
ever hear such rot?" said the man af
terwards. "That bishop Just boosted
the Republicans all through his ser-
, mon and didn't say a word about the
Democrats."
Blshor, Talbot Is said to have been
the original of the man who. having
delivered a humorous address to a
British audience, was told afterwards
by the vicar that he could hardly keep
from smiling all through, and that he
must excuse some of the people from
actually laughing. The Bishop Is now
SO years old. with the prospect of a
- 'ong life before him. He has had his
little trials and tribulations, as notably
in the case of tlie Reverend Irvine
about four years ago, but has come
throuxh them all right.
Mrs. Asauith it "Dodo" Character.
Mrs. Asfiulth. wife of the present
British Prime Minister, sat uncon
sciously as the model for the principal
feminine character In the novel of
Dodo.' a book which had a vast popu
larity about ii years ago. but which
Is now almost forgotten. She was the
beautiful Miss Margaret Tennant then.
..daughter of a wealthy Scottish baronet,
"and a society celebrity. She knew all
the prominent men worth knowing
politicians, scientists and authors. She
founded a little circle of the elect
called "The souls." who conversed
with each other in a Jargon of their
own Invention. She knew all the reign
ing monarcl.s In Europe. She hunted
and wrote poetry, and Gladstone wrote
noetry to her. When E. F. Benson, son
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of the Archbishop of Canterbury, "went
In" for literature and wrote "Dodo" in
1S93, he took Miss Tennant for his
model and wrote a note to her after
wards apoligising for doing so. She
was really such a handy character
that how could Benson be blamed any
way. But Miss Tennant did not at all
object to be written up and for a long
time she was known as "Dodo." .Now
she Is the calm and dignified Mrs.
Asnuith, the Premier's wife.
When Mrs. Frances Hodgson Burnett
looked about for a character for a
story she pitched upon her son, Vivian,
and gave him to the world as Little
Iord Fauntieroy. Vivian's elder brother,
Lionel, furnished a few paragraphs for
the book, but Cedric was taken prac
tically entire from Vivian. In fact,
Mrs. Burnett tried to make her book
an almost exact reproduction of the
sayings and doings of her second son.
It made a good story but was rather
tough on 'Vivian who. when he went
to Harvard, was "spotted" at once as
the original of Little Lord Fauntieroy,
and had things made pleasant for him
accordingly In that peculiar manner
which sophomores know so well how
to apply to a "freshle." When Little
Lord Fauntieroy was graduated from
Harvard he went at once into the ad
vertising business and now, a man of
SO. runs the business end of a chil
dren's magazine, of which his mother la
editor.
"Mr. Doolcy" nd "Mrs. Wlggs."
The original of Peter Finley Dunne's
Mr. Dooley. as you may have heard
before, was a saloonkeeper In Chicago
named McGarry. McGarry was aiways
ready to pass a solemn opinion upon
any subject, spoke with a rich Irish
brogue and never smiled. Dunne be
gan to write the humorous things he
said in little sketches for the Chicago
Evening Post, upon which paper he
was then a reporter. Needless to say
they "took." He called McGarry Mc
Narry in his "stories."
McGarry took a good deal of pride
In seeing his sayings in print. One
day Alfred Henry Lewis went into the
saloon kept by McGarry.
"Did you see the Post today?" said
McGarry, in a pleasant voice.
yes." said Mr. Lewis. "I did: and It's
a shame for Pete Dunne to treat yoa
In that way. How do you think your
fine young daughtera can take the
place In society your position demands
If such sayings as those appear. Every
one recognises them, too. And worse
than anything else, they're In a rich
brogue. Why. you've hardly any ac
cent at all."
"Mr. Dooley" took all this seriously.
He decided that he must see Mr. Dunne,
and the next day he went to the man
aging editor of the Post and protested,
and then went to the author of the
sketches and protested. The result was
that Mr. Dunne changed the name from
"McNarrv" to "Dooley.- McGarry was
quite satisfied and thereafter read the
THE EruXDAY OREGON1AN, PORTLAND, OCTOBER 18, 1903.
Ill
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USED AS fiBaOSSND flBMOIS
I ."7'Utr v ' -.t w , I mnt to the engineering ability of F. Mrs. Greene, wnen "oaiiy Ik
1. "S. .''- - - " 1 I side. Scott, wno nappenea to oe on uua.u, B 700 000
"Dooley" sayings with as much pride
as ever.
The original of that other noted fic
tion philosopher, "Mrs. "WIggs of the
Cabbage Patch" was Mary "A. Bass
who lives In Louisville, Ky, In a region
known as "The Patch." Miss Alice
Hegan (now Mrs. Rice) knew her and
used to visit her. Mrs. Bass used to
go to school with Miss Hegan's mother.
But there was good "copy" In Mrs.
