initial commit of ebook 37888HEADmain

24 files changed, 22058 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6833f05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+* text=auto
+*.txt text
+*.md text
diff --git a/37888-8.txt b/37888-8.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..483bdbc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/37888-8.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,6968 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Charlotte Brontė, by T. Wemyss Reid
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Charlotte Brontė
+       A Monograph
+
+Author: T. Wemyss Reid
+
+Release Date: October 30, 2011 [EBook #37888]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHARLOTTE BRONTĖ ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by StevenGibbs and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: REV. PATRICK BRONTĖ.]
+
+
+CHARLOTTE BRONTĖ.
+
+A Monograph.
+
+
+BY
+T. WEMYSS REID.
+
+
+_WITH ILLUSTRATIONS._
+
+
+London:
+MACMILLAN AND CO.
+1877.
+
+[_All Rights Reserved._]
+
+
+_THIRD EDITION._
+
+CHARLES DICKENS AND EVANS, CRYSTAL PALACE PRESS.
+
+
+
+TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
+THE LORD HOUGHTON, D.C.L. F.R.S. &c.
+THIS MEMORIAL OF A LIFE
+WHICH HAS ADDED A NEW GLORY TO THE
+LITERARY HISTORY OF YORKSHIRE
+IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED BY HIS GRATEFUL FRIEND
+THE AUTHOR.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+I have spoken so freely in the opening chapter of this Monograph of
+the circumstances under which it has been written, that very little
+need be said by way of introduction here. This attempt to throw some
+fresh light upon the character of one of the most remarkable women of
+our age has not been a task lightly taken up, or hastily performed.
+The life and genius of Charlotte Brontė had long engaged my attention
+before I undertook, at the request of the lady to whom I am indebted
+for most of the original materials I have employed in these pages, the
+work which I have now completed. In executing that work I have had
+ample reason to feel and acknowledge my own deficiencies. With the
+knowledge that I was treading in the footsteps of so consummate a
+literary artist as Mrs. Gaskell, I have been compelled to refrain from
+writing not a few of the chapters in Charlotte Brontė's life which are
+necessary to a complete acquaintance with her character, simply
+because they had been written so well already. And whilst I
+necessarily shrink from any appearance of rivalry with Charlotte
+Brontė's original biographer, I have been additionally oppressed by
+the feeling that the pen which can do full justice to one of the most
+moving and noble stories in English literature has not yet been found.
+But I have been sustained both by the sympathy of many friends, known
+and unknown, who share my feelings with regard to the Brontės, and by
+the invaluable assistance rendered to me by those who were intimately
+acquainted with the household at Haworth Parsonage. Foremost among
+these must be mentioned Miss Ellen Nussey, the schoolfellow and
+life-long friend of Charlotte Brontė, who has freely placed at my
+disposal all the letters and other materials she possessed from which
+any light could be thrown upon the career of her old companion, and
+who has in addition aided me with much valuable counsel and advice
+in the decision of many difficult points. Miss Wooler, who was
+Charlotte's attached teacher, and who still happily survives in a
+green old age, has also placed me under obligations by her readiness
+to supply me with her pupil's letters to herself. Nor must I omit
+to mention my indebtedness to Lord Houghton for information upon
+questions which could only be decided by those who met "Currer Bell"
+during her brief visits to London at a time when she was one of the
+literary lions of society.
+
+The additions made in this volume to the Monograph as it originally
+appeared in _Macmillan's Magazine_ are numerous and considerable.
+It should be mentioned that a few of the letters now published (about
+twenty) were printed some years ago in an American magazine now
+extinct. The remainder, and by far the larger portion, will be
+entirely new to readers alike in England and the United States.
+
+HEADINGLEY HILL, LEEDS,
+_February, 1877_.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+In Memory of
+
+Maria, wife of the Rev'd P. Brontė. A.B., Minister of Haworth. She
+died Sept'r 15th, 1821, in the 59th year of her age. Also of Maria,
+their daughter; who died May 6th, 1825, in the 12th year of her age.
+Also of Elizabeth, their Daughter; who died June 15th, 1825, in the
+11th year of her age. Also of Patrick Branwell, their son; who died
+Sept'r 24th, 1848, aged 31 years. Also of Emily Jane, their daughter;
+who died Dec'r 19th, 1848, aged 30 years. Also of Anne, their
+daughter; who died May 28th, 1849, aged 29 years. She was buried at
+the Old Church, Scarborough. Also of Charlotte, their daughter; wife
+of the Rev'd A. B. Nicolls, B.A. She died March 31st, 1855, in the
+39th year of her age. Also of the aforementioned Rev'd P. Brontė,
+A.B., who died June 7th, 1861, in the 85th year of his age; having
+been Incumbent of Haworth for upwards of 41 years.
+
+"_The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law;
+but thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord
+Jesus Christ._" 1 Cor. xv. 56, 57.
+
+THE NEW BRONTĖ TABLET.]
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+                                                                 PAGE
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+INTRODUCTORY                                                        1
+
+Mrs. Gaskell's "Memoir"--Charlotte Brontė's Letters.
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE STORY OF "JANE EYRE"                                            7
+
+"Jane Eyre:" its Publication and Popularity; Unfavourable Criticisms
+--Mr. Thackeray and "Rochester"--Loose Gossip--The Truth.
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+EARLY HISTORY OF THE BRONTĖS                                       14
+
+Charlotte Brontė's Surroundings: the True Charm of her Story--
+Haworth--Mr. Brontė: his Characteristics and Eccentricities--The
+Brontė Children--Charlotte's Escape to the Golden City--Juvenile
+Efforts--"The Play of the Islanders."
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE FAMILY AT HAWORTH                                              29
+
+Charlotte and her Friend--Bolton Bridge--A Family Sketch--Shyness
+of the Sisters--Varying Moods--The Youthful Politician--Branwell
+Brontė--Emily--Anne.
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+LIFE AS A GOVERNESS                                                45
+
+Governess Life--A Mental Struggle--First offer of Marriage--Sympathy
+with others--Trials of her own Life.
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE TURNING-POINT                                                  57
+
+The Storm and Stress Period--Not what the World supposes it to
+have been--Visit to Brussels: its Influence upon her Life--
+Disillusioned--Return Home--A Fallen Idol--A Pleasant Meeting
+--Branwell's Disgrace.
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+AUTHORSHIP AND BEREAVEMENT                                         73
+
+Branwell's Fall--Publication of the Poems--Emily's Poetry--
+Novel-writing begun--"The Professor"--"Wuthering Heights"--
+"Agnes Grey"--"Jane Eyre"--The Secret of the Authorship--
+Growth in Power--Branwell's Death--Decline and Death of
+Emily--Death of Anne.
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+"SHIRLEY"                                                          99
+
+The Bitterness of Bereavement--Visit to London--Meets Thackeray
+--Authors and Critics--"Shirley" published: its Reception by
+the Critics--Husbands and Wives--An Invitation.
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+LONELINESS AND FAME                                               112
+
+Life at Home--Rumours of Marriage--Edits the Works of her Sisters
+--An offer of Marriage--Mr. Thackeray's Lectures--The Crystal
+Palace.
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+"VILLETTE"                                                        127
+
+"Villette" begun--Life and Letters whilst writing it--Great
+Depression of Spirits--Difficulty in writing--"Lucy Snowe"--
+"Villette" finished: its Private Reception; the Public Verdict:
+Waiting for _The Times_.
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+MARRIAGE AND DEATH                                                148
+
+A Secret History--Mr. Nicholls--Offer of Marriage--Mr. Brontė's
+Opposition--A Cruel Struggle--Mr. Nicholls leaves Haworth--The
+High Church Party and "Villette"--Miss Martineau--A Trip to
+Scotland--Brighter Prospects--Engaged to Mr. Nicholls--New
+Out-look upon Life--The Wedding--Married Life--The Last
+Christmas--Illness and Death.
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+POSTHUMOUS HONOURS                                                183
+
+A Nation's Mourning--Charlotte's Humility--Mrs. Gaskell's "Memoir:"
+Effect produced by it--Letter from Mr. Kingsley--Pilgrims to
+Haworth--An American Visitor--Death of Mr. Brontė--Devotion of
+Mr. Nicholls.
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE BRONTĖ NOVELS                                                 201
+
+The Brontė Novels--"Wuthering Heights:" its Cleverness and
+Weirdness--Characters of the Story--Emily's Genius--Curious
+Foreshadowings--Mr. Brontė's Influence on Emily--Anne's Novels
+--"The Professor."
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+CONCLUSION                                                        228
+
+Charlotte's Character--Sufferings and Work.
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+
+REV. PATRICK BRONTĖ                                     _Frontispiece_
+
+                                                                 PAGE
+
+THE NEW BRONTĖ TABLET                                               x
+
+HAWORTH VILLAGE                                          _Facing_  18
+
+THE HOUSE THAT CHARLOTTE VISITED                                   44
+
+THE ROE HEAD SCHOOL                                      _Facing_  46
+
+HAWORTH PARSONAGE AND GRAVEYARD                             "      82
+
+THE "FIELD HEAD" OF SHIRLEY                                 "     101
+
+THE "BRIARFIELD" CHURCH OF SHIRLEY                          "     106
+
+FAC-SIMILE LETTER OF CHARLOTTE BRONTĖ                       "     134
+
+HAWORTH CHURCH                                              "     172
+
+INTERIOR OF HAWORTH CHURCH                                  "     191
+
+ORGAN LOFT OVER THE BRONTĖ TABLET AND PEW                         200
+
+
+
+
+To the Memory of the Author of "Jane Eyre."
+
+
+    Beside her sisters lay her down to rest,
+    By the lone church that stands amid the moors;
+    And let her grave be wet with moorland showers;
+    Let moorland larks sing o'er her mouldering breast!
+    Hers was the keen true spirit, that confest
+    That she was nurtured in no garden bowers,
+    Nor taught to deck her brow with cultured flowers,
+    Nor by the soft and summer wind carest.
+    Her words came o'er us, as in harvest-tide
+    Come the swift rain-clouds o'er her native skies,
+    Scattering the thin sheaves by the heather's side;
+    So fared it with our tame hypocrisies:
+    But lo! the clouds are past, and far and wide
+    The purple ridges glow beneath our eyes.
+
+W. H. CHARLTON.
+
+_Hesleyside, 1855._
+
+
+
+
+CHARLOTTE BRONTĖ.
+
+
+
+
+I.
+
+INTRODUCTORY.
+
+
+It is just twenty years since one of the most fascinating and artistic
+biographies in the English language was given to the world. Mrs.
+Gaskell's "Life of Charlotte Brontė" no sooner appeared than it took
+firm possession of the public mind; and it has ever since retained its
+hold upon all who take an interest in the career of one who has been
+called, in language which is far less extravagant in reality than in
+appearance, "the foremost woman of her age." Written with admirable
+skill, in a style at once powerful and picturesque, and with a
+sympathy such as only one artist could feel for another, it richly
+merited the popularity which it gained and has kept. Mrs. Gaskell,
+however, laboured under one serious disadvantage, which no longer
+exists in anything like the same degree in which it did twenty years
+ago. Writing but a few months after Charlotte Brontė had been laid in
+her grave, and whilst the father to whom she was indebted for so much
+that was characteristic in her life and genius was still living, Mrs.
+Gaskell had necessarily to deal with many circumstances which affected
+living persons too closely to be handled in detail. Even as it was she
+involved herself in serious embarrassment by some of her allusions to
+incidents connected more or less nearly with the life of Charlotte
+Brontė; corrections and retractations were forced upon her, the later
+editions of the book differed considerably from the first, and at last
+she was compelled to announce that any further correspondence
+concerning it must be conducted through her solicitors. Thus she was
+crippled in her attempt to paint a full-length picture of a remarkable
+life, and her story was what Mr. Thackeray called it, "necessarily
+incomplete, though most touching and admirable."
+
+There was, moreover, another matter in which Mrs. Gaskell was at
+fault. She seems to have set out with the determination that her work
+should be pitched in a particular key. She had formed her own
+conception of Charlotte Brontė's character, and with the passion of
+the true artist and the ability of the practised writer she made
+everything bend to that conception. The result was that whilst she
+produced a singularly striking and effective portrait of her heroine,
+it was not one which was absolutely satisfactory to those who were the
+oldest and closest friends of Charlotte Brontė. If the truth must be
+told, the life of the author of "Jane Eyre" was by no means so joyless
+as the world now believes it to have been. That during the later years
+in which this wonderful woman produced the works by which she has made
+her name famous, her career was clouded by sorrow and oppressed by
+anguish both mental and physical, is perfectly true. That she was made
+what she was in the furnace of affliction cannot be doubted; but it is
+not true that she was throughout her whole life the victim of that
+extreme depression of spirits which afflicted her at rare intervals,
+and which Mrs. Gaskell has presented to us with so much vividness and
+emphasis. On the contrary, her letters show that at any rate up to the
+time of her leaving for Brussels, she was a happy and high-spirited
+girl, and that even to the very last she had the faculty of overcoming
+her sorrows by means of that steadfast courage which was her most
+precious possession, and to which she was so much indebted for her
+successive victories over trials and disappointments of no ordinary
+character. Those who imagine that Charlotte Brontė's spirit was in any
+degree a morbid or melancholy one do her a singular injustice.
+Intensely reserved in her converse with all save the members of her
+own household, and the solitary friend to whom she clung with such
+passionate affection throughout her life, she revealed to these
+
+                      The other side, the novel
+    Silent silver lights and darks undreamed of,
+
+which were and have remained hidden from the world, but which must be
+seen by those who would know what Charlotte Brontė really was as a
+woman. Alas! those who knew her and her sisters well during their
+brief lives are few in number now. The Brontės who plucked the flower
+of fame out of the thorny waste in which their lots were cast survive
+in their books and in Mrs. Gaskell's biography. But the Brontės, the
+women who lived and suffered thirty years ago, and whose characters
+were instinct with so rare and lofty a nobility, so keen a
+sensitiveness, so pure a nobility, are known no longer.
+
+Yet one mode of making acquaintance with them is still open to some
+among us. From her school-days down to the hour in which she was
+stretched prostrate in her last sickness, Charlotte Brontė kept up the
+closest and most confidential intercourse with her one life-long
+friend. To that friend she addressed letters which may be counted by
+hundreds, scarcely one of which fails to contain some characteristic
+touch worthy of the author of "Villette." No one can read this
+remarkable correspondence without learning the secret of the writer's
+character; none, as I believe, can read it without feeling that the
+woman who "stole like a shadow" into the field of English literature
+in 1847, and in less than eight years after stole as noiselessly away,
+was truer and nobler even than her works, truer and nobler even than
+that masterly picture of her life for which we are indebted to Mrs.
+Gaskell.
+
+These letters lie before me as I write. Here are the faded sheets of
+1832, written in the school-girl's hand, filled with the school-girl's
+extravagant terms of endearment, yet enriched here and there by
+sentences which are worthy to live--some of which have already,
+indeed, taken their place in the literature of England; and here is
+the faint pencil note written to "my own dear Nell" out of the
+writer's "dreary sick-bed," which was so soon to be the bed of death!
+Between the first letter and that last sad note what outpourings of
+the mind of Charlotte Brontė are embodied in this precious pile of
+cherished manuscript! Over five-and-twenty years of a blameless life
+this artless record stretches. So far as Charlotte Brontė's history as
+a woman, and the history of her family are concerned, it is complete
+for the whole of that period, the only breaks in the story being those
+which occurred when she and her friend were together. Of her early
+literary ventures we find little here, for even to her friend she did
+not dare in the first instance to betray the novel joys which filled
+her soul when she at last discovered her true vocation, and spoke to a
+listening world; but of her later life as an author, of her labours
+from the day when she owned "Jane Eyre" as the child of her brain,
+there are constant and abundant traces. Here, too, we read all her
+secret sorrows, her hopes, her fears, her communings with her own
+heart. Many things there are in this record too sacred to be given to
+the world. Even now it is with a tender and a reverent hand that one
+must touch these "noble letters of the dead;" but those who are
+allowed to see them, to read them and ponder over them, must feel as I
+do, that the soul of Charlotte Brontė stands revealed in these
+unpublished pages, and that only here can we see what manner of woman
+this really was who in the solitude and obscurity of the Yorkshire
+hill-parsonage built up for herself an imperishable name, enriched the
+literature of England with treasures of priceless value, and withal
+led for nearly forty years a life that was made sacred and noble by
+the self-repression and patient endurance which were its most marked
+characteristics.
+
+Mrs. Gaskell has done her work so well that the world would scarcely
+care to listen to a mere repetition of the Brontė story, even though
+the story-teller were as gifted as the author of "Ruth" herself. But
+those who have been permitted to gain a new insight into Charlotte
+Brontė's character, those who are allowed to command materials of
+which the biographer of 1857 could make no use, may venture to lay a
+tribute-wreath of their own upon the altar of this great woman's
+memory--a tribute-wreath woven of flowers culled from her own letters.
+And it cannot be that the time is yet come when the name or the fame
+or the touching story of the unique and splendid genius to whom we owe
+"Jane Eyre," will fall upon the ears of English readers like "a tale
+of little meaning" or of doubtful interest.
+
+
+
+
+II.
+
+THE STORY OF "JANE EYRE."
+
+
+In the late autumn of 1847 the reading public of London suddenly found
+itself called to admire and wonder at a novel which, without
+preliminary puff of any kind, had been placed in its hands. "'Jane
+Eyre,' by Currer Bell," became the theme of every tongue, and society
+exhausted itself in conjectures as to the identity of the author, and
+the real meaning of the book. It was no ordinary book, and it produced
+no ordinary sensation. Disfigured here and there by certain crudities
+of thought and by a clumsiness of expression which betrayed the hand
+of a novice, it was nevertheless lit up from the first page to the
+last by the fire of a genius the depth and power of which none but the
+dullest could deny. The hand of its author seized upon the public mind
+whether it would or no, and society was led captive, in the main
+against its will, by one who had little of the prevailing spirit of
+the age, and who either knew nothing of conventionalism, or despised
+it with heart and soul. Fierce was the revolt against the influence of
+this new-comer in the wide arena of letters, who had stolen in, as it
+were in the night, and taken the citadel by surprise. But for the
+moment all opposition was beaten down by sheer force of genius, and
+"Jane Eyre" made her way, compelling recognition, wherever men and
+women were capable of seeing and admitting a rare and extraordinary
+intellectual supremacy. "How well I remember," says Mr. Thackeray,
+"the delight and wonder and pleasure with which I read 'Jane Eyre,'
+sent to me by an author whose name and sex were then alike unknown to
+me; and how with my own work pressing upon me, I could not, having
+taken the volumes up, lay them down until they were read through." It
+was the same everywhere. Even those who saw nothing to commend in the
+story, those who revolted against its free employment of great
+passions and great griefs, and those who were elaborately critical
+upon its author's ignorance of the ways of polite society, had to
+confess themselves bound by the spell of the magician. "Jane Eyre"
+gathered admirers fast; and for every admirer she had a score of
+readers.
+
+Those who remember that winter of nine-and-twenty years ago know how
+something like a "Jane Eyre" fever raged among us. The story which had
+suddenly discovered a glory in uncomeliness, a grandeur in
+overmastering passion, moulded the fashion of the hour, and "Rochester
+airs" and "Jane Eyre graces" became the rage. The book, and its fame
+and influence, travelled beyond the seas with a speed which in those
+days was marvellous. In sedate New England homes the history of the
+English governess was read with an avidity which was not surpassed in
+London itself, and within a few months of the publication of the novel
+it was famous throughout two continents. No such triumph has been
+achieved in our time by any other English author; nor can it be said,
+upon the whole, that many triumphs have been better merited. It
+happened that this anonymous story, bearing the unmistakable marks of
+an unpractised hand, was put before the world at the very moment when
+another great masterpiece of fiction was just beginning to gain the
+ear of the English public. But at the moment of publication "Jane
+Eyre" swept past "Vanity Fair" with a marvellous and impetuous speed
+which left Thackeray's work in the distant background; and its unknown
+author in a few weeks gained a wider reputation than that which one of
+the master minds of the century had been engaged for long years in
+building up.
+
+The reaction from this exaggerated fame, of course, set in, and it was
+sharp and severe. The blots in the book were easily hit; its author's
+unfamiliarity with the stage business of the play was evident
+enough--even to dunces; so it was a simple matter to write smart
+articles at the expense of a novelist who laid himself open to the
+whole battery of conventional criticism. In "Jane Eyre" there was much
+painting of souls in their naked reality; the writer had gauged depths
+which the plummet of the common story-teller could never have sounded,
+and conflicting passions were marshalled on the stage with a masterful
+daring which Shakespeare might have envied; but the costumes, the
+conventional by-play, the scenery, even the wording of the dialogue,
+were poor enough in all conscience. The merest playwright or reviewer
+could have done better in these matters--as the unknown author was
+soon made to understand. Additional piquancy was given to the attack
+by the appearance, at the very time when the "Jane Eyre" fever was at
+its height, of two other novels, written by persons whose sexless
+names proclaimed them the brothers or the sisters of Currer Bell.
+Human nature is not so much changed from what it was in 1847 that one
+need apologise for the readiness with which the reading world in
+general, and the critical world in particular, adopted the theory that
+"Wuthering Heights" and "Agnes Grey" were earlier works from the pen
+which had given them "Jane Eyre." In "Wuthering Heights" some of the
+faults of the other book were carried to an extreme, and some of its
+conspicuous merits were distorted and exaggerated until they became
+positive blemishes; whilst "Agnes Grey" was a feeble and commonplace
+tale which it was easy to condemn. So the author of "Jane Eyre" was
+compelled to bear not only her own burden, but that of the two stories
+which had followed the successful novel; and the reviewers--ignorant
+of the fact that they were killing three birds at a single
+shot--rejoiced in the larger scope which was thus afforded to their
+critical energy.
+
+Here and there, indeed, a manful fight on behalf of Currer Bell was
+made by writers who knew nothing but the name and the book. "It is soul
+speaking to soul," cried _Fraser's Magazine_ in December, 1847; "it is
+not a book for prudes," added _Blackwood_, a few months later; "it is
+not a book for effeminate and tasteless men; it is for the enjoyment of
+a feeling heart and critical understanding." But in the main the
+verdict of the critics was adverse. It was discovered that the story
+was improper and immoral; it was said to be filled with descriptions of
+"courtship after the manner of kangaroos," and to be impregnated with a
+"heathenish doctrine of religion;" whilst there went up a perfect
+chorus of reprobation directed against its "coarseness of language,"
+"laxity of tone," "horrid taste," and "sheer rudeness and vulgarity."
+From the book to the author was of course an easy transition. London
+had been bewildered, and its literary quidnuncs utterly puzzled, when
+such a story first came forth inscribed with an unknown name. Many had
+been the rumours eagerly passed from mouth to mouth as to the real
+identity of Currer Bell. Upon one point there had, indeed, been
+something like unanimity among the critics, and the story of "Jane
+Eyre" had been accepted as something more than a romance, as a genuine
+autobiography in which real and sorrowful experiences were related.
+Even the most hostile critic of the book had acknowledged that "it
+contained the story of struggles with such intense suffering and
+sorrow, as it was sufficient misery to know that any one had conceived,
+far less passed through." Where then was this wonderful governess to be
+found? In what obscure hiding-place could the forlorn soul, whose cry
+of agony had stirred the hearts of readers everywhere, be discovered?
+We may smile now, with more of sadness than of bitterness, at the base
+calumnies of the hour, put forth in mere wantonness and levity by a
+people ever seeking to know some new thing, and to taste some new
+sensation. The favourite theory of the day--a theory duly elaborated
+and discussed in the most orthodox and respectable of the reviews--was
+that Jane Eyre and Becky Sharp were merely different portraits of the
+same character; and that their original was to be found in the person
+of a discarded mistress of Mr. Thackeray, who had furnished the great
+author with a model for the heroine of "Vanity Fair," and had revenged
+herself upon him by painting him as the Rochester of "Jane Eyre!" It
+was after dwelling upon this marvellous theory of the authorship of the
+story that the _Quarterly Review_, with Pecksniffian charity, calmly
+summed up its conclusions in these memorable words: "If we ascribe the
+book to a woman at all, we have no alternative but to ascribe it to one
+who has for some sufficient reason long forfeited the society of her
+own sex."
+
+The world knows the truth now. It knows that these bitter and shameful
+words were applied to one of the truest and purest of women; to a
+woman who from her birth had led a life of self-sacrifice and patient
+endurance; to a woman whose affections dwelt only in the sacred
+shelter of her home, or with companions as pure and worthy as herself;
+to one of those few women who can pour out all their hearts in
+converse with their friends, happy in the assurance that years hence
+the stranger into whose hands their frank confessions may pass will
+find nothing there that is not loyal, true, and blameless. There was
+wonder among the critics, wonder too in the gay world of London, when
+the secret was revealed, and men were told that the author of "Jane
+Eyre" was no passionate light-o'-love who had merely transcribed the
+sad experiences of her own life; but "an austere little Joan of Arc,"
+pure, gentle, and high-minded, of whom Thackeray himself could say
+that "a great and holy reverence of right and truth seemed to be with
+her always." The quidnuncs had searched far and wide for the author of
+"Jane Eyre;" but we may well doubt whether, when the truth came out at
+last, they were not more than ever mystified by the discovery that
+Currer Bell was Charlotte Brontė, the young daughter of a country
+parson in a remote moorland parish of Yorkshire.
+
+That such a woman should have written such a book was more than a nine
+days' wonder; and for the key to that which is one of the great
+marvels and mysteries of English literature we must go to Charlotte
+Brontė's life itself.
+
+
+
+
+III.
+
+EARLY HISTORY OF THE BRONTĖS.
+
+
+There is a striking passage in Mr. Greg's "Enigmas of Life," in which
+the influence of external circumstances upon the inner lives of men
+and women is dwelt upon somewhat minutely, and, by way of example, the
+connection between religious "conviction" and an imperfect digestion
+is carefully traced out. That we are the creatures of circumstance can
+hardly be doubted, nor that our destinies are moulded, just as the
+coral reefs are built, by the action of innumerable influences, each
+in itself apparently trivial and insignificant. But the habit which
+leads men to find a full explanation of the lives of those who have
+attained exceptional distinction in the circumstances amid which their
+lot has been cast cannot be said to be a very wholesome or happy one.
+Few have suffered more cruelly from this trick than the Brontė family.
+Graphic pictures have been presented to the world of their home among
+the hills, and of their surroundings in their early years; whilst the
+public have been asked to believe that some great shadow of gloom
+rested over their lives from their birth, and that to this fact, and
+to the influence of the moors, must be attributed, not only the
+peculiar bent of their genius, but the whole colour and shape of their
+lives. Those who are thus determined to account for everything that
+lies out of the range of common experience would do well, before they
+attempt to analyse the great mystery of genius, to reveal to us the
+true cause of the superlative excellence of this or that rare _cru_,
+the secret which gives Johannisberg or Chāteau d'Yquem its glory in
+the eyes of connoisseurs. Circumstances apparently have little to do
+with the production of the fragrance and bouquet of these famous
+wines; for we know that grapes growing close at hand on similar vines
+and seemingly under precisely similar conditions, warmed by the same
+sun, refreshed by the same showers, fanned by the same breezes,
+produce a wine which is comparatively worthless. When the world has
+expounded this riddle, it will be time enough to deal with that deeper
+problem of genius on which we are now too apt to lay presumptuous and
+even violent hands.
+
+The Brontės have suffered grievously from this fashion, inasmuch as
+their picturesque and striking surroundings have been allowed to
+obscure our view of the women themselves. We have made a picture of
+their lives, and have filled in the mere accessories with such
+pre-Raphaelite minuteness that the distinct individuality of the
+heroines has been blurred and confused amid the general blaze of vivid
+colour, the crowd of "telling" points. No individual is to be blamed
+for this fact. The world, as we have seen, was first introduced to
+"Currer Bell" and her sisters under romantic circumstances; the lives
+of those simple, sternly-honest women were enveloped from the moment
+when the public made their acquaintance in a certain haze of romantic
+mystery; and when all had passed away, and the time came for the
+"many-headed beast" to demand the full satisfaction of its curiosity,
+it would have nothing but the completion of that romance which from
+the first it had figured in outline for itself.
+
+Who then does not know the salient points of that strange and touching
+story which tells us how the author of "Jane Eyre" lived and died? Who
+is not acquainted with that grim parsonage among the hills, where the
+sisters dwelt amidst such uncongenial and even weird influences;
+living like recluses in the house of a Protestant pastor; associated
+with sorrow and suffering, and terrible pictures of degrading vice,
+during their blameless maidenhood; constructing an ideal world of
+their own, and dwelling in it heedless of the real world which was in
+motion all around them? Who has not been amused and interested by
+those graphic pictures of Yorkshire life in the last century, in which
+the local flavour is so intense and piquant, and which are hardly the
+less interesting because they relate to an order of things which had
+passed away entirely long before the Brontės appeared upon the stage?
+And who has not been moved by the dark tragedy of Branwell Brontė's
+life, hinted at rather than explicitly stated, in Mrs. Gaskell's
+story, but yet standing out in such prominence that those who know no
+better may be forgiven if they regard it as having been the powerful
+and all-pervading influence which made the career of the sisters what
+it was? The true charm of the history of the Brontės, however, does
+not lie in these things. It is not to be found in the surroundings of
+their lives, remarkable and romantic as they were, but in the women
+themselves, and in those characteristics of their hearts and their
+intellects which were independent of the accidents of condition.
+Charlotte herself would have been the first to repudiate the notion
+that there was anything strikingly exceptional in their outward
+circumstances. With a horror of being considered eccentric that
+amounted to a passion, she united an almost morbid dread of the notice
+of strangers. If she could ever have imagined that readers throughout
+the world would come to associate her name, and still more the names
+of her idolised sisters, with the ruder features of the Yorkshire
+character, or with such a domestic tragedy as that amid which her
+unhappy brother's life terminated, her spirit would have arisen in
+indignant revolt against that which she would have regarded almost in
+the light of a personal outrage.
+
+[Illustration: HAWORTH VILLAGE.]
+
+And yet if their surroundings at Haworth had comparatively little to
+do with the development of the genius of the three sisters, it cannot
+be doubted that two influences which Mrs. Gaskell has rightly made
+prominent in her book did affect their characters, one in a minor, and
+the other in a very marked degree. The influence of the moors is to be
+traced both in their lives and their works; whilst far more distinctly
+is to be traced the influence of their father. As to the first there
+is little to be said in addition to that which all know already. There
+is a railway station now at Haworth, and all the world therefore can
+get to the place without difficulty or inconvenience. Yet even to-day,
+when the engine goes, shrieking past it many times between sunrise and
+sunset, Haworth is not as other places are. A little manufacturing
+village, sheltered in a nook among the hills and moors which stretch
+from the heart of Yorkshire into the heart of Lancashire, it bears the
+vivid impress of its situation. The moors which lie around it for
+miles on every side are superb during the summer and autumn months.
+Then Haworth is in its glory; a gray stone hamlet set in the midst of
+a vast sea of odorous purple, and swept by breezes which bear into its
+winding street the hum of the bees and the fragrance of the heather.
+But it is in the drear, leaden days of winter, when the moors are
+covered with snow, that we see what Haworth really is. Then we know
+that this is a place apart from the outer world; even the railway
+seems to have failed to bring it into the midst of that great West
+Riding which lies close at hand with its busy mills and multitudes;
+and the dullest therefore can understand that in the days when the
+railway was not, and Haworth lay quite by itself, neglected and unseen
+in its upland valley, its people must have been blessed by some at
+least of those insular peculiarities which distinguished the villagers
+of Zermatt and Pontresina before the flood of summer tourists had
+swept into those comparatively remote crannies of the Alps. Nurtured
+among these lonely moors, and accustomed, as all dwellers on
+thinly-peopled hillsides are, to study the skies and the weather, as
+the inhabitants of towns and plains study the faces of men and women,
+the Brontės unquestionably drew their love of nature, their affection
+for tempestuous winds and warring clouds, from their residence at
+Haworth.
+
+But this influence was trivial compared with the hereditary influences
+of their father's character. Few more remarkable personalities than
+that of the Rev. Patrick Brontė have obtruded themselves upon the
+smooth uniformity of modern society. The readers of Mrs. Gaskell's
+biography know that the incumbent of Haworth was an eccentric man, but
+the full measure of his eccentricity and waywardness has never yet
+been revealed to the world. He was an Irishman by birth, but when
+still a young man he had gone to Yorkshire as a curate, and in
+Yorkshire he remained to the end of his days. His real name was not
+Brontė--regarding the origin of which word there was so much
+unnecessary mystery when his daughter became famous--but Prunty. Born
+of humble parentage in the parish of Ahaderg, County Down, he was one
+of a large family, all of whom were said to be remarkable for their
+physical strength and personal beauty. Patrick Prunty was the most
+remarkable member of the family, and his talents were early recognised
+by Mr. Tighe, the rector of Drumgooland. This gentleman undertook part
+at least of the cost of his education, which was completed at St.
+John's College, Cambridge. As to the change of name from Prunty to
+Brontė, many fantastic stories have been told. Amongst them is one
+which represents the Brontės as having derived their name from that of
+the Bronterres, an ancient Irish family with which they were
+connected. The connection may possibly have existed, but there is no
+doubt upon one point. The incumbent of Haworth in early life bore the
+name of Prunty, and it was not until very shortly, before he left
+Ireland for England that he changed it, at the request of his patron,
+Mr. Tighe, for the more euphonious appellation of Brontė. He appears
+to have been a strange compound of good and evil. That he was not
+without some good is acknowledged by all who knew him. He had kindly
+feelings towards most people, and he delighted in the stern rectitude
+which distinguished many of his Yorkshire flock. When his daughter
+became famous, no one was better pleased at the circumstance than he
+was. He cut out of every newspaper every scrap which referred to her;
+he was proud of her achievements, proud of her intellect, and jealous
+for her reputation. But throughout his whole life there was but one
+person with whom he had any real sympathy, and that person was
+himself. Passionate, self-willed, vain, habitually cold and distant
+in his demeanour towards those of his own household, he exhibited in a
+marked degree many of the characteristics which Charlotte Brontė
+afterwards sketched in the portrait of the Mr. Helston of "Shirley."
+The stranger who encountered him found a scrupulously polite gentleman
+of the old school, who was garrulous about his past life, and who
+needed nothing more than the stimulus of a glass of wine to become
+talkative on the subject of his conquests over the hearts of the
+ladies of his acquaintance. As you listened to the quaintly-attired
+old man who chatted on with inexhaustible volubility, you possibly
+conceived the idea that he was a mere fribble, gay, conceited,
+harmless; but at odd times a searching glance from the keen, deep-sunk
+eyes warned you that you also were being weighed in the balance by
+your companion, and that this assumption of light-hearted vanity was
+far from revealing the real man to you. Only those who dwelt under the
+same roof knew him as he really was. Among the many stories told of
+him by his children, there is one relating to the meek and gentle
+woman who was his wife, and whose lot it was to submit to persistent
+coldness and neglect. Somebody had given Mrs. Brontė a very pretty
+dress, and her husband, who was as proud as he was self-willed, had
+taken offence at the gift. A word to his wife, who lived in habitual
+dread of her lordly master, would have secured all he wanted; but in
+his passionate determination that she should not wear the obnoxious
+garment, he deliberately cut it to pieces, and presented her with the
+tattered fragments. Even during his wife's lifetime he formed the
+habit of taking his meals alone; he constantly carried loaded pistols
+in his pockets, and when excited he would fire these at the doors of
+the outhouses, so that the villagers were quite accustomed to the
+sound of pistol-shots at any hour of the day in their pastor's house.
+It would be a mistake to suppose that violence was one of the weapons
+to which Mr. Brontė habitually resorted. However stern and peremptory
+might be his dealings with his wife (who soon left him to spend the
+remainder of his life in a dreary widowhood), his general policy was
+to secure his end by craft rather than by force. A profound belief in
+his own superior wisdom was conspicuous among his characteristics, and
+he felt convinced that no one was too clever to be outwitted by his
+diplomacy. He had also an amazing persistency, which led him to pursue
+any course on which he had embarked with dogged determination. It
+happened in later years, when his strength was failing, and when at
+last he began to see his daughter in her true light, that he
+quarrelled with her regarding the character of one of their friends.
+The daughter, always dutiful and respectful, found that any effort to
+stem the torrent of his bitter and unjust wrath when he spoke of the
+friend who had offended him, was attended by consequences which were
+positively dangerous. The veins of his forehead swelled, his eyes
+glared, his voice shook, and she was fain to submit lest her father's
+passion should prove fatal to him. But when, wounded beyond endurance
+by his violence and injustice, she withdrew for a few days from her
+home, and told her father that she would receive no letters from him
+in which this friend's name was mentioned, the old man's cunning took
+the place of passion. He wrote long and affectionate letters to her on
+general subjects; but accompanying each letter was a little slip of
+paper, which professed to be a note from Charlotte's dog Flossy to his
+"much-respected and beloved mistress," in which the dog, declaring
+that he saw "a good deal of human nature that was hid from those who
+had the gift of language," was made to repeat the attacks upon the
+obnoxious person which Mr. Brontė dared no longer make in his own
+character.
+
+It was to the care of such a father as this, in the midst of the rude
+and uncongenial society of the lonely manufacturing village, that six
+motherless children, five daughters and one son, were left in the year
+1821. The parson's children were not allowed to associate with their
+little neighbours in the hamlet; their aunt, who came to the parsonage
+after their mother's death, had scarcely more sympathy with them than
+their father himself; their only friend was the rough but kindly
+servant Tabby, who pitied the bairns without understanding them, and
+whose acts of graciousness were too often of such a character as to
+give them more pain than pleasure. So they grew up strange, lonely,
+old-fashioned children, with absolutely no knowledge of the world
+outside; so quiet and demure in their habits that, years afterwards,
+when they invited some of their Sunday scholars up to the parsonage,
+and wished to amuse them, they found that they had to ask the scholars
+to teach them how to play--they had never learned. Carefully secluded
+from the rest of the world, the little Brontė children found out
+fashions of their own in the way of amusement, and curious fashions
+they were. Whilst they were still in the nursery, when the oldest of
+the family, Maria, was barely nine years old, and Charlotte, the
+third, was just six, they had begun to take a quaint interest in
+literature and politics. Heaven knows who it was who first told these
+wonderful pigmies of the great deeds of a Wellington or the crimes of
+a Bonaparte; but at an age when other children are generally busy with
+their bricks or their dolls, and when all life's interests are
+confined for them within the walls of a nursery, these marvellous
+Brontės were discussing the life of the Great Duke, and maintaining
+the Tory cause as ardently as the oldest and sturdiest of the village
+politicians in the neighbouring inn.
+
+There is a touching story of Charlotte at six years old, which gives
+us some notion of the ideal life led by the forlorn little girl at
+this time, when, her two elder sisters having been sent to school, she
+found herself living at home, the eldest of the motherless brood. She
+had read "The Pilgrim's Progress," and had been fascinated, young as
+she was, by that wondrous allegory. Everything in it was to her true
+and real; her little heart had gone forth with Christian on his
+pilgrimage to the Golden City, her bright young mind had been fired by
+the Bedford tinker's description of the glories of the Celestial
+Place; and she made up her mind that she too would escape from the
+City of Destruction, and gain the haven towards which the weary
+spirits of every age have turned with eager longing. But where was
+this glittering city, with its streets of gold, its gates of pearl,
+its walls of precious stones, its streams of life and throne of light?
+Poor little girl! The only place which seemed to her to answer
+Bunyan's description of the celestial town was one which she had heard
+the servants discussing with enthusiasm in the kitchen, and its name
+was Bradford! So to Bradford little Charlotte Brontė, escaping from
+that Haworth Parsonage which she believed to be a doomed spot, set off
+one day in 1822. Ingenious persons may speculate if they please upon
+the sore disappointment which awaited her when, like older people,
+reaching the place which she had imagined to be Heaven, she found that
+it was only Bradford. But she never even reached her imaginary Golden
+City. When her tender feet had carried her a mile along the road, she
+came to a spot where overhanging trees made the highway dark and
+gloomy; she imagined that she had come to the Valley of the Shadow of
+Death, and, fearing to go forward, was presently discovered by her
+nurse cowering by the roadside.
+
+Of the school-days of the Brontės nothing need be said here. Every
+reader of "Jane Eyre" knows what Charlotte Brontė herself thought of
+that charitable institution to which she has given so unenviable a
+notoriety. There she lost her oldest sister, whose fate is described
+in the tragic tale of Helen Burns; and it was whilst she was at this
+place that her second sister, Elizabeth, also died. Only one thing
+need be added to this dismal record of the stay at Cowan Bridge.
+During the whole time of their sojourn there, the young Brontės
+scarcely ever knew what it was to be free from the pangs of hunger.
+
+Charlotte was now the head of the little family; the remaining members
+of which were her brother Branwell and her sisters Emily and Anne.
+Mrs. Gaskell has given the world a vivid picture of the life which
+these four survivors from the hardships of Cowan Bridge led between
+the years 1825 and 1831. They spent those years at Haworth, almost
+without care or sympathy. Their father saw little in their lot to
+interest him, nothing to drag him out of his selfish absorption in his
+own pursuits; their aunt, a permanent invalid, conceived that her duty
+was accomplished when she had taught them a few lessons and insisted
+on their doing a certain amount of needlework every day. For the rest
+they were left to themselves, and thus early they showed the bent of
+their genius by spending their time in writing novels.
+
+Mrs. Gaskell has given us some idea of the character of these juvenile
+performances in a series of extracts which sufficiently indicate their
+rare merit. She has, however, paid exclusive attention to Charlotte's
+productions. All readers of the Brontė story will remember the account
+of the play of "The Islanders," and other remarkable specimens,
+showing with what real vigour and originality Charlotte could handle
+her pen whilst she was still in the first year of her teens; but those
+few persons who have seen the whole of the juvenile library of the
+family bear testimony to the fact that Branwell and Emily were at
+least as industrious and successful as Charlotte herself. Indeed, even
+at this early age, the _bizarre_ character of Emily's genius was
+beginning to manifest itself, and her leaning towards weird and
+supernatural effects was exhibited whilst she composed her first fairy
+tales within the walls of her nursery. It may be well to bear in mind
+the frequency with which the critics have charged Charlotte Brontė
+with exaggerating the precocity of children. What we know of the early
+days of the Brontės proves that what would have been exaggeration in
+any other person was in the case of Charlotte nothing but a truthful
+reproduction of her own experiences.
+
+Only one specimen of these earliest writings of the Brontės can be
+quoted here: it is that to which I have already referred, the play of
+"The Islanders:"
+
+    June the 31st, 1829.
+
+    The play of "The Islanders" was formed in December, 1827, in the
+    following manner. One night, about the time when the cold sleet
+    and stormy fogs of November are succeeded by the snow-storms and
+    high piercing night-winds of confirmed winter, we were all sitting
+    round the warm blazing kitchen fire, having just concluded a
+    quarrel with Tabby concerning the propriety of lighting a candle,
+    from which she came off victorious, no candles having been
+    produced. A long pause succeeded, which was at length broken by
+    Branwell saying, in a lazy manner, "I don't know what to do." This
+    was echoed by Emily and Anne.
