The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1886-11-26
WHOLE. NO. .9O7.
AUTHORS CHILDREN.
LITERARY GENIUS SELDOM TRANS
MITTED BY PARENTS.

The Majority of the Children of Literary
tion i'm the Parental Direction-A Few
L Exceptions.
Richard Henry Stoddard has but one sur
viving child, a son, who, though his mother
is poet likewise. and a woman of rare in
tellect, betrays no sympathy with literature.
He inanifests, however, considerable artistic
taste, especially in the line of decoration, but
he is not disposed to develop it. His bias is in
favor of the stage, albeit he has shown no
histrionic ability whatever. He has been for
two seasons with Lawrence Barrett's COM
pany, though wholly in subordinate capac-
1ty, seldom having any words to speak He
seems to be indolent, and Incidence frequently
goes with the artistic temperament.
Louisa III. Alcott, as an instance, is strictly
domestic. The eldest of number of daugh-
ters, with transcendental father-A. Bron-
son Alcott-irremedially impractical, an in
cessant dreamer and an invalid mother, the
care of the household even to the earningof
money for its daily needs, devolved ON her.
He had no sons, but he impaired to his daugh-
ter Louisa some of the qualities of his mind,
balanced by common sense and an under
standing of the world. For her to have mar
ried when she was young-she is 53-would
have been to desert her family, to leave her
father either TO starve or to the charity Of
few admiring and sympathetic souls.
LoNGFELLows CHILDREN.
One of his friends was Longfellow, also a
genial student, man of constant meditation,
almost a clostered spirit, but one who knew
that money is essential to existence, and be-
leved that the laborer is worthy of his hire.
He had three daughters and two sons, among
whom there is not an author Or poet OF any
Kind. Ernest W., is an artist of repute; and
the other, Charles, was an officer in the
Union army during the civil war, and has
since been gentleman of leisure, living on
his income. The sole unmarried daughter.
Miss Alice Longfellow, is decidedly of a schol-
arly turn, pursuing at home and abroad vari-
GUS advanced studies
Bret Harte has SONS, the eldest of whom is
on the stage, having become enamored OF the
footlights, without any reasonable prospect
of ever shining behind them as they shine be-
fore him. Another has, or had, some kind
of connection with weekly newspaper in
the city, but has come no nearer to any form
of literature. Harte has never, suspect
tried to cultivate in his children any disposi
ton toward his own trade, which has not
prevented him, when most actively cult
waited, from mourning a heavy burden of
debt. He is not painfully domestic in his
habits
Thomas Bailey Aldrich has sons, twins, now
about 20 years old. They are said to be intel
lectual and witty, like their father, but, at
latest advices, had exhibited no alarming
tendency to manuscript making. Their papa
may prefer that they should confine their
writing of
not likely to secure, as he has done. a rich
patron Henry L. Pierce, of Boston,, who,
being bachelor, is so munifcent in his gifts
as to furnish a liberal income. But for him
the world would not go so pleasantly with the
Aldriches.
E. c. sTEDMAN's TWO SONS.
Edmund c. Stedman has. also. two sons
One of them Frederick, through the imprud-
ence and overconfidenee of young man ad-
mitted to partnership with his father, was in
strumental in getting the brokerage firm into
serious trouble three years ago. Since then
he has retired from Wall street, pursuing an
other sort of business. His nearest approach
to literature was acting for brief time as
salesman in q Broadway bookstore. His bent
is financial, and authorship surely has but a
slender relation to finance. The younger son,
Arthur, a graduate OF Yale, has been for sew
eral years his fathers private secretary and
literary assistant, and is understood to have
aspirations in the paternal direction
William D. Howells has, believe, one son,
who may be induced to make writing q pro-
fession in due time by the remembrance that
at present his papa earns not far from $4,000,
at least tive-foid what most clever and noted
authors can earn by the greatest diligence
and determination.
Joaquin Miller has two daughters by two |
wives, but no son ON whom he may practice.
as he has tried to practice ON the general
public, the transparent sham of being gifted
barbarian, all genius and no kind Of educa-
ton. He is really shrewd and very practical,
and his affectation of peculiarity, with his
perpetual insistence ON his assumed idiosyn-
crasies, do not add to his attractions.
Mark Twain (Clemens) has sons who will /
be more likely to initiate him in his love of
money getting by mercantile methods than
in being funny at the highest prices
Among all the authors I am acquainted
with Henry James and Julian Hawthorne
are among the very few who have inherited
literary talents from their fathers Julian has
made more in a year than Nathaniel Haw-
thorne made in his whole life, and yet he has
never been able to meet his expenses without
depending ON o very elastic credit system.
He has six or eight children, mostly girls
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