The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1873-07-24
JlscEI1RNa9:
THE ARTISTS FORTUNE.


When in disgrace with fortune and mems ewes,
l. an alone, oeweep my Outcast state.
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries
VA ana look upon myself and curse my fate,
wishing me ike to one more rich in hope
Featured ike him, like him with friends pos
sessd, -
Desiring this mans art and that mans scope,
~ with what most enjoy cOntented least;
Yet IN these thoughts myself almost despising
HAPPY THINK on thee and then my state,
LAKE, TO the larks-at break of day arising
Fr0m suien sarth,-sings hymns at heavens
For thy sweet love. remembered, such wealth
That then then I se0rn to change my state with
Shakespeare
How often is the Artist made the sub
Jeet OF song and story Indeed, an an
elent or modern romance; would seem to
be incomplete without the introduction Of
thls-otten unremunerated servant and
caterer to the finer and nobler instincts of
humanity.
The story usually told of him, is that
he struggles along IN abject poverty, un-
till some king or rich and influential no
bleman, IN admiration for his art, takes
hlm under their kindly protection and
patronage or some rich heiress falls in love
with hlm and marTIes hiId.
These things, however, are not what
always betaII him, as the perusal of our
little sketch will tend to show. Ave the
true artist soul is not gratifed alone by
that so much coveted wealth and empty
fame, bat longs for sweeter, quleter and
holier things.
On cold, dreary, November afternoon
I'm the midst Of a large city-away up
four flights of stairs of a building, in a
dlngy room, a pale, thoughtful, young
man was moodlly pacing to and fro. The
room Was poorly furnished, though its ut
ter desolatlon was somewhat relieved by
the quaint, little touches OF sunny land
scape, fruit and flowers, hanging upon the
walls, two or three statues Of antique
gods or goddesses, gray with the accumu-
lated dust and cobwebs, standing in the
corners, and an unfinished portrait sitting
upon an easel near the center of the room.
All betokened it an artists studio, and its
occupant, poor,artist
The melancholy cast of his countenanee
indicated that he was used to privations
/ and self-deuials; and his mild, blue, earn
est eye told of kindly, loving, though
restless heart yearning and longing tor
sympathy.
| His last meal had been but a crust of
bread and cup of water. His quarterly
rent was about due, and the last picture,
from which be hoped to realize anything,
was upon the easel and about finished.
! Where his next commission was to come
| from, Heaven knew, he did not
| Dark, blank despair, like the shadow of
a starless night brooded dismAlly over his
spirit. His dreams of future prosperity
and happiness grew vague and dim, and
down deep in the depths of his soul, he
prayed. He remembered the fairy tales
read in boyhood, how the ETHEREAL queens,
in the guise of mortals, once condescended
to visit the desolate and despairing ones
of earth, rendering their kindly Offices
Surely, thought he. angel ministrations
are not past-why can they not come
now.
% Tip, tap, tip, tap; Just then an approach
ing foot-step was heard upon tie stair
way and gentle, timid-l like rap aroused
the young artist from his dreaming rev
erie.
The door was opened and into the room
stepped-what no king, no rich, power
ful nobleman, no nicely dressed heiress
bespangled with Jewels; no blithesoms
fairy, IN the form of wrinkled old wo-
man; only neat, modest, quiet looking
! tile maiden, dressed in plain black, close,
ly hooded, but vet disclosing q pair O.
while from broad, ample forehead wa.
plainly brushed back rich mass of darl
brown hair and allowed to fall in simple
braids over her rounded shoulders. But
there are evident traces of some recent
great and oVer-burdening sorrow depic-
ted in her whole face and manner, as she
passes the usual compliments and makes
known her business with the artist.
She has recently lost that dearest and
best friend, that it is ever given to NOR
tails to possess on earth, her mother; anc
she wishes to know whether he can paint
for her an enlarged picture, from the min.
iature likeness which she clasps IN hel
hand, that will recall more vividly the
form and look of the sainted one Briefly
has she told her story; how her father has
been long since dead and she now left ar
orphan, and how from the wreck of hel
once loved nome she managed to save thE
| old piano and obtained board and lodging
IN a private family, with permission Il
give lessons upon that lnstrumeDt-o
which she was quite a master-to the few
scholars which she might by diligence OBJ
tain; and how she wished to, and coulC
only pay for the picture, by giving les
sons to some one of his children or youn
ger brothers and sisters. Alas! He ha
neitherl What shall he do? Why tax
the lessons himself-of course-and tn
bargain was quickly made, poor as b
was.
The money due upon his last picture
he reasons TO himself-will by dint c
close pinchIng keep him a while from ut
ter starvation, and he will trust the futur
to providence. A warm tear starts an
, trembles tricklingly down the soft chez
of the little maiden, as she begs that th
!. artist will do his very best. And he will
It for those bright eyes, like summer sun
I beams, have poured in upon his artist sou
5 lighting and awakening its moody, slun
u. bering energies. The tears and PlaintiV
= voice of the little maiden have touche