The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-04-07


Work.
Ii is rare to see woman who, il tried
by her own standard and that Of those
Immediately around her, has led q nObler
or more completely satisfactory life than
Louisa Alcott But since we ought never
10 be satisfied either with ourselves or
with anybody else, and since one OF the
chief uses Of the study Of fine character
il to discover wherein It could be yet
finer, there is always lesson TO
be drawn from the very limitations
of each career. The finest thought
ever expressed by IIowclls, | think, is
where he suggests that success Itself may
perhaps seem very much like failure, seen
from the inside; and there are few emf
nent persons probably. 50 sunk in conceit
that they could not afford TO others Ger
tain warnings as well as examples from
their own achievements The obituaries
usually miss such warnings; indeed they
are apt to turn expressly away from them
and think it little uugener0us % draw
them, the consequence being that such
obituaries are as yalueless as an inscrip-
ton On a monument, and, like that, re-
duce all character 10 a level OF common
place and conventional virtue. There are,
perhaps. but two points OF warning, on
even of limitation, that need to be sug
gestcd In connection with Miss Alcott
brilliant career. but each Of these IS Of
some weight.
First IL is fair TO ask why this valuable
life was cut of so carly-at 80 instead of
50, this last being her fathers term Ot
years Was 1t not because she burned the
candle too desperately, while bis burned
calmly and an times even fcebly2 OF late
years she has suffered repeatedly, 10 is
stated, from nervous pr0stratiOn and other
disorders coming from excess Of work
She never had any leisure. she was always
overwOrked Grant that this evil came
largely from those eXaCtine demands OF
admirers and correspondents which have
been more than once pointed ont ia these
columns, and which make ir Jiten hard
Tor really useful life 10 prolong Itself
Bur suspect there was another reason,
which seldom fails 10 tell upon successful
authors The late Mr. James 4. Field,
once told me that heasked Charles Reade
when at the height OF his fame, why do
You give Us 40 more oi those delightful
shorter tales like Peg Wellington and
Christie tombstone. ou which Your fame
was first fouudld2' "Becau-o' said
Rcade. simply, Il cannot now afford ill.,
When he was comparatively poor and ma
known he could write masterpieces, when
he mad achieved fame and fortune. and
acquired the habits that come with these,
he no longer had thc leisure 20 write them.
Ii is the same with health. sine, aud Tie
itself The young girl who earn, - bl
her first published story has an immense
sense of wealth let her cherish IT, for ~ie
will probably never feel So rich again As
a rule. if you earn 5000 year. You spend
il. II YOU earn s. 600 "a year, your stand
ard of expenditures almost invariably eN-
pands 20 match 10; and for the most part,
the more money one earns. the harder it
is to take u vacation. This applies 20
those who spend money se.il5hly. but II
applies with tenfold force % those who
are generous
When the writer was planning ia the
autumn OF 1851 10 enlist regiment for
the civil war, il occurred 10 him TO invite
the celebrated John Il. Cough To 20 as
chaplain since his personal magnetism
and eloquence, although lac was lot
clergyman, would he felt through the
whole Union army. On inquryit turned
out that Mr. Cough was absolutely fet-
tered by his own large earnings and pro
fuse charities. he could easily earn $50 or
500 a day the year round by lectur.ug.
but all this large income was mOrtgaged
in advance 10 young men whom ne was
educating and poor families whom he was
supporting SO that he absolutely could
not afford 10 stop work for q moment
Had he been poorer he could have gone.
So when one reads Of Miss Alc0tt $ coming
into the office Of The Woman's Journal,
and bringing 500 that she had earned
before breakfast. one is led TO ask whether
il would not have been better no, to have
earned il than 10 give 10 away so lavishly
as to have 10 20 To work ate. breakfast
for another 500, instead Of taking day
of and letting the tired brain rest 10 ls
the last lesson ever learned by writers
and artists % be wisely economical Of
themselves, and 70 spare tho sources from
which prosperity aud usefulness too easily
flow
The other lesson goes deeper. Miss Al
colts intellectual work itself found
Limitation in its grade By reason Of its
ready abundance She had the ear OF her
public she was, as WAS said OF her, "a
benefactor OF households" and perhaps
she did-it is impossible TO prove the con-
trary-the very highest work Of which
she was capable But it was not very
high or very permanent she never
equa!ed her first successful work OF iic-
ton, and for the rest OF her life as in the
case OF Bret Harte, she simply repeated
the same few delueatious. They were, OF
course more innocent and healthtul than
Hartes but they were as mOnOtonousi
children. doubtless, continued to cry for
them, but 10 maturer reader-at least
none familiar with literature-cared to
keep the run OF them. Her muse was do
nestle, simple and sOciable; the instinct
of arr she never had. 1t is difficult to
imagine her as bordering a situation
deeply, still less as concerning herself
about phrase or dictiOn. III this she was
curiously unlike Helen Jackson, who was
all artist by nature and 10y habit, and who
was able to write "Ramona" SO rapidly
that it seemed an improvisation, because
she had learned the use Of her tools be-
fore.-T. ". uigginsou in Harper's Ba-