+
+    _Tabby._ Wha, ya may go t' bed.
+
+    _Branwell._ I'd rather do anything than that.
+
+    _Charlotte._ Why are you so glum to-night, Tabby? Oh! suppose
+    we had each an island of our own.
+
+    _Branwell._ If we had, I would choose the Island of Man.
+
+    _Charlotte._ And I would choose the Isle of Wight.
+
+    _Emily._ The Isle of Arran for me.
+
+    _Anne._ And mine shall be Guernsey.
+
+    We then chose who should be the chief men in our islands. Branwell
+    chose John Bull, Astley Cooper, and Leigh Hunt; Emily, Walter
+    Scott, Mr. Lockhart, Johnny Lockhart; Anne, Michael Sadler, Lord
+    Bentinck, Sir Henry Halford. I chose the Duke of Wellington and
+    two sons, Christopher North and Co., and Mr. Abernethy. Here our
+    conversation was interrupted by the, to us, dismal sound of the
+    clock striking seven, and we were summoned off to bed.
+
+
+
+
+IV.
+
+THE FAMILY AT HAWORTH.
+
+
+The years have slipped away, and the Brontės are no longer children.
+They have passed out of that strange condition of premature activity
+in which their brains were so busy, their lives so much at variance
+with the lives of others of their age; they have even "finished" their
+education, according to the foolish phrase of the world, and, having
+made some acquaintances and a couple of friends at good Miss Wooler's
+school at Roehead, Charlotte is again at home, young, hopeful, and in
+her own way merry, waiting with her brother and her sisters till that
+mystery of life which seems filled with hidden charms to those who
+still have it all before them shall be revealed.
+
+One bright June morning in 1833, a handsome carriage and pair is
+standing opposite the Devonshire Arms at Bolton Bridge, the spot loved
+by all anglers and artists who know anything of the scenery of the
+Wharfe. In the carriage with some companions is a young girl, whose
+face, figure, and manner may be conjured up by all who have read
+"Shirley," for this pleasant, comely Yorkshire maiden, as we see her
+on this particular morning, is identical with the Caroline Helston who
+figures in the pages of that novel. Miss N---- is waiting for her
+quondam schoolfellow and present bosom friend, Charlotte Brontė, who
+is coming with her brother and sisters to join in an excursion to the
+enchanted site of Bolton Abbey hard by. Presently, on the steep road
+which stretches across the moors to Keighley, the sound of wheels is
+heard, mingled with the merry speech and merrier laughter of fresh
+young voices. Shall we go forward unseen, and study the approaching
+travellers whilst they are still upon the road? Their conveyance is no
+handsome carriage, but a rickety dogcart, unmistakably betraying its
+neighbourship to the carts and ploughs of some rural farmyard. The
+horse, freshly taken from the fields, is driven by a youth who, in
+spite of his countrified dress, is no mere bumpkin. His shock of red
+hair hangs down in somewhat ragged locks behind his ears, for Branwell
+Brontė esteems himself a genius and a poet, and, following the fashion
+of the times, has that abhorrence of the barber's shears which genius
+is supposed to affect. But the lad's face is a handsome and a striking
+one, full of Celtic fire and humour, untouched by the slightest shade
+of care, giving one the impression of somebody altogether hopeful,
+promising, even brilliant. How gaily he jokes with his three sisters;
+with what inexhaustible volubility he pours out quotations from his
+favourite poets, applying them to the lovely scene around him; and
+with what a mischievous delight, in his superior nerve and mettle, he
+attempts feats of charioteering which fill the timid heart of the
+youngest of the party with sudden terrors! Beside him, in a dress of
+marvellous plainness and ugliness, stamped with the brand "home-made"
+in characters which none can mistake, is the eldest of the sisters.
+Charlotte is talking too; there are bright smiles upon her face; she
+is enjoying everything around her, the splendid morning, the charms of
+leafy trees and budding roses, and the ever-musical stream; most of
+all, perhaps, the charm of her brother's society, and the expectation
+of that coming meeting with her friend, which is so near at hand.
+Behind sit a pretty little girl, with fine complexion and delicate
+regular features, whom the stranger would at once pick out as the
+beauty of the company, and a tall, rather angular figure, clad in a
+dress exactly resembling Charlotte's. Emily Brontė does not talk so
+much as the rest of the party, but her wonderful eyes, brilliant and
+unfathomable as the pool at the foot of a waterfall, but radiant also
+with a wealth of tenderness and warmth, show how her soul is expanding
+under the influences of the scene; how quick she is to note the least
+prominent of the beauties around her, how intense is her enjoyment of
+the songs of the birds, the brilliancy of the sunshine, the rich scent
+of the flower-bespangled hedgerows. If she does not, like Charlotte
+and Anne, meet her brother's ceaseless flood of sparkling words with
+opposing currents of speech, she utters at times a strange, deep
+guttural sound which those who know her best interpret as the language
+of a joy too deep for articulate expression. Gaze at them as they pass
+you in the quiet road, and acknowledge that, in spite of their rough
+and even uncouth exteriors, a happier four could hardly be met with in
+this favourite haunt of pleasure-seekers during a long summer's day.
+
+Suddenly the dogcart rattles noisily into the open space in front of
+the Devonshire Arms, and the Brontės see the carriage and its
+occupants. In an instant there is silence; Branwell contrasts his
+humble equipage with that which already stands at the inn door, and a
+flush of mortified pride colours his face; the sisters scarcely note
+this contrast, but to their dismay they see that their friend is not
+alone, and each draws a long deep breath, and prepares for that
+fiercest of all the ordeals they know, a meeting with entire
+strangers. The laughter is stilled; even Branwell's volubility is at
+an end; the glad light dies out of their eyes, and when they alight
+and submit to the process of being introduced to Miss N----'s
+companions, their faces are as dull and commonplace as their dresses.
+It is no imaginary scene we have been watching. Miss N---- still
+recalls that painful moment when the merry talk and laughter of her
+friends were quenched at sight of the company awaiting them, and when
+throughout a day to which all had looked forward with anticipations of
+delight, the three Brontės clung to each other or to their friend,
+scarcely venturing to speak above a whisper, and betraying in every
+look and word the positive agony which filled their hearts when a
+stranger approached them. It was this excessive shyness in the company
+of those who were unfamiliar to them which was the most marked
+characteristic of the sisters. The weakness was as much physical as
+moral; and those who suppose that it was accompanied by any morbid
+depression of spirits, or any lack of vigour and liveliness when the
+incubus of a stranger's presence was removed, entirely mistake their
+true character. Unhappily, first impressions are always strongest, and
+running through the whole of Mrs. Gaskell's story, may be seen the
+impression produced at her first meeting with Charlotte Brontė by her
+nervous shrinking and awkwardness in the midst of unknown faces.
+
+It was not thus with those who, brought into the closest of all
+fellowship with her, the fellowship of school society, knew the
+secrets of her heart far better than did any who became acquainted
+with her in after life. To such the real Charlotte Brontė, who knew no
+timidity in their presence, was a bold, clever, outspoken and
+impulsive girl; ready to laugh with the merriest, and not even
+indisposed to join in practical jokes with the rest of her
+schoolfellows. The picture we get in the "Life" is that of a victim to
+secret terrors and superstitious fancies. The real Charlotte Brontė,
+when stories were current as to the presence of a ghost in the upper
+chambers of the old school-house at Roehead, did not hesitate to go up
+to these rooms alone and in the darkness of a winter's night, leaving
+her companions shivering in terror round the fire downstairs. When she
+had left school, and began that correspondence with Miss N---- which
+is the great source of our knowledge, not merely of the course of her
+life, but of the secrets of her heart, it must not be supposed that
+she wrote always in that serious spirit which pervades most of the
+letters quoted by Mrs. Gaskell. On the contrary, those who have access
+to the letters will find that even some of the passages given in the
+"Life" are allied to sentences showing that the frame of mind in which
+they were written was very different from that which it appears to
+have been. The following letter, written from Haworth in the beginning
+of 1835, is an example:
+
+    Well, here I am as completely separated from you as if a hundred,
+    instead of seventeen, miles intervened between us. I can neither
+    hear you nor see you nor feel you. You are become a mere thought,
+    an unsubstantial impression on the memory, which, however, is
+    happily incapable of erasure. My journey home was rather
+    melancholy, and would have been very much so but for the presence
+    and conversation of my worthy companion. I found him a very
+    intelligent man. He told me the adventures of his sailor's life,
+    his shipwreck and the hurricane he had witnessed in the West
+    Indies, with a much better flow of language than many of far
+    greater pretensions are masters of. I thought he appeared a little
+    dismayed by the wildness of the country round Haworth, and I
+    imagine he has carried back a pretty report of it.
+
+    What do you think of the course politics are taking? I make this
+    inquiry because I now think you have a wholesome interest in the
+    matter; formerly you did not care greatly about it. B----, you see,
+    is triumphant. Wretch! I am a hearty hater, and if there is any one
+    I thoroughly abhor it is that man. But the Opposition is divided.
+    Red-hots and lukewarms; and the Duke (_par excellence the_ Duke)
+    and Sir Robert Peel show no signs of insecurity, although they have
+    been twice beat. So "_courage, mon amie!_" Heaven defend the right!
+    as the old Cavaliers used to say before they joined battle. Now,
+    Ellen, laugh heartily at all that rodomontade. But you have brought
+    it on yourself. Don't you remember telling me to write such letters
+    to you as I wrote to Mary? There's a specimen! Hereafter should
+    follow a long disquisition on books; but I'll spare you that.
+
+Those who turn to Mrs. Gaskell's "Life" will find one of the sentences
+in this letter quoted, but without the burst of laughter over "all
+that rodomontade" at the end which shows that Charlotte's interest in
+politics was not unmingled with the happy levity of youth. Still more
+striking as an illustration of her true character, with its infinite
+variety of moods, its sudden transitions from grave to gay, is the
+letter I now quote:
+
+    Last Saturday afternoon, being in one of my sentimental humours, I
+    sat down and wrote to you such a note as I ought to have written
+    to none but M----, who is nearly as mad as myself; to-day, when I
+    glanced it over, it occurred to me that Ellen's calm eye would
+    look at this with scorn, so I determined to concoct some
+    production more fit for the inspection of common sense. I will not
+    tell you all I think and feel about you, Ellen. I will preserve
+    unbroken that reserve which alone enables me to maintain a decent
+    character for judgment; but for that I should long ago have been
+    set down by all who know me as a Frenchified fool. You have been
+    very kind to me of late, and gentle; and you have spared me those
+    little sallies of ridicule which, owing to my miserable and
+    wretched touchiness of character, used formerly to make me wince
+    as if I had been touched with a hot iron; things that nobody else
+    cares for enter into my mind and rankle there like venom. I know
+    these feelings are absurd, and therefore I try to hide them; but
+    they only sting the deeper for concealment, and I'm an idiot.
+    Ellen, I wish I could live with you always, I begin to cling to
+    you more fondly than ever I did. If we had but a cottage and a
+    competency of our own, I do think we might live and love on till
+    death, without being dependent on any third person for happiness.
+
+Mrs. Gaskell has made a very partial and imperfect use of this letter,
+by quoting merely from the words "You have been very kind to me of
+late," down to "they only sting the deeper for concealment." Thus it
+will be seen that an importance is given to an evanescent mood which
+it was far from meriting, and that lighter side to Charlotte's
+character which was prominent enough to her nearest and dearest
+friends is entirely concealed from the outer world. Again, I say, we
+must not blame Mrs. Gaskell. Such sentences as those which she omitted
+from the letter I have just given are not only entirely inconsistent
+with that ideal portrait of "Currer Bell" which the world had formed
+for itself out of the bare materials in existence during the author's
+lifetime, but are also utterly at variance with Mrs. Gaskell's
+personal conception of Charlotte Brontė's character, founded upon her
+brief acquaintance with her during her years of loneliness and fame.
+
+The quick transitions which marked her moods in converse with her
+friends may be traced all through her letters to Miss N----. The
+quotations I have already made show how suddenly on the same page she
+passes from gaiety to sadness; and so her letters, dealing as they do
+with an endless variety of topics, reflect only the mood of the writer
+at the moment that she penned them, and it is only by reading and
+studying the whole, not by selecting those which reflect a particular
+phase of her character, that we can complete the portrait we would
+fain produce.
+
+Here are some extracts from letters which are not to be found in the
+"Life," and which illustrate what I have said. They were all written
+between the beginning of 1832 and the end of 1835:
+
+    Tell M---- I hope she will derive benefit from the perusal of
+    Cobbett's lucubrations; but I beg she will on no account burden
+    her memory with passages to be repeated for my edification, lest I
+    should not fully appreciate either her kindness or their merit,
+    since that worthy personage and his principles, whether private or
+    political, are no great favourites of mine.
+
+    I am really very much obliged to you--she writes in September,
+    1832--for your well-filled and _very_ interesting letter. It
+    forms a striking contrast to my brief meagre epistles; but I know
+    you will excuse the utter dearth of news visible in them when you
+    consider the situation in which I am placed, quite out of the
+    reach of all intelligence except what I obtain through the medium
+    of the newspapers, and I believe you would not find much to
+    interest you in a political discussion, or a summary of the
+    accidents of the week.... I am sorry, very sorry, that Miss ----
+    has turned out to be so different from what you thought her; but,
+    my dearest Ellen, you must never expect perfection in this world;
+    and I know your naturally confiding and affectionate disposition
+    has led you to imagine that Miss ---- was almost faultless.... I
+    think, dearest Ellen, our friendship is destined to form an
+    exception to the general rule regarding school friendships. At
+    least I know that absence has not in the least abated the sisterly
+    affection which I feel towards you.
+
+
+    Your last letter revealed a state of mind which promised much. As I
+    read it, I could not help wishing that my own feelings more nearly
+    resembled yours; but unhappily all the good thoughts that enter
+    _my_ mind evaporate almost before I have had time to ascertain
+    their existence. Every right resolution which I form is so
+    transient, so fragile, and so easily broken, that I sometimes fear
+    I shall never be what I ought.
+
+
+    I write a hasty line to assure you we shall be happy to see you on
+    the day you mention. As you are now acquainted with the
+    neighbourhood and its total want of society, and with our plain,
+    monotonous mode of life, I do not fear so much as I used to do,
+    that you will be disappointed with the dulness and sameness of
+    your visit. One thing, however, will make the daily routine more
+    unvaried than ever. Branwell, who used to enliven us, is to leave
+    us in a few days, and enter the situation of a private tutor in
+    the neighbourhood of U----. How he will like to settle remains yet
+    to be seen. At present he is full of hope and resolution. I, who
+    know his variable nature and his strong turn for active life, dare
+    not be too sanguine. We are as busy as possible in preparing for
+    his departure, and shirt-making and collar-stitching fully occupy
+    our time.
+
+
+    April, 1835.
+
+    The election! the election! that cry has rung even among our
+    lonely hills like the blast of a trumpet. How has it been round
+    the populous neighbourhood of B----? Under what banner have your
+    brothers ranged themselves? the Blue or the Yellow? Use your
+    influence with them; entreat them, if it be necessary on your
+    knees, to stand by their country and religion in this day of
+    danger!... Stuart Wortley, the son of the most patriotic patrician
+    Yorkshire owns, must be elected the representative of his native
+    province. Lord Morpeth was at Haworth last week, and I saw him. My
+    opinion of his lordship is recorded in a letter I wrote yesterday
+    to Mary. It is not worth writing over again, so I will not trouble
+    you with it here.
+
+Even these brief extracts will show that Charlotte Brontė's life at
+this time was not a morbid one. These years between 1832 and 1835 must
+be counted among the happiest of her life--of all the lives of the
+little household at Haworth, in fact. The young people were accustomed
+to their father's coldness and eccentricity, and to their aunt's
+dainty distaste for all Northern customs and Northern people,
+themselves included. Shy they were and peculiar, alike in their modes
+of life and their modes of thought; but there was a wholesome, healthy
+happiness about all of them that gave promise of peaceful lives
+hereafter. Some literary efforts of a humble kind brightened their
+hopes at this time. Charlotte had written some juvenile poems (not now
+worth reprinting), and she sought the opinion of Southey upon them.
+The poet laureate gave her a kindly and considerate answer, which did
+not encourage her to persevere in these efforts; nor was an attempt by
+Branwell to secure the patronage of Wordsworth for some productions of
+his own more successful. Had anybody ventured into the wilds of
+Haworth parish at this new year of 1835, and made acquaintance with
+the parson's family, it is easy to say upon whom the attention of the
+stranger would have been riveted. Branwell Brontė, of whom casual
+mention is made in one of the foregoing letters, was the hope and
+pride of the little household. All who knew him at this time bear
+testimony to his remarkable talents, his striking graces. Small in
+stature like Charlotte herself, he was endowed with a rare personal
+beauty. But it was in his intellectual gifts that his chief charm was
+found. Even his father's dull parishioners recognised the fire of
+genius in the lad; and any one who cares to go to Haworth now and
+inquire into the story of the Brontės, will find that the most vivid
+reminiscences, the fondest memories of the older people in the
+village, centre in this hapless youth. Ambitious and clever, he seemed
+destined to play a considerable part in the world. His conversational
+powers were remarkable; he gave promise of more than ordinary ability
+as an artist, and he had even as a boy written verses of no common
+power. Among other accomplishments, more curious than useful, of which
+he could boast, was the ability to write two letters simultaneously.
+It is but a small trait in the history of this remarkable family, yet
+it deserves to be noticed, that its least successful member excelled
+Napoleon himself in one respect. The great conqueror could dictate
+half-a-dozen letters concurrently to his secretaries. Branwell Brontė
+could do more than this. With a pen in each hand, he could write two
+different letters at the same moment.
+
+Charlotte was Branwell's senior by one year. In 1835, when in her
+nineteenth year, she was by no means the unattractive person she has
+been represented as being. There is a little caricature sketched by
+herself lying before me as I write. In it all the more awkward of her
+physical points are ingeniously exaggerated. The prominent forehead
+bulges out in an aggressive manner, suggestive of hydrocephalus, the
+nose, "tip-tilted like the petal of a flower," and the mouth are made
+unnecessarily large; whilst the little figure is clumsy and ungainly.
+But though she could never pretend to beauty, she had redeeming
+features, her eyes, hair, and massive forehead all being attractive
+points. Emily, who was two years her junior, had, like Charlotte, a
+bad complexion; but she was tall and well-formed, whilst her eyes were
+of remarkable beauty. All through her life her temperament was more
+than merely peculiar. She inherited not a little of her father's
+eccentricity, untempered by her father's _savoir faire_. Her aversion
+to strangers has been already mentioned. When the curates, who formed
+the only society of Haworth, found their way to the parsonage, she
+avoided them as though they had brought the pestilence in their train.
+On the rare occasions when she went out into the world, she would sit
+absolutely silent in the company of those who were unfamiliar to her.
+So intense was this reserve that even in her own family, where alone
+she was at ease, something like dread was mingled with the affection
+felt towards her. On one occasion, whilst Charlotte's friend was
+visiting the parsonage, Charlotte herself was unable through illness to
+take any walks with her. To the amazement of the household, Emily
+volunteered to accompany Miss N---- on a ramble over the moors. They
+set off together, and the girl threw aside her reserve, and talked with
+a freedom and vigour which gave evidence of the real strength of her
+character. Her companion was charmed with her intelligence and
+geniality. But on returning to the parsonage Charlotte was found
+awaiting them, and, as soon as she had a chance of doing so, she
+anxiously put to Miss N---- the question, "How did Emily behave
+herself?" It was the first time she had ever been known to invite the
+company of any one outside the narrow limits of the family circle. Her
+chief delight was to roam on the moors, followed by her dogs, to whom
+she would whistle in masculine fashion. Her heart, indeed, was given to
+these dumb creatures of the earth. She never forgave those who
+ill-treated them, nor trusted those whom they disliked. One is reminded
+of Shelley's "Sensitive Plant" by some traits of Emily Brontė:
+
+    If the flowers had been her own infants, she
+    Could never have nursed them more tenderly;
+
+and, like the lady of the poem, her tenderness and charity could reach
+even
+
+    ----the poor banished insects, whose intent,
+    Although they did ill, was innocent.
+
+One instance of her remarkable personal courage is related in
+"Shirley," where she herself is sketched under the character of the
+heroine. It is her adventure with the mad dog which bit her at the
+door of the parsonage kitchen whilst she was offering it water. The
+brave girl took an iron from the fire, where it chanced to be heating,
+and immediately cauterised the wound on her arm, making a broad, deep
+scar, which was there until the day of her death. Not until many weeks
+after did she tell her sisters what had happened. Passionately fond of
+her home among the hills, and of the rough Yorkshire people among whom
+she had been reared, she sickened and pined away when absent from
+Haworth. A strange untamed and untamable character was hers; and none
+but her two sisters ever seem to have appreciated her remarkable
+merits, or to have recognised the fine though immature genius which
+shows itself in every line of the weird story of "Wuthering Heights."
+
+Anne, the youngest of the family, had beauty in addition to her other
+gifts. Intellectually she was greatly inferior to her sisters; but her
+mildness and sweetness of temperament won the affections of many who
+were repelled by the harsher exteriors of Charlotte and Emily.
+
+This was the family which lived happily and quietly among the hills
+during those years when life with its vicissitudes still lay in the
+distance. Gay their existence could not be called; but their letters
+show that it was unquestionably peaceful, happy, and wholesome.
+
+[Illustration: THE HOUSE THAT CHARLOTTE VISITED.]
+
+
+
+
+V.
+
+LIFE AS A GOVERNESS.
+
+
+Moved by the hope of lightening the family expenses and enabling
+Branwell to get a thorough artistic training at the Royal Academy,
+Charlotte resolved to go out as a governess. Her first "place" was at
+her old school at Roehead, where she was with her friend, Miss Wooler,
+and where she was also very near the home of her confidante, Miss
+N----. Emily went with her for a time, but she soon sickened and pined
+for the moors, and after a trial of but a few months she returned to
+Haworth. A great deal of sympathy has been bestowed upon the Brontės
+in connection with their lives as governesses; nor am I prepared to
+say that this sympathy is wholly misplaced. Their reserve, their
+affection for each other, their ignorance of the world, combined
+to make "the cup of life as it is mixed for the class termed
+governesses"--to use Charlotte's own phrase--particularly distasteful
+to them. But it is a mistake to suppose that they were treated with
+harshness during their governess life, or that Charlotte, at least,
+felt her trials to be at all unbearable. It was decidedly unpleasant
+to sacrifice the independence and the family companionship of Haworth
+for drudgery and loneliness in the household of a stranger; but it was
+a duty, and as such it was accepted without repining by two, at least,
+of the sisters. Emily's peculiar temperament made her quite unfitted
+for life among strangers; she made many attempts to overcome her
+reserve, but all were unavailing; and after a brief experience in one
+or two families in different parts of Yorkshire, she returned to
+Haworth to reside there permanently as her father's housekeeper. There
+is no need to dwell upon this episode in the lives of the Brontės.
+They were living among unfamiliar faces, and had little temptation to
+display themselves in their true characters, but extracts from a few
+of Charlotte's letters to her friends will show something of the
+course of her thought at this time. With the exception of a detached
+sentence or two these letters will be quite new to the readers of Mrs.
+Gaskell's "Life:"
+
+    I have been waiting for an opportunity of sending a letter to you
+    as you wished; but as no such opportunity offers itself, I have at
+    length determined to write to you by post, fearing that if I
+    delayed any longer you would attribute my tardiness to
+    indifference. I can scarcely realise the distance that lies between
+    us, or the length of time which may elapse before we meet again.
+    Now, Ellen, I have no news to tell you, no changes to communicate.
+    My life since I saw you last has passed away as monotonously and
+    unvaryingly as ever--nothing but teach, teach, teach, from morning
+    till night. The greatest variety I ever have is afforded by a
+    letter from you, a call from the T----s, or by meeting with a
+    pleasant new book. The "Life of Oberlin," and Legh Richmond's
+    "Domestic Portraiture," are the last of this description I have
+    perused. The latter work strongly attracted and strangely
+    fascinated my attention. Beg, borrow, or steal it without delay,
+    and read the "Memoir of Richmond." That short record of a brief and
+    uneventful life I shall never forget. It is beautiful, not on
+    account of the language in which it is written, not on account of
+    the incidents it details, but because of the simple narration it
+    gives of the life and death of a young, talented, sincere
+    Christian. Get the book, Ellen (I wish I had it to give you), read
+    it, and tell me what you think of it. Yesterday I heard that you
+    had been ill since you were in London. I hope you are better now.
+    Are you any happier than you were? Try to reconcile your mind to
+    circumstances, and exert the quiet fortitude of which I know you
+    are not destitute. Your absence leaves a sort of vacancy in my
+    feelings which nothing has as yet offered of sufficient interest to
+    supply. I do not forget ten o'clock. I remember it every night, and
+    if a sincere petition for your welfare will do you any good you
+    will be benefited. I know the Bible says: "The prayer of the
+    _righteous_ availeth much," and I am _not righteous_. Nevertheless
+    I believe God despises no application that is uttered in sincerity.
+    My own dear E----, good-bye. I can write no more, for I am called
+    to a less pleasant avocation.
+
+
+    Dewsbury Moor, Oct. 2, 1836.
+
+    I should have written to you a week ago, but my time has of late
+    been so wholly taken up that till now I have really not had an
+    opportunity of answering your last letter. I assure you I feel the
+    kindness of so early a reply to my tardy correspondence. It gave
+    me a sting of self-reproach.... My sister Emily is gone into a
+    situation as teacher in a large school of near forty pupils, near
+    Halifax. I have had one letter from her since her departure. It
+    gives an appalling account of her duties. Hard labour from six in
+    the morning till near eleven at night, with only one half-hour of
+    exercise between. This is slavery. I fear she will never stand it.
+    It gives me sincere pleasure, my dear Ellen, to learn that you
+    have at last found a few associates of congenial minds. I cannot
+    conceive a life more dreary than that passed amidst sights,
+    sounds, and companions all alien to the nature within us. From the
+    tenor of your letters it seems that your mind remains fixed as it
+    ever was, in no wise dazzled by novelty or warped by evil example.
+    I am thankful for it. I could not help smiling at the paragraphs
+    which related to ----. There was in them a touch of the genuine
+    unworldly simplicity which forms part of your character. Ellen,
+    depend upon it, all people have their dark side. Though some
+    possess the power of throwing a fair veil over the defects, close
+    acquaintance slowly removes the screen, and one by one the blots
+    appear; till at last we see the pattern of perfection all slurred
+    over with stains which even affection cannot efface.
+
+The affectionate commendations of her friend are constantly
+accompanied by references of a very different character to herself.
+
+    If I like people--she says in one of her letters--it is my nature
+    to tell them so, and I am not afraid of offering incense to your
+    vanity. It is from religion that you derive your chief charm, and
+    may its influence always preserve you as pure, as unassuming, and
+    as benevolent in thought and deed as you are now. What am I
+    compared to you? I feel my own utter worthlessness when I make the
+    comparison. I'm a very coarse, commonplace wretch! I have some
+    qualities that make me very miserable, some feelings that you can
+    have no participation in--that few, very few people in the world
+    can at all understand. I don't pride myself on these
+    peculiarities. I strive to conceal and suppress them as much as I
+    can, but they burst out sometimes, and then those who see the
+    explosion despise me, and I hate myself for days afterwards.
+
+    All my notes to you, Ellen, are written in a hurry. I am now
+    snatching an opportunity. Mr. J---- is here; by his means it will
+    be transmitted to Miss E----, by her means to X----, by his means
+    to you. I do not blame you for not coming to see me. I am sure you
+    have been prevented by sufficient reasons; but I do long to see
+    you, and I hope I shall be gratified momentarily, at least, ere
+    long. Next Friday, if all be well, I shall go to G----. On Sunday
+    I hope I shall at least catch a glimpse of you. Week after week I
+    have lived on the expectation of your coming. Week after week I
+    have been disappointed. I have not regretted what I said in my
+    last note to you. The confession was wrung from me by sympathy and
+    kindness, such as I can never be sufficiently thankful for. I feel
+    in a strange state of mind; still gloomy, but not despairing. I
+    keep trying to do right, checking wrong feelings; repressing wrong
+    thoughts--but still, every instant I find myself going astray. I
+    have a constant tendency to scorn people who are far better than I
+    am. A horror at the idea of becoming one of a certain set--a dread
+    lest if I made the slightest profession I should sink at once into
+    Phariseeism, merge wholly in the ranks of the self-righteous. In
+    writing at this moment I feel an irksome disgust at the idea of
+    using a single phrase that sounds like religious cant. I abhor
+    myself; I despise myself. If the doctrine of Calvin be true, I am
+    already an outcast. You cannot imagine how hard, rebellious, and
+    intractable all my feelings are. When I begin to study on the
+    subject I almost grow blasphemous, atheistical in my sentiments.
+    Don't desert me--don't be horrified at me. You know what I am. I
+    wish I could see you, my darling. I have lavished the warmest
+    affections of a very hot, tenacious heart upon you. If you grow
+    cold it is over.
+
+    You will excuse a very brief and meagre answer to your kind note
+    when I tell you that at the moment it reached me, and that just now
+    whilst I am scribbling a reply, the whole house is in the bustle of
+    packing and preparation, for on this day we all _go home_. Your
+    palliation of my defects is kind and charitable, but I dare not
+    trust its truth. Few would regard them with so lenient an eye as
+    you do. Your consolatory admonitions are kind, Ellen; and when I
+    can read them over in quietness and alone, I trust I shall derive
+    comfort from them. But just now, in the unsettled, excited state of
+    mind which I now feel, I cannot enter into the pure scriptural
+    spirit which they breathe. It would be wrong of me to continue the
+    subject. My thoughts are distracted and absorbed by other ideas.
+    You do not mention your visit to Haworth. Have you spoken of it to
+    the family? Have they agreed to let you come? But I will write when
+    I get home. Ever since last Friday I have been as busy as I could
+    be in finishing up the half-year's lessons, which concluded with a
+    terrible fog in geographical problems (think of explaining that to
+    Misses ---- and ----!), and subsequently in mending Miss ----'s
+    clothes. Miss ---- is calling me: something about my _protégée's_
+    nightcap. Good-bye. We shall meet again ere many days, I trust.
+
+Here it will be seen that the religious struggle was renewed. The
+woman who was afterwards to be accused of "heathenism" was going
+through tortures such as Cowper knew in his darkest hours, and, like
+him, was acquiring faith, humility, and resignation in the midst of
+the conflict. But such letters as this are only episodical; in general
+she writes cheerfully, sometimes even merrily.
+
+[Illustration: THE ROE HEAD SCHOOL.]
+
+What would the _Quarterly_ reviewer and the other charitable people,
+who openly declared their conviction that the author of "Jane Eyre" was
+an improper person, who had written an improper book, have said had
+they been told that she had written the following letter on the subject
+of her first offer of marriage--written it, too, at the time when she
+was a governess, and in spite of the fact that the offer opened up to
+her a way of escape from all anxiety as to her future life?
+
+    You ask me whether I have received a letter from T----. I have
+    about a week since. The contents I confess did a little surprise
+    me; but I kept them to myself, and unless you had questioned me on
+    the subject I would never have adverted to it. T---- says he is
+    comfortably settled at ----, and that his health is much improved.
+    He then intimates that in due time he will want a wife, and
+    frankly asks me to be that wife. Altogether the letter is written
+    without cant or flattery, and in common-sense style which does
+    credit to his judgment. Now there were in this proposal some
+    things that might have proved a strong temptation. I thought if I
+    were to marry so ---- could live with me, and how happy I should
+    be. But again I asked myself two questions: Do I love T---- as
+    much as a woman ought to love her husband? Am I the person best
+    qualified to make him happy? Alas! my conscience answered "No" to
+    both these questions. I felt that though I esteemed T----, though
+    I had a kindly leaning towards him, because he is an amiable,
+    well-disposed man, yet I had not and never could have that intense
+    attachment which would make me willing to die for him--and if ever
+    I marry it must be in that light of adoration that I will regard
+    my husband. Ten to one I shall never have the chance again; but
+    _n'importe_. Moreover, I was aware he knew so little of me he could
+    hardly be conscious to whom he was writing. Why, it would startle
+    him to see me in my natural home character. He would think I was a
+    wild, romantic enthusiast indeed. I could not sit all day long
+    making a grave face before my husband. I would laugh and satirise,
+    and say whatever came into my head first; and if he were a clever
+    man and loved me, the whole world weighed in the balance against
+    his smallest wish would be light as air. Could I, knowing my mind
+    to be such as that, conscientiously say that I would take a grave,
+    quiet young man like T----? No; it would have been deceiving him,
+    and deception of that sort is beneath me. So I wrote a long letter
+    back in which I expressed my refusal as gently as I could, and also
+    candidly avowed my reasons for that refusal. I described to him,
+    too, the sort of character I thought would suit him for a wife.
+
+The girl who could thus calmly decline a more than merely "eligible"
+offer, and thus honestly state her reasons for doing so to the friend
+she trusted, was strangely different from the author of "Jane Eyre"
+pictured by the critics and the public. Perhaps the full cost of the
+refusal related in the foregoing letter is only made clear when it is
+brought into contrast with such a confession as the following, made
+very soon afterwards:
+
+    I am miserable when I allow myself to dwell on the necessity of
+    spending my life as a governess. The chief requisite for that
+    station seems to me to be the power of taking things easily when
+    they come, and of making oneself comfortable and at home wherever
+    one may chance to be--qualities in which all our family are
+    singularly deficient. I know I cannot live with a person like Mrs.
+    ----; but I hope all women are not like her, and my motto is "Try
+    again."
+
+How thoroughly at all times she could sympathise alike with the joys
+and sorrows of others, is proved by many letters extending over the
+whole period of her life. The following is neither the earliest nor
+the most characteristic of those utterances of a tender and heartfelt
+sympathy with her special friend, which are to be found in her
+correspondence, but as Mrs. Gaskell has not made use of it, I may
+quote it here:
+
+    1838.
+
+    We were at breakfast when your note reached me, and I consequently
+    write in great hurry. Your trials seem to thicken. I trust God
+    will either remove them or give you strength to bear them. If I
+    could but come to you and offer you all the little assistance
+    either my head or hands could afford! But that is impossible. I
+    scarcely dare offer to comfort you about ---- lest my consolation
+    should seem like mockery. I know that in cases of sickness
+    strangers cannot measure what relations feel. One thing, however, I
+    need not remind _you_ of. You will have repeated it over and over
+    to yourself before now: God does all for the best; and even should
+    the worst happen, and Death seem finally to destroy hope, remember
+    that this will be but a practical test of the strong faith and calm
+    devotion which have marked you a Christian so long. I would hope,
+    however, that the time for this test is not yet come, that your
+    brother may recover, and all be well. It grieves me to hear that
+    your own health is so indifferent. Once more I wish I were with
+    you to lighten at least by sympathy the burden that seems so
+    unsparingly laid upon you. Let me thank you for remembering me in
+    the midst of such hurry and affliction. We are all apt to grow
+    selfish in distress. This, so far as I have found, is not your
+    case. _When_ shall I see you again? The uncertainty in which the
+    answer to that question must be involved gives me a bitter feeling.
+    Through all changes, through all chances, I trust I shall love you
+    as I do now. We can pray for each other and think of each other.
+    Distance is no bar to recollection. You have promised to write to
+    me, and I do not doubt that you will keep your word. Give my love
+    to M---- and your mother. Take with you my blessing and affection,
+    and all the warmest wishes of a warm heart for your welfare.
+
+From one of her situations as governess in a private family (she had
+long since left the kind shelter of Miss Wooler's house) she writes in
+1841 a series of letters showing how little she relished the "cup of
+life as it is mixed for the class termed governesses."
+
+    It is twelve o'clock at night; but I must just write you a word
+    before I go to bed. If you think I'm going to refuse your
+    invitation, or if you sent it me with that idea, you're mistaken.
+    As soon as I had read your shabby little note, I gathered up my
+    spirits directly, walked on the impulse of the moment into Mrs.
+    ----'s presence, popped the question, and for two minutes received
+    no answer. "Will she refuse me when I work so hard for her?"
+    thought I. "Ye--e--es," drawled madam in a reluctant, cold tone.
+    "Thank you, madam!" said I with extreme cordiality, and was
+    marching from the room when she recalled me with "You'd better go
+    on Saturday afternoon, then, when the children have holiday, and
+    if you return in time for them to have all their lessons on Monday
+    morning, I don't see that much will be lost." You _are_ a
+    genuine Turk, thought I; but again I assented, and so the bargain
+    was struck. Saturday after next, then, is the day appointed. I'll
+    come, God knows, with a thankful and joyful heart, glad of a day's
+    reprieve from labour. If you don't send the gig I'll walk. I am
+    coming to taste the pleasure of liberty; a bit of pleasant
+    congenial talk, and a sight of two or three faces I like. God
+    bless you! I want to see you again. Huzza for Saturday afternoon
+    after next! Good-night, my lass!
+
+
+    During the last three weeks that hideous operation called "a
+    thorough clean" has been going on in the house. It is now nearly
+    completed, for which I thank my stars, as during its progress I
+    have fulfilled the double character of nurse and governess, while
+    the nurse has been transmuted into cook and housemaid. That nurse,
+    by-the-bye, is the prettiest lass you ever saw.... I was beginning
+    to think Mrs. ---- a good sort of body in spite of her bouncing
+    and toasting, her bad grammar and worse orthography; but I have
+    had experience of one little trait in her character which condemns
+    her a long way with me. After treating a person on the most
+    familiar terms of equality for a long time, if any little thing
+    goes wrong, she does not scruple to give way to anger in a very
+    coarse, unladylike manner, though in justice no blame could be
+    attached where she ascribed it all. I think passion is the true
+    test of vulgarity or refinement. This place looks exquisitely
+    beautiful just now. The grounds are certainly lovely, and all as
+    green as an emerald. I wish you would just come and look at it.
+
+
+
+
+VI.
+
+THE TURNING-POINT.
+
+
+The "storm and stress" period of Charlotte Brontė's life was not what
+the world believes it to have been. Like the rest of our race, she had
+to fight her own battle in the wilderness, not with one devil, but
+with many; and it was this sharp contest with the temptations which
+crowd the threshold of an opening life which made her what she was.
+The world believes that it was under the parsonage roof that the
+author of "Jane Eyre" gathered up the precious experiences which were
+afterwards turned to such good account. Mrs. Gaskell, who was carried
+away by her honest womanly horror of hardened vice, gives us to
+understand that the tragic turning-point in the history of the sisters
+was connected with the disgrace and ruin of their brother. We are even
+asked to believe that but for the folly of a single woman, whom it is
+probable that Charlotte never saw, "Currer Bell" would never have
+taken up her pen, and no halo of glory would have settled on the
+scarred and rugged brows of prosaic Haworth.
+
+It is not so. There may be disappointment among those who have been
+nurtured on the traditions of the Brontė romance when they find that
+the reality is different from what they supposed it to be; some
+shallow judges may even assume that Charlotte herself loses in moral
+stature when it is shown that it was not her horror at her brother's
+fall which drove her to find relief in literary speech. But the truth
+must be told; and for my part I see nothing in that truth which
+affects, even in an infinitesimal degree, the fame and the honour of
+the woman of whom I write.
+
+It was Charlotte's visit to Brussels, then, first as pupil and
+afterwards as teacher in the school of Madame Héger, which was the
+turning-point in her life, which changed its currents, and gave to it
+a new purpose and a new meaning. Up to the moment of that visit she
+had been the simple, kindly, truthful Yorkshire girl, endowed with
+strange faculties, carried away at times by burning impulses, moved
+often by emotions the nature of which she could not fathom, but always
+hemmed in by her narrow experiences, her limited knowledge of life and
+the world. Until she went to Belgium, her sorest troubles had been
+associated with her dislike to the society of strangers, her heaviest
+burden had been the necessity under which she lay of tasting that "cup
+of life as it is mixed for governesses" which she detested so
+heartily. Under the belief that they could qualify themselves to keep
+a school of their own if they had once mastered the delicacies of the
+French and German languages, she and Emily set off for this sojourn in
+Brussels.
+
+One may be forgiven for speculating as to her future lot had she
+accepted the offer of marriage she received in her early governess
+days, and settled down as the faithful wife of a sober English
+gentleman. In that case "Shirley" perhaps might have been written, but
+"Jane Eyre" and "Villette" never. She learnt much during her two
+years' sojourn in the Belgian capital; but the greatest of all the
+lessons she mastered whilst there was that self-knowledge the taste of
+which is so bitter to the mouth, though so wholesome to the life. Mrs.
+Gaskell has made such ample use of the letters she penned during the
+long months which she spent as an exile from England, that there is
+comparatively little left to cull from them. Everybody knows the
+outward circumstances of her story at this time. For a brief period
+she had the company of Emily; and the two sisters, working together
+with the unremitting zeal of those who have learned that time is
+money, were happy and hopeful, enjoying the novel sights of the gay
+foreign capital, gathering fresh experiences every day, and looking
+forward to the moment when they would return to familiar Haworth, and
+realise the dream of their lives by opening a school of their own
+within the walls of the parsonage. But then Emily left, and Charlotte,
+after a brief holiday at home, returned alone. Years after, writing to
+her friend, she speaks of her return in these words: "I returned to
+Brussels after aunt's death against my conscience, prompted by what
+then seemed an irresistible impulse. I was punished for my selfish
+folly by a total withdrawal for more than two years of happiness and
+peace of mind." Why did she thus go back "against her conscience?" Her
+friends declared that her future husband dwelt somewhere within sound
+of the chimes of St. Gudule, and that she insisted upon returning to
+Brussels because she was about to be married there. We know now how
+different was the reality. The husband who awaited her was even then
+about to begin his long apprenticeship of love at Haworth. Yet none
+the less had her spirit, if not her heart, been captured and held
+captive in the Belgian city. It is not in her letters that we find the
+truth regarding her life at this time. The truth indeed is there, but
+not all the truth. "In catalepsy and dread trance," says Lucy Snowe,
+"I studiously held the quick of my nature.... It is on the surface
+only the common gaze will fall." The secrets of her inner life could
+not be trusted to paper, even though the lines were intended for no
+eyes but those of her friend and confidante. There are some things, as
+we know well, that the heart hides as by instinct, and which even
+frank and open natures only reveal under compulsion. Writing to her
+friend from Brussels in October, 1843, she says: "I have much to say,
+Ellen; many little odd things, queer and puzzling enough, which I do
+not like to trust to a letter, but which one day, perhaps, or rather
+one evening, if ever we should find ourselves again by the fireside at
+Haworth, or at B----, with our feet on the fender, curling our hair, I
+may communicate to you." One of the hardest features of the last year
+she spent at Brussels was the necessity she was under of locking all
+the deepest emotions of her life within her own breast, of preserving
+the calm and even cold exterior, which should tell nothing to the
+common gaze, above the troubled, fevered heart that beat within.
+
+    When do you think I shall see you?--she cries to her friend within
+    a few days of her final return to Haworth--I have, of course, much
+    to tell you, and I dare say you have much also to tell me--things
+    which we should neither of us wish to commit to paper.... I do not
+    know whether you feel as I do, but there are times now when it
+    appears to me as if all my ideas and feelings, except a few
+    friendships and affections, are changed from what they used to be.
