The Slave of the Lamp | Page 2

of which he never visited the
_mise-en-scène_--West Africa: but he had so completely imbued
himself with the scenery and the spirit of the country that few, if any, of
his critics detected that he did not write of it from personal experience.
Many of his readers were firmly convinced of the reality of the
precious plant, Simiacine, on whose discovery the action of the plot
turns. More than one correspondent wrote to express a wish to take
shares in the Simiacine Company!
"With Edged Tools" was closely followed by "The Grey Lady." Some
practical experience of a seafaring life, a strong love of it, and a great
fellow-feeling for all those whose business is in great waters, helped
the reality of the characters of the sailor brothers and of the sea-scenes
generally. The author was for some years, and at the time "The Grey
Lady" was written, an underwriter at Lloyd's, so that on the subject of
ship insurance--a subject on which it will be remembered part of the
plot hinges--he was en pays de connaissance. For the purpose of this
story, he travelled in the Balearic Islands, having, earlier, made the first
of many visits to Spain.
One of the strongest characteristics in his nature, as it is certainly one
of the strongest characteristics in his books, was his sympathy with,
and, in consequence, his understanding of, the mind of the foreigner.
For him, indeed, there were no alien countries. He learnt the character
of the stranger as quickly as he learnt his language. His greatest delight
was to merge himself completely in the life and interests of the country
he was visiting--to stay at the mean venta, or the auberge where the
tourist was never seen--to sit in the local cafés of an evening and listen
to local politics and gossip; to read for the time nothing but the native
newspapers, and no literature but the literature, past and present, of the
land where he was sojourning; to follow the native customs, and to see
Spain, Poland or Russia with the eyes and from the point of view of the
Spaniard, the Pole or the Russian.
The difficulties--sometimes there were even serious difficulties--of

visiting places where there was neither provision nor protection made
for the stranger, always acted upon him not as deterrent but incentive:
he liked something to overcome, and found the safe, comfortable,
convenient resting-places as uncongenial to his nature as they were
unproductive for the purposes of his work.
In 1896 "The Sowers" was published. Merriman's travels in Russia had
taken place some years before--before, in fact, the publication of
"Young Mistley"--but time had not at all weakened the strong and
sombre impression which that great country and its unhappy people had
left upon him. The most popular of all his books with his English
public, Merriman himself did not consider it his best. It early received
the compliment of being banned by the Russian censor: very recently, a
Russian woman told the present writers that "The Sowers" is still the
first book the travelling Russian buys in the Tauchnitz edition, as soon
as he is out of his own country--"we like to hear the truth about
ourselves."
In the same year as "The Sowers," Merriman produced "Flotsam." It is
not, strictly speaking, a romance: some of its main incidents were taken
from the life of a young officer of the 44th Regiment in Early Victorian
days. The character of Harry Wylam is, as a whole, faithful to its
prototype; and the last scene in the book, recording Harry's death in the
Orange Free State, as he was being taken in a waggon to the missionary
station by the Bishop of the State, is literally accurate. Merriman had
visited India as a boy; so here, too, the scenery is from the brush of an
eye-witness.
His next novel, "In Kedar's Tents," was his first Spanish novel--pure
and simple: the action of "The Grey Lady" taking place chiefly in
Majorca.
All the country mentioned in "In Kedar's Tents" Merriman visited
personally--riding, as did Frederick Conyngham and Concepcion Vara,
from Algeciras to Ronda, then a difficult ride through a wild, beautiful
and not too safe district, the accommodation at Algeciras and Ronda
being at that time of an entirely primitive description. Spain had for
Merriman ever a peculiar attraction: the character of the Spanish

gentleman--proud, courteous, dignified--particularly appealed to him.
The next country in which he sought inspiration was Holland. "Roden's
Corner," published in 1898, broke new ground: its plot, it will be
remembered, turns on a commercial enterprise. The title and the main
idea of the story were taken from Merriman's earliest literary venture,
the beginning of a novel--there were only a few chapters of it--which
he had written before "Young Mistley," and which he had discarded,
dissatisfied.