Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1906-1908, 1908-01-31
0UIDA, NOVELIST,
DIES IN POVERTY
ONCE FAMOUS AND WEALTHY
WRITER EXPIRES AT AN
ADVANCED AGE.
DOGS WITH HER TO THE END.
Strange Life of Brilliant and Eccentric
Woman, Who Hated Americans
and Society.
SQUANDERED A GREAT FORTUNE.

w SNbENED - Al IN L.
ROME, Jan. 27.-"Ouida," the novel
list, died Saturday night il the home of
her faithful maid, Isolna Cervella. near
Florence. Her death was mainly due 10
old age, although it was FASTENED by
the privatiions which she had been
compelled to undergo in recent years and
| which had brought on heart disease
Until the very end she shared her food
| with her faithful dogs. Her real name
| was Louise de la Rance.
The novelist was blind of one eve and
the other eye was badly affected through
her having suffered so much from eX-
pure and privation. During the last few
months of her life she was compelled 1T
times to sleep in the open air when un-
able to pay for a nights lodging The
immediate cause of death is set down
as asthma, complicated by heart disease.
The minister Of instruction had sent
her on several occasions recently CON
siderable contributions which had been
subscribed for her aid
Sneered at Responsibility.
Louise de la Rance was the founder
OF that school of romance known as
heroic criticism; and though generally
! throughout her books there is the ever
present sheer at all things that are re-
spected. she possessed the power of rem
dering her pages charming, and some
times fascinating, added to which was
marvellous descriptive ability.
she was born at Bury St. EdmundS
England, in 1910, and doubt exists as to
her real name 1t is known that her
father was a Frenchman, while her
mother was English, and it is alleged
that her proper name was Rame. At
| least. that is the name she was known
by years ago in Florence; and it is de-
c1ared that with her first literary sue
cess she changed her name to Rance
As her novels became more popular this
became De Rance and De la Rance;
but she always wrote under the pictur-
! esque pen name of "Ouida,' and pre-
ferred to be known by that cognomen.
"Oulda." it is said, was the way in
which little girl relative of the famous
novelist tried to pronounce her christian
name, Louise.
! 'Ouids." began to write stories when
she was 6 years old. Her father, man
of great intelligence, who wasted his
talents in utopian dreams, trained her
| IN masculine modes of thought. From
her earliest girlhood she had been a
keen student of various literatures, and
also dabbled in art. painting pretty pic
lures in oil and water colors that always
had IN them cat, dog or horse.
! Work Well Paid For.
/ She began her literary career by writ
ing short stories for English magazines
at So a page, but within a few years
rose to the eminence of receiving from
| $1,000 to $4,000 for every book she
! wrote. Many of her novels are too long,
/ tedious from diffuseness and endless
/ iteration, but this is due in measure to
the delight of "Ouida" in arraigning
| society, exposing what she called its hol-
| lowness, sordidness, injustice and in
! EQUITY. At times she frequently seems TO
forget her story and regard it as sub
| ordinate to the utterance of her vim
! dictive Indignation.
| She also was very severe on her own
/ sex. At one time, commenting on love
and women, she exclaimed that women
| are the exact antipodes of olives; the
one begins in salt and leaves us pleased
with the delicious aroma, the other is
I nectar to begin with, but soon turns to
| bltterest gall. Nine times out of ten,
| she added, woman does not care Il
rush for man that is dying at her
! feet, while she is crazy about some ugly
/ brute who takes no more notice of her
! than he does of his miry boots
Her first successful romance. Held IN
/ Bondage might be called the keynote
! to all her subsequent productions. 1t is
an attack on the marriage state a satire
| on chaste marital life. Her ideal life.
as pictured in her books, would appear
! to be an existence of mingled poetry and
passion, with a blending of every refine
ment of mind and sense-in fact, a life
OF love such as the widest dreams of
fancy never expected to realize.
Faithless Lover Made Hero.
Moths, Under Two Flags" "Strath-
more, or Wrought by His Own Hand -
'Tricotrin' and Friendship might be
| considered her best works, and vet
Friendship is practically but the biog-
raphy OF the man who cast aside
"Ouida's' love for that of a younger and
more beautiful woman, and in revenge
she made him the hero of her novaI. but
a very weak, wavering and unromantic
hero at that.
One uneXplainable trait of ''Ouida's''
character was her general dislike of
Americans. They were voracious read
ers of her books, and thus helped her
income materially, but that she hated
| them intensely was obvious, and she sell
dom missed a chance to caricature and
hold up to ridicule the people of the
! United States.
In general "Ouida' s" STYLE is verbose
and declamatory, though it is often elo-
quent and vigorous. A well known critic
said of her some time ago that she pos
! sessed remarkable talents, but impaired
them by injudicious usage and lack OF
proper self-control.
"Ouida" lived for long time in Flor
ence and wrote many of her books there
She was an early riser-up at O'Clock
in winter and , O'Clock in summer-but
most of her literary work was done in
the cold season. In later years fortune
and friends deserted her. She was com
PEELED to sell her Florence villa and was
almost reduced to penury. In July OF
| last year the British government con
| ferred on her an annual pension of $3.50
SWEETHEART OF LINCOLN DIES.