Miss Martin’s pictures were exhibited in Cincinnati, and attracted the attention of connoisseurs. They were large, as her figures of life size best enlisted her own sympathies. Her battle with the world now commenced in earnest. The jealousy of rival artists was awakened by the certainty that a rising genius had come among them. Flippant critics pleased others and their own vanity by decrying her productions. But she continued to paint, and sometimes had good fortune in disposing of her pictures, practicing her art with undiminished industry and enthusiasm, even while discouraged by the want of patronage. On one occasion she was in company with Lord Morpeth. Addressing him as “Mr. Morpeth,” she was reminded apart by her father that she ought to say “my lord.” “No, indeed,” replied the young lady; “I never saw a man I would call ‘my lord’ yet.” Miss Martin was married in Cincinnati to Mr. Spencer. When surrounded by the cares of a young family she continued to paint, but her style changed. At first her pictures had been poetical and semi-allegorical. She liked to embody some suggestive idea, or a whole history, in a group, as in several of her scenes from Shakspeare. Her “Water Sprite,” representing the escape of Spring from Winter, is of this class. After she became a mother, her taste was more for bits of domestic life, and she found matter-of-fact pictures more salable than her cherished ideals. After living some seven years in Cincinnati, Mrs. Spencer returned with her family to New York, stopping a year in Columbus, Ohio, where she painted portraits and fancy-pieces. In New York she visited the Academy for the purpose of improving herself by drawing after the antique, often going in the evening, as her labors and cares absorbed her during the day, and sitting among the male art-students. One, who noticed the quiet, modest-looking girl at work, undertook to point out the best models, but soon discovered he was trying to teach his superior. She was made a member of the Academy. Her “May Queen” and “Choose Between” were much praised in the Art Union Exhibition. “The Jolly Washerwoman,” sold by that institution, became celebrated. It was painted impromptu from a scene in the artist’s own kitchen. A connoisseur was so much pleased with one of her pictures that he insisted on paying more than was asked for it.