PASSING OF MARIE CORELLI.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18100, 16 June 1924, Page 6

PASSING OF MARIE CORELLI.

A COMPLEX PERSONALITY.

TROUBLE WITH REVIEWERS

. (FEOV OU2 OWS COBIiESPOXDEST.) LONDON'. April 22. j On .the evening of Bank Holiday, j Easter ; Monday, Londoners heard of I the death, early in the morning of . that day. of Marie Corelli. one of the most discussed novelists of her time j and a great figure in fiction. the j would have been CO on May l-:t. -She i wished it stated iltft the time she died was to he called "God's Time." because she would not adojl Summer Time. Whatever mny I*3 the verdict of posterity, Mario Corelli was'admittedly a literary phenomenon. Her success was achieved in ?pite of the hostility of critics and the sneers of '"superior persons/' was of mixed Italian ,-nd Soottis.l- parentage. She was the daughter of " Dr. Charles Mackay s second wife bv her first husband, wno was as Italian of the Venetian provinces,' and her name, which nwny have thought an ingenious nmn do guerre, was legally her own. Sn^T"' as adopted in earlv infancy hv Dr. Mackav. who gave her a good education and did not check her insatiable love of reading. She had two or three years at a French convent, and there becama devout ;md mvstieal. with vague j dreams of founding a new religious order. Dr. Mackay designed her for a musical career, and she was to hav« completed at Leipzig the musical trainwhich she had received at the convent school. But she had already bo2;iiti ta write. "A quarter of n century a2o she was. the most widely read and fiercely discussed: novelist of her day. W ork'j from her pen were appearing up to f. vear or two ago. Innumerable s/;V----inens. it is recalled: were preached, on her books: but the more the cl&V'/r----meu thundered, criticisms from f the pulpit, "tho more eagerly the public bought her novels, and she oh h*r part-did not -spare-"the cloth." Thelate .Qiiesn Victoria telegraphed frcan Balmoral ta Miss C-orelli'a publishers, ordering conies of all her works to-be forwarded to her. Critics Ignored. It is an old story bow Miss Cotelli:s books were so much "cut Tip' 5 My the reviewers that she decided, on tie publication of "The Sorrows of Satani.' ; in ISSS. that no more copies of )nr works should go out.to the Press. . '"Where lay her secret?" v asks '"Jh& Morning Pest." ."It will probably/ l>e found in her extraordinary power j of telling a stoiy, of dramatic vivid narration," which atoned, with the g;eat majority"of.-lier'readers', probably ■« ithout their being conscious of it, fcj- all her lack of perspective, of sympathy, and of humour. She certainly dift not 'see life steadily and see it whole/' and perhaps in that respect she was (.true mirror of the age in which she. lived, with its apnreciation of bread and | whole-hearted extravagance, i-hether of denunciation or of eulogy,! rather than delicate and subtle artistic effects. Nevertheless, she liaveher, place in literary history, if' dnly oil' acennnt of tho enormous /influence which her books exercised. I/.er books unquestionably did good, in. i& far as they expressed a high ideaft of conduct." -i ''The Sorrows of Satan", run through no fewer than forty editions, and considerably, over 100,000 50pies were sold. . ■ , *' ; -, A Friend's Tribute. A literarv friend . writes? in "The Daily Mail":— ■ "It will not be denied, I think, that Marie Corelli exercised a greater-per-sonal influence tlian ahy other novelist of her day. Her works had an enormous -sale, not'cnliy/ in ;this countrr, but in' the, Unified States, and 'The Master Christian' had a r largor circulation, possibly, 'than any other novel for half a centun-y. The influence" she exercised was priavedby the mass of correspondence hcif books brought her from readers all ovef- the globe. Some of her admirers wo»ild write to her as if sho were their / Mother Confessor, laying bare all their doubts and .troubles, and asking her counsel and advice. She was a woman of tremendous Vitality, and /icssessed what might bo termed, I sup/pose, /reat psychic force. She had a \-igorous mind, and in "company wan a brilliant conversationalist. She was ever a fighter—: often against tr<mendous odds, and the vigour of her Renunciation of. men and thinecs she disliked made her many enemies." • By "The Evrning Standard"/ Miss Corelli is described as having been in her time the/ neatest .literary "protester.", In'fWormwood," she protested against aVsinthe drinking in Paris; in "Thft -'Miffhtj Atom" she raised her voice jucainrft the over-education of the ohild-a»d the folly of bringing it up without any definite religious belief, and in "The Master Christian" she pleaded that the-Church should reform itqralf on scientific lines; ... A keen theologian, she was never so happy iis when bhe was baiting a Bishop, She Avas distrustful of all clerics,' but was most kind to the minoi" orders' of tho clergy. She -might cut an but she never missed seeing a curate. I have, frequently heard her repeat, "1 believe in the resurrection of the dead." I know shftj meant it. She was an incomparahlf hostess. Her study had a high-pitr-hed roof, the fireplace was enorm-oujf.,-and on it she burned great logs; At onrf end of the room was a grand pinno of fine tone, whilfe all round on e/is*>ls wero sketches finished or in the Kinking. She would absent herself for Tours, and her visitors wandered about /the grounds or into Stratford at their 'own free will. During that time, if weather permitted, sho .was up on a verandah overlooking her parden, writing in a beautiful hand .it top speed. Her charity was and frequently, if quietly, expressed. , Appreciation by a Premier and a Poet. Mr Gladstone was among the first to recognise her gift*, and. he visited her on two occasions, while he was Prime Minister. On leaving on the last occasion he said to her, "God bless .you. Bo brave. You have a great future. Don't lose heart on the way. Good-bye." Lord Salisbury, too,, used to call and see her, and. Tennyson sent her interesting tetters, in one of which he told her he sometimes wished he had never written a line. "You do well," he said, "not to care for. fame. Modern fame is too often a crown of thorns." Mr T. P. O'Connor's Eecoilections. 3lr T - P- O'Connor confesses that' he ' found it always impossible to read Mane Corelli; but probably what' I would have considered the defects ot her style—inflation of language rot mantic invention beyond all' probabiUtv and a nungting of unctuous vt hmon and ardent love—were tii/.ir chief recommendations. 7 With "A Romance of Two Worldsfame came wjth a rush, and from f bit time onward every novel by n<r im mediately became a gigantic success" she could command almost any Tnrice she demanded, and those skilful in such calculations estimated that the value to her of each novel she wrote was at least £10,000." "One would havo thought th*t such gigantic und perhaps such unexpected success, bnugitig n .woman fn gentcol poverty to great wealth,, would hnve pro'" a verv soft and satisfied