Bass, too good for a young lady with
literary tendencies to throw away. So
Alice took Mrs. Bass Just as she was.
made a story out of her. and Jumped
Into fame with "Mrs. Wiggs of the
Cabbage Patch." Really Mrs. Bass
was the authoress, for Miss Hegan was
little more than an amanuensis, taking
down what Mrs. Bass said and did and
writing It out. Miss Hegan made
money out of the story. Mrs. Bass re
mained In poverty and Indignation. It
hardly would have been safe for the
authoress to have visited the '"Cabbage
Patch" after the publication of the
story, for the old lady was furious and
became more and more enraged aa it
leaked out that she was the original
of Mrs. WIggs and crowds of visitors
began haunting her modest home and
wanting to talk with her. She refused
to see the curiosity seekers, and once
threw dirty water on a too persistent
visitor. Mra. Bass always spoke of
Miss Hegan's atory as "that fool book."
and consulted a lawyer as to how best
to keep away curious visitors. He ad
vised her to use a broomstick, and she
announced her intention of following
the directions of her legal wdviser. Al
so. It was rumored that her son had
purchased a shotgun. So visitors nat
urally fell off. and after a stormy
period of celebrity Mrs. Bass was left
in peace again. It was a. long time
"r : s i iUIJllril SjH kmm illll! Siiilti inSl'.ll :
HOME OF -tyKAJcYT A-BAcS.
THE OETODStL. M35'c5 WRsCS
before she forgave the daughter of her
old friend for "writing her up." if In
deed she yet has done so completely.
Cleveland an Indifferent "Original"
It Is well known that "The Honor
able Peter Stirling" of Paul Leicester
Ford's story of that name was Grover
Cleveland. Everybody recognized the
portrait, so closely was it drawn to the
original. It was a clever piece of work,
but, oh the ingratitude of great men
to the "literary fellers" who strive to
add to their fame in print! Mr. Cleve
land was not indignant, like Mrs. Bass,
at being "put into a book." but, worse
still, he was Indifferent. When some
body wrote to him and asked if he was
the original of the "Honorable Peter, '
he replied: "I have never read 'The
Honorable Peter Stirling.' I believe
the author has declared that he had the
incidents of my political life somewhat
In mind when he wrote the book." And
Mr. Cleveland never read it!
The original of Robert Louis Steven
son's "Wild Scotchman" is Thomas
Fleming, a trailing agent at Arne
Island, one of the Marshall group. 150
miles from the nearest white -settlement
in the South Sea Islands. Flem
ing left his home In Paisley, Scotland
when a boy of 15 and went out to see
the world. He became a sailor and,
after roaming about the waters of the
earth for some years, finally settled
down on Arne Island. When Stevenson
went sailing about amid these Southern
Isles of Eden lying in dark purple
spheres of sea," he touched at Arne and
found Fleming there. Here. Indeed,
was "copy" too good to be neglected
and a character Just suited to Steven
son's genius. Fleming went Into a
story it was Inevitable.
Only the other day Fleming, accom
panied by his wife, visited San Fran
cisco. It was the first time he had left
his island home for 25 years, and he
gazed with amazement upon trolley
cars and electric lights. After his fill
of sightseeing he sailed again for his
home In the South Seas. "Perhaps It
is a little lonely out there," he said,
"but somehow it gets Into a man's
blood and ho stays on."
Bachcller His Own Model.
An author who has embalmed himself
in Action is Irving Bacheller. He is the
"Eben Holden" of his well-known story
of that name. The story is, of course,
not a detailed account of the author's
life, but in It he has "written himself up"
.pretty closely and has set down an ac
curate record, as far as he could re
member, of the things he Baid and
thought of as a child. The people "Eben
Holden" tells about are the people that
Bacheller knew as a child. "In my child
hood," said the author to me recently,
"I was told that my brother then a
baby had been brought over the hills In
a basket by old Mr. Bellows. That was
how I supposed the little fellow had come
to our home. I think it was that which
gave me the notion of the- boy's Journey
through the woods in a basket."
In "Caleb West, Master Diver." F.
Hopkinson 8mlth drew the portrait of
Captain Thomas A. Bcott, of New Lon
don, Conn. Scott was the "Captain Joe"
of the story. Smith, among various other
callings, is a first-class civil engineer,
and was associated with Captain Scott In
various engineering enterprises. Captain
Scott was the head of the Scott Wreck
ing Company, and as soon as Hopkinson
Smith end he became acquainted It was
a foregone conclusion that the Captain
would go Into a book. The Captain had
all the requisite qualifications for a hero
of romance. When he died not long ago
he was sincerely mourned by all who
knew him and by no one more sincerely
than by the author who had made such
good use of him in fiction.
Race Rock light, at the eastern en
trance of Long Island Sound, is a monu
ment to the engineering ability of F.
Hopkinson Smith. Among engineers
Smith is known not as the author of
"Colonel Carter," or of "Caleb West,"
but as the builder of Race Rock Light.
But Smith says "It was really Scott
who built the Race Rock Light, not I."
