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We sliould be glad to give the true a tame of this authoress. But she pre- v eis still to maintain her incognito, £ nd a proper deference for the obli- g‘ rations of courtesy, (which are-as ], finding in literary as in sociallife) tJ orbids pur doing what would other- y vise beian equal gratification to our a eaders and ourselves. With regard a o the persoual hislory.of Fan.ny Feun ^ ve feel a. similar constraint. We hall, therefoie, only touch, and that ightly, upon'such points as, under the t-fircumstances, may be referred to j( vitliout the slightest violation of pro- t iriety. _ bNot many years since, Fanny Fern vas living—no matter where—in af- y luehce. No home need be more t oveiy, no family more happy, than y vas hers. Ample wealth, devoted n ove,' cultivated intellect, refined taste, g md a fervid religious spirit combined s o make that home whatever could be lesired on earth, and excited the respect and admiration of all . admitted :o the happy circle. But suddenly a holt fell. Death came. . The husband t ltid father was smitten down. The , 1 widowed mother and the half-orphan : I children were left to fight the battle j ] :f life alone. Adversity succeeded jdveiMty. Poverty followed in tbe a dismal train, and illness and want bad 1 the afflicted family at their , mercy, f The mother struggled on as best she f could ; hut we all know how liardit is ' i for a lady: to find employment which j t wil] enable lier to obtain a livelihood j i even for herself, much less for a fam- J 1 tty of children. The female teacher js generally receives only a meager sal- [ I ary ; the copyist pursues an uncertain \ ■ calling; tbe seamstress can at., best eatu hut a miserable pittance. And j lt;so, at last, after bitter years, the-wid- , i owed mother, from sheer desperation, j t took to her. pen, and-another and a I t bright star was added to our literary galaxy. I tFanny Fern’s first article was writ- I ' ten and puhli-hcd in July,- 1 So I. It t was imihedialeiy copied far and wide, j lt;Each succeeding piece met with s'm- j ! iiur favor; until most of the newspa-I pets of this country, and many British ; periodicals, wee regulaty enriched | with her p- iides. But whi'e she was thus fitrii'sh'tig amu.-ement and instruction to the public, she wifi not receiving an adequate reward. Whenever a woman is obliged to go into the. world and earn her own living, ’ she has to undergo t-ia'sand dlflicul- ! lies of which a man’ can, perhaps, i fo- oi no just idea. A delicate, seusi- , tive lady can not, for instance, cad at , newspaper offices to solicit employ* j ment, or offer an a-ticfc for sale, with- j out being exposed! to annoyances,1 which to her are very painful, hut j which a man might not observe. A, refined lady can ill brook the inquiring j gaze aiid impertinent stare of hangers- t on; nor can slut ba gain for a proper j remuneration, nor call again, and again and again, if need he, in foul as j well as fair weather. And then it is oflen assumed that a woman should be paid less for her labor than a man for his, though hers be equally valuable; and is is only after she has acquired a commanding reputation that she can ortlina ily obtain a just equivalent for-) her productions. And thus, for many j months, the compensation which Fanny Fern received for her writings was | .not at all commensurate, with'their j value. For articles which were woith i fifty dollars, and which would have commanded that sum had she known j better how to sell them, she often received but a tenth, of that amount; and during this time her income was far from being sufficient to maintain herself and-her children comfoilably. But with unyielding pe’sevetauee, and her trust in God unshaken, she .worked on until she triumphed over all obstacles, earned a name of which she may wed be proud, secured an; ample fortune, and won the increased | respect and love of those who knew her best. It is, perhaps, needless to remark that she now commands the highest price paid to writers in this country.In! examining Fanny Farn’s writings, even the earliest of them, one is struck with the evidence they exhibit! that the writer understands her own powers perfectly; or rather, that she knows positively that she caa^ do certain things belter than they have ever, been done before. Though this is unquestionably the case, she doubtless often achieves more brillieiit triumphs than she anticipated;- in Other words; she is probably often surprised at the excellence of her own articles. She never makes a mistake, because she never attempts what she cannot successfully achieve! J This fact lias been manifested1 throughput. her litb-:■ ary career. At first her articlesFrom The Female Prose Wiuteds or America. By Prof. Hart. Philadelphia: E. H. Butler Co.1 -
Newspaper Details
Coudersport Peoples Journal
Coudersport, Pennsylvania, US
Thu, Nov 02, 1854
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Indiana U.
PA, USA 10 Dec 2024
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