+    Something in me which used to be enthusiasm is tamed down and
+    broken. I have fewer illusions. What I wish for now is active
+    exertion--a stake in life. Haworth seems such a lonely, quiet
+    spot, buried away from the world. I no longer regard myself as
+    young; indeed, I shall soon be twenty-eight, and it seems as if I
+    ought to be working and braving the rough realities of the world,
+    as other people do. It is, however, my duty to restrain this
+    feeling at present, and I will endeavour to do so.
+
+Yes; she was "disillusioned" now, and she had brought back from
+Brussels a heart which could never be quite so light, a spirit which
+could never again soar so buoyantly, as in those earlier years when
+the tree of knowledge was still untasted, and the mystery of life
+still unrevealed. This stay in Belgium was, as I have said, the
+turning-point in Charlotte Brontė's career, and its true history and
+meaning is to be found, not in her "Life" and letters, but in
+"Villette," the master-work of her mind, and the revelation of the
+most vivid passages in her own heart's history. "I said I disliked
+Lucy Snowe," is a remark which Mrs. Gaskell innocently repeats in her
+memoir of Charlotte Brontė. One need not be surprised at it. Lucy
+Snowe was never meant to be liked--by everybody; but none the less is
+Lucy Snowe the truest picture we possess of the real Charlotte Brontė;
+whilst not a few of the fortunes which befell this strange heroine are
+literal transcripts from the life of her creator. One little incident
+in "Villette"--Lucy's impulsive visit to a Roman Catholic
+confessor--is taken direct from Charlotte's own experience. During one
+of the long lonely holidays in the foreign school, when her mind was
+restless and disturbed, her heart heavy, her nerves jarred and
+jangled, she fled from the great empty schoolrooms to seek peace in
+the street; and she found, not peace perhaps, but sympathy at least,
+in the counsels of a priest, seated at the Confessional in a church
+into which she wandered, who took pity on the little heretic, and
+soothed her troubled spirit without attempting to enmesh it in the
+folds of Romanism. It was from experiences such as these, with a
+chastened heart and a nature tamed down, though by no means broken,
+that she returned to familiar Haworth, to face "the rough realities of
+the world."
+
+Rough, indeed, those realities were in her case. Her brother, once the
+hope of the family, had now become its burden and its curse; and from
+that moment he was to be the prodigal for whom no fatted calf would
+ever be killed. Her father was fast losing his eyesight; she and her
+sisters were getting on in life, and "something must be done."
+Charlotte had returned home, but her heart was still in Brussels, and
+the wings of her spirit began to beat impatiently against the cage in
+which she found herself imprisoned. It was only the old story. She had
+gone out into the world, had tasted strange joys, and drunk deep of
+waters the very bitterness of which seemed to endear them to her.
+Returning to Haworth she went back a new woman, with tastes and hopes
+which it was hard to reconcile with the monotony of life in the
+parsonage which had once satisfied her completely.
+
+"If I _could_ leave home I should not be at Haworth," she says soon
+after her return. "I know life is passing away, and I am doing nothing,
+earning nothing; a very bitter knowledge it is at moments, but I see no
+way out of the mist." And then, almost for the first time in her life,
+something like a cry of despair goes up from her lips: "Probably, when
+I am free to leave home, I shall neither be able to find place nor
+employment. Perhaps, too, I shall be quite past the prime of life, my
+faculties will be wasted, and my few acquirements in a great measure
+forgotten. These ideas sting me keenly sometimes; but whenever I
+consult my conscience, it affirms that I am doing right in staying at
+home, and bitter are its upbraidings when I yield to an eager desire
+for release."
+
+But this outburst of personal feeling was exceptional, and was uttered
+in one ear only. Within the walls of her home Charlotte again became
+the house-mother, busying herself with homely cares, and ever watching
+for some opportunity of carrying her plan of school-keeping into
+execution. Nor did she allow either the troubles at home, or that
+weight at her own heart which she bore in secrecy, to render her
+spirit morbid and melancholy. Not a few who have read Mrs. Gaskell's
+work labour under the belief that this was the effect that Charlotte
+Brontė's trials had upon her. As a matter of fact, however, she was
+far too strong, brave, cheerful--one had almost said manly--to give
+way to any such selfish repinings. She never was one of those sickly
+souls who go about "glooming over the woes of existence, and how
+unworthy God's universe is to have so distinguished a resident." Even
+when her own sorrows were deepest, and her lot seemed hardest, she
+found a lively pleasure in discussing the characters and lots of
+others, and expended as much pains and time in analysing the inner
+lives of her friends as our sham Byrons are wont to expend upon the
+study of their own feelings and emotions. Indeed, of that self-pity
+which is so common a characteristic of the young, no trace is to be
+found in her correspondence. Let the following letter, hitherto
+unpublished, written at the very time when the household clouds were
+blackest, speak for her freedom from morbid self-consciousness, as
+well as for her hearty interest in the well-being of those around her:
+
+    You are a very good girl indeed to send me such a long and
+    interesting letter. In all that account of the young lady and
+    gentleman in the railway carriage I recognise your faculty for
+    observation, which is a rarer gift than you imagine. You ought to
+    be thankful for it. I never yet met with an individual devoid of
+    observation whose conversation was interesting, nor with one
+    possessed of that power in whose society I could not manage to
+    pass a pleasant hour. I was amused with your allusions to
+    individuals at ----. I have little doubt of the truth of the
+    report you mention about Mr. Z---- paying assiduous attention to
+    ----. Whether it will ever come to a match is another thing.
+    _Money_ would decide that point, as it does most others of a
+    similar nature. You are perfectly right in saying that Mr. Z----
+    is more influenced by opinion than he himself suspects. I saw his
+    lordship in a new light last time I was at ----. Sometimes I could
+    scarcely believe my ears when I heard the stress he laid on
+    wealth, appearance, family, and all those advantages which are the
+    idols of the world. His conversation on marriage (and he talked
+    much about it) differed in no degree from that of any hackneyed
+    fortune-hunter, except that with his own peculiar and native
+    audacity he avowed views and principles which more timid
+    individuals conceal. Of course I raised no argument against
+    anything he said. I listened, and laughed inwardly to think how
+    indignant I should have been eight years since if anyone had
+    accused Z---- of being a worshipper of Mammon and of Interest.
+    Indeed, I still believe that the Z---- of ten years ago is not the
+    Z---- of to-day. The world, with its hardness and selfishness, has
+    utterly changed him. He thinks himself grown wiser than the
+    wisest. In a worldly sense he is wise. His feelings have gone
+    through a process of petrifaction which will prevent them from
+    ever warring against his interest; but Ichabod! all glory of
+    principle, and much elevation of character are gone! I learnt
+    another thing. Fear the smooth side of Z----'s tongue more than
+    the rough side. He has the art of paying peppery little
+    compliments, which he seems to bring out with a sort of
+    difficulty, as if he were not used to that kind of thing, and did
+    it rather against his will than otherwise. These compliments you
+    feel disposed to value on account of their seeming rarity. Fudge!
+    They are at any one's disposal, and are confessedly hollow
+    blarney.
+
+Still more significant, however, is the following letter, showing so
+kindly and careful an interest in the welfare of the friend to whom it
+is addressed, even whilst it bears the bitter tidings of a great
+household sorrow:
+
+    July 31, 1845.
+
+    I was glad to get your little packet. It was quite a treasure of
+    interest to me. I think the intelligence about G---- is cheering.
+    I have read the lines to Miss ----. They are expressive of the
+    affectionate feelings of his nature, and are poetical, insomuch as
+    they are true. Faults in expression, rhythm, metre, were of course
+    to be expected. All you say about Mr. ---- amused me much. Still,
+    I cannot put out of my mind one fear, viz. that you should think
+    too much about him. Faulty as he is, and as you know him to be, he
+    has still certain qualities which might create an interest in your
+    mind before you were aware. He has the art of impressing ladies by
+    something involuntary in his look and manner, exciting in them the
+    notion that he cares for them, while his words and actions are all
+    careless, inattentive, and quite uncompromising for himself. It is
+    only men who have seen much of life and of the world, and who are
+    become in a measure indifferent to female attractions, that
+    possess this art. So be on your guard. These are not pleasant or
+    flattering words, but they are the words of one who has known you
+    long enough to be indifferent about being temporarily disagreeable,
+    provided she can be permanently useful.
+
+    I got home very well. There was a gentleman in the railroad
+    carriage whom I recognised by his features immediately as a
+    foreigner and a Frenchman. So sure was I of it that I ventured to
+    say to him, "_Monsieur est franēais, n'est-ce pas_?" He gave a
+    start of surprise, and answered immediately in his own tongue. He
+    appeared still more astonished and even puzzled when, after a few
+    minutes' further conversation, I inquired if he had not passed the
+    greater part of his life in Germany. He said the surmise was
+    correct. I guessed it from his speaking French with the German
+    accent.
+
+    It was ten o'clock at night when I got home. I found Branwell ill.
+    He is so very often, owing to his own fault. I was not therefore
+    shocked at first. But when Anne informed me of the immediate cause
+    of his present illness I was very greatly shocked. He had last
+    Thursday received a note from Mr. ---- sternly dismissing him....
+     We have had sad work with him since. He thought of nothing but
+    stunning or drowning his distressed mind. No one in the house
+    could have rest, and at last we have been obliged to send him from
+    home for a week with someone to look after him. He has written to
+    me this morning, and expresses some sense of contrition for his
+    frantic folly. He promises amendment on his return, but so long
+    as he remains at home I scarce dare hope for peace in the house.
+    We must all, I fear, prepare for a season of distress and
+    disquietude. I cannot now ask Miss ---- or anyone else.
+
+The gloom in the household deepened; but Charlotte was still strong
+enough and brave enough to meet the world, to retain her accustomed
+interest in her friends, and to discuss as of yore the characters and
+lives of those around her. Curious are the glimpses one gets of her
+circle of acquaintances at this time. Little did many of those with
+whom she was brought in contact think of the keen eyes which were
+gazing out at them from under the prominent forehead of the parson's
+daughter. Yet not the least interesting feature of her correspondence
+is the evidence it affords that she was gradually gaining that
+knowledge of character which was afterwards to be lavished upon her
+books. A string of extracts from letters hitherto unpublished will
+suffice to show how the current of her life and thoughts ran in those
+days of domestic darkness, whilst the dawn of her fame was still
+hidden in the blackest hour of the night:
+
+    I have just read M----'s letters. They are very interesting, and
+    show the original and vigorous cast of her mind. There is but one
+    thing I could wish otherwise in them, and that is a certain
+    tendency to flightiness. It is not safe, it is not wise; and will
+    often cause her to be misconstrued. Perhaps _flightiness_ is
+    not the right word; but it is a devil-may-care tone, which I do
+    not like when it proceeds from under a hat, and still less from
+    under a bonnet.
+
+    I return you Miss ----'s notes with thanks. I always like to read
+    them. They appear to me so true an index of an amiable mind, and
+    one not too conscious of its own worth. Beware of awakening in
+    her this consciousness by undue praise. It is a privilege of
+    simple-hearted, sensible, but not brilliant people that they can
+    _be_ and _do_ good without comparing their own thoughts and
+    actions too closely with those of other people, and thence drawing
+    strong food for self-appreciation. Talented people almost always
+    know full well the excellence that is in them.... You ask me if we
+    are more comfortable. I wish I could say anything favourable; but
+    how can we be more comfortable so long as Branwell stays at home
+    and degenerates instead of improving? It has been lately intimated
+    to him that he would be received again on the same railroad where
+    he was formerly stationed if he would behave more steadily, but he
+    refuses to make an effort. He will not work, and at home he is a
+    drain on every resource, an impediment to all happiness. But
+    there's no use in complaining.
+
+    I thank you again for your last letter, which I found as full or
+    fuller of interest than either of the preceding ones--it is just
+    written as I wish you to write to me--not a detail too much. A
+    correspondence of that sort is the next best thing to actual
+    conversation, though it must be allowed that between the two there
+    is a wide gulf still. I imagine your face, voice, presence very
+    plainly when I read your letters. Still imagination is not
+    reality, and when I return them to their envelope and put them by
+    in my desk I feel the difference sensibly enough. My curiosity is
+    a little piqued about that countess you mention. What is her name?
+    you have not yet given it. I cannot decide from what you say
+    whether she is really clever or only eccentric. The two sometimes
+    go together, but are often seen apart. I generally feel inclined
+    to fight very shy of eccentricity, and have no small horror of
+    being thought eccentric myself, by which observation I don't mean
+    to insinuate that I class myself under the head clever. God knows
+    a more consummate ass in sundry important points has seldom
+    browsed the green herb of His bounties than I. O Lord, Nell, I'm
+    in danger sometimes of falling into self-weariness. I used to say
+    and to think in former times that X---- would certainly be
+    married. I am not so sanguine on that point now. It will never
+    suit her to accept a husband she cannot love, or at least respect,
+    and it appears there are many chances against her meeting with
+    such a one under favourable circumstances; besides, from all I can
+    hear and see, money seems to be regarded as almost the Alpha and
+    Omega of requisites in a wife. Well, if she is destined to be an
+    old maid I don't think she will be a repining one. I think she
+    will find resources in her own mind and disposition which will
+    help her to get on. As to society, I don't understand much about
+    it, but from the few glimpses I have had of its machinery it seems
+    to me to be a very strange, complicated affair indeed, wherein
+    nature is turned upside down. Your well-bred people appear to me,
+    figuratively speaking, to walk on their heads, to see everything
+    the wrong way up--a lie is with them truth, truth a lie, eternal
+    and tedious botheration is their notion of happiness, sensible
+    pursuits their _ennui_. But this may be only the view ignorance
+    takes of what it cannot understand. I refrain from judging them,
+    therefore, but if I were called upon to _swop_--you know the word,
+    I suppose--to swop tastes and ideas and feelings with ----, for
+    instance, I should prefer walking into a good Yorkshire kitchen
+    fire and concluding the bargain at once by an act of voluntary
+    combustion.
+
+    I shall scribble you a short note about nothing, just to have a
+    pretext for screwing a letter out of you in return. I was sorry
+    you did not go to W----, firstly, because you lost the pleasure of
+    observation and enjoyment; and secondly, because I lost the
+    second-hand indulgence of hearing your account of what you had
+    seen. I laughed at the candour with which you give your reason for
+    wishing to be there. Thou hast an honest soul as ever animated
+    human carcase, and a clean one, for it is not ashamed of showing
+    its inmost recesses: only be careful with whom you are frank. Some
+    would not rightly appreciate the value of your frankness, and
+    never cast pearls before swine. You are quite right in wishing to
+    look well in the eyes of those whom you desire to please. It is
+    natural to desire to appear to advantage (_honest_ not _false_
+    advantage of course) before people we respect. Long may the power
+    and the inclination to do so be spared you; long may you look
+    young and handsome enough to dress in white; and long may you have
+    a right to feel the consciousness that you look agreeable. I know
+    you have too much judgment to let an over-dose of vanity spoil the
+    blessing and turn it into a misfortune. After all though, age will
+    come on, and it is well you have something better than a nice
+    face for friends to turn to when that is changed. I hope this
+    excessively cold weather has not harmed you or _yours_ much. It
+    has nipped me severely--taken away my appetite for a while, and
+    given me toothache; in short put me in the ailing condition in
+    which I have more than once had the honour of making myself such a
+    nuisance both at B---- and ----. The consequence is that at this
+    present speaking I look almost old enough to be your mother--gray,
+    sunk, and withered. To-day, however, it is milder, and I hope soon
+    to feel better; indeed, I am not _ill_ now, and my toothache is
+    quite subsided; but I experience a loss of strength and a
+    deficiency of spirit which would make me a sorry companion to you
+    or anyone else. I would not be on a visit now for a large sum of
+    money.
+
+
+    June, 1846.
+
+    I hope all the mournful contingencies of death are by this time
+    removed from ----, and that some little sense of relief is
+    beginning to be experienced by its wearied inmates. ---- suffered
+    greatly, I make no doubt; and I trust, and even believe, that his
+    long sufferings on earth will be taken as sufficient expiation for
+    his errors. One shudders for him, but it is his relations--his
+    mother and sisters--whom I truly and permanently pity.
+
+
+    July 10th, 1846.
+
+    DEAR ELLEN,--Who gravely asked you whether Miss Brontė was not
+    going to be married to ----? I scarcely need say that there never
+    was rumour more unfounded. It puzzles me to think how it could
+    possibly have originated. A cold, far-away sort of civility, are
+    the only terms on which I have ever been with Mr. ----. I could
+    by no means think of mentioning such a rumour to him, even as a
+    joke. It would make me the laughing-stock of himself and his
+    fellow-curates, for half a year to come. They regard me as an old
+    maid; and I regard them, one and all, as highly uninteresting,
+    narrow, and unattractive specimens of the "coarser sex."
+
+
+
+
+VII.
+
+AUTHORSHIP AND BEREAVEMENT.
+
+
+The reader has seen that it was not the degradation of Branwell Brontė
+which formed the turning-point in Charlotte's life. Mrs. Gaskell,
+anxious to support her own conception of what _should have been_
+Charlotte's feelings with regard to her brother's ruin, has scarcely
+done justice either to herself or to her heroine. Thus she makes use
+of a passage in one of the letters quoted in the foregoing chapter,
+but in doing so omits what are perhaps the most characteristic words
+in it. "He" (Branwell) "has written this morning expressing some sense
+of contrition; ... but as long as he remains at home I scarce dare
+hope for peace in the house." This is the form in which the passage
+appears in the "Biography," whereas Charlotte had written of her
+brother's having expressed "contrition for his frantic folly," and of
+his having "promised amendment on his return." Mrs. Gaskell could not
+bring herself to speak of such flagrant sins as those of which young
+Brontė had been guilty under the name of "folly," nor could she
+conceive that there was any possibility of amendment on the part of
+one who had fallen so low in vice. Moreover, one of her objects was to
+punish those who had shared the lad's misconduct, and to whom she
+openly attributed not only his ruin but the premature deaths of his
+sisters. Thus she felt compelled to take throughout her book a far
+deeper and more tragic view of this miserable episode in the Brontė
+story than Charlotte herself took. Having read all her letters written
+at this period of her life to her two most confidential friends, I am
+justified in saying that the impression produced on Charlotte by
+Branwell's degrading fall was not so deep as that which was produced
+on Mrs. Gaskell, who never saw young Brontė, by the mere recital of
+the story. Yet Charlotte, though too brave, healthy, and reasonable in
+all things to be utterly weighed down by the fact that her brother had
+fallen a victim to loathsome vice, was far from being insensible to
+the sadness and shamefulness of his condition. What she thought of it
+she has herself told the world in the story of "The Professor" (p.
+198):
+
+    Limited as had yet been my experience of life, I had once had the
+    opportunity of contemplating near at hand an example of the
+    results produced by a course of interesting and romantic domestic
+    treachery. No golden halo of fiction was about this example; I saw
+    it bare and real, and it was very loathsome. I saw a mind degraded
+    by the practice of mean subterfuge, by the habit of perfidious
+    deception, and a body depraved by the infectious influence of the
+    vice-polluted soul. I had suffered much from the forced and
+    prolonged view of this spectacle; those sufferings I did not now
+    regret, for their simple recollection acted as a most wholesome
+    antidote to temptation. They had inscribed on my reason the
+    conviction that unlawful pleasure, trenching on another's rights,
+    is delusive and envenomed pleasure--its hollowness disappoints at
+    the time, its poison cruelly tortures afterwards, its effects
+    deprave for ever.
+
+Upon the gentle and sensitive mind of Anne Brontė the effect of
+Branwell's fall was such as Mrs. Gaskell depicts. She was literally
+broken down by the grief she suffered in seeing her brother's ruin;
+but Charlotte and Emily were of stronger fibre than their sister, and
+their predominant feeling, as expressed in their letters, is one of
+sheer disgust at their brother's weakness, and of indignation against
+all who had in any way assisted in his downfall. This may not be
+consistent with the popular conception of Charlotte's character, but
+it is strictly true.
+
+We must then dismiss from our minds the notion that the brother's fate
+exercised that paramount influence over the sisters' lives which seems
+to be believed. Yet, as we have seen, there was a very strong though
+hidden influence working in Charlotte during those years in which
+their home was darkened by Branwell's presence. Her yearning for
+Brussels and the life that now seemed like a vanished dream, continued
+almost as strong as ever. At Haworth everything was dull, commonplace,
+monotonous. The school-keeping scheme had failed; poverty and
+obscurity seemed henceforth to be the appointed lot of all the
+sisters. Even the source of intercourse with friends was almost
+entirely cut off; for Charlotte could not bear the shame of exposing
+the prodigal of the family to the gaze of strangers. It was at this
+time, and in the mood described in the letters quoted in the preceding
+chapter, that she took up her pen, and sought to escape from the
+narrow and sordid cares which environed her by a flight into the
+region of poetry. She had been accustomed from childhood to write
+verses, few of which as yet had passed the limits of mediocrity. Now,
+with all that heart-history through which she had passed at Brussels
+weighing upon her, she began to write again, moved by a stronger
+impulse, stirred by deeper thoughts than any she had known before. In
+this secret exercise of her faculties she found relief and enjoyment;
+her letters to her friend showed that her mind was regaining its tone,
+and the dreary out-look from "the hills of Judęa" at Haworth began to
+brighten. It was a great day in the lives of all the sisters when
+Charlotte accidentally discovered that Emily also had dared to "commit
+her soul to paper." The younger sister was keenly troubled when
+Charlotte made the discovery, for her poems had been written in
+absolute secrecy. But mutual confessions hastened her reconcilement.
+Charlotte produced her own poems, and then Anne also, blushing as was
+her wont, poured some hidden treasures of the same kind into the
+eldest sister's lap. So it came to pass that in 1846, unknown to their
+nearest friends, they presented to the world--at their own cost and
+risk, poor souls!--that thin volume of poetry "by Currer, Ellis, and
+Acton Bell," now almost forgotten, the merits of which few readers
+have recognised and few critics proclaimed.
+
+Strong, calm, sincere, most of these poems are; not the spasmodic or
+frothy outpourings of Byron-stricken girls; not even mere echoes,
+however skilful, of the grand music of the masters. When we dip into
+the pages of the book, we see that these women write because they
+feel. They write because they have something to say; they write not
+for the world, but for themselves, each sister wrapping her own secret
+within her own soul. Strangely enough, it is not Charlotte who carries
+off the palm in these poems. Verse seems to have been too narrow for
+the limits of her genius; she could not soar as she desired to do
+within the self-imposed restraints of rhythm, rhyme, and metre. Here
+and there, it is true, we come upon lines which flash upon us with the
+brilliant light of genius; but, upon the whole, we need not wonder
+that Currer Bell achieved no reputation as a poet. Nor is Anne to be
+counted among great singers. Sweet, indeed her verses are, radiant
+with the tenderness, resignation, and gentle humility which were the
+prominent features of her character. One or two of her little poems
+are now included in popular collections of hymns used in Yorkshire
+churches; but, as a rule, her compositions lack the vigorous life
+which belongs to those of her sisters. It is Emily who takes the first
+place in this volume. Some of her poems have a lyrical beauty which
+haunts the mind ever after it has become acquainted with them; others
+have a passionate emphasis, a depth of meaning, an intensity and
+gravity which are startling when we know who the singer is, and which
+furnish a key to many passages in "Wuthering Heights" which the world
+shudders at and hastily passes by. Such lines as these ought to make
+the name of Emily Brontė far more familiar than it is to the students
+of our modern English literature:
+
+    Death! that struck when I was most confiding
+      In my certain faith of joy to be--
+    Strike again, Time's withered branch dividing
+      From the fresh root of Eternity!
+
+    Leaves upon Time's branch were growing brightly,
+      Full of sap and full of silver dew;
+    Birds beneath its shelter gathered nightly;
+      Daily round its flowers the wild bees flew.
+
+    Sorrow passed, and plucked the golden blossom;
+      Guilt stripped off the foliage in its pride;
+    But within its parent's kindly bosom
+      Flowed for ever Life's restoring tide.
+
+    Little mourned I for the parted gladness,
+      For the vacant nest and silent song--
+    Hope was there, and laughed me out of sadness,
+      Whispering, "Winter will not linger long!"
+
+    And behold! with tenfold increase blessing,
+      Spring adorned the beauty-burdened spray;
+    Wind and rain and fervent heat, caressing,
+      Lavished glory on that second May!
+
+    High it rose--no winged grief could sweep it;
+      Sin was scared to distance by its shine;
+    Love, and its own life, had power to keep it
+      From all wrong--from every blight but thine,
+
+    Cruel Death! The young leaves droop and languish;
+      Evening's gentle air may still restore--
+    No! the morning sunshine mocks my anguish--
+      Time, for me, must never blossom more!
+
+    Strike it down, that other boughs may flourish
+      Where that perished sapling used to be;
+    Thus at least its mouldering corpse will nourish
+      That from which it sprung--Eternity.
+
+The little book was a failure. This first flight ended only in
+discomfiture; and Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell were once more left to
+face the realities of life in Haworth parsonage, uncheered by literary
+success. This was in the summer and autumn of 1846; about which time
+they were compelled to think of cares which came even nearer home than
+the failure of their volume of poems. Their father's eyesight was now
+almost gone, and all their thoughts were centred upon the operation
+which was to restore it. It was to Manchester that Mr. Brontė was
+taken by his daughters to undergo this operation. Many of the letters
+which were written by Charlotte at this period have already been
+published; but the two which I now quote are new, and they serve to
+show what were the narrow cares and anxieties which nipped the sisters
+at this eventful crisis in their lives:
+
+    September 22nd, 1846.
+
+    DEAR ELLEN,--I have nothing new to tell you, except that papa
+    continues to do well, though the process of recovery appears to me
+    very tedious. I daresay it will yet be many weeks before his sight
+    is completely restored; yet every time Mr. Wilson comes, he
+    expresses his satisfaction at the perfect success of the operation,
+    and assures me papa will, ere long, be able both to read and write.
+    He is still a prisoner in his darkened room, into which, however,
+    a little more light is admitted than formerly. The nurse goes
+    to-day--her departure will certainly be a relief, though she is, I
+    daresay, not the worst of her class.
+
+
+    September 29th, 1846.
+
+    DEAR ELLEN,--When I wrote to you last, our return was uncertain
+    indeed, but Mr. Wilson was called away to Scotland; his absence set
+    us at liberty. I hastened our departure, and now we are at home.
+    Papa is daily gaining strength. He cannot yet exercise his sight
+    much, but it improves, and I have no doubt will continue to do so.
+    I feel truly thankful for the good insured and the evil exempted
+    during our absence. What you say about ---- grieves me much, and
+    surprises me too. I know well the malaria of ----, it is an
+    abominable smell of gas. I was sick from it ten times a day while I
+    stayed there. That they should hesitate to leave from scruples
+    about furnishing new houses, provokes and amazes me. Is not the
+    furniture they have very decent? The inconsistency of human beings
+    passes belief. I wonder what their sister would say to them, if
+    they told her that tale? She sits on a wooden stool without a back,
+    in a log-house without a carpet, and neither is degraded nor thinks
+    herself degraded by such poor accommodation.
+
+[Illustration: HAWORTH PARSONAGE AND GRAVEYARD.]
+
+It was about the time when this journey to Manchester was first
+projected, and very shortly after they had become convinced that their
+poems were a failure, that the sisters embarked upon another and more
+important literary venture. The pen once taken up could not be laid
+down. By poetry they had only lost money; but the idea had occurred to
+them that by prose-writing money was to be made. At any rate, in
+telling the stories of imaginary people, in opening their hearts
+freely upon all those subjects on which they had thought deeply in
+their secluded lives, they would find relief from the solitude of
+Haworth. Each of the three accordingly began to write a novel. The
+stories were commenced simultaneously, after a long consultation, in
+which the outlines of the plots, and even the names of the different
+characters, were settled. How one must wish that some record of that
+strange literary council had been preserved! Charlotte, in after life,
+spoke always tenderly, lovingly, almost reverentially, of the days in
+which she and her well-beloved sisters were engaged in settling the
+plan and style of their respective romances. That time seemed sacred
+to her, and though she learnt to smile at the illusions under which
+the work was begun, and could see clearly enough the errors and
+crudities of thought and method which all three displayed, she never
+allowed any one in her presence to question the genius of Emily and
+Anne, or to ridicule the prosaic and business-like fashion in which
+the novel-writing was undertaken by the three sisters. Returning to
+the old customs of their childhood, they sat round the table of their
+sitting-room in the parsonage, each busy with her pen. No trace of
+their occupation at this time is to be found in their letters; and on
+the rare occasions on which the father or the brother came into their
+room, nothing was said as to the work that was going on. The
+novel-writing, like the writing and publishing of the poems, was still
+kept profoundly secret. "There is no gentleman of the name in this
+parish," said Mr. Brontė to the village postman, when the latter
+ventured to ask who the Mr. Currer Bell could be for whom letters came
+so frequently from London. But every night the three sisters, as they
+paced the barely-furnished room, or strained their eyes across the
+tombstones, to the spot where the weather-stained church-tower rose
+from a bank of nettles, told each other what the work of the day had
+been, and criticised each other's labours with the freedom of that
+perfect love which casts out all fear of misconception. And here I may
+interpolate two letters written whilst the novel-writing was in
+progress, which are in some respects not altogether insignificant:
+
+    DEAR NELL,--Your last letter both amused and edified me
+    exceedingly. I could not but laugh at your account of the fall in
+    B----, yet I should by no means have liked to have made a third
+    party in that exhibition. I have endured one fall in your company,
+    and undergone one of your ill-timed laughs, and don't wish to
+    repeat my experience. Allow me to compliment you on the skill with
+    which you can seem to give an explanation, without enlightening one
+    one whit on the question asked. I know no more about Miss R.'s
+    superstition now, than I did before. What is the superstition?--about
+    a dead body? And what is the inference drawn? Do you remember my
+    telling you--or did I ever tell you--about that wretched and most
+    criminal Mr. J. S.? After running an infamous career of vice, both
+    in England and France, abandoning his wife to disease and total
+    destitution in Manchester, with two children and without a
+    farthing, in a strange lodging-house? Yesterday evening Martha
+    came upstairs to say that a woman--"rather lady-like," as she
+    said--wished to speak to me in the kitchen. I went down. There
+    stood Mrs. S., pale and worn, but still interesting-looking, and
+    cleanly and neatly dressed, as was her little girl who was with
+    her. I kissed her heartily. I could almost have cried to see her,
+    for I had pitied her with my whole soul when I heard of her
+    undeserved sufferings, agonies, and physical degradation. She took
+    tea with us, stayed about two hours, and frankly entered into the
+    narrative of her appalling distresses. Her constitution has
+    triumphed over her illness; and her excellent sense, her activity,
+    and perseverance have enabled her to regain a decent position in
+    society, and to procure a respectable maintenance for herself and
+    her children. She keeps a lodging-house in a very eligible part of
+    the suburbs of ---- (which I know), and is doing very well. She
+    does not know where Mr. S. is, and of course can never more endure
+    to see him. She is now staying a few days at E----, with the ----s,
+    who I believe have been all along very kind to her, and the
+    circumstance is greatly to their credit.
+
+    I wish to know whether about Whitsuntide would suit you for coming
+    to Haworth. We often have fine weather just then. At least I
+    remember last year it was very beautiful at that season. Winter
+    seems to have returned with severity on us at present, consequently
+    we are all in the full enjoyment of a cold. Much blowing of noses
+    is heard, and much making of gruel goes on in the house. How are
+    you all?
+
+
+    May 12th, 1847.
+
+    DEAR ELLEN,--We shall all be glad to see you on the Thursday or
+    Friday of next week, whichever day will suit you best. About what
+    time will you be likely to get here, and how will you come--by
+    coach to Keighley, or by a gig all the way to Haworth? There must
+    be no impediments now. I could not do with them; I want very much
+    to see you. I hope you will be decently comfortable while you stay.
+    Branwell is quieter now, and for a good reason. He has got to the
+    end of a considerable sum of money, of which he became possessed in
+    the spring, and consequently is obliged to restrict himself in some
+    degree. You must expect to find him weaker in mind, and the
+    complete rake in appearance. I have no apprehension of his being at
+    all uncivil to you, on the contrary he will be as smooth as oil.
+
+    I pray for fine weather, that we may be able to get out while you
+    stay. Good-bye for the present. Prepare for much dulness and
+    monotony. Give my love to all at B----.
+
+Is it needful to tell how the three stories--"The Professor,"
+"Wuthering Heights," and "Agnes Grey"--are sent forth at last from the
+little station at Keighley, to fare as best they may in that unknown
+London which is still an ideal city to the sisters, peopled not with
+ordinary human beings, but with creatures of some strangely-different
+order? Can any one be ignorant of the weary months which passed whilst
+"The Professor" was going from hand to hand, and the stories written
+by Emily and Anne were waiting in a publisher's desk until they could
+be given to the world on the publisher's own terms? Charlotte had
+failed, but the brave heart was not to be baffled. No sooner had the
+last page of "The Professor" been finished than the first page of
+"Jane Eyre" was begun. The whole of that wondrous story passed through
+the author's busy brain whilst the life around her was clad in these
+sombre hues, and disappointment, affliction, and gloomy forebodings
+were her daily companions. The decisive rejection of her first tale by
+Messrs. Smith, Elder, and Co. had been accompanied by some kindly
+words of advice; so it is to that firm that she now entrusts the
+completed manuscript of "Jane Eyre." The result has already been told.
+On August 24, 1847, the story is sent from Leeds to London; and before
+the year is out, all England is ringing with the praises of the novel
+and its author.
+
+Need I defend the sisters from the charge sometimes brought against
+them that they were unfaithful to their friends in not taking them
+into their confidence? Surely not. They had pledged themselves to each
+other that the secret should be sternly guarded as something sacred,
+kept even from those of their own household. They were not working for
+fame; for again and again they give proof that personal fame is the
+last thing to which they aspire. But they had found their true
+vocation; the call to work was irresistible; they had obeyed it, and
+all that they sought now was to leave their work to speak for itself,
+dissevered absolutely from the humble personality of the authors.
+
+In a letter from Anne Brontė, written in January, 1848, at which time
+the literary quidnuncs both of England and America were eagerly
+discussing contradictory theories as to the authorship of "Jane Eyre,"
+and of the two other stories which had appeared from the pens of Ellis
+and Acton Bell, I find the following passage: "I have no news to tell
+you, for we have been nowhere, seen no one, and done nothing (to
+_speak_ of) since you were here, and yet we contrive to be busy
+from morning till night." The gentle and scrupulously conscientious
+girl, whilst hiding the secret from her friend, cannot violate the
+truth even by a hairbreadth. The italics are her own. Nothing _that
+can be spoken of_ has been done. The friend had her own suspicions.
+Staying in a southern house for the winter, the new novel about which
+everybody was talking was produced, fresh from town. One of the guests
+was deputed to read it aloud, and before she had proceeded far
+Charlotte Brontė's schoolfellow had pierced the secret of the
+authorship. Three months before, Charlotte had been spending a few
+days at Miss N----'s house, and had openly corrected the proof-sheets
+of the story in the presence of her hostess; but she had given the
+latter no encouragement to speak to her on the subject, and nothing
+had been said. Now, however, in the surprise of the moment, Miss N----
+told the company that this must have been written by Miss Brontė; and
+astute friends at once advised her not to mention the fact that she
+knew the author of "Jane Eyre" to any one, as her acquaintance with
+such a person would be regarded as a reflection on her own character!
+When Charlotte was challenged by her friend, she uttered stormy
+denials in general terms, which carried a complete confirmation of the
+truth; and when, in the spring of 1848, Miss N---- visited Haworth,
+full confession was made, and the poems brought forth and shown to
+her, in addition to the stories.
+
+Those who read Charlotte Brontė's letters will see that even before
+this avowal of her flight in authorship there is a distinct change in
+their tone. Not that she is less affectionate towards her early
+friend, or that she shows the smallest abatement of her interest in
+the fortunes of her old companions. On the contrary, it would almost
+seem as though the great event, which had altered the current of her
+life, had only served to bind her more closely than before to those
+whom she had known and loved in her obscurity. But there is a
+perceptible growth of power and independence in her mode of handling
+the topics, often trivial enough in themselves, which arise in any
+prolonged correspondence, which shows how much her mind had grown, how
+greatly her views had been enlarged, by the intellectual labours
+through which she had passed. The following was the last letter
+written by her to her schoolfellow whilst the authorship of "Jane
+Eyre" was still a secret, and it will, I think, bear out what I have
+said:
+
+    April 25th, 1848.
+
+    I was not at all surprised at the contents of your note. Indeed,
+    what part of it was new to us? V---- has his good and bad side,
+    like most others. There is his own original nature, and there are
+    the alterations the world has made in him. Meantime, why do B----
+    and G---- trouble themselves with matching him? Let him, in God's
+    name, court half the country-side and marry the other half, if
+    such procedure seem good in his eyes, and let him do it all in
+    quietness. He has his own botherations, no doubt; it does not seem
+    to be such very easy work getting married, even for a man, since
+    it is necessary to make up to so many ladies. More tranquil are
+    those who have settled their bargain with celibacy. I like Q----'s
+    letters more and more. Her goodness is indeed better than mere
+    talent. I fancy she will never be married, but the amiability of
+    her character will give her comfort. To be sure, one has only her
+    letters to judge from, and letters often deceive; but hers seem so
+    artless and unaffected. Still, were I in your place I should feel
+    uneasy in the midst of this correspondence. Does a doubt of mutual
+    satisfaction in case you should one day meet never torment you?...
+    Anne says it pleases her to think that you have kept her little
+    drawing. She would rather have done it for you than for a
+    stranger.
+
+Very quietly and sedately did "Currer Bell" take her sudden change of
+fortune. She corresponded freely with her publishers, and with the
+critics who had written to her concerning her book; she told her father
+the secret of her authorship, and exhibited to him the draft which was
+the substantial recompense of her labours; but in her letters to her
+friend no difference of tone is to be detected. Success was very sweet
+to her, as we know; but she bore her honours meekly, betraying nothing
+of the gratified ambition which must have filled her soul. She had not
+even revealed her identity to the publisher till, by an accident, she
+became aware of the rumour that the writer had satirised Mr. Thackeray
+under the character of Rochester, and had even obtruded on the sorrows
+of his private life. Shocked at this supposition, she went to London by
+the night train, accompanied by Anne, and having breakfasted at the
+station, walked to the establishment in Cornhill, where she had much
+difficulty in penetrating to the head of the house, having stated that
+he would not know her by her name. At last he came into the shop,
+saying, with some annoyance: "Young woman, what can you want with me?"
+"Sir, we have come up from Yorkshire. I wish to speak to you privately.
+I wrote 'Jane Eyre.'" "_You_ wrote 'Jane Eyre!'" cried the delighted
+publisher; and taking them into his office, insisted on their coming to
+the house of his mother, who would take every care of them. Charlotte
+related afterwards the strange contrast between the desolate waiting at
+the station in the early morning, and their loneliness in the crowd of
+the great city, and finding themselves in the evening seated among the
+brilliant company at the Opera House, listening to the performance of
+Jenny Lind.
+
+But her thoughts were soon turned from her literary triumphs. Branwell,
+who had been so long the dark shadow in their "humble home," was taken
+from them without any lengthened preliminary warning. Sharing to the
+full the eccentricity of the family, he resolved to die as nobody else
+had ever died before; and when the last agony came on he rose to his
+feet, as though proudly defying death itself to do its worst, and
+expired standing. In the following letter, hitherto unpublished, to one
+of her friends--not to her old schoolfellow--Charlotte thus speaks of
+the last act in the tragedy of her brother's life:
+
+    Haworth, October 14th, 1848.
+
+    The event to which you allude came upon us indeed with startling
+    suddenness, and was a severe shock to us all. My poor brother has
+    long had a shaken constitution, and during the summer his appetite
+    had been diminished and he had seemed weaker; but neither we, nor
+    himself, nor any medical man who was consulted on his case,
+    thought it one of immediate danger: he was out of doors two days
+    before his death, and was only confined to bed one single day. I
+    thank you for your kind sympathy. Many, under the circumstances,
+    would think our loss rather a relief than otherwise; in truth, we
+    must acknowledge, in all humility and gratitude, that God has
+    greatly tempered judgment with mercy; but yet, as you doubtless
+    know from experience, the last earthly separation cannot take
+    place between near relations without the keenest pangs on the part
+    of the survivors. Every wrong and sin is forgotten then; pity and
+    grief share the heart and the memory between them. Yet we are not
+    without comfort in our affliction. A most propitious change marked
+    the few last days of poor Branwell's life; his demeanour, his
+    language, his sentiments, were all singularly altered and
+    softened, and this change could not be owing to the fear of death,
+    for within half an hour of his decease he seemed unconscious of
+    danger. In God's hands we leave him! He sees not as man sees.
+    Papa, I am thankful to say, has borne the event pretty well. His
+    distress was great at first. To lose an only son is no ordinary
+    trial. But his physical strength has not hitherto failed him, and
+    he has now in a great measure recovered his mental composure; my
+    dear sisters are pretty well also. Unfortunately illness attacked
+    me at the crisis, when strength was most needed; I bore up for a
+    day or two, hoping to be better, but got worse; fever, sickness,
+    total loss of appetite and internal pain were the symptoms. The
+    doctor pronounced it to be bilious fever--but I think it must have
+    been in a mitigated form; it yielded to medicine and care in a few
+    days; I was only confined to my bed a week, and am, I trust,
+    nearly well now. I felt it a grievous thing to be incapacitated
+    from action and effort at a time when action and effort were most
+    called for. The past month seems an overclouded period in my life.
+
+Alas! the brave woman who felt it to be "a grievous thing" that she
+could not bear her full share of the family burden, little knew how
+terribly that burden was to be increased, how much heavier and blacker
+were the clouds which awaited her than any through which she had yet
+passed. The storm which even then was gathering upon her path was one
+which no sunshine of fame or prosperity could dissipate. The one to
+whom Charlotte's heart had always clung most fondly, the sister who
+had been nearest to her in age and nearest to her in affection, Emily,
+the brilliant but ill-fated child of genius, began to fade. "She had
+never," says Charlotte, speaking in the solitude of her fame,
+"lingered over any task in her life, and she did not linger now." Yet
+the quick decline of Emily Brontė is one of the saddest of all the sad
+features of the story. I have spoken of her reserve. So intense was it
+that when dying she refused to admit even to her own sisters that she
+was ill. They saw her fading before their eyes; they knew that the
+grave was yawning at her feet; and yet they dared not offer her any
+attention such as an invalid needed, and such as they were longing to
+bestow upon her. It was the cruellest torture of Charlotte's life.
+During the brief period of Emily's illness, her sister writes as
+follows to her friend:
+
+    I mentioned your coming to Emily as a mere suggestion, with the
+    faint hope that the prospect might cheer her, as she really
+    esteems you perhaps more than any other person out of this house.
