Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1908-03-18
A WORD FROM oUIDA.
"Writer of One Great Story and Gre
ator of One Great Character"

"Wrter of One Great Story and Gre
ator of One Great Character"
May l express through your col
umns a word of regret for Ouida?
asks Frederick Jones Bliss in the
New York Evening Post. l do not
mean for the poor woman who is
said to have died in loneliness, but
for the writer of one great story.
and for the creator of one great char
acter. Many people of culture" :
imagine, Unfortunately lump Ouida
with Marie Corelli, Edna Lyall, Hall
Game and the Duchess. Or else, if
they have read her at all, their only
recollection is of her snobbery, of her
vulgarity, and of her beautiful. i'm
possible guardsmen, with their inf
nitely weary eyes" their 'courtly
grace" and of their blows that are
known in throne rooms" They may
recall, too, her absurd belief in the
power of race, which works arbitrar-
lily, making it impossible for one
brother to do anything dishonorable,
even if he should wish to, while the
story hangs on the other brothers
dishonor, Notwithstanding his cor
der!
The great character is, of course.
Cigarette, in Under Two Flags. In
her way she is as much of a creation
as Sairey Camp Or Mr.. Dooley. She
is immensely vitalized-a living,
breathing creature. She blows like
a breeze through the absurd artificial
ity of the book The very night
before l read of Ouda's death /
CHANGED upon the volume in coun
try hotel, and, I protest, that when /
read of Cigarettes dying in the arms
Of Cecil, pierced by the bullets which
were meant for him, shed tears, as
have shed them twenty times be-
fore
The great story is, of course, Wan
da. 1t is melodrama but then all
our great writer's have written melo
drama at the time when the blood
has run reddest through their books.
When Roy Richmond poses as an
equestrian statue, deceiving the
princes court until he is startled in
to life by the unexpected appearance
of his little boy, George Meredith is
writing melodrama, If ii is not a
farce. When Newman, in The Amer.
lean, stops the old marquise and her
son in Paris garden and Kisses into
her ear: you killed your husband.
while the marquis eyes scintillate
how it was done!--dear Henry James
is giving us rafting good melo-
drama. Ouida's melodrama is often
cheap and meretricious-alm as
meretricious as her virginia. simple,
ity in Two Little Wooden Shoes-but
in Wanda the melodrama rings true
to the hest traditions. OF course,
she introduces you to the best socl-
ETY.; in fact, it is almost as good as
Mrs. Humphreys Wanda's Wanda is
the feudal chatelaine of an Austriau
domain which even the emperor can
not enter without permission. Hel
lover appears on the scene masquer-
aiding as the Marquis de Sabran,
though he is actually only the bastard
son of a Russian prince and Rus
sian peasant. But, graciousl what
an accomplished man, His scientific
work on Mexico is the despair OF
the scholars of Europe; he can paint
like Meissonier; he can play with the
best of them owe never have such
music" murnurs Wandan in he.
private salon, save when List
passes this way; he can make an
Grafton as good as Pericles'. or
course. these fine people never traye
except by special train, and subsist
mainly on trufles and tokay. But n
combination with DINERS, they appear
IN magnificent situations, spelndidly
conceived and splendidly worked
out. Ouida has no humor but plenty
OF epigram. He betrayed me; how.
matters nothing" says Wanda to her
old aunt when she has discovered her
husbands description. We see IT as a
family phrase. Psychologically, too.
the story is satisfactory. Sabran's
love for Wanda is genuine. even
though he marries her under false
pretenses, and in the end this love
works out his regeneration. The
dominant note Of Wanda's character
is pride Of race. which makes it i'm
possible for her 70 consider the many |