Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1886-11-05

recently as 1872, having nearly completed
her Tooth year. She made intricate as
Economical calculations when in her 92nd
year.
Lady Morgan was another instance of a
woman who had little early education,
becoming distinguished in literature. Her
father was poor 'barnstOTmer" in lro-
land at the close of the last century, and
the authoress of ''The Wild Irish Girl"
and other popular novels of that time
had to overcome the prejudice against her
father profession. She had also to contend
with poverty and poor education. Yet she
became famous
We have had two great female astro-
nomers, Miss Herschell and Miss Mitchell.
Both were single women. and both took
up the study of astronomy in order to as
sist their brothers. Miss Herschell's path
way to fame was over smooth road, but
Miss Maria Mitchell had everything to
battle with. She was the daughter Of a
small farmer In Nantucket, who was OBJ
liged to exc out his income by teaching
school at So week. Maria was constant
ly occupied with household duties, and
she describes her childhood as ''being an
endless washing Of dishes.''
It is curious fact that so many of our
celebrated literary women were the
daughters of farmers and began their life
work by teaching school-graduaily &C.
curing fame and afn uence by writing.
Take the Cary sisters to begin with and
Mrs. Lydia Sigourney, the poetess, before
them Grace Greenwood and lastly Ella
| Wheeler.
Ella Wheeler never taught school, but
her parents were poor farm people in the
West. The first poem she ever wrote she
sent to Mrs. Frank Leslie, who saw
enough merit In it to accept it. Ella has
bought her parents home out of her own
earnings, and is in every respect most
excellent daughter.
No female novelist worthy of fame ap-
peared in England until the reign of
George III. That was ''little" Miss
Frances Burney. She was sort Of gov
erness to some of the royal children, which
gave her an entrance into society, and
this made her books fashionable. They
possessed merit, however. She was the
daughter OF a physician not well-to-do,
and Miss Burney had to maintain herself.
| The lady doctors and lawyers have had
the hardest time to enter protest. onal
ranks. Nevertheless, they have made
great Roadway since Elizabeth Blackwell
vainly applied for admission to the medi
cal colleges in New York, Boston and
Philadelphia. She was finally admitted
as student In the medical college of
Geneva, n. Y. Her youth was one of
struggle, hardship, discouragement. and
restricted means.
The grandfather of Nine Dudevant
George SANDY peddled birds about the
streets of Paris-made money enough by
that to open little tavern and billiard
room for cabmen and others of like grade.
Her grandmother was an Legitimate
daughter of Marshal SAKE, son Of Angus
tus, King of Poland. In Nine. Sands
Life" written by herself, she naively re-
marks that she does not know whether
she is most proud of having peddler's or
kings blood in her veins. George Sands
mother was serving woman, and the
whole family had hard fight for bare
existence. Her first romance depicted the
adventures of young girl fascinated by
birds.
| Nine. Dudevant made herself death.
less name by the brilliancy of her own
great genius, and may fairly rank among
the foremost self-made women of the
world. She had everything to contend
with-poverty, obscurity, an untutored
girlhood, a wretched marriage, and opin-
ions in advance of her time. Even her
first choice of a profession was mis-
take, as she thought her talent lay in
painting.
1t would appear that the famous female
painters have had less to struggle against
than others of their sex. Almost all in
herlted their genius and became proficient
in their art, their talent encouraged and
fostered by their father In his
studio. From Angelica Kaufman down
to Elizabeth Thompson, the painters have
been the only women who have trod the
royal road to fame and fortune.
Singers come next as instances of the
ease with which some women attain high
places, and at the head Of these stands
Patti, who, with the exception of few
failures to draw as child artist, has had
no uphill work at all. Yet she has worked
all her life, too, and has never in all her
long career been known to disappoint an
audience, either through caprice or sick
ness.
Grace Darling and our own Ida Lewis
we're self-made women. Both occupied
the same position in life-assistants in
light house-and both became celebrated
for saving life. Among the list of self
made women these heroines stand at the
head.
The most renowned woman who sprang
from the lowllest estate was Jeanne d'Arc,
who fed swine.
| The two most illustri0us examples Of
self. made women are Theodore and Mad
anne de Maintenon. Theodore was the
daughter of the master Of the bears in the
Island of Cyprus. She danced with tbs
bears for the amusement of the nrssi4c.
! She is said to have been the frs'.So woman
who wrote q dramAt' cOm,ssslClOn. She