Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1877-09-11
Rewards of Literature.

Longfellow, the most popular Amer
can poet, and quite as popular in Grea
Britain as hers, has not had from hi
works more than 100000. He is inde
pendent in circumstances probabl,
worth 100000 to $500, ,OOO-but the great
est part of it has come to him through
his wife, long since deceased, who wa
rich in her own right. It should be re
membered, too, that he has been writin.
all his life most industriously, and tina
he is now seventy.
Emerson, themost original thinker il
the Republic, whose work has beer
translated into many modern languages
has not made, from his remarkable littl'
volumes, over $4,000. He has gained
nearly as much more by lecturing; and
yet, by excellent management, which
one might not expect from the high
idealist, and by serene philosophy of 6
practical sort, he continues to live on his
small property.
Bryant is often cited as al instance o1
rich author. He is rich. but not by
authorship. He has made considerable
money by assisting in the publication of,
and lending his name to divers works OF
a popular kind but the great bulk of
fortune has come to him from his half
ownership in the Evening Post, one of
the most profitable newspaper in the
country. All the money he has directly
earned by his pen, outside of journalism,
would not exceed, in all probably $25, 600,
Notwithstanding his estate is estimated
at 100000. .
Hawthorne, who stands foremost
among American authors, and who has
contributed more than any one of our
countrymen to velAmerican literature
distinct reputation, was poor to his dy-
ing day, and might have suffered but for
his appointment to the consulship at
Liverpool by his friend, President
Pierce. AS the place is lucrative, and
he held it for four years, he put some
money in his purse, which enabled him
to travel in Europe after his resignation,
and to add to his material comfort in va
rious ways.
Lowell is independent in circumstan-
ces-no thanks to his fine poetry and
essays, however. His highly artistict
but if it were not he never could have
coined his brain into dollars enough to
live as he has lived-elegantly, though
modestly and reasonably.
Whittier, charming poet that he is,
has within few years earned some
thing by cultivating the Muse; but if
he had not from the beginning pursued
a rigorous economy he might have come
to want. Like most thrifty New En-
glanders, he owns his own house, and
beneath its humble roof, it is said, he
has sometimes subsisted-he is bache-
lor, you know-on $500 a year. Such
often are the wages of poetry.
Holmes is well off by the practice of
the medical profession, by marriage and
Inheritance, albeit not by poems, lee
lures, novels, nor Autocrats of the
Breakfast Table. All that he has writ
ten has not brought him $25, 600, and but
for his independence he would not have
felt able to give so much of his time as
he has given to miscellaneous litera-.
ture.
Bayar5 Taylor, although he has made,
perhaps, $4,000 by his writings-his
books of travel having been very popu-
lar-has not sufficient income to sustain
him without regular labor. A very
large part of his capital is invested in
the Tribune, and as the paper wisely in
tends to pay for its new and very exten-
sive buildings before resuming divi-
dends. he has gone upon the editorial
staff at $1,000 per annum, which he
WOulu uOt nave Uouc, pIoDdDIy, udu uOC
the dividends been Interrupted.
might go through the whole litera-
ture of the country without being able
to point out one who has earned enough
by his writing to render him indepen-
dent. Mr.. J. G. Holland is frequently
named as an author who has amassed
wealth. His books hive sold as largely
as those of any American writer, and
whatever may be thought of his ability,
he still has q vast consistency. He is
not at all rich in the New York sense
he may be worth $4,000 but most of
this he got by his partnership in the
Sprigield Republican, which he dispos-
ed of some time before he came here to
George VIM. Custis-dainty, eloquent.
and scholarly--is dependent on his salary
from the Harpers so is Mr.. VIM. d.
Howell dependent upon his editorship
of the atlantic Bret Harte, T.B. Alrich,
James Parten, J. t. Trowbridge, r. H.
T. w. Higginson, mainly up
on fugitive writing while Grant White
has place in the Custom House; E. G.
Stedman is stock broker; and other
authors are obliged, more or less, to do
practical things in order to support the
luxury of literature.