+    I found, however, it would not do; any, the slightest excitement
+    or putting out of the way, is not to be thought of, and indeed I
+    do not think the journey in this unsettled weather, with the walk
+    from Keighley and back, at all advisable for yourself. Yet I
+    should have liked to see you, and so would Anne. Emily continues
+    much the same: yesterday I thought her a little better, but to-day
+    she is not so well. I hope still, for I _must_ hope; she is as dear
+    to me as life. If I let the faintness of despair reach my heart I
+    shall become worthless. The attack was, I believe, in the first
+    place, inflammation of the lungs; it ought to have been met
+    promptly in time; but she would take no care, use no means, she
+    is too intractable. I _our_ wish I knew her state and feelings
+    more clearly. The fever is not so high as it was, but the pain in
+    the side, the cough, the emaciation are there still.
+
+The days went by in the parsonage, slowly, solemnly, each bringing
+some fresh burden of sorrow to the broken hearts of Charlotte and
+Anne. Emily's resolute spirit was unbending to the last. Day after day
+she refused to own that she was ill, refused to take rest or medicine
+or stimulants; compelled her trembling hands to labour as of old. And
+so came the bitter morning in December, the story of which has been
+told by Mrs. Gaskell with simple pathos, when she "arose and dressed
+herself as usual, making many a pause, but doing everything for
+herself," even going on with her sewing as at any time during the
+years past; until suddenly she laid the unfinished work aside,
+whispered faintly to her sister: "If you send for a doctor I will see
+him now," and in two hours passed quietly away.
+
+The broken father, supported on either side by his surviving
+daughters, followed Emily to her grave in the old church. There was
+one other mourner--the fierce old dog whom she had loved better almost
+than any human being.
+
+    Yes--says Charlotte, writing to her friend--there is no Emily in
+    time or on earth now. Yesterday we put her poor wasted mortal
+    frame quietly under the church pavement. We are very calm at
+    present. Why should we be otherwise? The anguish of seeing her
+    suffer is over. We feel she is at peace. No need now to tremble
+    for the hard frost and the keen wind. Emily does not feel them.
+    She died in a time of promise. We saw her taken from life in its
+    prime. But it is God's will, and the place where she is gone is
+    better than that she has left.
+
+It was in the very month of December, 1848, when Charlotte passed
+through this fierce ordeal, and wrote these tender words of love and
+resignation, that the _Quarterly Review_ denounced her as an improper
+woman, who "for some sufficient reason" had forfeited the society of
+her sex!
+
+Terrible was the storm of death which in three short months swept off
+two of the little household at Haworth; but it had not even yet
+exhausted all its fury. Scarcely had Emily been laid in the grave than
+Anne, the youngest and gentlest of the three sisters, began to fade.
+Very slowly did she droop. The winter passed away, and the spring came
+with a glimmer of hope; but the following unpublished letter, written
+on the 16th of May, shows with what fears Charlotte set forth on that
+visit to Scarborough which her sister insisted upon undertaking as a
+last resource:
+
+    Next Wednesday is the day fixed for our departure; Ellen
+    accompanies us at her own kind and friendly wish. I would not
+    refuse her society, but dared not urge her to go, for I have
+    little hope that the excursion will be one of pleasure or benefit
+    to those engaged in it. Anne is extremely weak. She herself has a
+    fixed impression that the sea-air will give her a chance of
+    regaining strength. That chance therefore she must have. Having
+    resolved to try the experiment, misgivings are useless, and yet
+    when I look at her misgivings will rise. She is more emaciated
+    than Emily was at the very last, her breath scarcely serves her to
+    mount the stairs, however slowly. She sleeps very little at night,
+    and often passes most of the forenoon in a semi-lethargic state.
+    Still she is up all day, and even goes out a little when it is
+    fine. Fresh air usually acts as a temporary stimulus, but its
+    reviving power diminishes.
+
+I am indebted to the faithful friend and companion to whom allusion is
+made above, for the following account of the sad journey to
+Scarborough, and of its tragic end:
+
+    On our way to Scarborough we stopped at York, and after a rest at
+    the George Hotel, and partaking of dinner, which she enjoyed, Anne
+    went out in a bath-chair, and made purchases, along with
+    Charlotte, of bonnets and dresses, besides visiting the minister.
+    The morning after her arrival at Scarborough, she insisted on
+    going to the baths, and would be left there with only the
+    attendant in charge. She walked back alone to her lodgings, but
+    fell exhausted as she reached the garden-gate. She never named
+    this, but it was discovered afterwards. The same day she had a
+    drive in a donkey carriage, and talked with the boy-driver on
+    kindness to animals. On Sunday she wanted again to be left alone,
+    and for us to go to church. Finding we would not leave her, she
+    begged that she might go out, and we walked down towards the
+    saloon, she resting half way, and sending us on with the excuse
+    that she wanted us to see the place, this being _our_ first
+    visit, though not hers. In the evening, after again asking us to
+    go to church, she sat by the sitting-room window, enjoying a very
+    glorious sunset. Next morning (the day she died) she rose by seven
+    o'clock and dressed herself, refusing all assistance. She was the
+    first of the little party to be ready to go downstairs; but when
+    she reached the head of the stairs, she felt fearful of
+    descending. Charlotte went to her and discovered this. I fancying
+    there was some difficulty, left my room to see what it was, when
+    Anne smilingly told me she felt afraid of the steps downward. I
+    immediately said: "Let me try to carry you;" she looked pleased,
+    but feared for me. Charlotte was angry at the idea, and greatly
+    distressed, I could see, at this new evidence of Anne's weakness.
+    Charlotte was at last persuaded to go to her room and leave us. I
+    then went a step or two below Anne, and begged her to put her arms
+    round my neck, and I said: "I will carry you like a baby." She
+    still feared, but on my promising to put her down if I could not
+    do it, she consented to trust herself to me. Strength seemed to be
+    given for the effort, but on reaching the foot of the stairs, poor
+    Anne's head fell like a leaden weight upon the top of mine. The
+    shock was terrible, for I felt it could only be death that was
+    coming. I just managed to bear her to the front of her easy-chair
+    and drop her into it, falling myself on my knees before her, very
+    miserable at the fact, and letting her fall at last, though it
+    was into her chair. She was shaken, but she put out her arms to
+    comfort me, and said: "You know it could not be helped, you did
+    your best." After this she sat at the breakfast-table and partook
+    of a basin of boiled milk prepared for her. As 11 A.M. approached,
+    she wondered if she could be conveyed home in time to die there. At
+    2 P.M. death had come, and left only her beautiful form in the
+    sweetest peace.
+
+    She rendered up her soul with that sweetness and resignation of
+    spirit which had adorned her throughout her brief life, even in
+    the last hour crying: "Take courage, Charlotte, take courage!" as
+    she bade farewell to the sister who was left.
+
+    Before me lie the few letters which remain of Emily and Anne.
+    There is little in them worth preserving. Both make reference to
+    the fact that Charlotte is the great correspondent of the family,
+    and that their brief and uninteresting epistles can have no charm
+    for one who is constantly receiving letters from her. Yet that
+    modest reserve which distinguished the greatest of the three is
+    plainly visible in what little remains of the correspondence of
+    the others. They had discovered before their death the real power
+    that lay within them; they had just experienced the joy which
+    comes from the exercise of this power; they had looked forward to
+    a future which should be sunny and prosperous, as no other part of
+    their lives of toil and patient endurance had been. Suddenly death
+    had confronted them, and they recognised the fact that they must
+    leave their work undone. Each faced the dread enemy in her own
+    way, but neither shrank even from that blow. Emily's proud spirit
+    refused to be conquered, and, as we have seen, up to the last
+    agony she carried herself as one sternly indifferent to the
+    weaknesses of the flesh, including that final weakness which must
+    conquer all of us in the end. Anne found consolation, pure and
+    deep, in her religious faith, and she died cheerfully in the firm
+    belief that she was but entering upon that fuller life which lay
+    beyond the grave. The one was defiant, the other resigned; but
+    courage and fortitude were shown by each in accordance with her
+    own special idiosyncrasy.
+
+
+
+
+VIII.
+
+"SHIRLEY."
+
+
+Charlotte went back from Scarborough to Haworth alone. Her father met
+her with unwonted demonstrations of affection, and she "tried to be
+glad" that she was once more under the familiar roof. "But this time
+joy was not to be the sensation." Yet the courage which had held her
+sisters to the end supported her amid the pangs of loneliness and
+bereavement. Even now there was no bitterness, no morbid gloom in the
+heart which had suffered so keenly. Quietly but resolutely setting
+aside her own sorrow, refusing all the invitations of her friend to
+seek temporary relief in change of scene, she sat down to complete the
+story which was intended to tell the world what the lost Emily had
+seemed to be in the eyes of her fond sister. By herself, in the room
+in which a short year ago three happy sisters had worked together,
+within the walls which could never again echo with the old voices, or
+walking on the moors, which would never more be trodden by the firm,
+elastic step of Emily, she composed the brilliant story of
+"Shirley"--the brightest and healthiest of her works. As she writes
+she sometimes sends forth messages to those who love her, which tell
+us of the spirit of the hero or the martyr burning within the frail
+frame of the solitary woman. "Submission, courage, exertion when
+practicable--these seem to be the weapons with which we must fight
+life's long battle;" and that these are no mere words she proves with
+all her accustomed honesty and sincerity, by acting up to them to the
+very letter. But at times the burden presses upon her till it is
+almost past endurance. Strangely enough, it is a comparative trifle,
+as the world counts it, the illness of a servant, that occasions her
+fiercest outburst of open grief:
+
+    You have to fight your way through labour and difficulty at home,
+    it appears, but I am truly glad now you did not come to Haworth.
+    As matters have turned out you would have found only discomfort
+    and gloom. Both Tabby and Martha are at this moment ill in bed.
+    Martha's illness has been most serious. She was seized with
+    internal inflammation ten days ago; Tabby's lame leg has broken
+    out, she cannot stand or walk. I have one of Martha's sisters to
+    help me, and her mother comes up sometimes. There was one day last
+    week when I fairly broke down for ten minutes, and sat down and
+    cried like a fool. Martha's illness was at its height; a cry from
+    Tabby had called me into the kitchen, and I had found her laid on
+    the floor, her head under the kitchen-grate. She had fallen from
+    her chair in attempting to rise. Papa had just been declaring that
+    Martha was in imminent danger; I was myself depressed with
+    headache and sickness that day; I hardly knew what to do or where
+    to turn. Thank God, Martha is now convalescent; Tabby, I trust,
+    will be better soon. Papa is pretty well. I have the satisfaction
+    of knowing that my publishers are delighted with what I sent
+    them--this supports me, but life is a battle. May we _all_ be
+    enabled to fight it well.
+
+This letter is dated September 24, 1849, at which time "Shirley" is
+written, and in the hands of her publishers. She has painted the
+character of Emily in that of Shirley herself; and her friend Ellen is
+shadowed forth to the world in the person of Caroline Helston. When
+the book, with its vivid pictures of Yorkshire life at the beginning
+of the century, and its masterly sketches of characters as real as
+those which Shakespeare brings upon the stage, is published, there is
+but one outcry of praise, even from the critics who were so eager to
+condemn "Jane Eyre." Up to this point she had preserved her anonymity,
+but now she is discovered, and her admirers in London persuade her at
+last to visit them, and make acquaintance with her peers in the
+Republic of Letters, the men and women whose names were household
+words in Haworth Parsonage long before "Currer Bell" had made her
+first modest appeal to the world.
+
+[Illustration: THE "FIELD HEAD" OF SHIRLEY.]
+
+A passage from one of the following letters, written during this first
+sojourn in London, has already been published; but it will well bear
+reprinting:
+
+    December, 1849.
+
+    I have just remembered that as you do not know my address you
+    cannot write to me till you get it. I came to this big Babylon
+    last Thursday, and have been in what seems to me a sort of whirl
+    ever since; for changes, scenes, and stimulus, which would be a
+    trifle to others, are much to me. I found when I mentioned to Mr.
+    ---- my plan of going to Dr. ----'s it would not do at all. He
+    would have been seriously hurt: he made his mother write to me,
+    and thus I was persuaded to make my principal stay at his house.
+    So far I have found no reason to regret this decision. Mrs. ----
+    received me at first like one who has had the strictest orders to
+    be scrupulously attentive. I had fire in my bedroom evening and
+    morning, two wax candles, &c., and Mrs. ---- and her daughters
+    seemed to look on me with a mixture of respect and alarm. But all
+    this is changed; that is to say, the attention and politeness
+    continue as great as ever, but the alarm and estrangement are
+    quite gone; she treats me as if she liked me, and I begin to like
+    her much. Kindness is a potent heart-winner. I had not judged too
+    favourably of ---- on a first impression--he pleases me much: I
+    like him better as a son and brother than as a man of business.
+    Mr. W---- too is really most gentlemanly and well-informed; his
+    weak points he certainly has, but these are not seen in society.
+    Mr. X---- (the little man) has again shown his parts. Of him I
+    have not yet come to a clear decision. Abilities he has, for he
+    rules his firm and keeps forty young men under strict control by
+    his iron will. His young superior likes him, which, to speak the
+    truth, is more than I do at present. In fact, I suspect that he is
+    of the Helston order of men--rigid, despotic, and self-willed. He
+    tries to be very kind, and even to express sympathy sometimes, and
+    he does not manage it. He has a determined, dreadful nose in the
+    middle of his face, which, when poked into my countenance, cuts
+    into my soul like iron. Still he is horribly intelligent, quick,
+    searching, sagacious, and with a memory of relentless tenacity: to
+    turn to--after him is to turn from granite to easy down or warm
+    fur. I have seen Thackeray.
+
+    As to being happy, I am under scenes and circumstances of
+    excitement, but I suffer acute pain sometimes--mental pain, I
+    mean. At the moment Mr. Thackeray presented himself I was
+    thoroughly faint from inanition, having eaten nothing since a very
+    slight breakfast, and it was then seven o'clock in the evening.
+    Excitement and exhaustion together made savage work of me that
+    evening. What he thought of me I cannot tell. This evening I am
+    going to meet Miss Martineau; she has written to me most kindly;
+    she knows me only as Currer Bell; I am going alone; how I shall
+    get on I do not know. If Mrs. ---- were not kind, I should
+    sometimes be miserable; but she treats me almost affectionately,
+    her attentions never flag. I have seen many things; I hope some
+    day to tell you what. Yesterday I went over the new Houses of
+    Parliament with Mr. ----. An attack of rheumatic fever has kept
+    poor Mr. X---- out of the way since I wrote last. I am sorry for
+    _his_ sake. It grows quite dark. I must stop. I shall not stay in
+    London a day longer than I first intended. On those points I form
+    my resolutions, and will not be shaken. The thundering _Times_ has
+    attacked me savagely.
+
+The following letters (with one exception not previously published)
+belong to the spring of 1850, when Charlotte was at home again,
+engaged in attending to her father and to the household cares which
+shared her attention with literary work and anxieties. The first,
+which refers exclusively to her visit to London, was addressed to one
+of her old friends in Yorkshire:
+
+    Ellen it seems told you that I spent a fortnight in London last
+    December. They wished me very much to stay a month, alleging that
+    I should in that time be able to secure a complete circle of
+    acquaintance, but I found a fortnight of such excitement quite
+    enough. The whole day was usually devoted to sight-seeing, and
+    often the evening was spent in society; it was more than I could
+    bear for any length of time. On one occasion I met a party of my
+    critics--seven of them. Some of them had been my bitter foes in
+    print, but they were prodigiously civil face to face. These
+    gentlemen seemed infinitely grander, more pompous, dashing, showy,
+    than the few authors I saw. Mr. Thackeray, for example, is a man
+    of very quiet, simple demeanour; he is, however, looked upon with
+    some awe and even distrust. His conversation is very peculiar, too
+    perverse to be pleasant. It was proposed to me to see Charles
+    Dickens, Lady Morgan, Mesdames Trollope, Gore, and some others;
+    but I was aware these introductions would bring a degree of
+    notoriety I was not disposed to encounter; I declined therefore
+    with thanks. Nothing charmed me more during my stay in town than
+    the pictures I saw; one or two private collections of Turner's
+    best water-colours were indeed a treat. His later oil paintings
+    are strange things--things that baffle description. I have twice
+    seen Macready act; once in "Macbeth," and once in "Othello." I
+    astounded a dinner-party by honestly saying I did not like him. It
+    is the fashion to rave about his splendid acting; anything more
+    false and artificial, less genuinely impressive than his whole
+    style, I could scarcely have imagined. The fact is, the stage
+    system altogether is hollow nonsense. They act farces well enough;
+    the actors comprehend their parts and do them justice. They
+    comprehend nothing about tragedy or Shakespeare, and it is a
+    failure. I said so, and by so saying produced a blank silence, a
+    mute consternation. I was indeed obliged to dissent on many
+    occasions, and to offend by dissenting. It seems now very much the
+    custom to admire a certain wordy, intricate, obscure style of
+    poetry, such as Elizabeth Barrett Browning writes. Some pieces
+    were referred to, about which Currer Bell was expected to be very
+    rapturous, and failing in this he disappointed. London people
+    strike a provincial as being very much taken up with little
+    matters, about which no one out of particular town circles cares
+    much. They talk too of persons, literary men and women, whose
+    names are scarcely heard in the country, and in whom you cannot
+    get up an interest. I think I should scarcely like to live in
+    London, and were I obliged to live there I should certainly go
+    little into company--especially I should eschew the literary
+    critics.
+
+
+    I have, since you went, had a remarkable epistle from Thackeray,
+    long, interesting, characteristic; but it unfortunately concludes
+    with the strict injunction, _Show this letter to no one_; adding
+    that if he thought his letters were seen by others, he would either
+    cease to write, or write only what was conventional. But for this
+    circumstance I should have sent it with the others. I answered it
+    at length. Whether my reply will give satisfaction or displeasure
+    remains yet to be ascertained. Thackeray's feelings are not such as
+    can be gauged by ordinary calculation: variable weather is what I
+    should ever expect from that quarter. Yet in correspondence, as in
+    verbal intercourse, this would torment me.
+
+[Illustration: THE "BRIARFIELD" CHURCH OF SHIRLEY.]
+
+    I believe I should have written to you before, but I don't know
+    what heaviness of spirit has beset me of late, made my faculties
+    dull, made rest weariness, and occupation burdensome. Now and then
+    the silence of the house, the solitude of the room has pressed on
+    me with a weight I found it difficult to bear, and recollection
+    has not failed to be as alert, poignant, obtrusive, as other
+    feelings were languid. I attribute this state of things partly to
+    the weather. Quicksilver invariably falls low in storms and high
+    winds, and I have ere this been warned of approaching disturbance
+    in the atmosphere by a sense of bodily weakness, and deep, heavy
+    mental sadness, which some would call _presentiment_. Presentiment
+    indeed it is, but not at all supernatural. The Haworth people have
+    been making great fools of themselves about "Shirley;" they take it
+    in the enthusiastic light. When they got the volumes at the
+    Mechanics' Institution, all the members wanted them; they cast lots
+    for the whole three, and whoever got a volume was only allowed to
+    keep it two days, and to be fined a shilling _per diem_ for longer
+    detention. It would be mere nonsense and vanity to tell you what
+    they say. I have had no letters from London for a long time, and am
+    very much ashamed of myself to find, now that that stimulus is
+    withdrawn, how dependent upon it I had become. I cannot help
+    feeling something of the excitement of expectation till post-hour
+    comes, and when day after day it brings nothing I get low. This is
+    a stupid, disgraceful, unmeaning state of things. I feel bitterly
+    enraged at my own dependence and folly. It is so bad for the mind
+    to be quite alone, to have none with whom to talk over little
+    crosses and disappointments, and laugh them away. If I could write
+    I daresay I should be better, but I cannot write a line. However
+    (D. V.), I shall contend against the idiocy. I had rather a foolish
+    letter from Miss ---- the other day. Some things in it nettled me,
+    especially an unnecessarily earnest assurance that in spite of all
+    I had gone and done in the writing line I still retained a place in
+    her esteem. My answer took strong and high ground at once. I said I
+    had been troubled by no doubts on the subject, that I neither did
+    myself nor her the injustice to suppose there was anything in what
+    I had written to incur the just forfeiture of esteem. I was aware,
+    I intimated, that some persons thought proper to take exceptions at
+    "Jane Eyre," and that for their own sakes I was sorry, as I
+    invariably found them individuals in whom the animal largely
+    predominated over the intellectual, persons by nature coarse, by
+    inclination sensual, whatever they might be by education and
+    principle.
+
+
+    I enclose a slip of newspaper for your amusement. Me it both
+    amused and touched, for it alludes to some who are in this world
+    no longer. It is an extract from an American paper, and is written
+    by an emigrant from Haworth. You will find it a curious mixture of
+    truth and inaccuracy. Return it when you write again. I also send
+    you for perusal an opinion of "Jane Eyre," written by a _working
+    man_ in this village; rather, I should say, a record of the
+    feelings the book excited in the poor fellow's mind; it was not
+    written for my inspection, nor does the writer now know that his
+    little document has by intricate ways come into my possession, and
+    I have forced those who gave it to promise that they will never
+    inform him of this circumstance. He is a modest, thoughtful,
+    feeling, reading being, to whom I have spoken perhaps about three
+    times in the course of my life; his delicate health renders him
+    incapable of hard or close labour; he and his family are often
+    under the pressure of want. He feared that if Miss Brontė saw what
+    he had written she would laugh it to scorn. But Miss Brontė
+    considers it one of the highest, because one of the most truthful
+    and artless tributes her work has yet received. You must return
+    this likewise. I do you great honour in showing it to you.
+
+Once more we can see that the healthy, happy interest she takes in the
+welfare of others is beginning to assert itself. For a time, under the
+keen smart of the wounds death had inflicted on her, she had found
+little heart to discuss the affairs of her circle of friends in her
+correspondence; but now the outer world vindicates its claim to her
+renewed attention, and she again begins to discuss and analyse the
+characters of her acquaintances with a skill and minuteness which make
+them as interesting even to strangers as any of the most
+closely-studied characters of fiction can be.
+
+    I return Q----'s letter. The business is a most unpleasant one to
+    be concerned in. It seems to me _now_ altogether unworthy in its
+    beginning, progress, and ending. Q---- is the only pure thing about
+    it; she stands between her coarse father and cold, unloving suitor,
+    like innocence between a pair of world-hardened knaves. The
+    comparison seems rather hard to be applied to V----, but as I see
+    him now he merits it. If V---- has no means of keeping a wife, if
+    he does not possess a sixpence he is sure of, how can he think of
+    marrying a woman from whom he cannot expect she should work to keep
+    herself? V----'s want of candour, the twice-falsified account he
+    gave of the matter, tells painfully and deeply against him. It
+    shows a glimpse of his hidden motives such as I refrain from
+    describing in words. After all he is perhaps only like the majority
+    of men. Certainly those men who lead a gay life in their youth, and
+    arrive at middle life with feelings blunted and passions exhausted,
+    can have but one aim in marriage--the selfish advancement of their
+    interest. And to think that such men take as wives--as second
+    selves--women young, modest, sincere, pure in heart and life, with
+    feelings all fresh and emotions all unworn, and bind such virtue
+    and vitality to their own withered existence, such sincerity to
+    their own hollowness, such disinterestedness to their own haggard
+    avarice! to think this, troubles the soul to its inmost depths.
+    Nature and justice forbid the banns of such wedlock. This note is
+    written under excitement. Q----'s letter seems to have lifted so
+    fraudulent a veil, and to show both father and suitor lurking
+    behind in shadow so dark, acting from motives so poor and low, so
+    conscious of each other's littleness, and consequently so destitute
+    of mutual respect! These things incense me, but I shall cool down.
+
+
+    I cannot find your last letter to refer to, and therefore this
+    will be no answer to it. You must write again by return of post if
+    possible, and let me know how you are progressing. What you said
+    in your last confirmed my opinion that your late attack had been
+    coming on for a long time. Your wish for a cold-water bath, &c,
+    is, I should think, the result of fever. Almost everyone has
+    complained lately of some tendency to slow fever. I have felt it
+    in frequent thirst and in frequent appetite. Papa too, and even
+    Martha, have complained. I fear this damp weather will scarcely
+    suit you; but write and say all. Of late I have had many letters
+    to answer; and some very bothering ones from people who want
+    opinions about their books, who seek acquaintance, and who flatter
+    to get it; people who utterly mistake all about me. They are most
+    difficult to answer, put off, and appease, without offending; for
+    such characters are excessively touchy, and when affronted turn
+    malignant. Their books are too often deplorable.
+
+In June, 1850, she is induced to pay another visit to London, going
+upon this occasion whilst the season is at its height, though she has
+stipulated before going that she is "not to be lionised."
+
+    I came to London last Thursday. I am staying at ----. Here I feel
+    very comfortable. Mrs. ---- treats me with a serene, equable
+    kindness which just suits me. Her son is as before--genial and
+    friendly. I have seen very few persons, and am not likely to see
+    many, as the agreement was that I was to be very quiet. We have
+    been to the exhibition of the Royal Academy, to the opera, and the
+    Zoological Gardens. The weather is splendid. I shall not stay
+    longer than a fortnight in London; the feverishness and exhaustion
+    beset me somewhat, but I think not quite so badly as before--as
+    indeed I have not yet been so much tired.
+
+
+    I am leaving London if all be well on Tuesday, and shall be very
+    glad to come to you for a few days if that arrangement still
+    remains convenient to you. My London visit has much surpassed my
+    expectations this time. I have suffered less, and enjoyed more
+    than before; rather a trying termination yet remains to me. Mrs.
+    ----'s youngest son is at school in Scotland, and her eldest is
+    going to fetch him home for the vacation. The other evening he
+    announced his intention of taking one of his sisters with him, and
+    the evening after he further proposed that Miss Brontė should go
+    down to Edinburgh and join them there, and see that city and its
+    suburbs. I concluded he was joking, laughed and declined. However,
+    it seems he was in earnest, and being always accustomed to have
+    his will, he brooks opposition ill. The thing appearing to me
+    perfectly out of the question, I still refused. Mrs. ---- did not
+    at all favour it, but her worthy son only waxed more determined.
+    This morning she came and entreated me to go; G---- wished it so
+    much, he had begged her to use her influence, &c. &c. Now, I
+    believe that he and I understand each other very well, and respect
+    each other very sincerely. We both know the wide breach time has
+    made between us. We do not embarrass each other, or very rarely.
+    My six or eight years of seniority, to say nothing of lack of all
+    pretensions to beauty, &c, are a perfect safeguard. I should not
+    in the least fear to go with him to China. I like to see him
+    pleased. I greatly _dis_like to ruffle and disappoint him; so
+    he shall have his mind, and if all be well I mean to join him in
+    Edinburgh, after I have spent a few days with you. With his
+    buoyant animal spirits and youthful vigour he will make severe
+    demands on my muscles and nerves; but I daresay I shall get
+    through somehow.
+
+
+
+
+IX.
+
+LONELINESS AND FAME.
+
+
+Charlotte Brontė's letters during 1850 and 1851 are among the most
+valuable illustrations of the true character of the woman which we
+possess. Stricken as she had been by successive bereavements, which
+had robbed her of her dearest friends and companions, and left her the
+sole prop of the dull house on the moors and of its aged head, she had
+yet recovered much of her peace of mind and even of her vitality and
+cheerfulness. She had now, also, begun to see something of life as it
+is presented, not to despised governesses, but to successful
+authoresses. Her visits to London had brought her into contact with
+some of the leaders of the literary world. Who can have forgotten her
+interview with Thackeray, when she was "moved to speak to the giant of
+some of his shortcomings?" Haworth itself had become a point of
+attraction to curious persons, and not a few visitors found their way
+under one pretence or another to the old parsonage, to be received
+with effusive courtesy by Mr. Brontė, and with shy indifference by his
+daughter. Her correspondence, too, became widely-spread among men and
+women of distinction in the world and in Society. Altogether it was a
+different life upon which she now looked out from her remote eyrie
+among the hills--a life with many new interests in it, with much that
+was calculated to awaken chords in her heart hitherto untouched, and
+to bring to light new characteristics of her temper and genius. One
+would fain speculate upon what might have been, but for the desolation
+wrought in her home and heart by that tempest of death which raged
+during the autumn of 1848 and the spring of 1849. As it was, no
+novelty could make her forget what had been; no new faces, however
+welcome, could dim the tender visions of the faces that were seen no
+more, or could weaken in any degree the affection with which she still
+clung to the friend of her school-days. Simplicity and sincerity are
+the prevailing features of her letters, during this critical time in
+her life, as during all the years which had preceded it. They reflect
+her mind in many moods; they show her in many different situations;
+but they never fail to give the impression of one whose allegiance to
+her own conscience and whose reverence for truth and purity remain now
+what they had been in her days of happy and unworldly obscurity. The
+letters I now quote are quite new to the public.
+
+    July 18th, 1850.
+
+    You must cheer up, for your letter proves to me that you are
+    low-spirited. As for me, what I said is to be taken in this sense:
+    that, under the circumstances, it would be presumptuous in me to
+    calculate on a long life--a truth obvious enough. For the rest, we
+    are all in the hands of Him who apportions His gifts, health or
+    sickness, length or brevity of days, as is best for the receiver:
+    to him who has work to do time will be given in which to do it;
+    for him to whom no task is assigned the season of rest will come
+    earlier. As to the suffering preceding our last sleep, the
+    sickness, decay, the struggle of flesh and spirit, it _must_
+    come sooner or later to all. If, in one point of view, it is sad
+    to have few ties in the world, in another point of view it is
+    soothing; women who have husbands and children must look forward
+    to death with more pain, more fear, than those who have none. To
+    dismiss the subject, I wish (without cant, and not in any
+    hackneyed sense) that both you and I could always say in this
+    matter, the will of God be done. I am beginning to get settled at
+    home, but the solitude seems heavy as yet. It is a great change,
+    but in looking forward I try to hope for the best. So little faith
+    have I in the power of any temporary excitement to do real good
+    that I put off day by day writing to London to tell them I have
+    come home; and till then it was agreed I should not hear from
+    them. It is painful to be dependent on the small stimulus letters
+    give. I sometimes think I will renounce it altogether, close all
+    correspondence on some quiet pretext, and cease to look forward at
+    post-time for any letters but yours.
+
+
+    August 1st, 1850.
+
+    MY DEAR E.,--I have certainly felt the late wet weather a good
+    deal, and been somewhat bothered with frequently-returning colds,
+    and so has Papa. About him I have been far from happy: every cold
+    seems to make and leave him so weak. It is easy to say this world
+    is only a scene of probation, but it is a hard thing to feel. Your
+    friends the ----s seem to be happy just now, and long may they
+    continue to be so! Give C. Brontė's sincere love to R---- and tell
+    her she hopes Mr. ---- will make her a good husband. If he does
+    not, woe be to him! I wish a similar wish for Q----; and then I do
+    really think there will be a kind of happiness. That proposition
+    about remaining at H---- sounds like beginning life sensibly, with
+    no showy dash--I like it. Are you comfortable amongst all these
+    turtle-doves? I could not maintain your present position for a day;
+    I should feel _de trop_, as the French say; that is in the way. But
+    you are different to me. My portrait is come from London, and the
+    Duke of Wellington's, and kind letters enough. Papa thinks the
+    portrait looks older than I do. He says the features are far from
+    flattered, but acknowledges that the expression is wonderfully good
+    and life-like. I left the book called "Social Aspects" at B----;
+    accept it from me. I may well give it you, for the author has
+    kindly sent me another copy.... You ask for some promise: who that
+    does not know the future can make promises? Not I.
+
+
+    September 2nd, 1850.
+
+    Poor Mrs. A---- it seems is gone; I saw her death in the papers.
+    It is another lesson on the nature of life, on its strange
+    brevity, and in many instances apparent futility.... V---- came
+    here on Saturday last; T----, who was to have accompanied him, was
+    prevented from executing his intention. I regretted his absence,
+    for I by no means coveted the long _tźte-ą-tźte_ with V----.
+    However, it passed off pretty well. He is satisfied now with his
+    own prospects, and this makes him--on the surface--satisfied with
+    other things. He spoke of Q---- with content and approbation. He
+    looks forward to marriage as a sort of harbour where he is to lay
+    up his now somewhat battered vessel in quiet moorings. He has seen
+    all he wants to see of life; now he is prepared to settle. I
+    listened to all with equanimity and cheerfulness--not assumed but
+    real--for Papa is now somewhat better; his appetite and spirits
+    are improved, and that eases my mind of cankering anxiety. My own
+    health, too, is, I think, really benefited by the late changes of
+    air and scene; I fancy, at any rate, that I feel stronger. Still I
+    mused in my own way on V----'s character--its depth and scope, I
+    believe, are ascertained.
+
+    I saw the governess at ----; she looked a little better and more
+    cheerful. She was almost as pleased to see me as if we had been
+    related; and when I bid her good-bye expressed an earnest hope
+    that I would soon come again. The children seem fond of her, and
+    on the whole obedient--two great alleviations of the inevitable
+    evils of her position.
+
+    Cheer up, dear Nell, and try not to stagnate; or, when you cannot
+    help it, and when your heart is constricted and oppressed,
+    remember what life is and must be to all: some moments of sunshine
+    alternating with many of overclouded and often tempestuous
+    darkness. Humanity cannot escape its fate, which is to drink a
+    mixed cup. Let us believe that the gall and the vinegar are
+    salutary.
+
+
+    Sept. 14th, 1850.
+
+    I wish, dear Ellen, you would tell me what is the "twaddle" about
+    my marrying, which you hear. If I knew the details I should have a
+    better chance of guessing the quarter from which such gossip
+    comes. As it is I am quite at a loss. Whom am I to marry? I think
+    I have scarcely seen a single man with whom such a union would be
+    possible since I left London. Doubtless there are men whom, if I
+    chose to encourage, I might marry. But no matrimonial lot is even
+    remotely offered me which seems to me truly desirable. And even if
+    that were the case there would be many obstacles. The least
+    allusion to such a thing is most offensive to Papa. An article
+    entitled "Currer Bell" has lately appeared in _The Palladium_,
+    a new periodical published in Edinburgh. It is an eloquent
+    production, and one of such warm sympathy and high appreciation as
+    I had never expected to see. It makes mistakes about authorship,
+    &c, but those I hope one day to set right. Mr. X---- (the little
+    man) first informed me of this article. I was somewhat surprised to
+    receive his letter, having concluded nine months ago that there
+    would be no more correspondence from that quarter. I enclose a note
+    from him received subsequently, in answer to my acknowledgment.
+    Read it, and tell me exactly how it impresses you regarding the
+    writer's character, &c. He is deficient neither in spirit nor
+    sense.
+
+
+    October 14th, 1850.
+
+    I return Q----'s letter. She seems quite happy and fully satisfied
+    of her husband's affection. Is this the usual way of spending the
+    honeymoon? To me it seems as if they overdo it. That travelling,
+    and tugging, and fagging about, and getting drenched and muddled,
+    by no means harmonises with my notions of happiness. Besides, the
+    two meals a day, &c, would do one up. It all reminds me too
+    sharply of the few days I spent with V---- in London nearly ten
+    years since, when I was many a time fit to drop with the fever and
+    the faintness resulting from long fasting and excessive fatigue.
+    However, no doubt a bride can bear such things better than others.
+    I smiled to myself at some passages. She has wondrous faith in her
+    husband's intellectual powers and acquirements. V----'s illusions
+    will soon be over, but Q----'s will not--and therein she is
+    happier than he.... I suppose ---- will probably discover that
+    he, too, wants a wife. But I will say no more. You know I
+    disapprove of jesting and teasing on these matters. Idle words
+    sometimes do unintentional harm.
+
+
+    December, 1850.
+
+    I got home all right yesterday soon after two o'clock, and found
+    Papa, thank God, well and free from cold. To-day some amount of
+    sickliness and headache is bothering me, but nothing to
+    signify.... The Christmas books waiting for me were, as I
+    expected, from Thackeray, Mrs. Gaskell, and Mr. Ruskin. No letter
+    from Mr. W----. It is six weeks since I heard from him. I feel
+    uneasy, but do not like to write. _The Examiner_ is very sore
+    about my Preface, because I did not make it a special exception in
+    speaking of the mass of critics. The soreness is unfortunate and
+    gratuitous, for in my mind I certainly excepted it. Another paper
+    shows painful sensitiveness on the same account; but it does not
+    matter, these things are all transitory.
+
+The "Preface" to which she alludes in the foregoing letter, was that
+to her collected edition of Emily and Anne Brontė's works, in which
+she makes allusion to the fact that the "critics failed to do justice"
+to "Wuthering Heights" and "Agnes Grey" when they were published.
+
+    Jan. 20th, 1851.
+
+    Thank you heartily for the two letters I owe you. You seem very
+    gay at present, and provided you only take care not to catch cold
+    with coming home at night, I am not sorry to hear it; a little
+    movement, cheerfulness, stimulus, is not only beneficial, but
+    necessary. Your last letter but one made me smile. I think you
+    draw great conclusions from small inferences. I think those "fixed
+    intentions" you fancy are imaginary. I think the "under-current"
+    amounts simply to this, a kind of natural liking and sense of
+    something congenial. Were there no vast barrier of age, fortune,
+    &c, there is perhaps enough personal regard to make things
+    possible which now are impossible. If men and women married
+    because they like each other's temper, look, conversation, nature,
+    and so on--and if, besides, years were more nearly equal--the
+    chance you allude to might be admitted as a chance; but other
+    reasons regulate matrimony--reasons of convenience, of connection,
+    of money. Meantime I am content to know him as a friend, and pray
+    God to continue to me the common sense to look on one so young, so
+    rising, and so hopeful in no other light. The hint about the Rhine
+    disturbs me; I am not made of stone and what is mere excitement to
+    others is fever to me. However it is a matter for the future, and
+    long to look forward to. As I see it now, the journey is out of
+    the question--for many reasons--I rather wonder he should think of
+    it. Good-bye. Heaven grant us both some quiet wisdom and strength,
+    not merely to bear the trial of pain, but to resist the lure of
+    pleasure when it comes in such a shape as our better judgment
+    disapproves.
+
+
+    Feb. 26th, 1851.
+
+    You ought always to conclude that when I don't write it is simply
+    because I have nothing particular to say. Be sure that ill news
+    will travel fast enough, and good news too when such commodity
+    comes. If I could often _be_ or _seem_ in brisk spirits, I might
+    write oftener, knowing that my letters would amuse. But as times
+    go, a glimpse of sunshine now and then is as much as one has a
+    right to expect. However, I get on very decently. I am now and then
+    tempted to break through my resolution of not having you to come
+    before summer, and to ask you to come to this Patmos in a week or
+    two. But it would be dull--very dull--for you.... What would you
+    say to coming here the week after next to stay only just so long as
+    you could comfortably bear the monotony? If the weather were dry,
+    and the moors fine, I should not mind it so much--we could walk for
+    change.
+
+About this time it is clear that Miss Brontė was suffering from one of
+her periodical attacks of nervous exhaustion. She makes repeated
+references in her letters to her ailments, attributing them generally
+to her liver, and she also mentions frequently an occurrence which had
+given her not a little anxiety and concern. This was an offer of
+marriage from a business man in a good position, whom she had already
+met in London. The following letters, which are inserted here without
+regard to the precise date, and of which Mrs. Gaskell has merely used
+half-a-dozen lines, relate to this subject:
+
+    You are to say no more about "Jupiter" and "Venus." What do you
+    mean by such heathen trash? The fact is no fallacy can be wilder,
+    and I won't have it hinted at, even in jest because my common
+    sense laughs it to scorn. The idea of X---- shocks me less; it
+    would be a more likely match, if "matches" were at all in
+    question, _which they are not_. He still sends his little
+    newspaper, and the other day there came a letter of a bulk,
+    volume, pith, judgment, and knowledge, worthy to have been the
+    product of a giant.
+
+
+    X---- has been, and is gone; things are just as they were. I only
+    know, in addition to the slight information I possessed before,
+    that this Australian undertaking is necessary to the continued
+    prosperity of his firm, that he alone was pronounced to possess
+    the power and means to carry it out successfully, that mercantile
+    honour, combined with his own sense of duty, obliged him to accept
+    the post of honour and of danger to which he has been appointed,
+    that he goes with great personal reluctance, and that he
+    contemplates an absence of five years. He looked much thinner and
+    older. I saw him very near, and once through my glass. The
+    resemblance to Branwell struck me forcibly; it is marked. He is
+    not ugly, but very peculiar. The lines in his face show an
+    inflexibility, and, I must add, a hardness of character, which
+    does not attract. As he stood near me, as he looked at me in his
+    keen way, it was all I could do to stand my ground tranquilly and
+    steadily, and not to recoil as before. It is no use saying
+    anything if I am not candid. I avow then that on this occasion,
+    predisposed as I was to regard him very favourably, his manners
+    and his personal appearance scarcely pleased me more than at the
+    first interview. He gave me a book at parting, requesting in his
+    brief way that I would keep it for his sake, and adding hastily:
+    "I shall hope to hear from you in Australia; your letters _have_
+    been and _will_ be a greater refreshment than you can think or I
+    can tell." And so he is gone, and stern and abrupt little man as
+    he is, too often jarring as are his manners, his absence and the
+    exclusion of his idea from my mind, leave me certainly with less
+    support and in deeper solitude than before. You see, dear Nell, we
+    are still precisely on the same level. _You_ are not isolated. I
+    feel that there is a certain mystery about this transaction yet,
+    and whether it will ever be cleared up to me, I do not know.
+    However, my plain duty is to wean my mind from the subject, and if
+    possible to avoid pondering over it.... I feel that in his way he
+    has a regard for me; a regard which I cannot bring myself entirely
+    to reciprocate in kind, and yet its withdrawal leaves a painful
+    blank. I have just got your note. Above, you have all the account
+    of my visitor. I dare not aver that your kind wish that the visit
+    would yield me more pleasure than pain has been fulfilled.
+    Something at my heart aches and gnaws drearily. But I must
+    cultivate fortitude.
+
+
+    Thank you for your kind note. It was kind of you to write it,
+    though it _was_ your school-day. I never knew you to let a
+    slight impediment stand in your way when doing a friendly action.
+    Certainly I shall not soon forget last Friday, and never, I think,
+    the evening and night succeeding that morning and afternoon. Evils
+    seldom come singly, and soon after X---- was gone Papa grew much
+    worse. He went to bed early. Was sick and ill for an hour, and
+    when at last he began to doze and I left him, I came down to the
+    dining-room with a sense of weight, fear, and desolation hard to
+    express and harder to endure. A wish that you were with me did
+    cross my mind; but I repelled it as a most selfish wish. Indeed it
+    was only short-lived; my natural tendency in moments of this sort
+    is to get through the struggle alone; to think that one is
+    burdening others makes all worse. You speak to me in soft,
+    consolatory accents; but I hold far sterner language to myself,
+    dear Nell. An absence of five years; a dividing expanse of three
+    oceans; the wide difference between a man's active career and a
+    woman's passive existence. These things are almost equivalent to a
+    life-long separation. But there is another thing which forms a
+    barrier more difficult to pass than any of these. Would X---- and
+    I ever suit? Could I ever feel for him enough love to accept of
+    him as a husband? Friendship, gratitude, esteem, I have; but each
+    moment that he came near me, and that I could see his eyes
+    fastened upon me, my veins ran ice. Now that he is away I feel far
+    more gently towards him; it is only close by that I grow rigid. I
+    did not want to be proud nor intend to be proud, but I was forced
+    to be so. Most true is it that we are overruled by One above us,
+    that in His hands our very will is as clay in the hands of the
+    potter.