Going to sea when a boy, Scott rose
to be a Captain before he was 20, and was
stijl young when he became the head of
the- wrecking company. Once he thought
he would leave the sea and settle down
at Fort Lee, N. J. It was while Hving
there that he averted a panic and a prob
able disaster on the ferrby-boat Union on
the North River. The ferry-boat was
rammed by a tug and a gash cut in her
side. Scott, who happened to be on board,
stuffed his body into the hole and thus
stopped the Inrush of the water until the
boat could make her slip. The ferry com
pany gave him J100 to buy a new suit of
clothes.
Winston Churchill our Winston
when he models a character sticks with
great fidelity to his original. His Stephen
Brlce in "The Crisis" is drawn from
Henry Hitchcock, who died in 1902 after a
career which included many of the stir
ring incidents told of in the '.'The Crisis."
He was a brother of Ethan Allen Hitch
cock, until a few months ago Secretary
of the Interior. Hitchcock went to St.
Louis In the early '50s, studied law and
then became a newspaper man. He first
became prominent by reason of a speech
he delivered In favor of Lincoln as a
Judge advocate. Wrhen Johnston surren
dered to Sherman. Hitchcock was sent
with dispatches, formally announcing the
event to Washington.
The character of Jethro in Churchill's
"Coniston" was drawn so accurately and
so clearlv from Ruell Durkee, a New
Hampshire "boss," that all the Granite
State at once recognized it. Ruell Durkee
has been dead some years now, but
during his active political life he was as
Churchill pictured him. The fame of
Durkee haidly extended . across the
borders of his state until Churchill drew
him. Now It is spread over the country.
He was a good sort' of a boss, too, a
lovable, easy boss but nevertheless, a
boss and could bid railroads come bow
to him.
In "Cape Cod Folks" the authoress
wrote so closely to actual facts that she
got into trouble. Not content with draw
ing her characters from the life, she used,
in some cases, the real names of the
peoBle of the little village which she took
for the scene of her story. Then the
Cape Cod folks got "mad" and began a
suit to have themselves taken out of the
book. The matter was compromised by
the authoress supplying fictitious names
for those characters which at first she
had -called by their real names. One of
her characters was supposed to have been
drawn from Bartlett. the father of the
Ashmead-Bartlett boys. At one time
Bartlett, a man of education and family,
did live on the Cape Cod shore and his
characteristics were said to have closely
TALBOI'
TciE 1W
resembled those which Mrs. Sarah Pratt
Greene described as pertaining to Mr.
Cradlebow But that must have been be
fore the days of the authoress and
"Cradlebow" was drawn from a man
probably still living in the village where
Mra. Greene, when "Sally MacLean,"
taught school.
He went Into the Army at the outbreak
of the war and went with It to the sea
as a Judge advocate.
Thackeray drew his character of
Henry Esmond from Thomas Fairfax,
sixth Baronet of the name. It was this
Lord Fairfax who settled in Virginia
and started the line of American Barons
which has recently ceased to be Amer
ican by the naturalization of the pres
ent Lord Fairfax as a British subject.
Thomas Fairfax lnherted from his
mother, the daughter and heiress of Sir
Robert Berwick, a great land estate In
England, and also a tract of land In
Virginia containing 6,700,000 acres.
As a young man, Thomas Fairfax
held a commission in the Guards, and
was one of the best swordsmen and
gentlemen of hi time. He was an edu
cated man, too, and could be serious
as often as gay. But one day Lord
Fairfax resigned his commission In the
army, gave up his English estates to
his brother and crossed the Atlantic
to live the rest of his life far from
courts, the follies and troubles of Eu
rope. It was a love affair that trans
formed the growing discontent of
Thomas Fairfax with European life
Into action and caused him to seek his
home in Virginia.
With the exception of Henry Esmond,
probably the character In fiction most
closely drawn from a great man Is the
character of Sir William Ashton in
"The Pride of Lammermoor." Sir Wal
ter Scott took John Dalrymple. Vis
count Stair, for his model and drew a
picture so like the original that there
could be no mistaking its subject. The
career and the character of Lord Stair
were those given by Scott to Sir Wil
liam Ashton. This Lord Stair was
mainly responsible for the massacre of
Glencoe, he being at the time Secret
tary of State for Scotland. Scott, how
ever, rather curiously, does not lay
much stress on that, but excoriates
Stair under the name of Ashton for his
other sine and his genial character.
Lord Stair has never had a very friend
ly biographer, but the most unfriendly
he ever had was Sir Walter Scott. Vet
probably a few million people have
known Lord Stair through Sir William
Ashton who would never otherwise
have been even aware of the existence
of the Viscount. The novel, and the
opera written from it, have spread over
the world a knowledge of Sir William
Ashton, and In hlni John Dalrymple Is
"damned to everlasting fame." (Copy
right, 1908, by the Associated Literary
Press.)
There are now over 250.00(1 words in the .
Hnfrlish language acknowledged by th
best authorities. or about 70.000 more
than In the German. French, Spanish aad
Italian languages combined.