“Thank you so much for your kind letter. I am so glad you are busy and successful in your work. “The She you painted in _T.B._ was a very nice old She indeed, a quite superior She, and a little better than the original, I am sorry to say! But, la, la, la, the heaps of begging letters and manuscripts the paper has brought me. It has punished me for any pride I might have had there-anent, and kept my comb cut down to my head. To-day, again, comes a long eight-paged letter of sorrow, distress, and nonsense, which I am asked to help. Well, I do what I can, and, at all events, sympathy and kind words and thoughts have their own value, if that is not of a productive or golden kind. “I was very sorry not to see that fine young fellow again. I was charmed with him, if you like![4] I should have liked to kiss his hand for respect and hope and admiration. I should have liked to whip him as an aged Sarah might have whipped her grandson! I hope he will come back safe and with renown and success. “Good-bye, dear Mrs. Brightness. “Yes, I have partly recovered from Ibsen, who had a lurid kind of light that fascinates yet repels, a lying spirit that enthusiates yet revolts. “Affectionately yours, “E. LYNN LINTON.” I had sat between her and Beerbohm Tree at the first performance in England of “Hedda Gabler,” which I had seen Ibsen rehearse in Christiania shortly before in his slow pompous manner. To understand humanity is a work of intelligence, and Mrs. Lynn Linton had that gift in a marked degree. She was a woman of strong individuality. FOOTNOTES: [4] Nansen, whom she met at dinner at our house. CHAPTER VIII JOURNALISM From other people’s work I must return to my own. As is Fleet Street compared with Hyde Park, so is journalism with the authorship of more lasting literature. To would-be scribblers I would say journalism is a bagatelle in comparison with the production of a book. The main axiom for a book is _Write what you know about_. If you live with dukes, don’t write about the slums. If you live in the slums, don’t write of dukes. Don’t write unless you have something to say. For the papers, matter is more important than style. Aim at telling something interesting in an interesting way. Keep it short and crisp and to the point. Never mind rejection. Introductions to editors are of no avail. They generally retard. Work of merit always finds its niche, so peg away till you get the right thing and fit it into the right corner. A journalist requires no equipment but a quick perception of men and matters, a desire for information, and a belief that what interests her may interest someone else. A journalist is obliged to look ahead: Someone is reported very ill—collect facts for an obituary notice. A picture promises to become successful—have an account of the artist and his work ready for press.