+
+
+    I trust Papa is not worse; but he varies. He has never been down
+    to breakfast but once since you left. The circumstance of having
+    him to think about just now is good for me in one way; it keeps my
+    thoughts off other matters which have been complete bitterness and
+    ashes; for I do assure you a more entire crumbling away of a
+    seeming foundation of support and prospect of hope than that which
+    I allude to can scarcely be realised.
+
+
+    I have heard from X---- to-day, a quiet little note. He returned
+    to London a week since on Saturday. He leaves England next month.
+    His note concludes with asking whether he has any chance of seeing
+    me in London before that time. I must tell him that I have already
+    fixed June for my visit, and, therefore, in all human probability
+    we shall see each other no more. There is still a want of plain
+    mutual understanding in this business, and there is sadness and
+    pain in more ways than one. My conscience, I can truly say, does
+    not _now_ accuse me of having treated X---- with injustice or
+    unkindness. What I once did wrong in this way I have endeavoured
+    to remedy both to himself and in speaking of him to others. I am
+    sure he has estimable and sterling qualities; but with every
+    disposition--with every wish--with every intention even to look on
+    him in the most favourable point of view at his last visit, it was
+    impossible for me in my inmost heart to think of him as one that
+    might one day be acceptable as a husband.... No, if X---- be the
+    only husband fate offers to me, single I must always remain. But
+    yet at times I grieve for him; and perhaps it is superfluous, for
+    I cannot think he will suffer much--a hard nature, occupation,
+    change of scene will befriend him.
+
+
+    I have had a long, kind letter from Miss Martineau lately. She
+    says she is well and happy. Also I have had a very long letter
+    from Mr. ----, the first for many weeks. He speaks of X---- with
+    much respect and regret, and says he will be greatly missed by
+    many friends. I discover with some surprise that Papa has taken a
+    decided liking to X----. The marked kindness of his manner to him
+    when he bade him good-bye, exhorting him to be "true to himself,
+    his country, and his God," and wishing him all good wishes, struck
+    me with some astonishment at the time; and whenever he has alluded
+    to him since, it has been with significant eulogy.... You say Papa
+    has penetration. On this subject I believe he has indeed. I have
+    told him nothing, yet he seems to be _au fait_ to the whole
+    business. I could think at some moments his guesses go further
+    than mine. I believe he thinks a prospective union, deferred for
+    five years, with such a decorous, reliable personage, would be a
+    very proper and advisable affair. However I ask no questions, and
+    he asks me none; and if he did I should have nothing to tell him.
+
+The summer following this affair of the heart witnessed another visit
+to London, where she heard Mr. Thackeray's lectures on the humourists.
+How she enjoyed listening to her idol, in one of his best moods, need
+not be told. Some there are still living who remember that first
+lecture, when all London had assembled to listen to the author of
+"Vanity Fair," and the rumour suddenly ran round the room that the
+author of "Jane Eyre" was among the audience. Men and women were at
+fault at first, in their efforts to distinguish "Currer Bell" in that
+brilliant company of literary and social notabilities; but at last she
+was discovered hiding under the motherly wing of a chaperon, timid,
+blushing, but excited and pleased--_not_ at the attention she herself
+attracted, but at the treat she had in prospect. One or two gentlemen
+sought and obtained introductions to her--amongst them Lord Carlisle
+and Mr. Monckton Milnes. They were not particularly impressed by the
+appearance or the speech of the parson's daughter. Her person was
+insignificant, her dress somewhat rustic, her language quaintly
+precise and formal, her manner odd and constrained. Altogether this
+was a woman whom even London could not lionise; somebody outwardly
+altogether too plain, simple, unpretending, to admit of hero-worship.
+Within there was, as we know, something entirely exceptional and
+extraordinary; but, like Lucy Snowe, she still kept her real self
+hidden under a veil which no casual friend or chance acquaintance was
+allowed to lift. It was but a brief visit to the "Big Babylon," and
+then back to Haworth, to loneliness and duty! In July, 1851, she
+writes from the parsonage to one of her friends as follows:
+
+    My first feeling on receiving your note was one of disappointment,
+    but a little consideration sufficed to show me that "all was for
+    the best." In truth it was a great piece of extravagance on my
+    part to ask you and Ellen together; it is much better to divide
+    such good things. To have your visit in prospect will console me
+    when hers is in retrospect. Not that I mean to yield to the
+    weakness of clinging dependently to the society of friends,
+    however dear; but still as an occasional treat I must value and
+    even seek such society as a necessary of life. Let me know then
+    whenever it suits your convenience to come to Haworth, and, unless
+    some change I cannot now foresee occurs, a ready and warm welcome
+    will await you. Should there be any cause rendering it desirable
+    to defer the visit, I will tell you frankly. The pleasures of
+    society I cannot offer you; nor those of fine scenery. But I place
+    very much at your command--the moors, some books, a series of
+    quiet "curling-hair-times," and an old pupil into the bargain.
+    Ellen may have told you that I spent a month in London this
+    summer. When you come you shall ask what questions you like on
+    that point, and I will answer to the best of my stammering
+    ability. Do not press me much on the subject of the Crystal
+    Palace. I went there five times, and certainly saw some
+    interesting things, and the _coup d'oeil_ is striking and
+    bewildering enough. But I never was able to get up any raptures on
+    the subject, and each renewed visit was made under coercion rather
+    than my own free will. It is an excessively bustling place; and
+    after all, its wonders appeal too exclusively to the eye, and
+    rarely touch the heart or head. I make an exception to the last
+    assertion in favour of those who possess a large range of
+    scientific knowledge. Once I went with Sir David Brewster, and
+    perceived that he looked on objects with other eyes than mine.
+
+
+
+
+X.
+
+"VILLETTE."
+
+
+With the autumn of 1851 another epoch in the life of Charlotte Brontė
+was ushered in. She began to write "Villette." Something has already
+been said of the true character of that marvellous book, in which her
+own deepest experiences and ripest wisdom are given to the world. Of
+the manner in which it was written her readers know nothing. Yet this,
+the best-beloved child of her genius, was brought forth with a travail
+so bitter that more than once she was tempted to lay aside her pen and
+hush her voice for ever. Every sentence was wrung from her as though
+it had been a drop of blood, and the book was built up bit by bit,
+amid paroxysms of positive anguish, occasioned in part by her own
+physical weakness and suffering, but still more by the torture through
+which her mind passed as she depicted scene after scene from the
+darkest chapter in her own life, for the benefit of those for whom she
+wrote. It is from her letters that at this time also we get the best
+indications of what she was passing through. Few, perhaps, reading
+these letters would suppose that their writer was at that very time
+engaged in the production of a great masterpiece, destined to hold its
+own among the ripest and finest fruits of English genius. But no one
+can read them without seeing how true the woman's soul was, how deep
+her sympathy with those she loved, how keen her criticisms of even the
+dull and commonplace characters around her, how vivid and sincere her
+interest in everything which was passing either in the great world
+which lay afar off, or in the little world the drama of which was
+being enacted under her own eyes. Even the ordinary incidents
+mentioned in her letters, the chance expressions which drop from her
+pen, have an interest when we remember who it is that speaks, and at
+what hour in her life this speech falls from her.
+
+    September, 1851.
+
+    I have mislaid your last letter, and so cannot look it over to see
+    what there is in it to answer; but it is time it was answered in
+    some fashion, whether I have anything to say or not. Miss ----'s
+    note is very like her. All that talk about "friendship," "mutual
+    friends," "auld lang syne," &c., sounds very like palaver. Mrs.
+    ---- wrote to me a week or a fortnight since--a well-meaning,
+    amiable note, dwelling a good deal, excusably perhaps, on the good
+    time that is coming. I mean, to speak plain English, on her
+    expectation of soon becoming a mother. No doubt it is very natural
+    in her to feel as if no woman had ever been a mother before; but I
+    could not help inditing an answer calculated to shake her up a
+    bit. A day or two since I had another note from her, quite as good
+    as usual, but I think a trifle nonplussed by the rather
+    unceremonious fashion in which her terrors and the expected
+    personage were handled.... It is useless to tell you how I live. I
+    endure life; but whether I enjoy it or not is another question.
+    However, I get on. The weather, I think, has not been very good
+    lately; or else the beneficial effects of change of air and scene
+    are evaporating. In spite of regular exercise the old headaches
+    and starting, wakeful nights are coming upon me again. But I
+    _do_ get on, and have neither wish nor right to complain.
+
+
+    October, 1851.
+
+    I am not at all intending to go from home at present. I have just
+    refused successively, Miss Martineau, Mrs. Gaskell, and Mrs.
+    Forster. I could not go if I would. One person after another in
+    the house has been ailing for the last month and more. First Tabby
+    had the influenza, then Martha took it and is ill in bed now, and
+    I grieve to say Papa too has taken cold. So far I keep pretty
+    well, and am thankful for it, for who else would nurse them all?
+    Some painful mental worry I have gone through this autumn; but
+    there is no use in dwelling on all that. At present I seem to have
+    some respite. I feel more disinclined than ever for
+    letter-writing.... Life is a struggle.
+
+
+    November, 1851.
+
+    Papa, Tabby, and Martha are at present all better, but yet none of
+    them well. Martha especially looks feeble. I wish she had a better
+    constitution. As it is, one is always afraid of giving her too
+    much to do; and yet there are many things I cannot undertake
+    myself; and we do not like to change when we have had her so long.
+    The other day I received the enclosed letter from Australia. I had
+    had one before from the same quarter, which is still unanswered. I
+    told you I did not expect to hear thence--nor did I. The letter is
+    long, but it will be worth your while to read it. In its way it
+    has merit--that cannot be denied--abundance of information, talent
+    of a certain kind, alloyed (I think) here and there with errors of
+    taste. This little man with all his long letters remains as much a
+    conundrum to me as ever. Your account of the H---- "domestic joys"
+    amused me much. The good folks seem very happy; long may they
+    continue so! It somewhat cheers me to know that such happiness
+    _does_ exist on earth.
+
+
+    November, 1851.
+
+    All here is pretty much as usual.... The only events of my life
+    consist in that little change occasional letters bring. I have had
+    two from Miss W---- since she left Haworth, which touched me much.
+    She seems to think so much of a little congenial company, a little
+    attention and kindness. She says she has not for many days known
+    such enjoyment as she experienced during the ten days she stayed
+    here. Yet you know what Haworth is--dull enough. Before answering
+    X----'s letter from Australia I got up my courage to write to ----
+    and beg him to give me an impartial account of X----'s character
+    and disposition, owning that I was very much in the dark on these
+    points and did not like to continue correspondence without further
+    information. I got the answer which I enclose. Since receiving it
+    I have replied to X---- in a calm, civil manner. At the earliest I
+    cannot hear from him again before the spring.
+
+
+    December, 1851.
+
+    I hope you have got on this last week well. It has been very
+    trying here. Papa so far has borne it unhurt; but these winds and
+    changes have given me a bad cold; however, I am better now than I
+    was. Poor old Keeper (Emily's dog) died last Monday morning, after
+    being ill one night. He went gently to sleep; we laid his old
+    faithful head in the garden. Flossy is dull, and misses him.
+    There was something very sad in losing the old dog; yet I am glad
+    he met a natural fate. People kept hinting that he ought to be put
+    away, which neither Papa nor I liked to think of. If I were near a
+    town, and could get cod-liver oil fresh and sweet, I really would
+    most gladly take your advice and try it; but how I could possibly
+    procure it at Haworth I do not see.... You ask about "The Lily and
+    the Bee." If you have read it, you have effected an exploit beyond
+    me. I glanced at a few pages, and laid it down hopeless, nor can I
+    now find courage to resume it. But then, I never liked Warren's
+    writings. "Margaret Maitland" is a good book, I doubt not.
+
+At this point the illness of which she makes light in these letters
+increased to such an extent as to alarm her father, and at last she
+consented to lay aside her work and allow herself the pleasure and
+comfort of a visit from her friend. The visit was a source of
+happiness whilst it lasted; but when it was over the depression
+returned, and there was a serious relapse. Something of her sufferings
+at this time--whilst "Villette" was still upon the stocks--will be
+gathered from the following letter, dated January 1852:
+
+    I wish you could have seen the coolness with which I captured your
+    letter on its way to Papa, and at once conjecturing its tenor,
+    made the contents my own. Be quiet. Be tranquil. It is, dear Nell,
+    my decided intention to come to B---- for a few days when I
+    _can_ come; but of this last I must positively judge for myself,
+    and I must take my time. I am better to-day--much better; but you
+    can have little idea of the sort of condition into which mercury
+    throws people to ask me to go from home anywhere in close or open
+    carriage. And as to talking--four days ago I could not well have
+    articulated three sentences. Yet I did not need nursing, and I
+    kept out of bed. It was enough to burden myself; it would have
+    been misery to me to have annoyed another.
+
+
+    March, 1852.
+
+    The news of E. T.'s death came to me last week in a letter from
+    M----, a long letter, which wrung my heart so in its simple,
+    strong, truthful emotion, I have only ventured to read it once. It
+    ripped up half-scarred wounds with terrible force--the death-bed
+    was just the same--breath failing, &c. She fears she will now in
+    her dreary solitude become "a stern, harsh, selfish woman." This
+    fear struck home. Again and again I have felt it for myself; and
+    what is _my_ position to M----'s? I should break out in energetic
+    wishes that she would return to England, if reason would permit me
+    to believe that prosperity and happiness would there await her.
+    But I see no such prospect. May God help her as God only can help!
+
+To another friend she writes as follows, in reply to an invitation to
+leave Haworth for a short visit:
+
+    March 12th, 1852.
+
+    Your kind note holds out a strong temptation, but one that _must
+    be resisted_. From home I must not go unless health or some cause
+    equally imperative render a change necessary. For nearly four
+    months now (_i.e._ since I first became ill) I have not put pen to
+    paper; my work has been lying untouched, and my faculties have
+    been rusting for want of exercise; further relaxation is out of
+    the question, and _I will not permit myself to think of it_. My
+    publisher groans over my long delays; I am sometimes provoked to
+    check the expression of his impatience with short and crusty
+    answers. Yet the pleasure I now deny myself I would fain regard as
+    only deferred. I heard something about your purposing to visit
+    Scarborough in the course of the summer; and could I by the close
+    of July or August bring my task to a certain point, how glad
+    should I be to join you there for a while!... However, I dare not
+    lay plans at this distance of time; for me so much must depend,
+    first, on Papa's health (which throughout the winter has been, I
+    am thankful to say, really excellent), and, second, on the
+    progress of work--a matter not wholly contingent on wish or will,
+    but lying in a great measure beyond the reach of effort, or out of
+    the pale of calculation.
+
+As the summer advanced her sufferings were scarcely abated, and at
+last, in search of some relief, she made a sudden visit by herself to
+Filey, inspired in part by her desire to see the memorial-stone
+erected above her sister's grave at Scarborough.
+
+    Filey Bay, June, 1852.
+
+    MY DEAR MISS ----,--Your kind and welcome note reached me at this
+    place, where I have been staying three weeks _quite alone_. Change
+    and sea-air had become necessary. Distance and other considerations
+    forbade my accompanying Ellen to the South, much as I should have
+    liked it had I felt quite free and unfettered. Ellen told me some
+    time ago that you were not likely to visit Scarborough till the
+    autumn, so I forthwith packed my trunk and betook myself here. The
+    first week or ten days I greatly feared the seaside would not suit
+    me, for I suffered almost incessantly from headache and other
+    harassing ailments; the weather, too, was dark, stormy, and
+    excessively--_bitterly_--cold. My solitude under such circumstances
+    partook of the character of desolation; I had some dreary evening
+    hours and night vigils. However, that passed. I think I am now
+    better and stronger for the change, and in a day or two hope to
+    return home. Ellen told me that Mr. W---- said people with my
+    tendency to congestion of the liver should walk three or four hours
+    every day; accordingly, I have walked as much as I could since I
+    came here, and look almost as sunburnt and weather-beaten as a
+    fisherman or a bathing-woman, with being out in the open air. As to
+    my work, it has stood obstinately still for a long while; certainly
+    a torpid liver makes a torpid brain. No spirit moves me. If this
+    state of things does not entirely change, my chance of a holiday in
+    the autumn is not worth much; yet I should be very sorry not to
+    meet you for a little while at Scarborough. The duty to be
+    discharged at Scarborough was the chief motive that drew me to the
+    east coast. I have been there, visited the churchyard, and seen the
+    stone. There were five errors; consequently I had to give
+    directions for its being re-faced and re-lettered.
+
+The sea-air did her good; but she was still unable to carry her great
+work forward, in spite of the urgent pressure put upon her by those
+who in this respect merely expressed the impatience of the public.
+
+    Haworth, July, 1852.
+
+    I am again at home, where (thank God) I found all well. I
+    certainly feel much better than I did, and would fain trust that
+    the improvement may prove permanent.... The first fortnight I was
+    at Filey I had constantly recurring pain in the right side, and
+    sick headache into the bargain. My spirits at the same time were
+    cruelly depressed--prostrated sometimes. I feared the miseries and
+    the suffering of last winter were all returning; consequently I am
+    now indeed thankful to find myself so much better.... You ask
+    about Australia. Let us dismiss the subject in a few words, and
+    not recur to it. All is silent as the grave. Cornhill is silent
+    too; there has been bitter disappointment there at my having no
+    work ready for this season. Ellen, we must not rely upon our
+    fellow-creatures--only on ourselves, and on Him who is above both
+    us and them. My _labours_, as you call them, stand in abeyance,
+    and I cannot hurry them. I must take my own time, however long
+    that time may be.
+
+
+    August, 1852.
+
+    I am thankful to say that Papa's convalescence seems now to be
+    quite confirmed. There is scarcely any remainder of the
+    inflammation in his eyes, and his general health progresses
+    satisfactorily. He begins even to look forward to resuming his
+    duty ere long, but caution must be observed on that head. Martha
+    has been very willing and helpful during Papa's illness. Poor
+    Tabby is ill herself at present with English cholera, which
+    complaint, together with influenza, has lately been almost
+    universally prevalent in this district. Of the last I have myself
+    had a touch; but it went off very gently on the whole, affecting
+    my chest and liver less than any cold has done for the last three
+    years.... I write to you about yourself rather under constraint
+    and in the dark; for your letters, dear Nell, are most remarkably
+    oracular, dropping nothing but hints which tie my tongue a good
+    deal. What, for instance, can I say to your last postscript? It is
+    quite sibylline. I can hardly guess what checks you in writing to
+    me. Perhaps you think that as _I_ generally write with some
+    reserve, you ought to do the same. _My_ reserve, however, has its
+    origin not in design, but in necessity. I am silent because I have
+    literally _nothing to say_. I might, indeed, repeat over and over
+    again that my life is a pale blank, and often a very weary burden,
+    and that the future sometimes appals me; but what end could be
+    answered by such repetition, except to weary you and enervate
+    myself? The evils that now and then wring a groan from my heart
+    lie in my position--not that I am a _single_ woman and likely to
+    remain a _single_ woman, but because I am a lonely woman and
+    likely to be _lonely_. But it cannot be helped, and therefore
+    _imperatively must be borne_, and borne, too, with as few words
+    about it as may be. I write this just to prove to you that
+    whatever you would freely _say_ to me you may just as freely
+    write. Understand that I remain just as resolved as ever not to
+    allow myself the holiday of a visit from you till _I_ have done my
+    work. After labour, pleasure; but while work was lying at the wall
+    undone, I never yet could enjoy recreation.
+
+[Illustration: SIMILE LETTER OF CHARLOTTE BRONTĖ.]
+
+Slowly page after page of "Villette" was now being written. The reader
+sees from these letters that the book was composed in no happy mood.
+Writing to her publisher a few weeks after the date of the last letter
+printed above, she says: "I can hardly tell you how I hunger to hear
+some opinions beside my own, and how I have sometimes desponded and
+almost despaired, because there was no one to whom to read a line, or
+of whom to ask a counsel. 'Jane Eyre' was not written under such
+circumstances, nor were two-thirds of 'Shirley.' I got so miserable
+about it that I could bear no allusion to the book. It is not finished
+yet; but now I hope." But though her work pressed so incessantly upon
+her, and her feverish anxiety to have it done weighed so heavily upon
+her health and spirits, she could still find time to answer her
+friend's letters in a way which showed that her interest in the outer
+world was as keen as ever:
+
+    September, 1852.
+
+    Thank you for A----'s notes. I like to read them, they are so full
+    of news, but they are illegible. A great many words I really
+    cannot make out. It is pleasing to hear that M---- is doing so
+    well, and the tidings about ---- seem also good. I get a note from
+    ---- every now and then, but I fear my last reply has not given
+    much satisfaction. It contained a taste of that unpalatable
+    commodity called _advice_--such advice, too, as might be, and I
+    dare say was, construed into faint reproof. I can scarcely tell
+    what there is about ---- that, in spite of one's conviction of her
+    amiability, in spite of one's sincere wish for her welfare, palls
+    upon one, satiates, stirs impatience. She _will_ complacently put
+    forth opinions and tastes as her own which are _not_ her own, nor
+    in any sense natural to her. My patience can really hardly sustain
+    the test of such a jay in borrowed plumes. She prated so much
+    about the fine wilful spirit of her child, whom she describes as a
+    hard, brown little thing, who will do nothing but what pleases
+    himself, that I hit out at last--not very hard, but enough to make
+    her think herself ill-used, I doubt not. Can't help it. She often
+    says she is not "absorbed in self," but the fact is, I have seldom
+    seen anyone more unconsciously, thoroughly, and often weakly
+    egotistic. Then, too, she is inconsistent. In the same breath she
+    boasts her matrimonial happiness and whines for sympathy. Don't
+    understand it. With a paragon of a husband and child, why that
+    whining, craving note? Either her lot is not all she professes it
+    to be, or she is hard to content.
+
+In October the resolute determination to allow herself no relaxation
+until "Villette" was finished broke down. She was compelled to call
+for help, and to acknowledge herself beaten in her attempt to crush
+out the yearning for company:
+
+    October, 1852.
+
+    Papa expresses so strong a wish that I should ask you to come, and
+    I feel some little refreshment so absolutely necessary myself,
+    that I really must beg you to come to Haworth for one single week.
+    I thought I would persist in denying myself till I had done my
+    work, but I find it won't do. The matter refuses to progress, and
+    this excessive solitude presses too heavily. So let me see your
+    dear face, Nell, just for one reviving week. Could you come on
+    Wednesday? Write to-morrow, and let me know by what train you
+    would reach Keighley, that I may send for you.
+
+The visit was a pleasant one in spite of the weariness of body and
+mind which troubled Charlotte. She laid aside her task for that "one
+little week," went out upon the moors with her friend, talked as of
+old, and at last, when she was left alone once more, declared that the
+change had done her "inexpressible good." Writing to her friend
+immediately after the latter had left her, she says:
+
+    Your note came only this morning. I had expected it yesterday, and
+    was beginning actually to feel weary--like you. This won't do. I
+    am afraid of caring for you too much. You must have come upon ----
+    at an unfavourable moment, seen it under a cloud. Surely they are
+    not always or often thus, or else married life is indeed but a
+    slipshod paradise. I only send _The Examiner_, not having yet read
+    _The Leader_. I was spared the remorse I feared. On Saturday I
+    fell to business, and as the welcome mood is still decently
+    existent, and my eyes consequently excessively tired with
+    scribbling, you must excuse a mere scrawl. Papa was glad to hear
+    you had got home well--as well as we.... I do miss my dear
+    bed-fellow; no more of that calm sleep.
+
+Her pen now began to move more quickly, and the closing chapters of
+"Villette" were written with comparative ease, so that at last she
+writes thus, on November 22nd:
+
+    Monday morning.
+
+    Truly thankful am I to be able to tell you that I finished my long
+    task on Saturday, packed and sent off the parcel to Cornhill. I
+    said my prayers when I had done it. Whether it is well or ill done
+    I don't know. _D. V._, I will now try to wait the issue quietly.
+    The book, I think, will not be considered pretentious, nor is it
+    of a character to excite hostility. As Papa is pretty well, I may,
+    I trust, dear Nell, do as you wish me, and come for a few days to
+    B----. Miss Martineau has also urgently asked me to go and see
+    her. I promised, if all were well, to do so at the close of
+    November or the commencement of December, so that I could go on
+    from B---- to Westmoreland. Would Wednesday suit you? "Esmond"
+    shall come with me--_i.e._ Thackeray's novel.
+
+Every reader knows in what fashion "Villette" ends, and most persons
+also know from Mrs. Gaskell that the reason why the actual issue is
+left in some uncertainty was the author's filial desire to gratify her
+father. Charlotte herself was firmly resolved that she would _not_
+make Lucy Snowe the happy wife of Paul Emanuel. She never meant to
+"appoint her lot in pleasant places." Lucy was to bear the storm and
+stress of life in the same manner as that in which her creator had
+been compelled to bear it; and she was to be left in the end alone,
+robbed for ever of the hope of spending the happy afternoon of her
+existence in the sunshine of love and congenial society. But Mr.
+Brontė, altogether unconscious of that tragedy of heart-sickness and
+soul-weariness which was being enacted under his own roof, and which
+furnished so striking a parallel to the story which ran through
+"Villette," would not brook a gloomy ending to the tale, and by
+protestations and entreaties induced his daughter at least so far to
+alter her plan as to leave the issue in doubt.
+
+So "Villette" went its way, as "Jane Eyre" and "Shirley " had done
+before it, from the secluded parsonage at Haworth up to the busy
+publishing-house in Cornhill, and thence out into the world. There was
+some fear on Charlotte's part when the MS. had been despatched. She
+herself was gradually forming that which remained the fixed conviction
+of her life--the conviction that in "Villette" she had done her best,
+and that, for good or for ill, by it her reputation must stand or
+fall. But she was intensely anxious, as we have seen, to have the
+opinions of others upon the story. Nor was it only a general verdict
+on its merits for which she called. She was uneasy upon some minor
+points. According to her wont, she had taken most of her characters
+from life, and it was not during her stay at Brussels alone that she
+had studied the models which she employed when writing the book.
+Naturally, she was curious to know whether she had painted her
+portraits too literally. So "Villette" was allowed to pass, whilst
+still in MS., into the hands of the original of "Dr. John." When that
+gentleman had read the story, and criticised all the characters with
+the freedom of unconsciousness, her mind was set at rest, and she knew
+that she had not transgressed the bounds which divide the story-teller
+from the biographer.
+
+In the meantime, her work done, she hurried away from Haworth to spend
+a well-earned holiday at B---- with her friend. "Esmond" accompanied
+her, and the quiet afternoons were spent in reading it aloud. On
+December 9th she writes from Haworth, announcing her safe return to
+her own home:
+
+    I got home safely at five o'clock yesterday afternoon, and, I am
+    most thankful to say, found Papa and all the rest quite well. I
+    did my business satisfactorily in Leeds, getting the head-dress
+    rearranged as I wished. It is now a very different matter to the
+    bushy, tasteless thing it was before. On my arrival I found no
+    proof-sheets, but a letter from Mr. S----, which I would have
+    enclosed, but so many words are scarce legible you would have no
+    pleasure in reading it. He continues to make a mystery of his
+    "reason"; something in the third volume sticks confoundedly in his
+    throat; and as to the "female character" about which I asked, he
+    responds that "she is an odd, fascinating little puss," but
+    affirms that "he is not in love with her." He tells me also that
+    he will answer no more questions about "Villette." This morning I
+    have a brief note from Mr. Williams, intimating that he has not
+    yet been permitted to read the third volume. Also there is a note
+    from Mrs. ----, very kind. I almost wish I could still look on
+    that kindness just as I used to do: it was very pleasant to me
+    once. Write _immediately_, dear Nell, and tell me how your
+    mother is. Give my kindest regards to her and all others at B----.
+    Everybody seemed very good to me this last visit. I remember it
+    with corresponding pleasure.
+
+The private reception of "Villette" was not altogether that for which
+its author had hoped. Her publisher had objections to urge against
+certain features of the story, and those who saw the book in
+manuscript were not slow to express their own disapproval. It was
+evident that there was disappointment at Cornhill; and the proud
+spirit of Miss Brontė was keenly troubled. The letters in which she
+dwells on what was passing at that time need not be reproduced here,
+for their purport is sufficiently indicated by that which has just
+been given. But it is worth while to notice the scrupulous modesty
+with which she listened to all that was said by those who found fault,
+her careful anxiety to understand their objections, such as they were,
+and her perfect readiness to discuss every point raised with them. Of
+irritability under this criticism there is no trace, only a certain
+sadness and sorrow at the discovery that she had not succeeded in
+impressing others as she had hoped to do. Yet she is scarcely
+surprised that it is so. Had she not written years before, when
+"Shirley" was first produced, these words?--
+
+    No matter, whether known or unknown, misjudged or the contrary, I
+    am resolved not to write otherwise. I shall bend as my powers
+    tend. The two human beings who understood me, and whom I
+    understood, are gone. I have some that love me yet, and whom I
+    love without expecting, or having a right to expect, that they
+    shall perfectly understand me. I am satisfied, but I must have my
+    own way in the matter of writing.... I am thankful to God who gave
+    me the faculty; and it is for me a part of my religion to defend
+    this gift and to profit by its possession.
+
+So now she is not astonished at finding herself misunderstood. Nor is
+she angry. She is perfectly ready to explain her real meaning to those
+who have misjudged her, but she is resolute in abiding by what she has
+written. The work wrung from her during those two years of pain and
+sorrow is not work which can be altered at will to please another.
+Even to meet the entreaties of her father she had refused to do more
+than draw a veil over the catastrophe in which the plot ends; and she
+cannot introduce new incidents, or lay on new colours, because the
+little circle of critics sitting in judgment on her manuscript have
+pronounced it to be imperfect. "I fear they" (the readers) "must be
+satisfied with what is offered. My palette affords no brighter tints;
+were I to attempt to deepen the reds or burnish the yellows, I should
+but blotch." Yet she admits that those who judge the book only from
+the outside have some reason to complain that it is not as other
+novels are:
+
+    You say that Lucy Snowe may be thought morbid and weak, unless
+    the history of her life be more freely given. I consider that she
+    _is_ both morbid and weak at times; her character sets up no
+    pretensions to unmixed strength, and anybody living her life
+    would necessarily become morbid. It was no impetus of healthy
+    feeling which urged her to the confessional, for instance; it was
+    the semi-delirium of solitary grief and sickness. If, however,
+    the book does not express all this, there must be a great fault
+    somewhere. I might explain away a few other points, but it would
+    be too much like drawing a picture and then writing underneath
+    the name of the object intended to be represented.
+
+Happily, the heart of the great reading world is bigger and truer as a
+whole than any part of it is. What those who read the manuscript of
+"Villette" failed to see at the first glance was seen instantly by the
+public when the book was placed in its hands. From critics of every
+school and degree there came up a cry of wonder and admiration, as men
+saw out of what simple characters and commonplace incidents genius had
+evoked this striking work of literary art. Popular, perhaps, the book
+could scarcely hope to be, in the vulgar acceptation of the word. The
+author had carefully avoided the "flowery and inviting" course of
+romance, and had written in silent obedience to the stern dictates of
+an inspiration which, as we have seen, only came at intervals, leaving
+her between its visits cruelly depressed and pained, but which when it
+came held her spell-bound and docile. Yet out of the dull record of
+humble woes, marked by no startling episodes, adorned by few of the
+flowers of poetry, she had created such a heart-history as remains to
+this day without a rival in the school of English fiction to which it
+belongs.
+
+I bring together a batch of notes, not all addressed to the same
+person, which give her account of the reception and success of the
+book:
+
+    February 11th, 1853.
+
+    Excuse a very brief note, for I have time only to thank you for
+    your last kind and welcome letter, and to say that, in obedience
+    to your wishes, I send you by this day's post two reviews--_The
+    Examiner_ and _The Morning Advertiser_--which, perhaps, you will
+    kindly return at your leisure. Ellen has a third--_The Literary
+    Gazette_--which she will likewise send. The reception of the book
+    has been favourable thus far--for which I am thankful--less, I
+    trust, on my own account than for the sake of those few real
+    friends who take so sincere an interest in my welfare as to be
+    happy in my happiness.
+
+
+    February 15th.
+
+    I am very glad to hear that you got home all right, and that you
+    managed to execute your commissions in Leeds so satisfactorily.
+    You do not say whether you remembered to order the Bishop's
+    dessert; I shall know, however, by to-morrow morning. I got a
+    budget of no less than seven papers yesterday and to-day. The
+    import of all the notices is such as to make my heart swell with
+    thankfulness to Him who takes note both of suffering and work and
+    motives. Papa is pleased too. As to friends in general, I believe
+    I can love them still without expecting them to take any large
+    share in this sort of gratification. The longer I live, the more
+    plainly I see that gentle must be the strain on fragile human
+    nature. It will not bear much.
+
+    I have heard from Mrs. Gaskell. Very kind, panegyrical, and so on.
+    Mr. S---- tells me he has ascertained that Miss Martineau _did_
+    write the notice in _The Daily News_. J. T. offers to give me a
+    regular blowing-up and setting down for £5, but I tell him _The
+    Times_ will probably let me have the same gratis.
+
+
+    March 10th, 1853.
+
+    I only got _The Guardian_ newspaper yesterday morning, and have
+    not yet seen either _The Critic_ or _Sharpe's Magazine_. _The
+    Guardian_ does not wound me much. I see the motive, which, indeed,
+    there is no attempt to disguise. Still I think it a choice little
+    morsel for foes (Mr. ---- was the first to bring the news of the
+    review to Papa), and a still choicer morsel for "friends"
+    who--bless them!--while they would not perhaps positively do one
+    an injury, still take a dear delight in dashing with bitterness
+    the too sweet cup of success. Is _Sharpe's_ small article like a
+    bit of sugar-candy, too, Ellen? or has it the proper wholesome
+    wormwood flavour? Of course I guess it will be like _The
+    Guardian_. My "dear friends" will weary of waiting for _The
+    Times_. "O Sisera! why tarry the wheels of thy chariot so long?"
+
+
+    March 22nd.
+
+    Thank you for sending ----'s notes. Though I have not attended to
+    them lately, they always amuse me. I like to read them; one gets
+    from them a clear enough idea of her sort of life. ----'s attempts
+    to improve his good partner's mind make me smile. I think it all
+    right enough, and doubt not they are happy in their way; only the
+    direction he gives his efforts seems of rather problematic wisdom.
+    Algebra and optics! Why not enlarge her views by a little
+    well-chosen general reading? However, they do right to amuse
+    themselves in their own way. The rather dark view you seem to take
+    of the general opinion about "Villette" surprises me the less, as
+    only the more unfavourable reviews seem to have come in your way.
+    Some reports reach me of a different tendency; but no matter; time
+    will show. As to the character of Lucy Snowe, my intention from
+    the first was that she should not occupy the pedestal to which
+    "Jane Eyre" was raised by some injudicious admirers. She is where
+    I meant her to be, and where no charge of self-laudation can touch
+    her.
+
+
+
+
+XI.
+
+MARRIAGE AND DEATH.
+
+
+Every book, as we know, has its secret history, hidden from the world
+which reads only the printed pages, but legible enough to the author,
+who sees something more than the words he has set down for the public
+to read. Thackeray tells us how, reading again one of his smaller
+stories, written at a sad period of his own life, he brought back all
+the scene amid which the little tale was composed, and woke again to a
+consciousness of the pangs which tore his heart when his pen was busy
+with the imaginary fortunes of the puppets he had placed upon the
+mimic stage. Between the lines he read quite a different story from
+that which was laid before the reader. I have tried to show how
+largely this was the case with Charlotte Brontė's novels. Each was a
+double romance, having one meaning for the world, and another for the
+author. Yet she herself, when she wrote "Shirley" and "Villette," had
+no conception of the strange blending of the secret currents of the
+two books which was in store for her, or of the unexpected fate which
+was to befall the real heroine of her last work--to wit, herself.
+
+I have told how fixed was her belief that "Lucy Snowe's" fate was to
+be a tragic one--a life the closing years of which were to be spent in
+loneliness and anguish, and amid the bitterness of withered hopes.
+Very few readers can have forgotten the closing passage of "Villette,"
+in which the catastrophe, though veiled, can be readily discovered:
+
+    The sun passes the equinox; the days shorten, the leaves grow
+    sere; but--he is coming.
+
+    Frosts appear at night; November has sent his fogs in advance; the
+    wind takes its autumn moan; but--he is coming.
+
+    The skies hang full and dark--a rack sails from the west; the
+    clouds cast themselves into strange forms--arches and broad
+    radiations; there rise resplendent mornings--glorious, royal,
+    purple as a monarch in his state; the heavens are one flame; so
+    wild are they, they rival battle at its thickest--so bloody, they
+    shame Victory in her pride. I know some signs of the sky; I have
+    noted them ever since childhood. God, watch that sail! Oh! guard
+    it!
+
+    The wind shifts to the west. Peace, peace, Banshee--"keening" at
+    every window! It will rise--it will swell--it shrieks out long:
+    wander as I may through the house this night, I cannot lull the
+    blast. The advancing hours make it strong: by midnight, all
+    sleepless watchers hear and fear a wild south-west storm....
+
+    Peace, be still! Oh! a thousand weepers, praying in agony on
+    waiting shores, listened for that voice, but it was not
+    uttered--not uttered till, when the hush came, some could not feel
+    it; till, when the sun returned, his light was night to some!
+
+In darkness such as here is shadowed forth, Charlotte Brontė believed
+that her own life would close; all sunshine gone, all joys swept clean
+away by the bitter blast of death, all hopes withered or uprooted. But
+the end which she pictured was not to be. God was more merciful than
+her own imaginings; and at eventide there was light and peace upon her
+troubled path.
+
+Those who turn to the closing passage of "Shirley" will find there
+reference to "a true Christian gentleman," who had taken the place of
+the hypocrite Malone, one of the famous three curates of the story.
+This gentleman, a Mr. McCarthy, was, like the rest, no fictitious
+personage. His original was to be found in the person of Mr. Nicholls,
+who for several years had lived a simple, unobtrusive life at Haworth,
+as curate to Mr. Brontė, and whose name often occurs in Charlotte's
+letters to her friend. In none of these references to him is there the
+slightest indication that he was more than an honoured friend. Nor was
+it so. Whilst Mr. Nicholls, dwelling near Miss Brontė, and observing
+her far more closely than any other person could do, had formed a deep
+and abiding attachment for her, she herself was wholly unconscious of
+the fact. Its first revelation came upon her as something like a
+shock; as something also like a reproach. Whilst she had thought
+herself alone, doomed to a life of solitude and pain, a tender yet a
+manly love had all the while been growing round her.
+
+It is obvious that the letters which she addressed at this time
+(December, 1852) to her friend cannot be printed here. Yet no letters
+more honourable to the woman, the daughter, and the lover have ever
+been penned. There is no restraint now in the outpourings of her
+heart. Her friend is taken into her full confidence, and every hope
+and fear and joy is spoken out as only women who are pure and truthful
+and entirely noble can venture to speak out. Mrs. Gaskell has briefly
+but distinctly stated the broad features of this strange love story,
+giving such promise at the time, so happy and beautiful in its brief
+fruition, so soon to be quenched in the great darkness. Mr. Brontė
+resented the attentions of Mr. Nicholls to his daughter in a manner
+which brought to light all the sternness and bitterness of his
+character. There had been of late years a certain mellowing of his
+disposition, which Charlotte had dwelt upon with hopeful joy, as her
+one comfort in her lonely life at Haworth. How much he owed to her
+none knew but himself. When he was sinking under the burden of his
+son's death, she had rescued him; when, for one dark and bitter
+interval, he had sought refuge from grief and remorse in the coward's
+solace, her brave heart, her gentleness, her unyielding courage, had
+brought him back again from evil ways, and sustained and kept him in
+the path of honour; and now his own ambitions were more than satisfied
+by her success; he found himself shining in the reflected glory of his
+daughter's fame, and sunned himself, poor man, in the light and
+warmth. But all the old jealousy, the intense acerbity of his
+character, broke out when he saw another person step between himself
+and her, and that other no idol of the great world of London, but
+simply the honest man who had dwelt almost under his own roof-tree for
+years.
+
+When, having heard with surprise and emotion, the story of Mr.
+Nicholls's attachment, Charlotte communicated his offer to her father,
+"agitation and anger disproportionate to the occasion ensued. My blood
+boiled with a sense of injustice. But Papa worked himself into a state
+not to be trifled with. The veins on his forehead started up like
+whipcord, and his eyes became suddenly bloodshot. I made haste to
+promise that on the morrow Mr. Nicholls should have a distinct
+refusal." It so happened that very soon after this, that is to say
+when "Villette" was published, Miss Martineau caused deep pain to its
+writer by condemning the manner in which "all the female characters in
+all their thoughts and lives" were represented as "being full of one
+thing--love." The critic not unjustly pointed out that love was not
+the be-all and the end-all of a woman's life. Perhaps her pen would
+not have been so sharp in touching on this subject, had she known with
+what quiet self-sacrifice the author of "Villette" had but a few weeks
+before set aside her own preferences and inclinations, and submitted
+her lot to her father's angry will. This truly must be reckoned as
+another illustration of the extent to which the _Quarterly_ reviewer
+of 1848 had formed an accurate conception of the character of "Currer
+Bell."
+
+Not only was the struggle which followed sharp and painful, it was
+also stubborn and prolonged. Mr. Nicholls resigned the curacy he had
+held so many years, and prepared to leave Haworth. Mr. Brontė not only
+showed no signs of relenting, but openly exulted in his departure, and
+lost no opportunity of expressing in bitterly sarcastic language his
+opinion of his colleague's conduct. How deeply Charlotte suffered at
+this time is proved by the letters before me. Firmly convinced that
+her first duty was to the parent whose only remaining stay she was,
+she never wavered in her determination to sacrifice every wish of her
+own to his comfort. But her heart was racked with pity for the man who
+was suffering through his love for her, and her indignation was roused
+to fever-heat by the gross injustice of her father's conduct.
+
+    Compassion or relenting is no more to be looked for from Papa than
+    sap from firewood. I never saw a battle more sternly fought with
+    the feelings than Mr. N. fights with his, and when he yields
+    momentarily, you are almost sickened by the sense of the strain
+    upon him. However, he is to go, and I cannot speak to him or look
+    at him or comfort him a whit--and I must submit. Providence is
+    over all; that is the only consolation.
+
+    In all this--she says, after speaking again of the severity of
+    the struggle--it is not _I_ who am to be pitied at all, and of
+    course nobody pities me. They all think in Haworth that I have
+    disdainfully refused him. If pity would do him any good he ought
+    to have, and I believe has, it. They may abuse me if they will.
+    Whether they do or not I can't tell.
