here is very little cause
to envy me in this matter. I have but received the courteously formal
thanks of the Queen and the Empress Frederick, conveyed through the
medium of their ladies-in-waiting, for the special copies of the books
their Majesties were pleased to admire; yet for this simple and quite
ordinary honour I have been subjected to such forms of gratuitous abuse
as I did not think possible to a 'just and noble' English Press. I have
often wondered why I was not equally assailed when the Queen of Italy,
not content with merely 'accepting' a copy of the 'Romance of Two
Worlds,' sent me an autograph portrait of herself, accompanied by a
charming letter, a souvenir which I value, not at all because the sender
is a queen, but because she is a sweet and noble woman whose every
action is marked by grace and unselfishness, and who has deservedly won
the title given her by her people, 'the blessing of Italy.' I repeat, I
owe nothing whatever of my popularity, such as it is, to any 'royal'
notice or favour, though I am naturally glad to have been kindly
recognised and encouraged by those 'throned powers' who command the
nation's utmost love and loyalty. But my appeal for a hearing was first
made to the great public, and the public responded; moreover, they do
still respond with so much heartiness and goodwill, that I should be the
most ungrateful scribbler that ever scribbled if I did not (despite
Press 'drubbings' and the amusing total ignoring of my very existence by
certain cliquey literary magazines) take up my courage in both hands, as
the French say, and march steadily onward to such generous cheering and
encouragement.

I am told by an eminent literary authority that critics are 'down upon
me' because I write about the supernatural. I do not entirely believe
the eminent literary authority, inasmuch as I have not always written
about the supernatural. Neither 'Vendetta,' nor 'Thelma,' nor 'Wormwood'
is supernatural. But, says the eminent literary authority, why write at
all, at any time, about the supernatural? Why? Because I feel the
existence of the supernatural, and feeling it, I must speak of it. I
understand that the religion we profess to follow emanates from the
supernatural. And I presume that churches exist for the solemn worship
of the supernatural. Wherefore, if the supernatural be thus universally
acknowledged as a guide for thought and morals, I fail to see why I, and
as many others as choose to do