“And when the morning sun shone through the windows ... its wintry beams encircled the peaceful form of the dead Cardinal with a pale halo of gold,—and when they came and found him there, and turned his face to the light—it was as the face of a glorified saint, whom God had greatly loved!”
* * * * * *
And of the “Cardinal’s foundling”—what of Him? Many wondered and sought to trace Him, but no one ever heard where he had gone.... Some say He has never disappeared,—but that in some form or manifestation of wisdom, He is ever with us, watching to see whether His work is well or ill done,—whether His flocks are fed, or led astray to be devoured by wolves—whether His straight and simple commands are fulfilled or disobeyed. And the days grow dark and threatening—and life is more and more beset with difficulty and disaster—and the world is moving more and more swiftly on to its predestined end—and the Churches are as stagnant pools, from whence Death is far more often born than Life. And may we not ask ourselves often in these days the question,—
“When the Son of Man cometh, think ye He shall find faith on earth?”
That is the question that Marie Corelli asks the world through “The Master Christian.”
CHAPTER XIV
“TEMPORAL POWER”
This, Marie Corelli’s latest work, appeared on August 28th, 1902, the first edition totalling up to the unprecedented number of 120,000 copies. We understand that, since the primary issue, a further 30,000 copies have been printed. Thus it comes about that in spite of all the newspaper invective of which she has been the victim and the verbal floodgates that have been opened upon her, Marie Corelli has with her latest production broken the bookselling record for a six-shilling volume on its first appearance.
“Temporal Power” is not an inviting name. As a schoolmiss would say, “It sounds dry.” It has not the mystery-suggesting flavor of “The House on the Marsh” or the thrilling and adventuresome qualities of a title like “Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea”; yet “Temporal Power,” despite its appellation, is, at the time of writing, the most-talked-about book in the world.
“For,” to quote Marie Corelli, “it must be borne in mind that ‘Temporal Power’ are the two dazzling words which forever fascinate the Pope, and are the key-notes of every attempt at supremacy. ‘Temporal Power’ is the desire of kings, as of commoners. There is nothing really prosaic about such a title, unless the thing itself be deemed prosaic, which, if this were proved, would make out that all the work of the world was useless and that nothing whatever need be done except fold one’s hands and sit down in unambitious contentment.”
“Temporal Power” was not issued to the Press for review, but no less than three hundred and fifty journals—big and little—paid Miss Corelli the compliment of purchasing the book in order to comment on its plot and characteristics. Conning the mass of critical matter which is the outcome of this action on the part of the newspapers, it would seem that the attitude of the Press towards the authoress is growing less hostile than of yore, for quite a number of the reviews are couched in distinctly favorable language.