They impressed me, then, as pleasing in manners and
appearance: Ellen's is a character to which I could soon attach
myself, and Fanny and Louisa have each their separate advantages. I
can, however, read more in a face like Mrs. Williams's than in the
smooth young features of her daughters--time, trial, and exertion
write a distinct hand, more legible than smile or dimple. I was told
you had once some thoughts of bringing out Fanny as a professional
singer, and it was added Fanny did not like the project. I thought
to myself, if she does not like it, it can never be successfully
executed. It seems to me that to achieve triumph in a career so
arduous, the artist's own bent to the course must be inborn, decided,
resistless. There should be no urging, no goading; native genius and
vigorous will should lend their wings to the aspirant--nothing less
can lift her to real fame, and who would rise feebly only to fall
ignobly? An inferior artist, I am sure, you would not wish your
daughter to be, and if she is to stand in the foremost rank, only her
own courage and resolve can place her there; so, at least, the case
appears to me. Fanny probably looks on publicity as degrading, and I
believe that for a woman it is degrading if it is not glorious.
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