Daily national Republican. (Washington City [D.C.]) 1870-1872, 1872-11-06

IN 1871 Ehnuy EHTu NOftelI " WluUWt
with two little girls cllnglng to her for sup
port, as well as care. IN 1851 II must have
been harder for a woman TO suddenly ind
herself confronting the world, with only her
brain and hands and loving heart between
her and want. II ls appalling enough now
for any woman accustomed TO lifelong de-
pendenco 10 suddenly and all the respOnsl-
bilities Of bread-winnIng and household sup
port devolying on her own unalded labor, al
though manifold opportunities for that labor
were undreamed Of twenty years ago. At
that time the best educated Of American
women were educated for nothing In partlcu-
lar-unless W be school teachers, which, Of
course, created at least dozen teachers for
every school, But death and misfortune
have ever been remorelessly Indifferent to
the fancies Of the fastidlous or the prejudccs
Of society. In the abstract lovely Is tue
theory that a woman should always he pro-
tected, always cared for. But all the same as
II they were never uttered. Every day death
strikes down the protector or fatal conditions
put him forever beyond roach. Then Ia the
face of the hnest theory woe TO tho woman
standing alone who cannot honorably take
care Of herself
Fanny Fern, as q school girl In Catherine |
Beechers seminary In Hartford, tore the |
leaves out Of hen Euclid" TO curl her hair |
with. Hartford still holds traditions Of her |
girlish escapades, tricks aud manners; but has |
preserved no record OF her scholarship. In |
her way, she probably was about the same |
sort Of scholar 10 the Hartford seminary that |
Henry Ward Beecher was In Amherst Col !
logc-learning as little as possible from
books, but everything from nature from hui
man boings, from her own acute faculties,
electrical temperament, and deep, PASSION
ate heart. What II was for such an one to
find herself suddenly cast forth from home
Of ease, life Of love aud happlness-wldowed
and poor-no one may tell but she who has
aal down amid tho aahaa Rf all awFfhlu iaV
Well, she did not want to 20 into shop.
She could not teach school and live by II;
but she could write an essay that was yet q
sketch-danclng, dashlng, satirical, witty,
human, pathetiC--a sketch which In that day,
at least was q need In Journalism, a sketch
for which she alone In temperament and
power had received the patent; q sketch
which nobody else on earth could write but
| Fanny Fern. She wrote It. With poverty
crouchlng on the hearth, with her little girls
Juggling at her skirts, with her fiery blood
rushing through her veins, all froighted with
/ love OF love aud hate OF hate, she wrote II.
Then she put II into q little satchel and sal
lied forth TO sell It, That must have beeu
awful. There was relief In writing IL.
What delicious little FIRST vent Il must have
been for the tlood-tide Of wrath aud love that
came rushing after. But to go out TO seek
somebody else TO ind II precious-preciOus
enough to pay money for II; to set price on
| 1t; that heart throb, TO ask q prica for it.
that must have been awful. man going
from office TO office to sell poem or leader
must be q sorry sight. A woman compelled
10 peddle by voice and eye such q ware must
DO a sadder sight still. She endured many a
supercilious glance, more than one rebuff, Of
course, on her weary round. A woman try
ing TO sell her own composition from bag,
no doubt, appeared childish TO these men Of
affairs. The curly heR 7, the llttlo satchel,
the little sketch did not look the least like
business. Beholdlng the three, what prophet
OF them all could foresee that the dainty reti-
| cule with Its contents stood for one hundred
and thlTty-two thousand copies Of slngle
book She found an astute purchaser at last.
lie liked the sketch, took 1t, and paid her for
it-fity cents.
Its fresh fearlessness hit the "gen eral
reader" It's yelnlng pathos touched ten thou
sand hearts. Fanny Fern had hit the right
nail on the head; II vas a golden one. She
years-fOr sixteen years never missing q
single week. She was fortunate In her pub
Usher. SagaciousNn practical, shO selected
{ one not for his own fame, who would con
slider 1t quite sufficient 10 stamp his name OF
, Its tite-page and leave her book 10 take IL
chances; but one whose reputation would II
5 a degree depend upon her own. Already he
"Fern Leaves were scattered through th,
length Of the land. People shrugged ihei
shoulders; but all the moro they read ant
thought. Critics said they were nlppRnt
I sarcastic, irreyeront masculine, and bitter
: Nobody said that they were lackadaislcal
! | weak, or stupid. No matter what was said
Z all the more people bought them and rea
: them. OF the first volume Of Fern Leaves
seventy thousand copies were sold In Amer
q lea. Little Ferns for Fanny's Little Friends
. sold slxtY-two thousand In the United States
while forty-elght thousand copies were sol
In England alone.
r RrnaHwau haa ortpaN N,tn nj, =,
: this woman, which shall always tenderl
keep. One Is OF the winter OF lS50-GO. Fac
= bright day one could sec from afar tha
!, naughty bead, with its wealth OF golde
Z curls, and that peerless step, which had In
!, o fine disdain, that never saw equaled |
: woman. Always quietly and elegant
dressed, she was striking by force of he
g very presence. With strongly-marked fec
lures, noble figure, and elastic step, whlc
yet carried with II the proud dignity Of
0 queen, she could not fall to attract secon
a glance even from an unthinklng stranger
On either side walked fair young daughter
One, much taller than her mother, was esp,
: Cially noticeable for her wide blue eyes an
u long, fair curls. Within two or three yea
y she married and died, leaving, a. her dyin
u gift TO the mother, whose heart was broke
y little child Of her own.
q In time Broadway gave another character
e lstic picture Of Fanny Fern. Ia the brigl
p with the young daughter left and tho bah!
y Thus l saw II one day In Its nurses arm
"a The crowd wcdgcd US all pat In a corne
y Fanny Fern was talking with baby. Obi
A. ions Of all the world, she saw her klngdO
e In It's eyes. Such a TRANSPORTED face, SUI
baby talk The dlrest Calylnlst could n
despair Of the final salvation" OF a Woma
who could look and talk like that to bah
It was of this child that she wrote pTiVatel
'e "Our little Etiie has never been left with
servant; and, although to carry out such
Up plan has involved the sacrifice Of much lite
IN AIRY work, or its unsatisfactory iucOmplet
g, ness, l am not and never shall be, sorr
III She is my poem"
1t As writer she never reached her ov
1t highest mark, never wrote up 10 the hlghC
IN level Of her powers. A passion for truth,
hatred OF shams, contempt for preteus
be slashed with satire, sarcasm, humor and WI
or all electrified by an Astounding vitality Al
Is an exuberant love Of mischief and fu
Is marked every utterance which she comm
+ ted to print Yet scarcely less was ever
Id thing that she wrote yelned with deep 10
as Ing pity for human nature, q delight In I
ed natural world, OF which she was a happy
ly toTpreter. One could not read the sllghtt
I'D sketch from her hand without being co
nd sCious that II came from a strong and no
o. est heart, and from head Of unexhaust
Ia power. Yet the conditions under which s
CO wrote made II impossible that she should CO
is centrate, elaborate, DO continuously an artl
or although, even as she wrote, In one form
I'd utterance she was ever uuRpproached.
to was her lot, as II Is the lot Of many BRAY
bright men and women Of this generatio
nd TO serve her day, TO meet the exigencies
ret the hour, 10 say the word that at present Z
as manded should be said, without reference
to the future. And she was true woman enou
At to recognize the fact and to mOdulate
a life upon II, that to Dc Is higher than 10 50
ut even though your word be said In form
lg the finest art; and TO mould an immOr
IT, soul Is the dlvinest work that can come
IL | woman Or man