Page:Marie Corelli - the writer and the woman (IA mariecorelliwrit00coat).pdf/290

 the rights of the People, then she goes with the People against all political parties whatsoever. But she takes no side in party politics: she is a stickler for Justice and Right for the great majority.

Two apparent attempts in journals catering specially for the book trade, were made to quash the success of the novel. One of these journals plainly stated that "Temporal Power" had not obtained the triumph claimed for it. The publishers, Messrs. Methuen and Co., instantly taxed the paper in question with having misstated the case, with the result that the following retractation was published: "With reference to our statement last month, regarding the sales of 'Temporal Power,' we learn that, so far from the repeat orders not comparing favorably with those of 'The Master Christian,' they have established a record even in the gigantic sales of Marie Corelli's novels. Up to the present, during the same period, the sales of 'Temporal Power' have exceeded those of 'The Master Christian,' by over twenty thousand, and some idea of the demand for the book, even after the first rush, may be obtained from the fact that all the retail book-*sellers, with one exception, in Brighton, sent large repeat orders within a few weeks of publication, while a single repeat order from one retail book