Page:Women of distinction.djvu/72

32 She is now preparing for publication in book form an illustrated story which will be followed by an historical story.

She was married in 1879 to W. E. Mathews, of Petersburg, Va., and is the mother of one child, a boy of twelve ears. To say that "Victoria Earle" has already succeeded and stands shoulder to shoulder with most of her white sisters is only to tell a part of the truth. She indeed has but few equals, and when chances or opportunities and environments are compared, she may safely be said to be the peer of her more favored sisters.

She stands as a living example to the very large number of our young women who are so well acquainted with the trials and discouragements of a dependent life; and still more an example is she because by energy, courage and self-reliance she has steadily developed from a slave-horn child of dependence to a woman of national character with recognised worth and ability. The world has truly felt her impress. She is in demand wherever she is known and is honored by the intelligent of all classes whose fortune it is to become acquainted with her noble womanly and scholarly qualities.

The excellence of her writings is simply grand and encouraging.