CHAPTER VIII
"BARABBAS"—A "PASSION PLAY" IN PROSE
"Why should women's writings be in any respect
inferior to that of men if they are only willing to
follow out the same method of self-education?"
asked Charles Kingsley. This was of the nature
of a prophecy, for had Kingsley lived until to-day
he would have seen the verification of his words.
Women, as a rule, do not self-educate themselves.
They will not try to walk alone. They understand
only just the easy verse and rhyme of existence.
Some few understand to-day a higher
phase by self-conviction. Marie Corelli is certainly
one.
To write prose, perfect prose; to stir the heart and move the soul, is the highest phase of mental reasoning. It is the air and melody of spiritual conception, the so-called "supernatural." All our lives we can talk prose, but to grasp tersely your brain's creation, to fix upon your different dream characters and embody them with life, with passion, and with naturalness—the naturalness which has existed from creation—is the highest