+
+
+    I thought of you on New Year's Day, and hope you got well over
+    your formidable tea-making. I am busy, too, in my little way,
+    preparing to go to London this week--a matter which necessitates
+    some little application to the needle. I find it quite necessary I
+    should go to superintend the press, as Mr. S---- seems quite
+    determined not to let the printing get on till I come. I have
+    actually only received three proof-sheets since I was at
+    Brookroyd. Papa wants me to go too, to be out of the way, I
+    suppose; but I am sorry for one other person whom nobody pities
+    but me.... They don't understand the nature of his feelings, but
+    I see now what they are. Mr. N---- is one of those who attach
+    themselves to very few, whose sensations are close and deep, like
+    an underground stream, running strong but in a narrow channel. He
+    continues restless and ill. He carefully performs the occasional
+    duty, but does not come near the church, procuring a substitute
+    every Sunday. A few days since he wrote to Papa requesting
+    permission to withdraw his resignation. Papa answered that he
+    should only do so on condition of giving his written promise never
+    again to broach the obnoxious subject either to him or to me. This
+    he has evaded doing, so the matter remains unsettled. I feel
+    persuaded the termination will be, his departure for Australia.
+    Dear Nell, without loving him, I don't like to think of him
+    suffering in solitude, and wish him anywhere so that he were
+    happier. He and Papa have never met or spoken yet.
+
+During this crisis in her life, when suffering had come to her in a
+new and sharp form, but when happily the black cloud was lit up on the
+other side by the rays of the sun, she went up to London to spend a
+few weeks. From the letters written during her visit I make these
+extracts:
+
+    January 11th, 1853.
+
+    I came here last Wednesday. I had a delightful day for my journey,
+    and was kindly received at the close. My time has passed
+    pleasantly enough since I came, yet I have not much to tell you;
+    nor is it likely I shall have. I do not mean to go out much or see
+    many people. Sir J. S---- wrote to me two or three times before I
+    left home, and made me promise to let him know when I should be
+    in town, but I reserve to myself the right of deferring the
+    communication till the latter part of my stay. All in this house
+    appear to be pretty much as usual, and yet I see some changes.
+    Mrs. ---- and her daughter look well enough; but on Mr. ---- hard
+    work is telling early. Both his complexion, his countenance, and
+    the very lines of his features are altered. It is rather the
+    remembrance of what he was than the fact of what he is which can
+    warrant the picture I have been accustomed to give of him. One
+    feels pained to see a physical alteration of this kind; yet I feel
+    glad and thankful that it is _merely_ physical. As far as I can
+    judge, mind and manners have undergone no deterioration--rather, I
+    think, the contrary.
+
+
+    January 19th, 1853.
+
+    I still continue to get on very comfortably and quietly in London,
+    in the way I like, seeing rather things than persons. Being
+    allowed to have my own choice of sights this time I selected the
+    _real_ rather than the _decorative_ side of life. I have been over
+    two prisons, ancient and modern, Newgate and Pentonville; also the
+    Bank, the Exchange, the Foundling Hospital; and to-day, if all be
+    well, I go with Dr. Forbes to see Bethlehem Hospital. Mrs. ----
+    and her daughters are, I believe, a little amazed at my gloomy
+    tastes; but I take no notice. Papa, I am glad to say, continues
+    well. I enclose portions of two notes of his which will show you
+    better than anything I can say how he treats a certain subject. My
+    book is to appear at the close of this month. Mrs. Gaskell wrote
+    to beg that it should not clash with "Ruth," and it was impossible
+    to refuse to defer the publication a week or two.
+
+The visit to London did good; but it could not remove the pain which
+she suffered during this period of conflict.
+
+    Haworth, May 19th, 1853.
+
+    It is almost a relief to hear that you only think of staying at
+    G---- a month; though of course one must not be selfish in wishing
+    you to come home soon.... I cannot help feeling satisfaction in
+    finding that the people here are getting up a subscription to
+    offer a testimonial of respect to Mr. N---- on his leaving the
+    place. Many are expressing both their commiseration and esteem for
+    him. The churchwardens recently put the question to him plainly:
+    Why was he going? Was it Mr. Brontė's fault or his own? His own,
+    he answered. Did he blame Mr. Brontė? No, he did not: if anybody
+    was wrong, it was himself. Was he willing to go? No; it gave him
+    great pain. Yet he is not always right. I must be just. Papa
+    addressed him at the school tea-drinking with _constrained_
+    civility, but still with _civility_. He did not reply civilly; he
+    cut short further words. This sort of treatment is what Papa never
+    will forget or forgive. It inspires him with a silent bitterness
+    not to be expressed.... It is a dismal state of things. The
+    weather is fine now, dear Nell. We will take these sunny days as a
+    good omen for your visit.
+
+
+    May 27th, 1853.
+
+    You will want to know about the leave-taking. The whole matter is
+    but a painful subject, but I must treat it briefly. The
+    testimonial was presented in a public meeting. Mr. F---- and Mr.
+    G---- were there. Papa was not very well, and I advised him to
+    stay away, which he did. As to the last Sunday, it was a cruel
+    struggle. Mr. N---- ought not to have had to take any duty. He
+    left Haworth this morning at six o'clock. Yesterday evening he
+    called to render into Papa's hands the deeds of the National
+    School, and to say good-bye. They were busy cleaning, washing the
+    paint, &c., so he did not find me there. I would not go into the
+    parlour to speak to him in Papa's presence. He went out, thinking
+    he was not to see me; and indeed till the very last moment I
+    thought it best not. But perceiving that he stayed long before
+    going out at the gate, and remembering his long grief, I took
+    courage, and went out, trembling and miserable. I found him
+    leaning against the garden door.... Of course I went straight to
+    him. Very few words were interchanged; those few barely
+    articulate: several things I should have liked to ask him were
+    swept entirely from my memory. Poor fellow! but he wanted such
+    hope and such encouragement as I _could_ not give him. Still
+    I trust he must know now that I am not cruelly blind and
+    indifferent to his constancy and grief. For a few weeks he goes to
+    the South of England--afterwards he takes a curacy somewhere in
+    Yorkshire, but I don't know where. Papa has been far from strong
+    lately. I dare not mention Mr. N----'s name to him. He speaks of
+    him quietly and without opprobrium to others; but to me he is
+    implacable on the matter. However, he is gone--gone--and there's
+    an end of it! I see no chance of hearing a word about him in
+    future, unless some stray shred of intelligence comes through Mr.
+    G---- or some other second-hand source.
+
+The remainder of the year 1853 was a chequered one. Mr. Nicholls left
+Haworth; Charlotte remained with her father. Those who saw her at this
+time bear testimony to the unfailing, never-flagging devotion she
+displayed towards one who was wounding her cruelly. But she bore this
+sorrow, like those which had preceded it, bravely and cheerfully. To
+her friend she opened her heart at times, revealing something of what
+she was suffering; but to all others she was silent.
+
+    Haworth, April 13th, 1853.
+
+    MY DEAR MISS ----,--Your last kind letter ought to have been
+    answered long since, and would have been, did I find it practicable
+    to proportion the promptitude of the response to the value I place
+    upon my correspondents and their communications. You will easily
+    understand, however, that the contrary rule often holds good, and
+    that the epistle which importunes often takes precedence of that
+    which interests. My publishers express entire satisfaction with the
+    reception which has been accorded to "Villette." And, indeed, the
+    majority of the reviews has been favourable enough. You will be
+    aware, however, that there is a minority, small in character, which
+    views the work with no favourable eye. "Currer Bell's" remarks on
+    Romanism have drawn down on him the condign displeasure of the High
+    Church party, which displeasure has been unequivocally expressed
+    through their principal organs, _The Guardian_, _The English
+    Churchman_, and _The Christian Remembrancer_. I can well
+    understand that some of the charges launched against me by these
+    publications will tell heavily to my prejudice in the minds of
+    most readers. But this must be borne; and for my part, I can
+    suffer no accusation to oppress me much which is not supported by
+    the inward evidence of Conscience and Reason. "Extremes meet,"
+    says the proverb; in proof whereof I would mention that Miss
+    Martineau finds with "Villette" nearly the same fault as the
+    Puseyites. She accuses me of attacking Popery "with virulence," of
+    going out of my way to assault it "passionately." In other
+    respects she has shown, with reference to the work, a spirit so
+    strangely and unexpectedly acrimonious, that I have gathered
+    courage to tell her that the gulf of mutual difference between her
+    and me is so wide and deep, the bridge of union so slight and
+    uncertain, I have come to the conclusion that frequent intercourse
+    would be most perilous and unadvisable, and have begged to adjourn
+    _sine die_ my long-projected visit to her. Of course she is now
+    very angry, but it cannot be helped. Two or three weeks since I
+    received a long and kind letter from Mr. ----, which I answered a
+    short time ago. I believe he thinks me a much better advocate for
+    _change_, and what is called "political progress," than I am.
+    However, in my reply I did not touch on these subjects. He
+    intimated a wish to publish some of his own MSS. I fear he would
+    hardly like the somewhat dissuasive tendency of my answer; but
+    really, in these days of headlong competition, it is a great risk
+    to publish.
+
+
+    April 18th, 1853.
+
+    If all be well, I think of going to Manchester about the close of
+    this week. I only intend staying a few days; but I can say nothing
+    about coming back by B----. Do not expect me; I would rather see
+    you at Haworth by-and-by. Two or three weeks since, Miss Martineau
+    wrote to ask why she did not hear from me, and to press me to go
+    to Ambleside. Explanations ensued; the notes on each side were
+    quite civil; but, having deliberately formed my resolution on
+    substantial grounds, I adhered to it. I have declined being her
+    visitor, and bid her good-bye. It is best so; the antagonism of
+    our natures and principles was too serious to be trifled with.
+
+This difference with Miss Martineau is not a thing to dwell on now.
+The pity is that two women so truthful, so sincere, so bold in their
+utterances should ever have differed. Charlotte Brontė had known how
+to stand bravely by Miss Martineau when she believed that the latter
+was suffering because of her honestly-formed opinions; she had known
+how to speak on her behalf with timely generosity and force. But her
+sensitive nature was wounded to the quick by criticisms which she
+believed to be unjust; and so these two great women parted, and met
+again no more.
+
+To the mental pain which she was now suffering from her father's
+conduct there was added keen physical torture. During this summer of
+1853 many of her letters contain sentences like this: "I have been
+suffering most severely for ten days with continued pain in the
+head--on the nerves it is said to be. Blistering at last seems to have
+done it some good; but I am yet weak and bewildered." A visit from
+Mrs. Gaskell, who came to see how Haworth looked in its autumn robe of
+splendour, did her some good; but still more was gained by a journey
+to the seaside in the company of her old friend and schoolmistress,
+Miss Wooler, before which she had addressed to her the following
+letter:
+
+    Haworth, August 30th, 1853.
+
+    MY DEAR MISS W.,--I was from home when your kind letter came, and,
+    as it was not forwarded, I did not get it till my return. All the
+    summer I have felt the wish and cherished the intention to join you
+    for a brief period at the seaside; nor do I yet entirely relinquish
+    the purpose, though its fulfilment must depend on my father's
+    health. At present he complains so much of weakness and depressed
+    spirits, that no thoughts of leaving him can be entertained. Should
+    he improve, however, I would fain come to you before autumn is
+    quite gone.
+
+    My late absence was but for a week, when I accompanied Mr. and
+    Mrs. ---- and baby on a trip to Scotland. They went with the
+    intention of taking up their quarters at Kirkcudbright, or some
+    watering-place on the Solway Firth. We hardly reached that
+    locality, and had stayed but one night, when the baby (that rather
+    despotic member of modern households) exhibited some symptoms of
+    indisposition. To my unskilled perception its ailments appeared
+    very slight, nowise interfering with its appetite or spirits; but
+    parental eyes saw the matter in a different light. The air of
+    Scotland was pronounced unpropitious to the child, and
+    consequently we had to retrace our steps. I own I felt some little
+    reluctance to leave "bonnie Scotland" so soon and so abruptly, but
+    of course I could not say a word, since, however strong on my own
+    mind the impression that the ailment in question was very trivial
+    and temporary (an impression confirmed by the issue), I could not
+    be absolutely certain that such was the case; and had any evil
+    consequences followed a prolonged stay, I should never have
+    forgiven myself.
+
+    Ilkley was the next place thought of. We went there, but I only
+    remained three days, for, in the hurry of changing trains at one
+    of the stations, my box was lost, and without clothes I could not
+    stay. I have heard of it twice, but have not yet regained it. In
+    all probability it is now lying at Kirkcudbright, where it was
+    directed.
+
+    Notwithstanding some minor trials, I greatly enjoyed this little
+    excursion. The scenery through which we travelled from Dumfries to
+    Kirkcudbright (a distance of thirty miles, performed outside a
+    stage-coach) was beautiful, though not at all of a peculiarly
+    Scottish character, being richly cultivated and well wooded. I
+    liked Ilkley, too, exceedingly, and shall long to revisit the
+    place. On the whole, I thought it for the best that circumstances
+    obliged me to return home so soon, for I found Papa far from well.
+    He is something better now, yet I shall not feel it right to leave
+    him again till I see a more thorough re-establishment of health
+    and strength.
+
+    With some things to regret and smile at, I saw things to admire in
+    the small family party with which I travelled. Mr. ---- makes a
+    most devoted father and husband. I admired his great kindness to
+    his wife; but I rather groaned (inwardly) over the unbounded
+    indulgence of both parents towards their only child. The world
+    does not revolve round the sun; that is a mistake. Certain babies,
+    I plainly perceive, are the important centre of all things. The
+    papa and mamma could only take their meals, rest, and exercise at
+    such times and in such manner as the despotic infant permitted.
+    While Mrs. ---- eat her dinner, Mr. ---- relieved guard as nurse.
+    A nominal nurse, indeed, accompanied the party, but her place was
+    a sort of anxious waiting sinecure, as the child did not fancy her
+    attendance. Tenderness to offspring is a virtue, yet I think I
+    have seen mothers who were most tender and thoughtful, yet in very
+    love for their children would not permit them to become tyrants
+    either over themselves or others.
+
+    I shall be glad and grateful, my dear Miss W., to hear from you
+    again whenever you have time or inclination to write--though, as I
+    told you before, there is no fear of my misunderstanding silence.
+    Should you leave Hornsea before winter sets in, I trust you will
+    just come straight to Haworth, and pay your long-anticipated visit
+    there before you go elsewhere. Papa and the servants send their
+    respects. I always duly deliver your kind messages of remembrance,
+    because they give pleasure.
+
+December came, and she writes to this friend expressing her wonder as
+to how she is spending the long winter evenings--"alone, probably,
+like me." It was a dreary winter for her; but the spring was at hand.
+Mr. Brontė, studying his daughter with keen eyes, could not hide from
+himself the fact that her health and spirits were drooping now as they
+had never drooped before. All work with the pen was laid aside; and
+household cares, attendance upon her father or on the old servant, who
+now also needed to be waited upon, occupied her time; but her heart
+was heavy with a burden such as she had never previously known. At
+last the stern nature of the man was broken down by his genuine
+affection for his daughter. His opposition to her marriage was
+suddenly laid aside; he asked her to recall Mr. Nicholls to Haworth,
+and with characteristic waywardness he now became as anxious that the
+wedding should take place as he had ever been that it should be
+prevented.
+
+There was a curious misadventure regarding the letter inviting Mr.
+Nicholls to Haworth, which is explained in the first of the letters I
+now quote.
+
+    Haworth, March 28th, 1854.
+
+    The enclosure in yours of yesterday puzzled me at first, for I did
+    not immediately recognise my own handwriting. When I did, the
+    sensation was one of consternation and vexation, as the letter
+    ought by all means to have gone on Friday. It was intended to
+    relieve him from great anxiety. However, I trust he will get it
+    to-day; and, on the whole, when I think it over, I can only be
+    thankful that the mistake was no worse, and did not throw the
+    letter into the hands of some indifferent and unscrupulous person.
+    I wrote it after some days of indisposition and uneasiness, and
+    when I felt weak and unfit to write. While writing to _him_ I
+    was at the same time intending to answer _your_ note; which I
+    suppose accounts for the confusion of ideas shown in the mixed and
+    blundering address.
+
+    I wish you could come about Easter rather than at another time,
+    for this reason. Mr. Nicholls, if not prevented, proposes coming
+    over then. I suppose he will be staying at Mr. ----'s, as he has
+    done two or three times before; but he will be frequently coming
+    here, which would enliven your visits a little. Perhaps, too, he
+    might take a walk with us occasionally. Altogether, it would be a
+    little change for you, such as you know I could not always offer.
+    If all be well, he will come under different circumstances to any
+    that have attended his visits before. Were it otherwise, I should
+    not ask you to meet him, for when aspects are gloomy and
+    unpropitious, the fewer there are to suffer from the cloud, the
+    better. He was here in January, and was then received.... I trust
+    it will be a little different now. Papa has breakfasted in bed
+    to-day, and has not yet risen. His bronchitis is still
+    troublesome. I had a bad week last week, but am greatly better
+    now, for my mind is a little relieved, though very sedate, and
+    rising only to expectations the most moderate. Some time, perhaps
+    in May, I may be in your neighbourhood, and shall then hope to
+    come to B.; but, as you will understand from what I have now
+    stated, I could not come before. Think it over, dear E., and come
+    to Haworth if you can.
+
+
+    April 11th, 1854.
+
+    The result of Mr. Nicholls's visit is that Papa's consent is
+    gained and his respect won, for Mr. Nicholls has in all things
+    proved himself disinterested and forbearing. He has shown, too,
+    that, while his feelings are exquisitely keen, he can freely
+    forgive.... In fact, dear Ellen, I am engaged. Mr. Nicholls in the
+    course of a few months will return to the curacy of Haworth. I
+    stipulated that I would not leave Papa, and to Papa himself I
+    proposed a plan of residence which should maintain his seclusion
+    and convenience uninvaded, and in a pecuniary sense bring him gain
+    instead of loss. What seemed at one time impossible is now
+    arranged, and Papa begins really to take a pleasure in the
+    prospect. For myself, dear E----, while thankful to One who seems
+    to have guided me through much difficulty, much and deep distress
+    and perplexity of mind, I am still very calm.... What I taste of
+    happiness is of the soberest order. Providence offers me this
+    destiny. Doubtless, then, it is the best for me; nor do I shrink
+    from wishing those dear to me one not less happy. It is possible
+    that our marriage may take place in the course of the summer. Mr.
+    Nicholls wishes it to be in July. He spoke of you with great
+    kindness, and said he hoped you would be at our wedding. I said I
+    thought of having no other bridesmaid. Did I say right? I mean the
+    marriage to be literally _as quiet as possible_. Do not mention
+    these things as yet. Good-bye. There is a strange, half-sad
+    feeling in making these announcements. The whole thing is
+    something other than the imagination paints it beforehand--cares,
+    fears, come mixed inextricably with hopes. I trust yet to talk the
+    matter over with you.
+
+So at length the day had dawned, and every letter now is filled with
+the hopes and cares of the expectant bride.
+
+    April 15th.
+
+    I hope to see you somewhere about the second week in May. The
+    Manchester visit is still hanging over my head; I have deferred it
+    and deferred it, but have finally promised to go about the
+    beginning of next month. I shall only stay about three days; then
+    I spend two or three days at H., then come to B. The three visits
+    must be compressed into the space of a fortnight, if possible. I
+    suppose I shall have to go to Leeds. My purchases cannot be either
+    expensive or extensive. You must just resolve in your head the
+    bonnets and dresses: something that can be turned to decent use
+    and worn after the wedding-day will be best, I think. I wrote
+    immediately to Miss W----, and received a truly kind letter from
+    her this morning. Papa's mind seems wholly changed about this
+    matter; and he has said, both to me and when I was not there, how
+    much happier he feels since he allowed all to be settled. It is a
+    wonderful relief for me to hear him treat the thing rationally,
+    and quietly and amicably to talk over with him themes on which
+    once I dared not touch. He is rather anxious that things should
+    get forward now, and takes quite an interest in the arrangement of
+    preliminaries. His health improves daily, though this east wind
+    still keeps up a slight irritation in the throat and chest. The
+    feeling which has been disappointed in Papa was _ambition_--paternal
+    pride--ever a restless feeling, as we all know. Now that this
+    unquiet spirit is exorcised, justice, which was once quite
+    forgotten, is once more listened to, and affection, I hope, resumes
+    some power. My hope is that in the end this arrangement will turn
+    out more truly to Papa's advantage than any other it was in my
+    power to achieve. Mr. N. only in his last letter refers touchingly
+    to his earnest desire to prove his gratitude to Papa by offering
+    support and consolation to his declining age. This will not be mere
+    _talk_ with him. He is no talker, no dealer in mere professions.
+
+
+    April 28th.
+
+    Papa, thank God! continues to improve much. He preached twice on
+    Sunday, and again on Wednesday, and was not tired. His mind and
+    mood are different to what they were; so much more cheerful and
+    quiet. I trust the illusions of ambition are quite dissipated, and
+    that he really sees it is better to relieve a suffering and
+    faithful heart, to secure in its fidelity a solid good, than
+    unfeelingly to abandon one who is truly attached to _his_
+    interests as well as mine, and pursue some vain empty shadow.
+
+
+    Hemsworth, May 6th.
+
+    I came here on Thursday afternoon. I shall stay over Saturday and
+    Sunday, and, if all be well, I hope to come to B. on Monday, after
+    dinner, and just in time for tea. I leave you to judge by your own
+    feelings whether I long to see you or not. ---- tells me you are
+    looking better. She tells me also that I am not--rather ugly, as
+    usual. But never mind that, dear Nell--as, indeed, you never did.
+    On the whole, I _feel_ very decently at present, and within the
+    last fortnight have had much respite from headache. You are kind in
+    being so much in earnest in wishing for Mr. N. to come to B., and I
+    am sorry that circumstances do not favour such a step. But, knowing
+    how matters stood, I did not repeat the proposal to him, for I
+    thought it would be like tempting him to forget duty.
+
+In the following letters, in addition to the pleasing side-lights
+which they throw upon her life in its new aspect, there is another
+feature which deserves to be noticed--that is, the exceeding
+tenderness with which the writer watches over her friend. The new love
+entering into her heart has but made the old love stronger, and she
+lavishes upon the sole remaining companion of her youth the care and
+affection which can no longer be bestowed upon sisters of her own
+blood.
+
+    Haworth, May 14th.
+
+    I took the time of the Leeds, Keighley, Skipton trains from the
+    February time-table, and when I got to Leeds found myself all
+    wrong. The trains on that line were changed. One had that moment
+    left the station--indeed, it was just steaming away; there was not
+    another till a quarter after five o'clock; so I had just four
+    hours to sit and twirl my thumbs. I got over the time somehow, but
+    I was vexed to think how much more pleasantly I might have spent
+    it at B. It was just seven o'clock when I reached home. I found
+    Papa well. It seems he has been particularly well during my
+    absence, but to-day he is a little sickly, and only preached once.
+    However, he is better again this evening. I could not leave you,
+    dear Ellen, with a very quiet mind, or take away a satisfied
+    feeling about you. Not that I think that bad cough lodged in a
+    dangerous quarter; but it shakes your system, wears you out, and
+    makes you look ill. _Take care of it, do, dear Ellen. Avoid the
+    evening air for a time_; keep in the house when the weather is
+    cold. Observe these precautions till the cough is quite gone, and
+    you regain strength, and feel better able to bear chill and
+    change. Believe me, it does not suit you at present to be much
+    exposed to variations of temperature. I send the mantle with this,
+    but have made up my mind not to let you have the cushion now, lest
+    you should sit stitching over it too closely. It will do any time,
+    and whenever it comes will be your present all the same.
+
+
+    May 22nd.
+
+    I wonder how you are, and whether that harassing cough is better;
+    but I am afraid the variable weather of last week will not have
+    been favourable to improvement. I _will_ not and _do_ not believe
+    the cough lies on any vital organ. Still it is a mark of weakness,
+    and a warning to be scrupulously careful about undue exposure. Just
+    now, dear Ellen, an hour's inadvertence might derange your whole
+    constitution for years to come--might throw you into a state of
+    chronic ill-health which would waste, fade, and wither you up
+    prematurely. So, once and again, TAKE CARE. If you go to ----,
+    or any other evening party, pack yourself in blankets and a
+    feather-bed to come home, also fold your boa twice over your mouth,
+    to serve as a respirator. Since I came home I have been very busy
+    sketching. The little new room is got into order now, and the green
+    and white curtains are up. They exactly suit the papering, and look
+    neat and clean enough. I had a letter a day or two since,
+    announcing that Mr. N. comes to-morrow. I feel anxious about him,
+    more anxious on one point than I dare quite express to myself. It
+    seems he has again been suffering sharply from his rheumatic
+    affection. I hear this not from himself, but from another quarter.
+    He was ill whilst I was at Manchester and B. He uttered no
+    complaint to me, dropped no hint on the subject. Alas! he was
+    hoping he had got the better of it; and I know how this
+    contradiction of his hopes will sadden him. For unselfish reasons
+    he did so earnestly wish this complaint might not become chronic. I
+    fear--I fear--but, however, I mean to stand by him now, whether in
+    weal or woe. This liability to rheumatic pain was one of the strong
+    arguments used against the marriage. It did not weigh, somehow. If
+    he is doomed to suffer, it seems that so much the more will he need
+    care and help. And yet the ultimate possibilities of such a case
+    are appalling. Well, come what may, God help and strengthen both
+    him and me. I look forward to to-morrow with a mixture of
+    impatience and anxiety. Poor fellow! I want to see with my own eyes
+    how he is.
+
+
+    Haworth, June 7th.
+
+    I am very glad and thankful to hear that you continue better,
+    though I am afraid your cough will have returned a little during
+    the late chilly change in the weather. Are you taking proper care
+    of yourself, and either staying in the house or going out warmly
+    clad, and with a boa doing duty as a respirator? On this last
+    point I incline particularly to insist, for you seemed careless
+    about it, and unconscious how much atmospheric harm the fine thick
+    hairs of the fur might ward off. I was very miserable about Papa
+    again some days ago. While the weather was so sultry and electric,
+    about a week since, he was suddenly attacked with deafness, and
+    complained of other symptoms which showed the old tendency to the
+    head. His spirits, too, became excessively depressed. It was all I
+    could do to keep him up, and I own I was sad and depressed myself.
+    However he took some medicine, which did him good. The change to
+    cooler weather, too, has suited him. The temporary deafness has
+    quite disappeared for the present, and his head is again clear and
+    cool. I can only earnestly trust he will continue better. That
+    unlucky ---- continues his efforts to give what trouble he can,
+    and I am obliged to conceal things from Papa's knowledge as well
+    as I can, to spare him that anxiety which hurts him so much.... I
+    feel compelled to throw the burden of the contest upon Mr.
+    Nicholls, who is younger and can bear it better. The worst of it
+    is, Mr. N. has not Papa's right to speak and act, or he would do
+    it to purpose. I should then have to mediate, not rouse; to play
+    the part of
+
+        Feather-bed 'twixt castle-wall
+        And heavy brunt of cannon-ball.
+
+
+    June 16th.
+
+    MY DEAR MISS W----,--Owing to certain untoward proceedings, matters
+    have hitherto been kept in such a state of uncertainty that I could
+    not make any approach towards fixing the day; and now, if I would
+    avoid inconveniencing Papa, I must hurry. I believe the
+    commencement of July is the furthest date upon which I can
+    calculate; possibly I may be obliged to accept one still
+    nearer--the close of June. I cannot quite decide till next week.
+    Meantime, will you, my dear Miss W----, come as soon as you
+    possibly can, and let me know at your earliest convenience the
+    day of your arrival. I have written to Ellen, begging her to
+    communicate with you.... Your absence would be a real and grievous
+    disappointment. Papa also seems much to wish your presence. Mr.
+    Nicholls enters with true kindness into my wish to have all done
+    quietly; and he has made such arrangements as will, I trust, secure
+    literal privacy. Yourself, Ellen, and Mr. S. will be the only
+    persons present at the ceremony. Mr. and Mrs. G. are asked to the
+    breakfast afterwards. I know you will kindly excuse this brief
+    note, for I am and have been _very_ busy, and must still be busy up
+    to the very day. Give my sincere love to all Mr. C----'s family. I
+    hope Mr. C. and Mr. Nicholls may meet some day. I believe mutual
+    acquaintance would in time bring mutual respect; but one of them,
+    at least, requires _knowing_ to be _appreciated_. And I must say
+    that I have not yet found him to lose with closer knowledge. I make
+    no grand discoveries, but I occasionally come upon a quiet little
+    nook of character which excites esteem. He is always reliable,
+    truthful, faithful, affectionate; a little unbending, perhaps, but
+    still persuadable and open to kind influence--a man never, indeed,
+    to be driven, but who may be led.
+
+[Illustration: HAWORTH CHURCH.]
+
+The marriage took place on June 29th, 1854. A neighbouring clergyman
+read the service; Charlotte's "dear Nell" was the solitary bridesmaid;
+her old schoolmistress, whose friendship had ever been dear to her,
+Miss Wooler, gave her away; and visitors to Haworth who are shown the
+marriage register will see that these two faithful and trusted friends
+were the only witnesses. Immediately after the marriage the bride and
+bridegroom started for Ireland, to visit some of the relatives of Mr.
+Nicholls. "I trust I feel thankful to God for having enabled me to
+make a right choice; and I pray to be enabled to repay as I ought the
+affectionate devotion of a truthful, honourable, unboastful man," are
+words which appear in the first letter written from Ireland. A month
+later the bride writes as follows to her friend:
+
+    Dublin, July 28th, 1854.
+
+    I really cannot rest any longer without writing you a line, which
+    I have literally not had time to do during the last fortnight. We
+    have been travelling about, with only just such cessation as
+    enabled me to answer a few of the many notes of congratulation
+    forwarded, and which I dared not suffer to accumulate till my
+    return, when I know I shall be busy enough. We have been to
+    Killarney, Glen Gariffe, Tarbert, Tralee, Cork, and are now once
+    more in Dublin again on our way home, where we hope to arrive next
+    week. I shall make no effort to describe the scenery through which
+    we have passed. Some parts have exceeded all I ever imagined. Of
+    course, much pleasure has sprung from all this, and more, perhaps,
+    from the kind and ceaseless protection which has ever surrounded
+    me, and made travelling a different matter to me from what it has
+    heretofore been. Dear Nell, it is written that there shall be no
+    unmixed happiness in this world. Papa has not been well, and I
+    have been longing, _longing intensely_ sometimes, to be at
+    home. Indeed, I could enjoy and rest no more, and so home we are
+    going.
+
+It was a new life to which she was returning. Wedded to one who had
+proved by years of faithfulness and patience how strong and real was
+his love for her, it seemed as though peace and sunshine, the
+brightness of affection and the pleasures of home, were at length
+about to settle upon her and around her. The bare sitting-room in the
+parsonage, which for six years of loneliness and anguish had been
+peopled only by the heart-sick woman and the memories of those who had
+left her, once more resounded with the voices of the living. The
+husband's strong and upright nature furnished something for the wife
+to lean against; the painful sense of isolation which had so long
+oppressed her vanished utterly, and in its place came that "sweet
+sense of depending" which is the most blessed fruit of a trustful
+love. A great calm seemed to be breathed over the spirit of her life
+after the fitful fever which had raged so long; and her friends saw
+new shoots of tenderness, new blossoms of gentleness and affection,
+peeping forth in nooks of her character which had hitherto been
+barren. Of her letters during these happy months of peace and
+expectation I cannot quote much; they are too closely intertwined with
+the life of those who survive to permit of this being done; but all of
+them breathe the same spirit. They show that the courage, the
+patience, the cheerfulness with which the rude buffetings of fate had
+been borne in that stormy middle-passage of her history, had brought
+their own reward; and that joy had come at last, not perhaps in the
+shape she had imagined in her early youth, but as a substantial
+reality, and no longer a mocking illusion.
+
+    August 9th, 1854.
+
+    ---- will probably end by accepting ----; and judging from what you
+    say, it seems to me that it would be rational to do so. If, indeed,
+    some one else whom she preferred _wished_ to have her, and had duly
+    and sincerely come forward, matters would be different. But this it
+    appears is not the case; and to cherish any _unguarded_ and
+    unsustained preference is neither right nor wise. Since I came home
+    I have not had one unemployed moment. My life is changed indeed; to
+    be wanted continually, to be constantly called for and occupied,
+    seems so strange; yet it is a marvellously good thing. As yet I
+    don't quite understand how some wives grow so selfish. As far as my
+    experience of matrimony goes, I think it tends to draw you out and
+    away from yourself.... Dear Nell, during the last six weeks the
+    colour of my thoughts is a good deal changed. I know more of the
+    realities of life than I once did. I think many false ideas are
+    propagated, perhaps unintentionally. I think those married women
+    who indiscriminately urge their acquaintance to marry, much to
+    blame. For my part I can only say with deeper sincerity and fuller
+    significance, what I always said in theory: Wait God's will.
+    Indeed, indeed, Nell, it is a solemn and strange and perilous thing
+    for a woman to become a wife. Man's lot is far, far different....
+    Have I told you how much better Mr. Nicholls is? He looks quite
+    strong and hale. To see this improvement in him has been a great
+    source of happiness to me; and, to speak truth, a source of wonder
+    too.
+
+
+    Haworth, September 7th, 1854.
+
+    I send a French paper to-day. You would almost think I had given
+    them up, it is so long since one was despatched. The fact is they
+    had accumulated to quite a pile during my absence. I wished to
+    look them over before sending them off, and as yet I have scarcely
+    found time. That same _time_ is an article of which I once had a
+    large stock always on hand; where it is all gone to now it would
+    be difficult to say, but my moments are very fully occupied. Take
+    warning, Ellen. The married woman can call but a very small
+    portion of each day her own. Not that I complain of this sort of
+    monopoly as yet, and I hope I never shall incline to regard it as
+    a misfortune, but it certainly exists. We were both disappointed
+    that you could not come on the day I mentioned. I have grudged
+    this splendid weather very much. The moors are in their glory; I
+    never saw them fuller of purple bloom; I wanted you to see them at
+    their best. They are fast turning now, and in another week, I
+    fear, will be faded and sere. As soon as ever you can leave home,
+    be sure to write and let me know.... Papa continues greatly
+    better. My husband flourishes; he begins indeed to express some
+    slight alarm at the growing improvement in his condition. I think
+    I am decent--better certainly than I was two months ago; but
+    people don't compliment me as they do Arthur--excuse the name; it
+    has grown natural to use it now.
+
+
+    Haworth, September 16th, 1854.
+
+    MY DEAR MISS ----,--You kindly tell me not to write while Ellen is
+    with me; I am expecting her this week; and as I think it would be
+    wrong long to defer answering a letter like yours, I will reduce
+    to practice the maxim: "There is no time like the present," and do
+    it at once. It grieves me that you should have had any anxiety
+    about my health; the cough left me before I quitted Ireland, and
+    since my return home I have scarcely had an ailment, except
+    occasional headaches. My dear father, too, continues much better.
+    Dr. B---- was here on Sunday, preaching a sermon for the Jews, and
+    he gratified me much by saying that he thought Papa not at all
+    altered since he saw him last--nearly a year ago. I am afraid this
+    opinion is rather flattering; but still it gave me pleasure, for I
+    had feared that he looked undeniably thinner and older. You ask
+    what visitors we have had. A good many amongst the clergy, &c., in
+    the neighbourhood, but none of note from a distance. Haworth is,
+    as you say, a very quiet place; it is also difficult of access,
+    and unless under the stimulus of necessity, or that of strong
+    curiosity, or finally, that of true and tried friendship, few take
+    courage to penetrate to so remote a nook. Besides, now that I am
+    married, I do not expect to be an object of much general interest.
+    Ladies who have won some prominence (call it either _notoriety_ or
+    celebrity) in their single life, often fall quite into the
+    background when they change their names. But if true domestic
+    happiness replace fame, the change is indeed for the better. Yes,
+    I am thankful to say that my husband is in improved health and
+    spirits. It makes me content and grateful to hear him, from time
+    to time, avow his happiness in the brief but plain phrase of
+    sincerity. My own life is more occupied than it used to be; I have
+    not so much time for thinking: I am obliged to be more practical,
+    for my dear Arthur is a very practical as well as a very punctual,
+    methodical man. Every morning he is in the national school by nine
+    o'clock; he gives the children religious instruction till
+    half-past ten. Almost every afternoon he pays visits amongst the
+    poor parishioners. Of course he often finds a little work for his
+    wife to do, and I hope she is not sorry to help him. I believe it
+    is not bad for me that his bent should be so wholly towards
+    matters of real life and active usefulness--so little inclined to
+    the literary and contemplative. As to his continued affection and
+    kind attentions, it does not become me to say much of them; but as
+    yet they neither change nor diminish. I wish, my dear Miss ----,
+    _you_ had some kind, faithful companion to enliven your solitude
+    at R----, some friend to whom to communicate your pleasure in the
+    scenery, the fine weather, the pleasant walks. You never complain,
+    never murmur, never seem otherwise than thankful; but I know you
+    must miss a privilege none could more keenly appreciate than
+    yourself.
+
+There are other letters like the foregoing, all speaking of the
+constant occupation of time, which once hung heavily, all giving
+evidence that peace and love had made their home in her heart, all
+free from that strain of sadness which was so common in other years.
+One only of these letters, that written on the morrow of her last
+Christmas Day, need be quoted, however.
+
+    Haworth, December 26th.
+
+    I return Mrs. ----'s letter: it is as you say, very genuine,
+    truthful, affectionate, _maternal_, without a taint of sham or
+    exaggeration. She will love her child without spoiling it, I
+    think. She does not make an uproar about her happiness either. The
+    longer I live the more I suspect exaggerations. I fancy it is
+    sometimes a sort of fashion for each to vie with the other in
+    protestations about their wondrous felicity--and sometimes they
+    _fib_! I am truly glad to hear you are all better at B----. In the
+    course of three or four weeks now I expect to get leave to come
+    to you. I certainly long to see you again. One circumstance
+    reconciles me to this delay--the weather. I do not know whether it
+    has been as bad with you as with us; but here for three weeks we
+    have had little else than a succession of hurricanes.... You
+    inquire after Mrs. Gaskell. She has not been here, and I think I
+    should not like her to come now till summer. She is very busy now
+    with her story of "North and South." I must make this note very
+    short. Arthur joins me in sincere good wishes for a happy
+    Christmas and many of them to you and yours. He is well, thank
+    God, and so am I; and he _is_ "my dear boy" certainly--dearer
+    now than he was six months ago. In three days we shall actually
+    have been married that length of time.
+
+There was not much time for literary labours during these happy months
+of married life. The wife, new to her duties, was engaged in mastering
+them with all the patience, self-suppression, and industry which had
+characterised her throughout her life. Her husband was now her first
+thought; and he took the time which had formerly been devoted to
+reading, study, thought, and writing. But occasionally the pressure
+she was forced to put upon herself was very severe. Mr. Nicholls had
+never been attracted towards her by her literary fame; with literary
+effort, indeed, he had no sympathy, and upon the whole he would rather
+that his wife should lay aside her pen entirely than that she should
+gain any fresh triumphs in the world of letters. So she submitted, and
+with cheerful courage repressed that "gift" which had been her solace
+in sorrows deep and many. Yet once "the spell" was too strong to be
+resisted, and she hastily wrote a few pages of a new story called
+"Emma," in which once more she proposed to deal with her favourite
+theme--the history of a friendless girl. One would fain have seen how
+she would have treated her subject, now that "the colour of her
+thoughts" had been changed, and that a happy marriage had introduced
+her to a new phase of that life which she had studied so closely and
+so constantly. But it was not to be. On January 19, when she had
+returned to Haworth, after a visit to Sir J. K. Shuttleworth's, she
+wrote to her friend as follows. This letter was the last written in
+ink to her schoolfellow:
+
+    Haworth, January 19th, 1855.
+
+    Since our return from Gawthorpe we have had Mr. B----, one of
+    Arthur's cousins, staying with us. It was a great pleasure. I wish
+    you could have seen him and made his acquaintance: a true
+    gentleman by nature and cultivation is not, after all, an everyday
+    thing.... I very much wish to come to B----, and I hoped to be
+    able to write with certainty and fix Wednesday, the 31st January,
+    as the day; but the fact is I am not sure whether I shall be well
+    enough to leave home. At present I should be a most tedious
+    visitor. My health has really been very good ever since my return
+    from Ireland, till about ten days ago. Indigestion and continual
+    faint sickness have been my portion ever since. I never before
+    felt as I have done lately. I am rather mortified to lose my good
+    looks and grow thin as I am doing, just when I thought of going to
+    B----. Poor J----! I still hope he will get better, but A----
+    writes grievous though not always clear or consistent accounts.
+    Dear Ellen, I want to see you, and I hope I shall see you well.
+
+Those around her were not alarmed at first. They hoped that before
+long all would be well with her again; they could not believe that the
+joys of which she had just begun to taste were about to be snatched
+away. But her weakness grew apace; the sickness knew no abatement; and
+a deadly fear began to creep into the hearts of husband and father.
+She was soon so weak that she was compelled to remain in bed, and from
+that "dreary bed" she wrote two or three faint pencil notes which
+still exist--the last pathetic chapters in that life-long
+correspondence from which we have gathered so many extracts. In one of
+them, which Mrs. Gaskell has published, she says: "I want to give you
+an assurance which I know will comfort you--and that is that I find in
+my husband the tenderest nurse, the kindest support, the best earthly
+comfort that ever woman had. His patience never fails, and it is tried
+by sad days and broken nights." In another, the last, she says: "I
+cannot talk--even to my dear, patient, constant Arthur I can say but
+few words at once." One dreary March morning, when frost still bound
+the earth and no spring sun had come to gladden the hearts of those
+who watched for summer, her friend received another letter, written,
+not in the neat, minute hand of Charlotte Brontė, but in her father's
+tremulous characters:
+
+    Haworth, near Keighley,
+    March 30th, 1855.
+
+    MY DEAR MADAM,--We are all in great trouble, and Mr. Nicholls so
+    much so that he is not sufficiently strong and composed as to be
+    able to write. I therefore devote a few lines to tell you that my
+    dear daughter is very ill, and apparently on the verge of the
+    grave. If she could speak she would no doubt dictate to us whilst
+    answering your kind letter. But we are left to ourselves to give
+    what answer we can. The doctors have no hope of her case, and
+    fondly as we a long time cherished hope, that hope is now gone; and
+    we have only to look forward to the solemn event with prayer to God
+    that He will give us grace and strength sufficient unto our day.
+
+    Ever truly and respectfully yours,
+
+    P. Brontė.
+
+The following day, March 31st, 1855, the blinds were drawn once again
+at Haworth Parsonage; the last and greatest of the children of the
+house had passed away; and the brilliant name of Charlotte Brontė had
+become a name and nothing more! "We are left to ourselves," said Mr.
+Brontė in the letter I have just quoted--and so it was. Not the glory
+only, but the light, had fled from the parsonage where the childless
+father and the widowed husband sat together beside their dead. Of all
+the drear and desolate spots upon that wild Yorkshire moorland there
+was none now so dreary and so desolate as the house which had once
+been the home of Charlotte Brontė.
+
+
+
+
+XII.
+
+POSTHUMOUS HONOURS.
