Hall Caine then returned to London, and whilst continuing to
contribute to various papers, and notably to the "Liverpool Mercury,"
to which he was attached for years, he wrote his "Recollections of
Rossetti," which brought him forty pounds (two hundred dollars) and
attracted some attention in literary circles, without, however,
enhancing his reputation with the general public. This was followed by
"Cobwebs of Criticism," the title he gave to a collection of critical
essays, originally delivered as lectures. This book did nothing for
him in any way. All this while he had been hankering after
novel-writing, and, though Rossetti had always urged him to become a
dramatist, he had also encouraged him to write novels, advising him to
become the novelist of Manxland. "There is a career there," he used to
say, "for nothing is known about this land." The two friends had
discussed Hall Caine's plot of "The Shadow of a Crime," which Rossetti
had found "immensely powerful but unsympathetic," and it was with this
novel that Hall Caine began his career as a writer of fiction. He had
married in the meanwhile, and with forty pounds (two hundred dollars)
in the bank and an assured income of a hundred (five hundred dollars)
a year from the "Liverpool Mercury," he went with his wife to live in
a small house in the Isle of Wight, to write his book. "I labored over
it fearfully," he says, "but not so much as I do now over my books. At
that time I only wanted to write a thrilling tale. Now what I want in
my novels is a spiritual intent, a problem of life." "The Shadow of a
Crime" appeared first in serial form in the "Liverpool Mercury," and
was published in book form by Chatto & Windus in 1885. For the book
rights Hall Caine received seventy-five pounds (three hundred and
seventy-five dollars), which, with the one hundred pounds (five
hundred dollars) from the "Liverpool Mercury," is all that he has ever
received from a book which is now in its seventeenth edition. "It had
a distinguished reception," he says. "Indeed, it was received with a
burst of eulogy from the press; but at the time it produced no popular
success, and made no difference in my market value."
There is no man living, perhaps, who has more contempt for money than
Hall Caine, revealing himself in this also a true artist; yet to
exemplify to a _confrère_ the practical value of what he calls the
"literary statesmanship" which he has practised throughout his career,
he will sometimes show the little book in which are entered the
receipts from his various works. No more striking argument in favor of
conscientiousness and literary dignity could be found than that
afforded by a comparison between the first page of this account book
and the last.
[Illustration: LEZAYRE CHURCH, WHERE PETE AND KATE WERE MARRIED IN
"THE MANXMAN."]