Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-05-04
WHO FAMOUS "OUIDA" Is.
A SKETCH OF HER IN HER FLOR
ENTINE HOME.
Her Early Life and Antecedents-A Dis
appointed, Unhappy WOman-The
Profits of Her Marvellous Pen-Her
Rest Novels,
Florence Letter to Philadelphia Press.

appointed, Unhappy WOman-The
Profits of Her Marvellous Pen-Her
Best Novels.
Florence Letter TO PhiddelDhia Press.
Louisa de la Rance is of French extrac-
ton, her grandfather having been a
Frenchmau; but she is English on both
sides of the house, having been born at
Bury st. Edmunds, Suffolk, fOrty-three
years ago. The story runs that her father
and mother, being inharmOniOus in their
domestic relations, separated during her
girlhood-he coming to the Continent and
she remaining in England.
Ouida's youth was passed in various
countries, so that she may be said to have
no particular nationality. She speaks
fiuently French, Italian and German, as
well as her native tongue, and writes
those foreign languages with facility. She
has often declared that she had no child
hood, and indeed, no youth; for her eX-
periences were unpleasant and forced her
very early into kind of morbid maturity.
For years she has been OVERLOOKING with
cynicism and bitterness, disliking men
and distrusting women, and giving the
most unpleasant pictures of fashionable
society, indicating that selfishness, ras-
cality and WantOnnesS are the distinguish
ing traits of humanity. She is even more
of misOgynist than misanthrOpe, for
without arraigning her own sex at the
stern bar Of her warped judgment.
To read Ouida's later novels one would
form the same idea Of society on the Con-
tinent to-day that one would have
formed Of France had he lived in
the time of the Regent, Philippe
d'Orleans, or of England during the
reign of Charles IL. Her representa-
tiYes are repulsiye; but she vows they
~ 81 rfr tod
for the sake of fiction. Doubtless there is
always more or less corruption in society
which claims to be the best, but the cor
ruptiOn is rather exceptional than general,
while Ouida pOrtrays 1t the reverse.
THE PLAN OF HER NOVELS.
She is a very prolific writer. She has
produced in the twenty years that have
passed since "Held in Bondage appeared
some thlrty-five novels, besides any num-
Der Of magazine articles and contribu-
tIons to the newspapers. 1t may well be
SAID that her pen is never idle. If it were
her literary reputation would stand
higher, for she frequently repeats herself
and IS obviously careless in construction,
incident and the development Of her char
acters, which are decidedly prone to re-
semble one another. She almost inYari-
ably introduces two or three rich, bad
brutal men and several handsome, arti-
fetal, impure, mercenary, completely self
lSh women, all Of them occupying exalted
social positions, in salient contrast with a
pfeternaturally good, noble, self-sacrific-
ing woman, who is commonly prosecuted
and whom nobody understands.
The celebrated authoress lives in a
handsome villa outside the gates, fur
nished and decorated handsomely and eX-
pensiyely. 1t is full of pictures, engray-
ings, statuettes, bronzes, books and all
sorts Of bric-a-bTac, for which she has
great fondness and fine taste. If she has
little love of her own kind, she loves dogs,
horses, cats, birds and animals generally,
having III her house many pets. She often
says that they are neither perfidiOus nor
ungrateful, and that to call man dog,
as most men are constituted, is a cOmpli-
ment that he seldom merits. She drives
out daily, when the weather is pleasant,
and is usually accompanied by two or
three dogs.
Everybody in and about Florence knows
her by eight. She is a rather striking
figure, being tall and well-formed, and
having strong, rememberabio face, with
light eyes and an abundance of yellow
hair. She dresses handsomely and eX-
pensively, but in an unconventional man.
ner and not always in good taste. At
times she is overloaded with color and or
naments, and then again she is simple in
attire to point of severity. 1t would
seem that she enjoys attracting attention
and making sensation, although
she pretends otherwise. An American
artist here calls her feminine imitator Of
Byron, for whom she cherishes an enthu-
siastic admiration. She also adOres Helm
rich Heine and Leopard, which shows
that the bent of her mind is sOmbre and
cynical. In fact, most of her literary
tastes are what would be denominated
unhealthful. Her views of life are not
cheerful, and her cOuntenance is general
ly married by an expression of Unamia-
bIlitY. What has made her bitter nobody
knows. 1t is due partly to temperament
and partly to circumstances. Her early
life has probably been such as to sour her
Moreover, she is an idealist, and, cOnse-
quently, doomed to disappointment i'll all
her relations with the world.
The poor are very much attached to
Ouida, which is natural, as she is very
kind to them personally and pecuniarily.
She gives freely and largely in charity,
and she is said never to hear of a case of
Indulgence and suffering which she does
not try to relieve. On the whole, she ap-
pears to be strong, earnest, generous.
honorable, pure-minded woman, whose
faults are mostly on the surface. She be-
lieYes she does much good by exposing
the weaknesses and WEAKNESSES and vices
OF society, and by presenting patterns
of men ana women who put the common
creatures Of life to shame. She travels a
good deal, spending six or seven months
here, and the rest of the year in France
and England. She has a few friends who
are devoted to her, and for them and to
them she is goodness itself. With all her
talents and successes she Is disconnected,
and is, inwardly, solitary and unsatis-
fed soul.
THE PROFITS OF HER PEN.
II Ouida's books she derived her pen
naDe from the childish pronunciation by
her little niece of her first name, which is
Louisa de la Rance are not quite appre-
ciated by the critics, they are appreciated
by her publishers, for they sell largely and
rapidly. Her first novel, "Held in Bond
age" brought her, l understand, $4,000,
and she now gets at least $4,000 for every
new work in three volumes that she
writes. She has grown so popular within
the last eight or ten years that she can
make very favorable terms with publish
ers, and she never neglects, it is said, her
own interests. "MOths" and 'Friendship"
have been exceedingly profitable, yielding
her to date, respectively, $4,000 and
$4,000, and are still in demand.
The fact that her stories are reputed to
be wicked gives them a zest with many
young women, not few of whom have,
am told, been sOrely disappointed in them
in this respect. They may have been
thought to be allied in some manner to the
grossly indicate stories of Crebillon.
IOUVpf and Othnr Ernuoh o,1tbOrc Of n ,,os+