ehaxacter (says' 'Taj- Pay*)- But this did not happen. I met/tier first after she had already achieved /some of het early and brilliant successes. She was welcome, of course, pbl semi-literary gatherings, and a vers pretty figure she made. ]f you had expected to meet a tall, lank lady,'with spectacles and blue stockings, yoii had a pleasant surprise when you /met her in th<i£e davs of the 'eighties and the "n'aeties. She had a small./ , well-proporiioncd figure, abundant clusters of fair hair, rosy checks, lightish' blue "-ws, suii verv sm&ll and diintv features. If I wanted to describe her in a single French word, I 'would call her mignorine; what I did-call her, us a matter of fact, was-' 4 beautiful little bit of Dresden china. The compliment was successful ,boycnd ah «»xppctorio:i, for it was conitentiv quoted in those articles about .herself which were circulated with -Jie genius of a tiuhl'.city agent, tut always with; the'denial of any mvpu'.v •* Authorship from her—a statement tf'it/ was generally received with a sce-Dtiial smile. In those faroff dflvs she/was- agreeable—a little vorrn^advisi.. tut rot dis:i,reeible. Im tkv.e th*s'e qualities %eem-'.d to be obscured, ft mav hire b*pn that she had some 'disappointment in her inornate life: it may be that she fretted a under the T ueic cf recognition .which she found pibo;u the more educated men of letters, who did not usually respond to the echoes, however loud, of the general mass of leaders- it riav have been that irritability of tempi- which is not unknot'ri in her «ex whsm it has not been subjected to the wfijeniiw influences of marriage and materretv. One should, however, make allowance for poor health For years sh'j suffered from a Eevere internal nulady. Her Qualities.