+
+
+There is a deeper truth in the maxim which bids us judge no man happy
+till his death than most of us are apt to perceive. For sometimes the
+happiness of a life is crowned by death itself; and that which to the
+superficial gaze seems but the dreary and tragic close of the play, is
+really the welcome release from the burden which had become too heavy
+to be borne longer. But where life and breath fail suddenly in the
+moment of fullest hope, apparently in the moment also of greatest
+bliss, the strain upon our faith is almost too severe, and blinded and
+bewildered, we see nothing and feel nothing but the awful stroke of
+fate which has laid the loved one low, and the great gap which remains
+at the table and the hearth. It was with such a feeling as this that
+the outer world heard of that Easter-day tragedy which had been
+enacted to the bitter end among the Yorkshire hills. Those who knew
+the little household at Haworth had been watching, as has already been
+told, for that fulness of joy which seemed close at hand. They had
+seen the lonely authoress developing into the trustful happy wife, and
+they looked forward to no distant day when children should be gathered
+at her knee, and a new generation, born amid happier circumstances,
+freed from the strain and stress which had been laid upon her, should
+perpetuate a great name, and perhaps something of a great genius.
+
+The announcement that all these hopes had been brought to nothing fell
+upon the world as a blow not easily to be borne. When it was made
+known that the author of "Jane Eyre" was dead, there rose up even from
+those who had been her bitter critics during her lifetime, a cry of
+pain and regret which would have astonished nobody more than herself
+had she been able to hear it. The genuine unaffected modesty which had
+enabled her to preserve the simplicity of her character amid all the
+temptations which thronged round her at the height of her fame, had
+prevented her from ever feeling herself to be a person of consequence
+in the world. What she did in the way of writing she did because she
+could not escape the commanding authority of her own genius; but the
+idea that by doing this she had made herself conspicuously great never
+once occurred to her. There is not a letter extant from her which
+shows that she thought anything of the fame or the fortune she had
+acquired. On the contrary everything that remains of her inner life
+proves that to the very last she esteemed herself as humbly as ever
+she did during the days of her "governessing" in Yorkshire or at
+Brussels. She knew of course that she attracted attention wherever she
+went; but her own unfeigned belief seems to have been that this
+attention was due solely to curiosity, and to curiosity of a not very
+pleasant or flattering kind. Brought up as she had been among those
+who regarded any literary pursuit, and above all the writing of a
+book, as something beyond the proper limits of the rights and duties
+of her sex, she had never quite escaped from the notion that in
+putting pen to paper she was in some vague way offending against the
+proprieties of society. It has been shown by an extract from one of
+her letters, how keenly and indignantly she repudiated the notion that
+she had ever written anything of which she needed to be ashamed. Her
+pure heart vindicated her absolutely upon that point. But, from first
+to last, she seemed during her literary career to feel that in writing
+novels she had sinned against the conventional canons, and that she
+was in consequence looked upon not as a great woman who had taken a
+lofty place in the republic of letters, but as a social curiosity who
+had done something which made her for the time-being notorious. How
+ready she was to forget her success as a writer is shown by a thousand
+passages in her correspondence, many of these passages being too
+tender or sacred for quotation. It is impossible to read her letters
+without seeing that, with the exception of a solitary friend, the
+companions of her daily life in Yorkshire did not feel at all drawn
+towards her by her literary fame. With her accustomed humility she
+accepted herself at their valuation, and whilst the nations afar off
+were praising her, she herself was perfectly ready to take a humble
+place in the circle of her friends at home. The tastes of her husband
+had unquestionably something to do in maintaining this simple and
+sincere modesty up to the end of her life. He was resolute in putting
+aside all thought of her literary achievements; his whole anxiety--an
+anxiety arising almost entirely from his desire for her happiness--was
+that she should cease entirely to be the author, and should become the
+busy, useful, contented wife of the village clergyman. It would be
+wrong to hide the fact that she was compelled to place a severe strain
+upon herself in order to comply with her husband's wishes; and once,
+as we have seen, her strength of self-repression gave way, and she
+indulged in the forbidden luxury of work with the pen. But it is not
+surprising that, surrounded by those who, loving her very dearly, yet
+withheld from her all recognition of her position as one of the great
+writers of the day, she should have accepted their estimate of her
+place with characteristic humility, and believed herself to be of
+little or no account outside the walls of her own home.
+
+In this belief she lived and died. Among the letters before me, but
+from which I must forbear to quote, are not a few written during that
+last sad illness when the end began to loom before her vision. In
+these, whilst there are many anxious inquiries after the friends of
+early days, and many remarks upon their varying fortunes, many
+allusions, too, to her husband and father, and to parish work at
+Haworth, there is not a line which speaks of her own feelings as an
+author, or of the work which she had accomplished during the brief
+closing years of her life. The novelist has passed entirely out of
+sight, and only the wife, the friend, the expectant mother, remains. I
+know nothing which more touchingly shows one how small a thing is
+great fame, how little even the most marked and marvellous successes
+can affect the realities of life, than the last chapters of Charlotte
+Brontė's correspondence do. Her death, all unknown to the great world
+outside; her quiet funeral, treated only as the funeral of the
+clergyman's daughter, the curate's wife; the modest announcement of
+her end sent to the local papers--all these are in keeping with her
+own low estimate of herself.
+
+But death, the great touchstone of humanity, revealed her true
+position to the world, and to her surviving relatives and friends.
+Copies of the newspapers of that sad March week in 1855 lie before me,
+carefully treasured up by loving hands. They speak with an eloquence
+which is not always that of mere words, of a nation's mourning for a
+great soul gone prematurely to its account. Of all these tributes of
+loving admiration, there are two which must be singled out for special
+mention. One is Miss Martineau's generous though not wholly
+satisfactory notice of "Currer Bell" in _The Daily News_, and the
+other the far more sympathetic article by "Shirley," which appeared in
+_Fraser's Magazine_ a few months later.
+
+Her father, her husband, her life-long friend, were wonderfully
+touched and moved when they found how closely the simple, modest
+woman, who had been so long a sweet and familiar presence to them, had
+wound herself round the great heart of the reading public. But they
+were slow to grasp all the truth. When it was proposed that some
+record of this noble life should be preserved, and when Mrs. Gaskell
+was named as the fittest among all Charlotte's literary acquaintances
+to undertake the office, there was strong and keen opposition on the
+part of those who had been nearest and dearest to her. With a natural
+feeling, to which no word of blame can be attached, but which again
+throws light upon the character of her surroundings in life, they
+objected to any revelation to the world of the real character and
+career of the lost member of their household. Happily, their scruples
+were overcome, and the world was permitted to read the story of the
+Brontės as told by one who was herself a woman of genius and of the
+highest moral worth. The reader of this monograph will not, it is to
+be hoped, imagine that the writer has presumed to set himself up as a
+rival to Mrs. Gaskell. He can no more pretend to equal her in the
+treatment of his subject than in the freshness of the interest
+attaching to it. And if he has found himself obliged to differ from
+her on some points not wholly unimportant, it must be borne in mind
+that the writer of to-day is free from not a few of the difficulties
+and restraints which weighed upon the writer of twenty years ago. Mrs.
+Gaskell had, indeed, to labour under serious disadvantages in her
+task. Not only was she unable to obtain full and ready access to all
+the materials which she needed to employ, but she was also compelled
+to introduce much irrelevant and even hurtful matter into a delightful
+and beautiful story. When, after gathering up the bare outline of the
+life she proposed to write, she complained to Mr. Brontė that there
+were not incidents enough in the history of his daughter to make an
+interesting narrative of the ordinary length, his reply was a
+characteristic one: "If there are not facts enough in Charlotte's life
+to make a book, madam, you must invent some." There is no need to say
+that Mrs. Gaskell declined to follow this advice; but none the less
+was she hampered all through her work by the necessity of introducing
+topics which had but little to do with her main theme; and we see the
+result in the fact that the plain unadorned tale of Charlotte Brontė
+and her sisters has been interwoven with dismal episodes with which
+properly it had no concern.
+
+The publication of Mrs. Gaskell's biography came, however, as a
+revelation upon the world. Readers everywhere had learned to admire
+the writings of "Currer Bell," and to mourn over the premature
+extinction of her genius, but few of them had imagined that the life
+and personal character of the author of "Jane Eyre" had been what it
+was.
+
+The following letter from Charles Kingsley to Mrs. Gaskell
+sufficiently indicates the revulsion of feeling wrought in many minds
+by the publication of the "Memoir:"
+
+    St. Leonards, May 14, 1857.
+
+    Let me renew our long-interrupted acquaintance by complimenting
+    you on poor Miss Brontė's "Life." You have had a delicate and a
+    great work to do, and you have done it admirably. Be sure that the
+    book will do good. It will shame literary people into some
+    stronger belief that a simple, virtuous, practical home life, is
+    consistent with high imaginative genius; and it will shame, too,
+    the prudery of a not over cleanly though carefully white-washed
+    age, into believing that purity is now (as in all ages till now)
+    quite compatible with the knowledge of evil. I confess that the
+    book has made me ashamed of myself. "Jane Eyre" I hardly looked
+    into, very seldom reading a work of fiction--yours, indeed, and
+    Thackeray's, are the only ones I care to open. "Shirley" disgusted
+    me at the opening, and I gave up the writer and her books with a
+    notion that she was a person who liked coarseness. How I misjudged
+    her! and how thankful I am that I never put a word of my
+    misconceptions into print, or recorded my misjudgments of one who
+    is a whole heaven above me.
+
+    Well have you done your work, and given us the picture of a
+    valiant woman made perfect by sufferings. I shall now read
+    carefully and lovingly every word she has written, especially
+    those poems, which ought not to have fallen dead as they did, and
+    which seem to be (from a review in the current _Fraser_) of
+    remarkable, strength and purity.[1]
+
+          [1] "Charles Kingsley: his Letters and Memories of his
+          Life," vol. ii. p. 24.
+
+The effect of the portrait was heightened by the admirable skill with
+which the background was drawn; and the story of the life gained a
+popularity which hardly any other recent English biography has
+attained. Yet, from the first, people were found here and there who,
+whilst acknowledging the skill, the sympathy, and the entire sincerity
+displayed by Mrs. Gaskell, yet whispered that the Charlotte Brontė of
+the story was not in all particulars the Charlotte Brontė they had
+known.
+
+[Illustration: INTERIOR OF HAWORTH CHURCH.]
+
+One great change resulted immediately from the publication of Mrs.
+Gaskell's work. Haworth and its parsonage became the shrine to which
+hundreds of literary pilgrims from all parts of the globe began to
+find their way. To see the house in which the three sisters had spent
+their lives and done their work, to stand at the altar at which
+Charlotte was married, and beneath which her ashes now rest, and to
+hear her aged father preach one of his pithy, sensible, but dogmatic
+sermons, was what all literary lion-hunters aspired to do. In
+Yorkshire, indeed, the stolid people of the West Riding were not
+greatly moved by this enthusiasm. Just as Charlotte herself had seemed
+an ordinary and rather obscure person to her Yorkshire friends, so
+Haworth was still regarded as being a very dull and dreary village by
+those who lived near it. But the empire of genius knows no
+geographical boundaries, and if at her own doors Charlotte Brontė's
+sway was unrecognised, from far-distant quarters of the world there
+came the free and full acknowledgment of her power. No other land,
+however, furnished so many eager and enthusiastic visitors to the
+Brontė shrine as the United States, and the number of Americans who
+found their way to Haworth during the ten years immediately following
+the death of the author of "Jane Eyre" would, if properly recorded,
+astonish the world. The bleak and lonely house by the side of the
+moors, with its dismal little garden stretching down to the
+churchyard, where the village dead of many a generation rest, and its
+dreary out-look upon the old tower rising from its bank of nettles,
+the squalid houses of the hamlet, and the bare moorlands beyond,
+received almost as many visitors from the other side of the Atlantic
+during those years as Abbotsford or Stratford-upon-Avon. Mr. Brontė
+and Mr. Nicholls, though they were anxious to avoid the pertinacious
+intrusion of these curious but enthusiastic guests, could not entirely
+escape from meeting them. It followed that many an American lady and
+gentleman wandered through the rooms where the three sisters had dwelt
+together in love and unity, and where Charlotte had laboured alone
+after the light of her life had fled from her, and many an American
+magazine and newspaper contained the record of the impressions which
+these visits left upon the minds of those who made them.
+
+In only one case does it seem necessary to recall those impressions.
+The late Mr. Raymond, for many years editor of _The New York Times_,
+visited Haworth, and wrote an account of his visit, some passages of
+which may well be reproduced here. He tells us how on his railway
+journey to Keighley, at that time the nearest railway station to
+Haworth, he "astonished an intelligent, sociable, and very agreeable
+English lady, his sole companion in the railway carriage, by telling
+her the errand which had brought him to Yorkshire. She lived in the
+neighbourhood, had read the 'Jane Eyre' novels, and 'supposed the
+girls were clever;' but 'she would not go ten steps to see where they
+lived, nor could she understand how a stranger from America should
+feel any interest in their affairs.'" Arrived at Haworth, and having
+satisfied himself as to the appearance of the parsonage and the
+character of the surrounding neighbourhood, Mr. Raymond went to the
+Black Bull Inn to dine and sleep. "As I took my candle to go to my
+chamber, I stepped for a moment into the kitchen, where the landlord
+and landlady were having a comfortable chat over pipes and ale, with a
+companionable rustic of the place, who proved to be a nephew of the
+old servant Tabby, who lived so long, and at last died in the service
+of the Brontė family. I joined the circle, and sat there till long
+after midnight. Branwell was clearly the hero of the village worship.
+A little red-headed fellow, the landlord said, quick, bright,
+abounding in stories, in jokes, and in pleasant talk of every kind; he
+was a general favourite in town, and the special wonder of the Black
+Bull circles. Small as he was, it was impossible to frighten him. They
+had seen him volunteer during a mill-riot to go in and thrash a dozen
+fellows, any one of whom could have put him in his pocket and carried
+him off at a minute's notice. Indeed a characteristic of the whole
+family seems to have been an entire insensibility to danger and to
+fear. Emily and Charlotte, these people told me, were one day walking
+through the street, when their great dog, Keeper, engaged in a fight
+with another dog of equal size. Whilst everybody else stood aloof and
+shouted, these girls went in, caught Keeper by the neck, and by dint
+of tugging, and beating him over the head, succeeded in dragging him
+away." I extract this passage because of the confirmation which it
+gives, on the authority of one who made his inquiries very soon after
+the death of Charlotte Brontė, of the account of some of the family
+characteristics which appear in these pages; nor will the story of Mr.
+Raymond's interview with Mr. Brontė, told as it is with American
+directness, be without its interest and its value.
+
+    The next morning I prepared to call at the parsonage. I was told
+    that Mr. Brontė and Mr. Nicholls declined to receive strangers,
+    having a great aversion to visits of curiosity, and being
+    exceedingly retiring and reserved in their habits. I sent in my
+    card, however, and was shown into the little library at the right
+    of the entrance, where I was asked to await Mr. Nicholls's
+    appearance. The room was small, very plainly furnished, with small
+    bookcases round the walls, the one between the windows containing
+    copies of the Brontė novels. Mr. Nicholls soon came in and made me
+    welcome. To my apologies for my intrusion he assured me that while
+    they were under the necessity of declining many visits, both he
+    and his father were always happy to see their friends, and that
+    the words "New York" upon my card were quite sufficient to insure
+    me a welcome. Mr. Brontė, he said, was not up when I called, but
+    had desired him to detain me until he could dress and come down,
+    as he did soon after. I had an exceedingly pleasant conversation
+    of half an hour with them both.... Mr. Brontė's personal
+    appearance is striking and peculiar. He is tall, thin, and rather
+    muscular, has a quick energetic manner, a reflective and by no
+    means unpleasant countenance, and a resolute promptness of
+    movement which indicated marked decision and firmness of
+    character. The extraordinary stories told by Mrs. Gaskell of his
+    inflammable temper, of his burning silk dresses belonging to his
+    wife which he did not approve of her wearing, of his sawing chairs
+    and tables, and firing off pistols in the back-yard by way of
+    relieving his superfluous anger, find no warrant certainly in his
+    present appearance, and are generally considered exaggerations. I
+    remarked to him that I had been agreeably disappointed in the face
+    of the country and the general aspect of the town, that they were
+    less sombre and repulsive than Mrs. Gaskell's descriptions led me
+    to expect. Mr. Nicholls and Mr. Brontė smiled at each other, and
+    the latter remarked: "Well, I think Mrs. Gaskell tried to make us
+    all appear as bad as she could." Mr. Brontė wears a very wide
+    white neckcloth, and usually sinks his chin so that his mouth is
+    barely visible over it. This gives him rather a singular
+    expression, which is rendered still more so by spectacles with
+    large round glasses enclosed in broad metallic rims. Though over
+    eighty years old and somewhat infirm, he preaches once every
+    Sunday in his church.... As I rose to take my leave Mr. Nicholls
+    asked me to step into the parlour and look at Charlotte's
+    portrait. It is the one from which the engraving in the "Life" is
+    made; but the latter does no justice to the picture, which Mr.
+    Nicholls said was a perfect likeness of the original. I remarked
+    that the engraving gives to the face, and especially to the eyes,
+    a weird, sinister, and unpleasant expression which did not appear
+    in the portrait. He said he had observed it, and that nothing
+    could be more unjust, for Charlotte's eyes were as soft and
+    affectionate in their expression as could possibly be conceived.
+
+Slight as these scraps from the pen of an American "interviewer" may
+seem, they have their value as contemporary records of scenes and
+incidents the memory of which is fast fading away. Yet even to-day old
+men and women are to be found in Haworth who can regale the curious
+stranger with many a reminiscence, more or less original, of the
+family which has given so great a glory to the place.
+
+Mr. Brontė lived six years after the death of Charlotte. In spite of
+his great age he preached regularly in the church till within a few
+months of his death; and when at last he took to his bed, he retained
+his active interest in the affairs of the world. The newspapers which
+Charlotte mentions in one of her juvenile lucubrations as being
+regularly "taken in" at the patronage--_The Leeds Mercury_ and
+_The Intelligencer_--were still brought to him, and read aloud.
+Every scrap of political information which he could gather up he
+cherished as a precious morsel; and any visitor who could tell him how
+the currents of public life were moving in the great West Riding towns
+around him, was certain to be welcome. But the chief enjoyment of his
+later years was connected with the public respect shown for his
+daughter's memory. The tributes to her virtues and her genius which
+were poured from the press after the publication of Mrs. Gaskell's
+work were valued by him to the latest moment of his life; and in the
+end he at last understood something of the character and the inner
+life of the child who had dwelt so long a stranger under her father's
+roof.
+
+One point I must notice ere I quit the subject of Charlotte Brontė's
+father. Some of those who knew him in his later years, including one
+who is above all others entitled to an opinion on the subject, have
+objected to the portrait of him presented in these pages, as being
+over-coloured. So far as his early life and manhood are concerned, I
+cannot admit the force of the objection; for what has been told of Mr.
+Brontė in these pages has been gathered from the best of all
+sources--from the letters of his children and the recollections of
+those who saw much of him during that period. But it is perfectly true
+that in old age, after the marriage, and still more after the death of
+Charlotte, he was wonderfully softened in character. The fierce
+outburst of opposition to the engagement between his daughter and Mr.
+Nicholls was almost the last trace of that vehement passion which
+consumed him during his earlier years; and those visitors who, like
+Mr. Raymond, first became acquainted with him in the closing days of
+his life, found it difficult to believe that the stories told of his
+propensities in youth and middle-age could possibly be true. Time did
+its work at last, even on his adamantine character, softening the
+asperities, and wearing away the corners of a disposition, the angular
+eccentricities of which had long been so noticeable. Nor ought mention
+of the closing scenes of Mr. Brontė's life to be made without some
+reference to the part which Mr. Nicholls played at Haworth during
+those last sad years. The faithful husband remained under the
+parsonage roof in the character of a faithful son. The two men, bound
+together by so tender and sacred a tie, were not lightly to be
+separated, now that the living and visible link had been taken away.
+To some it may seem strange that Charlotte Brontė should have given
+her heart to one who was little disposed to sympathise with the
+overmastering passion inspired by her genius. But if in her husband
+she had found one who was not likely to have helped her in her
+literary work, she had also found in him a friend whose steadfastness
+even to the death was nobly proved. During all these sad and lonely
+years, whilst the father of the Brontės waited for the summons which
+should call him once more into their company, Charlotte's husband
+lived with him, the patient companion of his hours of pain and
+weariness, the faithful guardian of that living legacy which had been
+bequeathed to him by the woman whom he loved. And by this
+self-sacrificing life he did greater honour to the memory of Charlotte
+Brontė than by the most tender and vivid appreciation of her
+intellectual greatness.
+
+There is a strange sad harmony between the closing chapter of the
+Brontė story and the earlier ones. The brightness had fled for ever
+from the parson's house; the gaiety which it had once witnessed was
+gone; even its fame as the home of one who was a living force in
+English literature had departed; but there still remained one to bear
+witness in his own person to the nobleness of that entire devotion to
+duty of the necessity of which Charlotte was so fully convinced. The
+friendship by which Mr. Nicholls soothed the last days of Mr. Brontė
+is a touching episode in the Haworth story, and it is one which cannot
+be allowed to pass unnoticed.
+
+When Mr. Brontė died there was a general wish, not only among those
+who were impressed by the claims of all connected with his family upon
+Haworth, but by the parishioners themselves, that his son-in-law
+should succeed him, and that the relationship of the Brontės to the
+place where their lives had been spent and their work accomplished,
+should thus not be absolutely severed. But the bestowal of church
+patronage is not always influenced by considerations of this kind. The
+incumbency of Haworth was given to a stranger; Mr. Nicholls returned
+to Ireland; and new faces and a new life filled the parsonage-house in
+which "Jane Eyre" and "Wuthering Heights" were written.
+
+[Illustration: THE ORGAN LOFT, OVER THE BRONTĖ TABLET AND PEW.]
+
+
+
+
+XIII.
+
+THE BRONTĖ NOVELS.
+
+
+The Brontė novels continued to sell largely for some time after
+Charlotte's death. The publication of Mrs. Gaskell's "Life" added not
+a little to the sale, and both at home and abroad the fame of the
+three sisters was greatly increased. But in recent years the
+disposition has been almost to ignore these books; and though fresh
+editions have recently been issued they have had no circulation worthy
+of being compared with that which they maintained between 1850 and
+1860. Yet though there has not been the same interest in these
+remarkable performances as that which formerly prevailed, they
+continue from time to time to attract the attention of literary
+critics both in this and other countries, the works of "Currer Bell"
+naturally holding the foremost place in the critiques upon the
+writings of the sisters.
+
+"Wuthering Heights," the solitary prose work of Emily Brontė, is now
+practically unread. Even those who admire the genius of the family,
+those who have the highest opinion of the qualities displayed in "Jane
+Eyre" or "Villette," turn away with something like a shudder from
+"that dreadful book," as one who knew the Brontės intimately always
+calls it. But I venture to invite the attention of my readers to this
+story, as being in its way as marvellous a _tour de force_ as "Jane
+Eyre" itself. It is true that as a novel it is repulsive and almost
+ghastly. As one reads chapter after chapter of the horrible chronicles
+of Heathcliff's crimes, the only literary work that can be recalled
+for comparison with it is the gory tragedy of "Titus Andronicus." From
+the first page to the last there is hardly a redeeming passage in the
+book. The atmosphere is lurid and storm-laden throughout, only lighted
+up occasionally by the blaze of passion and madness. The hero himself
+is the most unmitigated villain in fiction; and there is hardly a
+personage in the story who is not in some shape or another the victim
+of mental or moral deformities. Nobody can pretend that such a story
+as this ever ought to have been written; nobody can read it without
+feeling that its author must herself have had a morbid if not a
+diseased mind. Much, however, may be said in defence of Emily Brontė's
+conduct in writing "Wuthering Heights." She was in her twenty-eighth
+year when it was written, and the reader has seen something of the
+circumstances of her life, and the motives which led her to take up
+her pen. The life had been, so far as the outer world could judge,
+singularly barren and unproductive. Its one eventful episode was the
+short visit to Brussels. But Brussels had made no such impression upon
+Emily as it made upon Charlotte. She went back to Haworth quite
+unchanged; her love for the moors stronger than ever; her self-reserve
+only strengthened by the assaults to which it had been exposed during
+her residence among strangers; her whole nature still crying out for
+the solitary life of home, and the sustenance which she drew from the
+congenial society of the animals she loved and the servants she
+understood. When, partly in the forlorn hope of making money by the
+use of her pen, but still more to give some relief to her pent-up
+feelings, she began to write "Wuthering Heights," she knew nothing of
+the world. "I am bound to avow," says Charlotte, "that she had
+scarcely more practical knowledge of the peasants amongst whom she
+lived than a nun has of the country people who sometimes pass her
+convent gates." Love, except the love for nature and for her own
+nearest relatives, was a passion absolutely unknown to her--as any one
+who cares to study the pictures of it in "Wuthering Heights" may
+easily perceive. Of harsh and brutal, or deliberate crime, she had no
+personal knowledge. She had before her, it is true, a sad instance of
+the results of vicious self-indulgence, and from that she drew
+materials for some portions of her story. But so far as the great
+movements of human nature were concerned--of those movements which are
+not to be mastered by book learning, but which must come as the tardy
+fruits of personal experience--she was in absolute ignorance. Little
+as Charlotte herself knew at this time of the world, and of men and
+women, she was an accomplished mistress of the secrets of life, in
+comparison with Emily.
+
+When a woman has lived such a life as that of "Ellis Bell," her first
+literary effort must be regarded as the attempt of an innocent and
+ignorant child. It may be full of faults; all the conditions which
+should govern a work of art may have been neglected; the book itself,
+so far as story, tone, and execution are concerned, may be an entire
+mistake; but it will nevertheless give us far more insight into the
+real character of the author than any more elaborate and successful
+work, constructed after experience has taught her what to do and what
+to avoid in order to secure the ear of the public.
+
+"Wuthering Heights," then, is the work of one who, in everything but
+years, was a mere child, and its great and glaring faults are to be
+forgiven as one forgives the mistakes of childhood. But how vast was
+the intellectual greatness displayed in this juvenile work! The author
+seizes the reader at the first moment at which they meet, holds him
+thrilled, entranced, terrified perhaps, in a grasp which never
+relaxes, and leaves him at last, after a perusal of the story, shaken
+and exhausted as by some great effort of the mind. Surely nowhere in
+modern English fiction can more striking proof be found of the
+possession of "the creative gift" in an extraordinary degree than is
+to be obtained in "Wuthering Heights." From what unfathomed recesses
+of her intellect did this shy, nervous, untrained girl produce such
+characters as those which hold the foremost place in her story? Mrs.
+Dean, the faithful domestic, we can understand; for her model was at
+Emily's elbow in the kitchen at Haworth. Joseph, the quaint High
+Calvinist, whose fidelity to his creed is unredeemed by a single touch
+of fellow-feeling with the human creatures around him, was drawn from
+life; and vigorous and powerful though his portrait is, one can
+understand it also. But Heathcliff, and the two Catherines, and
+Hareton Earnshaw--none of these ever came within the ken of Emily
+Brontė. No persons approaching them in originality or force of
+character were to be found in her circle of friends. Here and there
+some psychologist, learned in the secrets of morbid human nature, may
+have conceived the existence of such persons--evolved them from an
+inner consciousness which had been enlightened by years of studious
+labour. But no such slow and painful process guided the pen of Emily
+Brontė in painting these weird and wonderful portraits. They come
+forth with all the vigour and freshness, the living reality and
+impressiveness, which can belong only to the spontaneous creations of
+genius. They are no copies, indeed, but living originals, owing their
+lives to her own travail and suffering.
+
+Regarded in this light they must, I think, be counted among the
+greatest curiosities of literature. Their very repulsiveness adds to
+their force. I have said that Heathcliff is the greatest villain in
+fiction. The reader of the story is disposed to echo the agonised cry
+of his wife when she asks: "Is Mr. Heathcliff a man? If so, is he mad?
+And if not, is he a devil?" It is not pleasant to see such a character
+obtruded upon us in a novel; but I repeat, it is far more difficult to
+paint a consummate villain of the Heathcliff type than to draw any of
+the more ordinary types of humanity. The concentration of power
+required in performing the task is enormous. At every moment the
+writer is tempted to turn aside and relieve the darkness by some touch
+of light; and the risk which the artist must encounter if he gives way
+to this temptation is that of destroying the whole effect of the
+picture. Light and shade there must be, or the portrait becomes a mere
+daub of blackness; and the man whom the author has desired to create
+stands forth as a monster, unrecognisable as a creature belonging to
+the same race as ourselves. But unless these lighter shades are
+introduced with a tact and a self-command which belong rather to
+genius than to art, there must, as I have said, be complete failure.
+Now, Emily Brontė has not failed in her portrait of Heathcliff. He
+stands, indeed, absolutely alone in that great human portrait-gallery
+which forms one of the chambers in the noble edifice of English
+literature. We can compare him to nobody else among the creatures of
+fiction. We cannot even trace his literary pedigree. He is a distinct
+being, not less original than he is hateful. But this circumstance
+does not alter the fact that we accept him at once as a real being,
+not a merely grotesque monster. He stands as much alone as
+Frankenstein's creature did; but we recognise within him that subtle
+combination of elements which gives him kinship with the human race.
+Here, then, Emily Brontė has succeeded; and girl as she was when she
+wrote, she has succeeded where some of the most practised writers have
+failed entirely. Compare "Wuthering Heights," for example, with the
+fantastic horrors of Lord Lytton's "Strange Story," and you feel at
+once how much more powerful and masterly is the touch of the woman.
+Lord Lytton's villain, though he has been drawn with so much care and
+skill, is often absurd and at last entirely wearisome. Emily Brontė's
+is consistent, terrible, fascinating, from beginning to end. Then,
+again, the writer never tries to frighten her reader with a bogey. She
+never hints at the possibility of supernatural agencies being at work
+behind the scene. Even when she is showing us that Heathcliff is for
+ever haunted by the dead Catherine, she makes it clear by the words
+she puts into his own mouth that his belief on the subject is nothing
+more than the delusion of a disordered brain, worried by a guilty
+conscience. "I knew no living thing in flesh and blood was by," says
+Heathcliff, describing how he dug down into Catherine's grave on the
+night after she had been buried; "but as certainly as you perceive the
+approach to some substantial body in the dark, so certainly I felt
+that Cathy was there: not under me, but on the earth. A sudden sense
+of relief flowed from my heart through every limb. I relinquished my
+labour of agony, and turned consoled at once--unspeakably consoled.
+Her presence was with me; it remained while I refilled the grave and
+led me home. You may laugh if you will; but I was sure I should see
+her there. I was sure she was with me, and I could not help talking to
+her. Having reached the Heights I rushed eagerly to the door. It was
+fastened; and I remember that accursed Earnshaw and my wife opposed my
+entrance. I remember stopping to kick the breath out of him, and then
+hurrying upstairs to my room and hers. I looked round impatiently--I
+felt her by me--I could _almost_ see her, and yet I _could not_! I
+ought to have sweat blood then, from the anguish of my yearning--from
+the fervour of my supplications to have but one glimpse! I had not
+one. She showed herself, as she often was in life, a devil to me. And,
+since then, sometimes more and sometimes less, I've been the sport of
+that intolerable torture.... When I sat in the house with Hareton, it
+seemed that on going out I should meet her; when I walked on the moors
+I should meet her coming in. When I went from home I hastened to
+return. She _must_ be somewhere at the Heights, I was certain! And
+when I slept in her chamber--I was beaten out of that. I couldn't lie
+there; for the moment I closed my eyes, she was either outside the
+window, or sliding back the panels, or entering the room, or even
+resting her darling head on the same pillow as she did when a child;
+and I must open my lids to see. And so I opened and closed them a
+hundred times a night--to be always disappointed!" Here is a picture
+of a man who is really haunted. No supernatural agency is invoked; no
+strain is put upon the reader's credulity. We are asked to believe in
+the suspension of no law of nature. In one word, we can all understand
+how a wicked man, whose brain has, as it were, been made drunk with
+the fumes of his own wickedness, can be persecuted throughout his
+whole life by terrors of this kind; and just because we are able to
+conceive and understand it, this haunting of Heathcliff by the ghost
+of his dead mistress is infinitely more terrible than if it had been
+accompanied either by the paraphernalia of rococo horrors which Mrs.
+Radcliffe habitually invoked, or by those refined and subtle
+supernatural phenomena which Lord Lytton employs in his famous ghost
+story.
+
+This strict honesty which refused to allow the writer of the weirdest
+story in the English language to avail herself of the easiest of all
+the modes of stimulating a reader's terrors, is shown all through the
+novel. The workmanship is good from beginning to end, though the art
+is crude and clumsy. She never allows a date to escape her memory, nor
+are there any of those broken threads which usually abound in the
+works of inexperienced writers. All is neatly, clearly, carefully
+finished off. Every date fits into its place, and so does every
+incident. The reader is never allowed to wander into a blind alley.
+Though at the outset he finds himself in a bewildering maze, far too
+complicated in construction to comply with the canons of literary art,
+he has only to go straight on, and in the end he will find everything
+made plain. Emily permits no fact however minute to drop from her
+grasp. Irrelevant though it may seem at the moment when the reader
+meets with it, a place has been prepared for it in the edifice which
+the patient hands are rearing, and in the end it will be fitted into
+that place. Thus there is no scamped work in the story; nor any
+sacrifice of details in order to obtain those broad effects in which
+the tale abounds.
+
+Let the reader turn to "Wuthering Heights," and he will find many a
+simple innocent revelation of the character of the author peeping out
+from its pages in unexpected places. We know how the story was
+written, and how day by day it was submitted to the revision of
+Charlotte and Anne. We may be sure under these circumstances that
+Emily did not allow too much of her true inner nature to appear in
+what she wrote. Even from her sisters she habitually concealed some of
+the strongest and deepest emotions of her heart. But such passages as
+the following, when read in the light of her history, as we know it
+now, are of strange and abiding interest:
+
+    He said the pleasantest manner of spending a hot July day was
+    lying from morning till evening on a bank of heath in the middle
+    of the moors, with the bees humming dreamily about among the
+    bloom, and the larks singing high up over head, and the blue sky
+    and bright sun shining steadily and cloudlessly. That was his most
+    perfect idea of heaven's happiness. Mine was rocking in a rustling
+    green tree, with a west wind blowing, and bright white clouds
+    flitting rapidly above; and not only larks, but throstles and
+    blackbirds and linnets and cuckoos, pouring out music on every
+    side, and the moors seen at a distance broken into cool dusky
+    dells; but close by great swells of long grass undulating in waves
+    to the breeze; and woods and sounding water, and the whole world
+    awake and wild with joy. He wanted all to lie in an ecstasy of
+    peace. I wanted all to sparkle and dance in a glorious jubilee. I
+    said his heaven would be only half alive; and he said mine would
+    be drunk. I said I should fall asleep in his; and he said he could
+    not breathe in mine.
+
+For "he," read "Anne," and accept Emily as speaking for herself, and
+we have in this passage a vivid description of the opposing tastes of
+the two sisters.
+
+The abhorrence which Charlotte felt for the High Calvinism, which was
+the favourite creed around her, was felt even more strongly by Emily.
+Her poems throw not a little light upon this feature of her character;
+but we also gain some from her solitary novel. Joseph, the old
+man-servant, was a study from life, and he represented one of a class
+whom the author thoroughly disliked, but for whom at the same time she
+entertained a certain respect. Again and again she breaks forth with
+all the force of sarcasm she can command against "the wearisomest,
+self-righteous pharisee that ever ransacked a Bible to rake the
+promises to himself and fling the curses to his neighbours." Yet there
+is no character in the story over whom she lingers more lovingly than
+Joseph, and it is only in painting his portrait that she allows
+herself to be betrayed into the display of any of that humour which,
+according to her sisters, always lurked very near the surface of her
+character, ever ready to show itself when no stranger was at hand. Few
+who have read "Wuthering Heights" can have forgotten Joseph's quaint
+remark when the boy Heathcliff has disappeared, and the others are
+speculating on his fate.
+
+    Nay, nay, he's noan at Gimmerton. I's never wonder but he's at t'
+    bottom of a bog-boile. This visitation worn't for nowt, and I wod
+    hev ye to look out, miss. Yah muh be t' next. Thank Hivin for all!
+    All works togither for gooid to them as is chozzen, and piked out
+    fro' th' rubbidge. Yah knaw whet t' Scripture ses.
+
+There is one passage in the story which furnishes so strange a
+foreshadowing of Emily's own death, that it is difficult to believe
+that she did not bear it in her mind during those last hours when she
+faced the dread enemy with such unwavering resolution. She is writing
+of the death of Mrs. Earnshaw.
+
+    Poor soul! till within a week of her death that gay heart never
+    failed her; and her husband persisted doggedly, nay furiously, in
+    affirming her health improved every day. When Kenneth warned him
+    that his medicines were useless at that stage of the malady, and
+    he needn't put him to further expense by attending her, he
+    retorted:
+
+    "I know you need not. She's well; she does not want any more
+    attendance from you! She never was in a consumption. It was a
+    fever, and it is gone: her pulse is as slow as mine now, and her
+    cheek as cool!"
+
+    He told his wife the same story, and she seemed to believe him.
+    But one night while leaning on his shoulder, in the act of saying
+    she thought she should be able to get up to-morrow, a fit of
+    coughing took her--a very slight one--he raised her in his arms;
+    she put her two hands about his neck, her face changed, and she
+    was dead.
+
+Strange and inscrutable, indeed, are the mysteries of the human heart!
+Let the reader turn from the passage I have quoted to that letter in
+which Charlotte laments that "Emily is too intractable," and let him
+read how she refused to believe that she was ill until death caught
+her as suddenly as it did the wife of Earnshaw. The blindness to the
+approach of danger, which she describes so clearly in her story, was
+but a few months afterwards displayed even more fully by herself. In
+this last quotation, which I venture to make from a book now seldom
+opened, we see the author speaking evidently out of the fulness of her
+heart on a subject on which in conversation she was specially
+reserved.
+
+    I don't know if it be a peculiarity in me, but I am seldom
+    otherwise than happy when watching in the chamber of death, should
+    no frenzied or despairing mourner share the duty with me. I see a
+    repose that neither earth nor hell can break, and I feel an
+    assurance of the endless and shadowless hereafter--the Eternity
+    they have entered--where life is boundless in its duration, and
+    love in its sympathy, and joy in its fulness. I noticed on that
+    occasion how much selfishness there is even in a love like Mr.
+    Linton's, when he so regretted Catherine's blessed release! To be
+    sure, one might have doubted, after the wayward and impatient
+    existence she had led, whether she merited a haven of peace at
+    last. One might doubt in seasons of cold reflection; but not then
+    in the presence of her corpse. It asserted its own tranquillity,
+    which seemed a pledge of equal quiet to its former inhabitant.
+
+Even these fragments, culled from the pages of "Wuthering Heights,"
+are sufficient to show how little the story has in common with the
+ordinary novel. Differing widely in every respect from "Jane Eyre,"
+dealing with characters and circumstances which belong to the romance
+rather than the reality of life, it is yet stamped by the same
+originality, the same daring, the same thoughtfulness, and the same
+intense individuality. It is a marvel to all who know anything of the
+secrets of literary work, that Haworth Parsonage should have produced
+"Jane Eyre;" but how is the marvel increased, when we know that at the
+same time it produced, from the brain of another inmate, the wonderful
+story of "Wuthering Heights." Brimful of faults as it may be, that
+book is alone sufficient to prove that a rare and splendid genius was
+lost to the world when Emily Brontė died.
+
+All interested in the story of the Brontės must be curious to know
+whence Emily derived the materials for this romance. I have said that
+Heathcliff and the other prominent characters of the story are
+creations of her own; and indeed the book in its originality is almost
+unique. But this does not affect the fact that somewhere, and at some
+period during her life, the seed which brought forth this strange
+fruit must have been sown. It has been suggested by some--strangely
+ignorant, surely, of the conditions of West Riding life during the
+present century--that Emily obtained the skeleton of her plot from her
+own observation of people around her. But the life round Haworth was
+really tame and commonplace. Josephs and Mrs. Deans could be found in
+and about the village in abundance; but there were no people round
+whose lives hung anything of the mystery which attaches to Heathcliff.
+It was, so far as I can learn, during her early girlhood that Emily's
+mind was filled with those grim traditions which she afterwards
+employed in writing "Wuthering Heights." Mr. Brontė, in addition to
+his other gifts, had the faculty of storytelling highly developed, and
+his delight was to use this faculty in order to awaken superstitious
+terrors in the hearts of his children.
+
+Though he habitually took his meals alone, he would often appear at
+the table where his daughters, with possibly their one female friend,
+were breakfasting, and, without joining in the repast, would entertain
+the little company of schoolgirls with wild legends not only relating
+to life in Yorkshire during the last century, but to that still wilder
+life which he had left behind him in Ireland. A cold smile would play
+round his mouth as he added horror to horror in his attempts to move
+his children; and his keen eyes sparkled with triumph when he found he
+had succeeded in filling them with alarm. Emily listened to these
+stories with bated breath, drinking them, in eagerly. She could repeat
+them afterwards by the hour together to her sisters; and no better
+proof of the deep root they took in her sensitive nature can be
+desired, than the fact that they led her to write "Wuthering Heights."
+Thus the paternal influence, strong as it was in the case of all the
+daughters, was peculiarly strong as regarded Emily; and we can gauge
+the nature of that influence in the weird and ghastly story which was
+brought forth under its shadow.
+
+It is with a feeling of curious disappointment that one rises from the
+perusal of the writings of Anne Brontė. She wrote two novels, "Agnes
+Grey" and "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall," neither of which will really
+repay perusal. In the first she sought to set forth some of the
+experiences which had befallen her in that patient placid life which
+she led as a governess. They were not ordinary experiences, the reader
+should know. I have resolutely avoided, in writing this sketch of
+Charlotte Brontė and her sisters, all unnecessary reference to the
+tragedy of Branwell Brontė's life. But it is a strange sad feature of
+that story, that the pious and gentle youngest sister was compelled to
+be a closer and more constant witness of his sins and his sufferings
+than either Charlotte or Emily. She was living under the same roof
+with him when he went astray and was thrust out in deep disgrace. I
+have said already that the effect of his career upon her own was as
+strong and deep as Mrs. Gaskell represents it to have been. Branwell's
+fall formed the dark turning-point in Anne Brontė's life. So it was
+not unnatural that it should colour her literary labours. Accordingly,
+whilst "Agnes Grey" gives us some of the scenes of her governess life,
+dressed up in the fashion of the ordinary romances of thirty years
+ago, "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" presents us with a dreary and
+repulsive picture of Branwell Brontė's condition after his fall.
