The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-04-22
MRS. BURNETT'S. CAREER
sIDELlGHTs ON RECENT MARRIAGE
OF "FAUNTLEROY'sv MOTHER.
She Pictured, but Did Not Act the
Part of "Dearest''-Mr. Townsend
Not Her Private Secretary.
Washington Post.

Der private secretary, has directed the
public gaze anew to a figure upon which it
has often before been riveted, and put in
circulation certain counterfeit statements
III regard to her which have long passed
current as genuine.
The authoress, who has thus alleged the
fine gold of her literary fame with the no.
toriety of divorce and marriage was
born November. 1S47. and was the daughter
of porcelain merchant of Manchester.
England.
Up. to the time of her fathers death.
which occurred Immediately before the
breaking out of our civil war, the family
lived in plain but substantial comfort. Then
it was discovered that they were penni-
less; and, yielding to the solicitation of one
of his brothers, who had emigrated to
America and successfully established him
self in Knoxville, Tenn, the widow, with
her two sons and four daughters, joined
him there
Ere this move had been consummated.
however, war was abroad in the land, and
the brother who had offered them support
was ruined. The family. thrown suddenly
upon their own resources, took a small
farm on the outskirts of the town.
Frances Hodgson's initiation into author
ship, of her earning the money for the
carriage of her manuscripts by selling ber-
ries and of their acceptance by the editors
of Godey's and Peterson's magazines is
true. After she became famous these
stories were brought out I'm book form,
and when one considers her extreme youth
the brief period of scholastic training ac-
corded her and ner utter inexperience in
life they are the most wonderful of all her
achievements. Through the force of her
Imagination she projected herself into
atmosphere which she had never known
an atmosphere of wealth, and fashion, and
ceremony.
She was fond of describing in her own
inimitable way her first impression of her
future husband as, glancing from a win
dow of the little farmhouse on a certain
occasion. she saw him on the turnpike out
side contending with a refractory mule.
They afterward met, and the world knows
the rest.
DR.. Burnett. lame from childhood. from
knife wound in the knee, inflicted while
playing a game of humble the peg"
was endeavoring to fit himself for the
practice of medicine, and an engagement
of seven years preceded their marriage.
Although about her own age, his life
horizon had been far wider than hers,
and cultured and refined. with exquisite
literary taste and fine critical ability, her
connection with him proved of inestima-
bic value to ner in the development of her
genius.
| II was at his suggestion that a better
market for her wares was sought, and
"Surly Tim" was submitted to the editor
| of Scribners Magazine
A work of such merit, written in an
| English hand. and coming from an un-
known source, created a sensation in the
| Office, and. doubling its originality, DR..
Holland dispatched a letter of inquiry to
the author in regard to II.
BY way of reply she sent him a second
contribution, the matter ending in the es-
f1hlfchmpntOf nrOfitaDlp relations
between them.
REMOVAL TO WASHINGTON.
| 1t was during the period of her early
| popularity that she was asked by New
| York paper TO name her price for a short
| story. She fixed the valuation at $500, and
was afterward told by the editor that she
| could just as easily have got $500.
Meanwhile contributions from her of
marked excellence continued to appear in
Scribners Magazine. At length she sub
| mitted as a short story 1.-The Lass o.
Lowrie's." and, instantly detecting it's ca
| liabilities. the editor urged that she would
| develop IL into book. The suggestion
| was acted upOn the result being the pro-
| duction of what, despite the phenomenal
| popularity of Little Lord Fauntleroy, is
| regarded by critics as her greatest work.
Just before its publication her marriage
| occurred, and soon after that event the
4 a
| small house on NJ street, near the British
| legation.
| temporary residence on Thirteenth
street followed, after which they occupied
| dwelling on / street, between Twelfth
| and Thirteenth belonging TO General
| Grant, when society placed the insignia of
| it's recognition on the then famous au-
| thOreSs and she became the rage"
| Short and stout, with somewhat dis
proportionately large head and face, she
| was never. even in the heyday of youth
! corners was her best feature. A large
| strong nose and pair of gray eyes-cur-
| tanned windows of the soul'-through
| which one caught only glimpse Of the
| inner nature. completed the picture the
whole being framed with an exuberant
| mass of reddish-brown hair
| She had a theory. however, that 1t was
mot necessary for woman to be beau
| tiful in order to be effective" and used to
declare that it was "ten times more fun
| to fool and make him think you
were pretty than to be so.''
| Mrs. Burnett used TO say of herself that
| she was mot an intellectual woman and
she was certainly neither studious nor
| scholarly, only possessing wonderful
gift of storytelling and strong dramatic
| instinct.
| She had rooted aversion to being alone.
| liking to have some one at hand to talk
to even while she was dressing. and when
| confined TO the house by indisposition, IL
| only for day, would dispatch messenger
posthaste to a friend to come and sit with
| her."
The critics are saying of her latest work.
"In Connection with the De Willoughby
| Claim" that in it Mrs. Burnett has ere
| turned to her early style, when. in reality.
the book, with the exception of the closing
chapters. was written twenty years ago,
the author for some reason losing interest
in Ii and throwing Ii aside.
| VIVIAN AND LIONEL.
After the birth OF her first child, Lionel,
her husband and herself went to Paris,
that the former might pursue special
course of study as an oculist. and before
their return home a second son, Vivian.
now on the editorial staff of the Denver
Republican, and the little Lord Fauntle-
| roy of the world-famous tale. was born.
The responsibilities of wife and mother
| rested lightly upon her. however.
IF my boys had been stupid and ugly
she used TO say, and one laughed with
her. feeling that she only half meant IT,
ssI could not have loved them, adding
its a good thing for them that they are
| so becoming 10 me-.
Their little figures, after her re-estab-
| Ishment at the capital. were familiar OBJ
| ieets on the streets of Washington. They
went everywhere, now and then getting
| lost but always coming TO light again
| and more than once returning nome under
| tha escort Of n pOliCeman.