• "What were the qualities with which Tlarie Corel!! was endowed? The first 7,as an extremely powerful imagination; the second an inventive faculty, occasionally melodramatic, but always fertile and* suggestive; and the third was the possession of a style rich and prodigal 111 colour, not always chastened, but everywhere nririd and alerc. iSotrjfctim'es. like those satirists whoso indijrnatiori makes their verses. Misn Corelli was carried too far, and becamo almpst intemperate in theeipression of her; views. But her energy was_ the mr/ro "asily pardonable, because it had thf» satirist's jnatiScation that she w;is ri/ins a tilt aaainst the worst errors 0/ her age. She waged ceaseless war Against the manners and customs of /achionable society. She hated materialism in all its "forms. She loathed ,the worship of money, and the latter/'dny delusion that a man or a woman is I valuable in proportion to the largeness of his or her banking account. In these respects she had .more than *.. passing: resemblance to Onida. some of whose later novels were inspired by a similar spirit of detestation of the worship of Mammon. - MaiSp Corelli, however, went further than the promulgation of a general diatribe .against the modern world. She desired to Bring hack, her contemporaries to the articles of a simpler and nioro Christian faith; and sometimes./ in her treatment.of religious subjects, although ' her intentions were excellent,, she betraye'd certain errors of taste.. Perhaps'what sh& lacked most; was »v eense of liumonr, • for *otherwise.„she would, never have given us so constantly . the picture of novelist inspired with the highest aims; and. the most (virtuous intentions,. who\ was perpetually being run down by a cabal of conceited critics, eager to "destroy anything that was unconventional and ingenuous. The public adored her, because she spoke freely and hit hard, and.also because they shared her dislike of the superior and pedantic critic. They knew that she was cjever in idea and bold ir« *xectrtion, and that whatever the might e»v or; foeU Bhffhad -the constructive ability to write hovels that 'bept'ycu going all the time.'. Indeed, there could he no doubt of the living energy,, whence all these remarkably varied and interesting romances proceeded. Miss Oorelli was always intensely alive; and her vitality radiated from every pore. She waa a great idealist, and hel»oved~in the-primitive virtues. .If her. pictures were'sometimes wanting in reality nnd her characters deficient in depth, they v r ero persuasive and engaging," oud 'm one- feel better.' Whatever the critics might urge,- she was always on the side of tb* angels. 'Naturalism' in fiction, such as the French understand the term, wns abhorrent to her. Whether her popularity has, enduring elements—whether her, novels will be road by the next.gAnMatioii—we naturallv shrink from discussing. At the moment of her death, it is better to remember that sh« represented a zreat popular fo pr e. a™! "wielded a wide inflnejirp. When Shakespearce boasted—according to the he .had never blotted a single, line, Ben .Tonson is supposed to have expressed the wish that he had blotted several score. A criticism on similar lines is; perhaps, all that we can allow ourselves todav." • . " '

Asked once why she did not marry, Miss Oorelli is said*to have replied: "I have three pets at home wh'ich, together, answer the same purpose, as a Husband.. I have a dog which growls all the morning, a .parrot which swears all the afternoon,' and a cat which comes home late at night." She was a democrat of. democrats, with a farreaching and prac/tical sympathy with the poor,. extremely strong opinions of her o».vn on most subjects, and a courageous laok <if reticence in expressing, them. This; involved her in numerous controversies, in her private life, which wero as "'fierce aa those which waged round her novels. "The Times'? comments: "Even the most lenient c/ritic cannot regard Miss Oqrelli's workf as of much literary importance. They were chiefly tracts, written iri, a h emotional and melodramatic s%le of invective against some one.c|f her- pet aversions, of which, . being a good hater, she had many. Slia was always wholeheartedly on the side of religion and morality. No theme'' was" too' tremendous for her courage,' rind she laid her colours on thicklv 'and liberally like a scene-paint-er. SVie was deficient in humour, a sense »of proportion, and an understanding sympathy with human, nature. But.slj-e.ppssessed._in large measure, the magicj gift of telling a. storv, however wild mnd improbable it.might be, and to tViat more, than to anything else,; her fereat -popular success is • attributablet . Like other''big sellers,''she was apt; to regard herself, as. a kind of prophet*..- and she .did not spare those who refused to affect her message. Tho 'bestside of her caine out in her ve/ioration for the genius of Shakespreare. and, thougn she sometimes showed this cult in slightly absurd f/.shion, her absolute sincerity cannot he doubted.''