+Charlotte, in her brief memoir of her sisters, does bare justice to
+Anne when she speaks in these words upon the subject:
+
+    "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall," by "Acton Bell," had likewise an
+    unfavourable reception. At this I cannot wonder. The choice of
+    subject was an entire mistake. Nothing less congruous with the
+    writer's nature could be conceived. The motives which dictated
+    this choice were pure, but, I think, slightly morbid. She had in
+    the course of her life been called on to contemplate, near at
+    hand, and for a long time, the terrible effects of talents misused
+    and faculties abused; hers was naturally a sensitive, reserved,
+    and dejected nature; what she saw sank very deeply into her mind;
+    it did her harm. She brooded over it till she believed it to be a
+    duty to reproduce every detail (of course with fictitious
+    characters, incidents, and situations) as a warning to others. She
+    hated her work, but would pursue it. When reasoned with on the
+    subject, she regarded such reasonings as a temptation to
+    self-indulgence. She must be honest; she must not varnish, soften,
+    or conceal. This well-meant resolution brought on her
+    misconception and some abuse, which she bore, as it was her custom
+    to bear whatever was unpleasant, with mild steady patience. She
+    was a very sincere and practical Christian, but the tinge of
+    religious melancholy communicated a sad hue to her brief blameless
+    life.
+
+What a picture one gets of this third and least considered of the
+Brontė sisters in the passage which I have quoted! A lovable,
+fair-featured girl, leading a blameless life, lighted up by few hopes
+of any brighter future--for the one little romance of her own heart
+had been destroyed ere this by the unrelenting hand of death--and not
+inspired as her sisters were by the passion of the artist or the
+creator; a girl whose simple faith was still unmoved from its first
+foundations; whose delight was in visiting the poor and helping the
+sick, who had no sustaining conviction of her own strength such as
+maintained Charlotte and Emily in their darkest hours, and whose very
+piety was "tinged with melancholy." This is the girl who, not from any
+of the irresistible impulses which attend the exercise of the creative
+faculty, but from a simple sense of duty, set herself the hard task of
+depicting in the pages of a novel the consequences of a shocking vice
+with which her brother's degradation had brought her into close and
+abiding contact. Of course she failed. It is not by hands so weak as
+those of Anne Brontė that effective blows are struck at such sins as
+she assailed. But whilst we acknowledge her failure, let us do justice
+both to the self-sacrificing courage and the fervent piety which led
+her to undertake this painful work.
+
+Of Charlotte Brontė's novels, as a whole, I shall say nothing at this
+point; but something may very properly be said here of the story which
+she wrote at the time when her sisters were engaged in writing
+"Wuthering Heights" and "Agnes Grey." It was not published until after
+her death, and after the world had learned from Mrs. Gaskell's pages
+something of the truth about her life. Its interest to the ordinary
+reader was to a considerable extent discounted by the fact that the
+author had so largely used the materials in her last great work,
+"Villette." But even as a mere novel "The Professor" has striking
+merits, and would well repay perusal from that point of view alone;
+whilst as a means of gaining fresh light with regard to the character
+of the writer, it is not less valuable than "Wuthering Heights"
+itself. True, "The Professor" is not really a first attempt. "A first
+attempt it certainly was not," says Charlotte in reference to it, "as
+the pen which wrote it had previously been worn a good deal in a
+practice of some years." But the previous writings, of which hardly a
+trace now remains--those early MSS. having been carefully destroyed,
+with the exception of the few which Mrs. Gaskell was permitted to
+see--were in no respect finished productions, nor had they been
+written with a view to publication. The first occasion on which
+Charlotte Brontė really began a prose work which she proposed to
+commit to the press was on that day when, seated by her two sisters,
+she joined them in penning the first page of a new novel.
+
+To all practical intents, therefore, "The Professor" is entitled to be
+regarded as a first work; and certainly nothing can show Charlotte's
+peculiar views on the subject of novel-writing more clearly or
+strikingly than this book does. The world knows how resolutely in all
+her writings she strove to be true to life as she saw it. In "Jane
+Eyre" there are, indeed, romantic incidents and situations, but even
+in that work there is no trespassing beyond the limits always allowed
+to the writer of fiction; whilst it must not be forgotten that "Jane
+Eyre" was in part a response to the direct appeal from the publishers
+for something different in character from "The Professor." In that
+first story she determined that she would write a man's life as men's
+lives usually are. Her hero was "never to get a shilling he had not
+earned;" no sudden turns of fortune were "to lift him in a moment to
+wealth and high station;" and he was not even to marry "a beautiful
+girl or a lady of rank." "As Adam's son he should share Adam's doom,
+and drain throughout life a mixed and moderate cup of enjoyment."
+
+Very few novel-readers will share this conception of what a novel
+ought to be. The writer of fiction is an artist whose accepted duty it
+is to lift men and women out of the cares of ordinary life, out of the
+sordid surroundings which belong to every lot in this world, and to
+show us life under different, perhaps under fantastic, conditions: a
+life which by its contrast to that we ourselves are leading shall
+furnish some relief to our mental vision, wearied and jaded by its
+constant contemplation of the fevers and disappointments, the crosses
+and long years of weary monotony, which belong to life as it is. We
+know how a great living writer has ventured to protest against this
+theory, and how in her finest works of fiction she has shown us life
+as it is, under the sad and bitter conditions of pain, sorrow, and
+hopelessness. But Charlotte Brontė wrote "The Professor" long before
+"George Eliot" took up her pen; and she must at least receive credit
+for having been in the field as a reformer of fiction before her
+fellow-labourer was heard of.
+
+She was true to the conditions she had laid down for herself in
+writing "The Professor." Nothing more sober and matter-of-fact than
+that story is to be found in English literature. And yet, though the
+landscape one is invited to view is but a vast plain, without even a
+hillock to give variety to the prospect, it has beauties of its own
+which commend it to our admiration. The story, as everybody knows,
+deals with Brussels, from which she had just returned when she began
+to write it. But it is sad to note the difference between the spirit
+of "The Professor" and that which is exhibited in "Villette." Dealing
+with the same circumstances, and substantially with the same story,
+the author has nevertheless cast each in a mould of its own. Nor is
+the cause of this any secret to those who know Charlotte Brontė. When
+she wrote "The Professor," disillusioned though she was, she was still
+young, and still blessed with that fervent belief in a better future
+which the youthful heart can never quite cast out, even under the
+heaviest blows of fate. She had come home restless and miserable,
+feeling Haworth to be far too small and quiet a place for her; and her
+mind could not take in the reality that under that modest roof the
+remainder of her life was destined to be spent. Suffering and unhappy
+as she was, she could not shut out the hope that brighter days lay
+before her. The fever of life racked her; but in the very fact that it
+burnt so high there was proof that love and hope, the capacity for a
+large enjoyment of existence, still lived within her. So "The
+Professor," though a sad, monotonous book, has life and hope, and a
+fair faith in the ultimate blessedness of all sorrowful ones, shining
+through all its pages; and it closes in a scene of rest and peace.
+
+Very different is the case with "Villette." It was written years after
+the period when "The Professor" was composed, when the hard realities
+of life had ceased to be veiled under tender mists of sentiment or
+imagination, and when the lonely present, the future, "which often
+appals me," made the writer too painfully aware that she had drunk the
+cup of existence almost to the dregs. As a piece of workmanship there
+is no comparison between it and the earlier story. On every page we
+see traces of the artist's hand. Genius flashes forth from both works
+it is true, but in "Villette" it is genius chastened and restrained by
+a cultivated taste, or working under that high pressure which only the
+trained writer can bring to bear upon it. Yet, whilst we must admit
+the immense superiority of the later over the earlier work, we cannot
+turn from the one to the other without being painfully touched by the
+sad, strange difference in the spirit which animates them. The
+stories, as I have said, are nearly the same. With some curious
+transformations, in fact, they are practically identical. But they are
+only the same in the sense in which the portrait of the fair and
+hopeful girl, with life's romance shining before her eyes, is the same
+as the portrait of the worn and solitary woman for whom the romance is
+at an end. A whole world of suffering, of sorrow, of patient
+endurance, lies between the two. I have spoken of the mood in which
+"The Professor" was written--Hope still lingered at that time in the
+heart, breathing its merciful though illusory suggestions of something
+brighter and better in the future. All who have passed through the
+ordeal of a life's sorrow will be able to understand the distinction
+between the temperament of the author at that period in her life, and
+her temperament when she composed "Villette." For such suffering ones
+know, how, in the first and bitterest moment of sorrow, the heart
+cannot shut out the blessed belief that a time of release from the
+pain will come--a time far off, perhaps, but in which a day bright as
+that which has suddenly been eclipsed will shine again. It is only as
+the years go by, and as the first ache of intolerable anguish has been
+lulled into a dreary rest by habit, that the faith which gave them
+strength to bear the keenest smart, takes flight, and leaves them to
+the pale monotony of a twilight which can know no dawn. It was in this
+later and saddest stage of endurance that "Villette" was written. The
+sharpest pangs of the heart-experiences at Brussels had vanished. The
+author, no longer full of the self-consciousness of the girl, could
+even treat her own story, her own sorrows of that period, with a
+lighter hand, a more artistic touch, than when she first wrote of
+them; but through all her work there ran the dreary conviction that in
+those days of mingled joy and suffering she had tasted life at its
+best, and that in the future which lay before her there could be
+nothing which should renew either the strong delights or keen anguish
+of that time. So the book is pitched, as we know, in a key of almost
+absolute hopelessness. Nothing but the genius of Charlotte Brontė
+could have saved such a work from sinking under its own burden of
+gloom. That this intense and tragic study of a soul should have had
+power to fascinate, not the psychologist alone, but the vast masses of
+the reading world, is a triumph which can hardly be paralleled in
+recent literary efforts. In "The Professor" we move among the same
+scenes, almost among the same characters and incidents, but the whole
+atmosphere is a different one. It is a dull, cold atmosphere, if you
+will, but one feels that behind the clouds the sun is shining, and
+that sooner or later the hero and heroine will be allowed to bask in
+his reviving rays. Set the two stories together, and read them in the
+light of all that passed between the years in which they were
+written--the death of Branwell, of Emily, and of Anne, the utter
+shattering of some fair illusions which buoyed up Charlotte's heart in
+the first years of her literary triumph, the apparent extinction of
+all hope as to future happiness--and you will get from them a truer
+knowledge of the author's soul than any critic or biographer could
+convey to you.
+
+Ere I part from "The Professor," which, naturally enough, never gained
+much attention from the public, I must extract from it one passage, a
+parallel to which may be found in many of Charlotte Brontė's letters.
+It describes, as none but one who had suffered could do, one of those
+seasons of mental depression, arising from bodily illness, by which
+she was visited at intervals, and under the influence of which not a
+little of her work was done. Reading it, we get some idea of the true
+origin of much in her character that was supposed to be morbid and
+unnatural:
+
+    Man is ever clogged with his mortality, and it was my mortal
+    nature which now faltered and plained; my nerves which jarred and
+    gave a false sound, because the soul, of late rushing headlong to
+    an aim, had overstrained the body's comparative weakness. A horror
+    of great darkness fell upon me; I felt my chamber invaded by one I
+    had known formerly but had thought for ever departed. I was
+    temporarily a prey to hypochondria. She had been my acquaintance,
+    nay, my guest, once before in boyhood; I had entertained her at
+    bed and board for a year; for that space of time I had her to
+    myself in secret; she lay with me, she ate with me, she walked out
+    with me, showing me nooks in woods, hollows in hills, where we
+    could sit together, and where she could drop her drear veil over
+    me, and so hide sky and sun, grass and green tree; taking me
+    entirely to her death-cold bosom and holding me with arms of bone.
+    What tales she would tell me at such hours! What songs she would
+    recite in my ears! How she would discourse to me of her own
+    country--the grave--and again and again promise to conduct me
+    there ere long; and drawing me to the very brink of a black sullen
+    river, show me on the other side shores unequal with mound,
+    monument, and tablet, standing up in a glimmer more hoary than
+    moonlight. "Necropolis!" she would whisper, pointing to the pale
+    piles, and add, "it contains a mansion prepared for you." But my
+    boyhood was lonely, parentless; uncheered by brother or sister;
+    and there was no marvel that, just as I rose to youth, a
+    sorceress, finding me lost in vague mental wanderings, with many
+    affections and few objects, glowing aspirations and gloomy
+    prospects, strong desires and tender hopes, should lift up her
+    illusive lamp to me in the distance, and lure me to her vaulted
+    home of horrors.
+
+It was when, under the influence of occasional spells of physical
+suffering such as she here describes, that Miss Brontė gave those who
+saw her the impresion that her mind was naturally a morbid one; and,
+as I have said before, the same influence is at times perceptible in
+her writings. One of the purposes with which this little book has been
+written is to show the world how much of the gloom and depression
+which are now associated with her story, must be attributed to purely
+physical or accidental causes.
+
+
+
+
+XIV.
+
+CONCLUSION.
+
+
+No apology need be offered for any single feature of Charlotte
+Brontė's life or character. She was what God made her in the furnace
+of sore afflictions and yet more sore temptations; her life, instinct
+with its extraordinary individuality, was, notwithstanding, always
+subject to exterior influences for the existence of which she was not
+responsible, and which more than once threatened to change the whole
+nature and purpose of her being; her genius, which brought forth its
+first-fruits under the cold shade of obscurity and adversity, was
+developed far more largely by sorrow, loneliness, and pain, than by
+the success which she gained in so abundant a degree. There are
+features of her character which we can scarcely comprehend, for the
+existence of which we are unable to account; and there are features of
+her genius which jar upon our sympathies and ruffle our conventional
+ideas; but for neither will one word of apology or excuse be offered
+by any who really know and love this great woman.
+
+The fashion which exalted her to such a pinnacle of fame, like many
+another fashion, has lost its vogue; and the present generation,
+wrapped in admiration of another school of fiction, has consigned the
+works of "Currer Bell" to a premature sepulchre. But her friends need
+not despair; for from that dreary tomb of neglect an hour of
+resurrection must come, and the woman who has given us three of the
+most masterful books of the century, will again assert her true
+position in the literature of her country. We hear nothing now of the
+"immorality" of her writings. Younger people, if they turn from the
+sparkling or didactic pages of the most popular of recent stories to
+"Jane Eyre" or "Villette," in the hope of finding there some stimulant
+which may have power to tickle their jaded palates, will search in
+vain for anything that even borders upon impropriety--as we understand
+the word in these enlightened days--and they will form a strange
+conception of the generation of critics which denounced "Currer Bell"
+as the writer of immoral works of fiction. But it is said that there
+is coarseness in her stories, "otherwise so entirely noble." Even Mrs.
+Gaskell has assented to the charge; and it is generally believed that
+Charlotte Brontė, as a writer, though not immoral in tone, was rude in
+language and coarse in thought. The truth, I maintain, is, that this
+so-called coarseness is nothing more than the simplicity and purity,
+the straightforwardness and unconsciousness which an unspotted heart
+naturally displays in dealing with those great problems of life which,
+alas! none who have drunk deep of the waters of good and evil can ever
+handle with entire freedom from embarrassment. An American writer[2]
+has spoken of Charlotte Brontė as "the great pre-Raphaelite among
+women, who was not ashamed or afraid to utter what God had shown her,
+and was too single-hearted of aim to swerve one hairbreadth in
+duplicating nature's outlines." She was more than this however; she
+was bold enough to set up a standard of right of her own; and when
+still the unknown daughter of the humble Yorkshire parson, she could
+stir the hearts of readers throughout the world with the trumpet-note
+of such a declaration as this: "Conventionality is not morality;
+self-righteousness is not religion; to pluck the mask from the face of
+the Pharisee is not to lift an impious hand to the Crown of Thorns."
+Let it be remembered that these words were written nearly thirty years
+ago, when conventionalism was still a potent influence in checking the
+free utterance of our inmost opinions; and let us be thankful that in
+that heroic band to whom we owe the emancipation of English thought, a
+woman holds an honourable place.
+
+          [2] Harper's _New Monthly Magazine_, February, 1866.
+
+Writing of her life just after it had closed, her friend Miss
+Martineau said of her: "In her vocation she had, in addition to the
+deep intuitions of a gifted woman, the strength of a man, the patience
+of a hero, and the conscientiousness of a saint." Those who know her
+best will apply to her personal character the epithets which Miss
+Martineau reserved for her career as an author. It has been my object
+in these pages to supplement the picture painted in Mrs. Gaskell's
+admirable biography by the addition of one or two features, slight in
+themselves perhaps, and yet not unimportant when the effect of the
+whole as a faithful portrait is considered. Charlotte Brontė was not
+naturally a morbid person; in youth she was happy and high-spirited;
+and up to the last moment of her life she had a serene strength and
+cheerfulness which seldom deserted her, except when acute physical
+suffering was added to her mental pangs. If her mind could have been
+freed from the depressing influences exerted on it by her frail and
+suffering body, it would have been one of the healthiest and most
+equable minds of our age. As it was, it showed itself able to meet the
+rude buffetings of fate without shrinking and without bravado; and the
+woman who is to this day regarded by the world at large as a marvel of
+self-conscious genius and of unchecked morbidness, was able to her
+dying hour to take the keenest, liveliest interest in the welfare of
+her friends, to pour out all her sympathy wherever she believed it was
+needed and deserved, and to lighten the grim parsonage of Haworth by a
+presence which, in the sacred recesses of her home, was bright and
+cheerful, as well as steadfast and calm.
+
+"Do not underrate her oddity," said a gifted friend who knew her
+during her heyday of fame, while these pages were being written. Her
+oddity, it must be owned, was extreme--so far as the world could
+judge. But I have striven to show how much this eccentricity was
+outward and superficial only, due in part to the peculiar conditions
+of her early life, but chiefly to the excessive shyness in the
+presence of strangers which she shared with her sisters. At heart, as
+some of these letters will show, she was one of the truest women who
+ever breathed; and her own heart-history was by no means so
+exceptional, so far removed from the heart-history of most women, as
+the public believes.
+
+The key to her character was simple and unflinching devotion to duty.
+Once she failed,[3] or rather, once she allowed inclination to blind
+her as to the true direction of the path of duty, and that single
+failure coloured the whole of her subsequent life. But her own
+condemnation of herself was more sharp and bitter than any which could
+have been passed upon her by the world, and from that one venial error
+she drew lessons which enabled her henceforward to live with a steady,
+constant power of self-sacrifice at her command such as distinguishes
+saints and heroes rather than ordinary men and women. Hot, impulsive,
+and tenacious in her affections, she suffered those whom she loved the
+most dearly to be torn from her without losing faith in herself or in
+God; tenderly sensitive as to the treatment which her friends
+received, she repaid the cruelty and injustice of her father towards
+the man whose heart she had won, by a depth of devotion and
+self-sacrifice which can only be fully estimated by those who know
+under what bitter conditions it was lavished upon an unworthy parent;
+bound, as all the children of genius are, by the spell of her own
+imagination, she was yet able during the closing months of her life to
+lay aside her pen, and give herself up wholly, at the desire of her
+husband, to those parish duties which had such slight attractions for
+her. Those who, knowing these facts, still venture to assert that the
+virtues which distinguished "Currer Bell" the author were lacking in
+Charlotte Brontė the woman, must have minds warped by deep-rooted and
+unworthy prejudices.
+
+          [3] I ought perhaps to point out, as this passage may
+          otherwise be open to misconception, that the failure to
+          which I refer is that confessed by herself in a letter I
+          have quoted on page 59.
+
+I have expressed my conviction that the comparative neglect from which
+"Jane Eyre" and its sister-works now suffer is only temporary. It is
+true that in some respects these books are not attractive. Though they
+are written with a terse vigour which must make them grateful to all
+whose palates are cloyed by the pretty writing of the present
+generation, they undoubtedly err on the side of a lack of literary
+polish. And though the portraits presented to us in their pages are
+wonderful as works of art, unsurpassed as studies of character, the
+range of the artist is a limited one, and, as a rule, the subjects
+chosen are not the most pleasing that could have been conceived. Yet
+one great and striking merit belongs to this masterly painter of men
+and women, which is lacking in some who, treading to a certain extent
+in her footsteps, have achieved even a wider and more brilliant
+reputation. There is no taint of the dissecting-room about her books;
+we are never invited to admire the supreme cleverness of the operator
+who, with unsparing knife, lays bare before us the whole cunning
+mechanism of the soul which is stretched under the scalpel; nor are we
+bidden to pause and listen to those didactic moralisings which belong
+rather to the preacher or the lecturer than the novelist. It is the
+artist, not the anatomist who is instructing us; and after all, we may
+derive a more accurate knowledge of men and women as they are from the
+cartoons of a Raphael than from the most elaborate diagrams or
+sections of the most eminent of physiologists.
+
+Perhaps no merit is more conspicuous in Charlotte Brontė's writings
+than their unswerving honesty. Writing always "under the spell," at
+the dictation, as it were, of an invisible and superior spirit, she
+would never write save when "the fit was upon her" and she had
+something to say. "I have been silent lately because I have
+accumulated nothing since I wrote last," is a phrase which fell from
+her on one occasion. Save when she believed that she had accumulated
+something, some truth which she was bound to convey to the world, she
+would not touch her pen. She had every temptation to write fast and
+freely. Money was needed at home, and money was to be had by the mere
+production of novels which, whether good, bad, or indifferent, were
+certain to sell. But she withstood the temptation bravely, withstood
+it even when it came strengthened by the supplications of her friends;
+and from first to last she gave the world nothing but her best. This
+honesty--rare enough unfortunately among those whose painful lot it is
+to coin their brains into money--was carried far beyond these limits.
+When in writing she found that any character had escaped from her
+hands--and every writer of fiction knows how easily this may
+happen--she made no attempt to finish the portrait according to the
+canons of literary art. She waited patiently for fresh light; studying
+deeply in her waking hours, dreaming constantly of her task during her
+uneasy slumbers, until perchance the light she needed came and she
+could go on. But if it came not she never pretended to supply the
+place of this inspiration of genius by any clever trick of literary
+workmanship. The picture was left unfinished--perfect so far as it
+went, but broken off at the point at which the author's keen
+intuitions had failed or fled from her. Nor when her work was done
+would she consent to alter or amend at the bidding of others; for the
+sake of no applause, of no success, would she change the fate of any
+of her characters as they had been fixed in the crucible of her
+genius. Even when her father exerted all his authority to secure
+another ending to the tale of "Villette," he could only, as we have
+seen, persuade his daughter to veil the catastrophe. The hero was
+doomed; and Charlotte, whatever might be her own inclination, could
+not save him from his fate. Books so true, so honest, so simple, so
+thorough as these, depend for their ultimate fate upon no transitions
+of fashion, no caprices of the public taste. They will hold their own
+as the slow-born fruits of a great genius, long after the productions
+of a score of facile pens now able to secure the world's attention
+have been utterly forgotten. The daring and passion of "Jane Eyre,"
+the broad human sympathies, sparkling humour, and graphic portraiture
+of "Shirley," and the steady, patient, unsurpassed concentration of
+power which distinguishes "Villette," can hardly cease to command
+admiration whilst the literature of this century is remembered and
+studied.
+
+But when we turn from the author to the woman, from the written pages
+to the writer, and when, forgetting the features and fortunes of those
+who appear in the romances of "Currer Bell," we recall that touching
+story which will for ever be associated with Haworth Parsonage and
+with the great family of the Brontės, we see that the artist is
+greater than her works, that the woman is nobler and purer than the
+writer, and that by her life, even more than by her labours, the
+author of "Jane Eyre" must always teach us those lessons of courage,
+self-sacrifice, and patient endurance of which our poor humanity
+stands in such pressing and constant need.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+CHARLES DICKENS AND EVANS, CRYSTAL PALACE PRESS.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Charlotte Brontė, by T. Wemyss Reid
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHARLOTTE BRONTĖ ***
+
+***** This file should be named 37888-8.txt or 37888-8.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/8/8/37888/
+
+Produced by StevenGibbs and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/37888-8.zip b/37888-8.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..22d6835
--- /dev/null
+++ b/37888-8.zip
diff --git a/37888-h.zip b/37888-h.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2ea2569
--- /dev/null
+++ b/37888-h.zip
diff --git a/37888-h/37888-h.htm b/37888-h/37888-h.htm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7b8b07a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/37888-h/37888-h.htm
@@ -0,0 +1,8106 @@
+<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"
+        "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
+<html>
+<head>
+<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;
+charset=ISO-8859-1">
+<title>Charlotte Bront&#235; A Monograph, by T. Wemyss Reid#8212;A
+Project Gutenberg eBook</title>
+<style type="text/css">
+
+	body {margin-left: 10%;
+		margin-right: 10%;}
+
+	p {text-indent: 0em;
+		text-align: justify;
+		margin-top: .85em;
+		margin-bottom: .85em;
+		line-height: 1.25em;}
+
+	.narrow {margin-left: 18%;
+		margin-right: 18%;}
+
+	.ctr {text-align: center;}
+
+	.big {font-size: 110%;
+		line-height: 2em;}
+
+	.large {font-size: 120%;
+		text-align: center;
+		font-weight: bold;}
+
+	.ralign {text-align: right;}
+
+	.close {margin-left: 45%;
+		text-align: left;}
+
+	.sig {margin-left: 63%;
+		text-align: left;}
+
+	.sc {font-variant: small-caps;}
+
+	.sclc {text-transform: lowercase;
+		font-variant: small-caps;}
+
+	.fn {margin-left: 10%;
+		margin-right: 10%;
+		font-size: 96%;}
+
+	.section {margin-top: 2em;
+		margin-bottom: 2.5em;
+		text-align: center;
+		font-size: 108%;
+		font-weight: bold;}
+
+	.chapter {margin-top: 3em;
+		margin-bottom: 1em;
+		text-align: center;
+		font-size: 110%;
+		font-weight: bold;}
+
+	.head {margin-top: 1em;
+		margin-bottom: 2.5em;
+		text-align: center;
+		font-weight: bold;}
+
+	.blockquote {text-align: justify;
+		margin-left: 7%;
+		margin-right: 7%;
+		font-size: 98%;
+		margin-top: 1.6em;
+		margin-bottom: 1.6em;}
+
+	.indent {text-align: justify;
+		margin-left: 7%;
+		margin-right: 7%;
+		font-size: 98%;}
+
+	.caption {font-weight: bold;
+		font-size: 95%;
+		text-align: center;
+		margin-bottom: 2em;
+		margin-top: .3em;}
+
+	.figcenter {margin-left: auto;
+		margin-right: auto;
+		text-align: center;
+		margin-bottom: 0em;
+		margin-top: 2em;
+		width: auto;}
+
+	h1 {text-align: center;
+		margin-top: 1em;
+		margin-bottom: 1em;
+		line-height: 1.3em;
+		letter-spacing: 4px;}
+
+	h2, h3, h4 {text-align: center;
+		margin-top: 1em;
+		margin-bottom: 1em;
+		line-height: 1.3em;}
+
+	hr.med {width: 65%;
+		height: 1px;
+		margin-top: 2.5em;
+		margin-bottom: 2.5em;}
+
+	table {margin-left: auto;
+		margin-right: auto;
+		width: 90%;}
+
+	td.chpt {vertical-align: top;
+		text-align: center;
+		padding-top: 20px;
+		padding-bottom: 10px;
+		font-weight: bold;}
+
+	td.txt {vertical-align: top;
+		text-align: left;}
+
+	td.pg {vertical-align: bottom;
+		text-align: right;
+		padding-left: 15px;}
+
+	td.hang {text-align: justify;
+		padding-left: 1.5em;
+		text-indent: -1.5em;
+		padding-right: 5px;}
+
+	td.c {text-align: center;}
+
+	.poem {margin-left:12%; margin-right:4%;
+		margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-top: 1.5em; text-align: left;}
+	.stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;}
+	.poem p {margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;}
+	.poem p.i2 {margin-left: 1em;}
+	.poem p.i14 {margin-left: 8em;}
+
+	a:link {color:#0000ff;
+		text-decoration:none;}
+	a:visited {color:#6633cc;
+		text-decoration:none;}
+
+</style>
+</head>
+<body>
+
+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Charlotte Brontė, by T. Wemyss Reid
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Charlotte Brontė
+       A Monograph
+
+Author: T. Wemyss Reid
+
+Release Date: October 30, 2011 [EBook #37888]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHARLOTTE BRONTĖ ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by StevenGibbs and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter"><a name="frontis"><img src="images/frontis.jpg" alt="REV. PATRICK BRONT&#203;" width="346" height="500"></a></div>
+<p class="caption">REV. PATRICK BRONT&#203;.
+</p>
+<br>
+
+<h1>
+CHARLOTTE BRONT&#203;.
+</h1>
+
+<p class="ctr">
+<img src="images/head.jpg" alt="A Monograph." width="200" height="45">
+</p>
+
+<br>
+<h3>
+BY
+</h3>
+
+
+<h2>
+T. WEMYSS REID.
+</h2>
+
+<br>
+<h3>
+<i>WITH ILLUSTRATIONS.</i>
+</h3>
+
+<br>
+<p class="ctr">
+<img src="images/head2.jpg" alt="London:" width="90" height="30">
+</p>
+<h4>
+MACMILLAN AND CO.<br>
+1877.<br>
+</h4>
+
+<h4>
+[<i>All Rights Reserved.</i>]
+</h4>
+
+<br>
+<h4>
+<i>THIRD EDITION.</i>
+</h4>
+
+<h4>
+CHARLES DICKENS AND EVANS, CRYSTAL PALACE PRESS.
+</h4>
+
+<hr class="med">
+
+<p class="ctr">
+<span class="sc">To the Right Honourable</span><br>
+<span class="big">THE LORD HOUGHTON, D.C.L. F.R.S. &#38;c.</span><br>
+THIS MEMORIAL OF A LIFE<br>
+WHICH HAS ADDED A NEW GLORY TO THE<br>
+LITERARY HISTORY OF YORKSHIRE<br>
+IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED BY HIS GRATEFUL FRIEND<br>
+<span class="big">THE AUTHOR.</span>
+</p>
+
+<hr class="med">
+
+
+<p class="section">
+PREFACE.
+</p>
+
+
+<p>
+I have spoken so freely in the opening chapter of this Monograph of
+the circumstances under which it has been written, that very little
+need be said by way of introduction here. This attempt to throw some
+fresh light upon the character of one of the most remarkable women of
+our age has not been a task lightly taken up, or hastily performed.
+The life and genius of Charlotte Bront&#235; had long engaged my attention
+before I undertook, at the request of the lady to whom I am indebted
+for most of the original materials I have employed in these pages, the
+work which I have now completed. In executing that work I have had
+ample reason to feel and acknowledge my own deficiencies. With the
+knowledge that I was treading in the footsteps of so consummate a
+literary artist as Mrs. Gaskell, I have been compelled to refrain from
+writing not a few of the chapters in Charlotte Bront&#235;'s life which are
+necessary to a complete acquaintance with her character, simply
+because they had been written so well already. And whilst I
+necessarily shrink from any appearance of rivalry with Charlotte
+Bront&#235;'s original biographer, I have been additionally oppressed by
+the feeling that the pen which can do full justice to one of the most
+moving and noble stories in English literature has not yet been found.
+But I have been sustained both by the sympathy of many friends, known
+and unknown, who share my feelings with regard to the Bront&#235;s, and by
+the invaluable assistance rendered to me by those who were intimately
+acquainted with the household at Haworth Parsonage. Foremost among
+these must be mentioned Miss Ellen Nussey, the schoolfellow and
+life-long friend of Charlotte Bront&#235;, who has freely placed at my
+disposal all the letters and other materials she possessed from which
+any light could be thrown upon the career of her old companion, and
+who has in addition aided me with much valuable counsel and advice
+in the decision of many difficult points. Miss Wooler, who was
+Charlotte's attached teacher, and who still happily survives in a
+green old age, has also placed me under obligations by her readiness
+to supply me with her pupil's letters to herself. Nor must I omit
+to mention my indebtedness to Lord Houghton for information upon
+questions which could only be decided by those who met "Currer Bell"
+during her brief visits to London at a time when she was one of the
+literary lions of society.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The additions made in this volume to the Monograph as it originally
+appeared in <i>Macmillan's Magazine</i> are numerous and considerable.
+It should be mentioned that a few of the letters now published (about
+twenty) were printed some years ago in an American magazine now
+extinct. The remainder, and by far the larger portion, will be
+entirely new to readers alike in England and the United States.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class="sc">Headingley Hill, Leeds</span>,<br>
+<i>February, 1877</i>.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><a name="tablet"><img src="images/001.jpg"
+alt="A plaque in memory or Rev. Bront&#235;'s deceased wife and
+children." width="561" height="500"></a></div>
+<p class="caption">The New Bront&#235; Tablet
+</p>
+
+<hr class="med">
+<p class="section">
+CONTENTS.
+</p>
+
+<table summary="Contents">
+
+<tr>
+<td class="txt">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="pg"><small>PAGE</small></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="chpt"><a href="#I">CHAPTER I.</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+
+<tr>
+<td class="txt"><span class="sc">Introductory</span></td>
+<td class="pg">1</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="hang">Mrs. Gaskell's "Memoir"&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Charlotte Bront&#235;'s Letters.</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="chpt"><a href="#II">CHAPTER II.</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="txt"><span class="sc">The Story of "Jane Eyre"</span></td>
+<td class="pg">7</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="hang">
+"Jane Eyre:" its Publication and Popularity; Unfavourable Criticisms
+&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Mr. Thackeray and "Rochester"&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Loose Gossip&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;The Truth.</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="chpt"><a href="#III">CHAPTER III.</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="txt"><span class="sc">Early History of the Bront&#235;s</span></td>
+<td class="pg">14</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="hang">
+Charlotte Bront&#235;'s Surroundings: the True Charm of her Story&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;
+Haworth&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Mr. Bront&#235;: his Characteristics and Eccentricities&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;The
+Bront&#235; Children&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Charlotte's Escape to the Golden City&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Juvenile
+Efforts&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;"The Play of the Islanders."</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="chpt"><a href="#IV">CHAPTER IV.</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="txt"><span class="sc">The Family at Haworth</span></td>
+<td class="pg">29</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="hang">
+Charlotte and her Friend&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Bolton Bridge&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;A Family Sketch&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Shyness
+of the Sisters&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Varying Moods&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;The Youthful Politician&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Branwell
+Bront&#235;&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Emily&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Anne.</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="chpt"><a href="#V">CHAPTER V.</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="txt"><span class="sc">Life as a Governess</span></td>
+<td class="pg">45</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="hang">
+Governess Life&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;A Mental Struggle&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;First offer of Marriage&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Sympathy
+with others&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Trials of her own Life.</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="chpt"><a href="#VI">CHAPTER VI.</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="txt"><span class="sc">The Turning-point</span></td>
+<td class="pg">57</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="hang">
+The Storm and Stress Period&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Not what the World supposes it to
+have been&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Visit to Brussels: its Influence upon her Life&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;
+Disillusioned&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Return Home&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;A Fallen Idol&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;A Pleasant Meeting
+&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Branwell's Disgrace.</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="chpt"><a href="#VII">CHAPTER VII.</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="txt"><span class="sc">Authorship and Bereavement</span></td>
+<td class="pg">73</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="hang">
+Branwell's Fall&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Publication of the Poems&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Emily's Poetry&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;
+Novel-writing begun&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;"The Professor"&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;"Wuthering Heights"&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;
+"Agnes Grey"&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;"Jane Eyre"&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;The Secret of the Authorship&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;
+Growth in Power&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Branwell's Death&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Decline and Death of
+Emily&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Death of Anne.</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="chpt"><a href="#VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="txt">"<span class="sc">Shirley</span>"</td>
+<td class="pg">99</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="hang">
+The Bitterness of Bereavement&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Visit to London&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Meets Thackeray
+&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Authors and Critics&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;"Shirley" published: its Reception by
+the Critics&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Husbands and Wives&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;An Invitation.</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="chpt"><a href="#IX">CHAPTER IX.</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="txt"><span class="sc">Loneliness and Fame</span></td>
+<td class="pg">112</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="hang">
+Life at Home&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Rumours of Marriage&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Edits the Works of her Sisters
+&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;An offer of Marriage&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Mr. Thackeray's Lectures&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;The Crystal
+Palace.</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="chpt"><a href="#X">CHAPTER X.</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="txt">"<span class="sc">Villette</span>"</td>
+<td class="pg">127</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="hang">
+"Villette" begun&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Life and Letters whilst writing it&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Great
+Depression of Spirits&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Difficulty in writing&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;"Lucy Snowe"&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;
+"Villette" finished: its Private Reception; the Public Verdict:
+Waiting for <i>The Times</i>.</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="chpt"><a href="#XI">CHAPTER XI.</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="txt"><span class="sc">Marriage and Death</span></td>
+<td class="pg">148</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="hang">
+A Secret History&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Mr. Nicholls&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Offer of Marriage&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Mr. Bront&#235;'s
+Opposition&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;A Cruel Struggle&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Mr. Nicholls leaves Haworth&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;The
+High Church Party and "Villette"&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Miss Martineau&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;A Trip to
+Scotland&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Brighter Prospects&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Engaged to Mr. Nicholls&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;New
+Out-look upon Life&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;The Wedding&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Married Life&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;The Last
+Christmas&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Illness and Death.</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="chpt"><a href="#XII">CHAPTER XII.</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="txt"><span class="sc">Posthumous Honours</span></td>
+<td class="pg">183</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="hang">
+A Nation's Mourning&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Charlotte's Humility&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Mrs. Gaskell's "Memoir:"
+Effect produced by it&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Letter from Mr. Kingsley&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Pilgrims to
+Haworth&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;An American Visitor&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Death of Mr. Bront&#235;&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Devotion of
+Mr. Nicholls.</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="chpt"><a href="#XIII">CHAPTER XIII.</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="txt"><span class="sc">The Bront&#235; Novels</span></td>
+<td class="pg">201</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="hang">
+The Bront&#235; Novels&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;"Wuthering Heights:" its Cleverness and
+Weirdness&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Characters of the Story&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Emily's Genius&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Curious
+Foreshadowings&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Mr. Bront&#235;'s Influence on Emily&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Anne's Novels
+&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;"The Professor."</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="chpt"><a href="#XIV">CHAPTER XIV.</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="txt"><span class="sc">Conclusion</span></td>
+<td class="pg">228</td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="hang">
+Charlotte's Character&#8204;&#8212;&#8204;Sufferings and Work.</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<hr class="med">
+
+
+<p class="section">
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
+</p>
+
+<table summary="Illustrations">
+
+<tr>
+<td class="txt"><span class="sc">Rev. Patrick Bront&#235;</span></td>
+<td class="c">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="pg" width="10%"><a href="#frontis"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="txt">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="c">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="pg" width="10%"><small>PAGE</small></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="txt"><span class="sc">The New Bront&#235; Tablet</span></td>
+<td class="c">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="pg" width="10%"><a href="#tablet">x</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="txt"><span class="sc">Haworth Village</span></td>
+<td class="c"><i>Facing</i></td>
+<td class="pg" width="10%"><a href="#village">18</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="txt"><span class="sc">The House that Charlotte visited</span></td>
+<td class="c">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="pg" width="10%"><a href="#house">44</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="txt"><span class="sc">The Roe Head School</span></td>
+<td class="c"><i>Facing</i></td>
+<td class="pg" width="10%"><a href="#school">46</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="txt"><span class="sc">Haworth Parsonage and Graveyard</span></td>
+<td class="c">"</td>
+<td class="pg" width="10%"><a href="#parsonage">82</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="txt"><span class="sc">The "Field Head" of Shirley</span></td>
+<td class="c">"</td>
+<td class="pg" width="10%"><a href="#field">101</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="txt"><span class="sc">The "Briarfield" Church of Shirley</span></td>
+<td class="c">"</td>
+<td class="pg" width="10%"><a href="#church">106</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="txt"><span class="sc">Fac-Simile Letter of Charlotte Bront&#235;</span></td>
+<td class="c">"</td>
+<td class="pg" width="10%"><a href="#letter">134</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="txt"><span class="sc">Haworth Church</span></td>
+<td class="c">"</td>
+<td class="pg" width="10%"><a href="#interior">172</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="txt"><span class="sc">Interior of Haworth Church</span></td>
+<td class="c">"</td>
+<td class="pg" width="10%"><a href="#interior">191</a></td>
+</tr>
+
+<tr>
+<td class="txt"><span class="sc">Organ Loft over the Bront&#235; Tablet and Pew</span></td>
+<td class="c">&nbsp;</td>
+<td class="pg" width="10%"><a href="#organ">200</a></td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<hr class="med">
+
+
+<p class="ctr">
+<img src="images/poemhead.jpg" alt="To the Memory of the Author of &quot;Jane Eyre.&quot;
+" width="510" height="40"></p>
+<div class="narrow">
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>Beside her sisters lay her down to rest,</p>
+<p>By the lone church that stands amid the moors;</p>
+<p>And let her grave be wet with moorland showers;</p>
+<p>Let moorland larks sing o'er her mouldering breast!</p>
+<p>Hers was the keen true spirit, that confest</p>
+<p>That she was nurtured in no garden bowers,</p>
+<p>Nor taught to deck her brow with cultured flowers,</p>
+<p>Nor by the soft and summer wind carest.</p>
+<p>Her words came o'er us, as in harvest-tide</p>
+<p>Come the swift rain-clouds o'er her native skies,</p>
+<p>Scattering the thin sheaves by the heather's side;</p>
+<p>So fared it with our tame hypocrisies:</p>
+<p>But lo! the clouds are past, and far and wide</p>
+<p>The purple ridges glow beneath our eyes.</p></div></div>
+
+<p class="ralign">
+<span class="sc">W. H. Charlton.</span>
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<i>Hesleyside, 1855.</i>
+</p>
+</div>
+
+<hr class="med">
+
+
+<p class="large">
+CHARLOTTE BRONT&#203;.
+</p>
+
+
+
+
+<a name="I">&nbsp;</a>
+<p class="chapter">I.
+</p>
+
+<p class="head">
+INTRODUCTORY.
+</p>
+
+
+<p>
+It is just twenty years since one of the most fascinating and artistic
+biographies in the English language was given to the world. Mrs.
+Gaskell's "Life of Charlotte Bront&#235;" no sooner appeared than it took
+firm possession of the public mind; and it has ever since retained its
+hold upon all who take an interest in the career of one who has been
+called, in language which is far less extravagant in reality than in
+appearance, "the foremost woman of her age." Written with admirable
+skill, in a style at once powerful and picturesque, and with a
+sympathy such as only one artist could feel for another, it richly
+merited the popularity which it gained and has kept. Mrs. Gaskell,
+however, laboured under one serious disadvantage, which no longer
+exists in anything like the same degree in which it did twenty years
+ago. Writing but a few months after Charlotte Bront&#235; had been laid in
+her grave, and whilst the father to whom she was indebted for so much
+that was characteristic in her life and genius was still living, Mrs.
+Gaskell had necessarily to deal with many circumstances which affected
+living persons too closely to be handled in detail. Even as it was she
+involved herself in serious embarrassment by some of her allusions to
+incidents connected more or less nearly with the life of Charlotte
+Bront&#235;; corrections and retractations were forced upon her, the later
+editions of the book differed considerably from the first, and at last
+she was compelled to announce that any further correspondence
+concerning it must be conducted through her solicitors. Thus she was
+crippled in her attempt to paint a full-length picture of a remarkable
+life, and her story was what Mr. Thackeray called it, "necessarily
+incomplete, though most touching and admirable."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was, moreover, another matter in which Mrs. Gaskell was at
+fault. She seems to have set out with the determination that her work
+should be pitched in a particular key. She had formed her own
+conception of Charlotte Bront&#235;'s character, and with the passion of
+the true artist and the ability of the practised writer she made
+everything bend to that conception. The result was that whilst she
+produced a singularly striking and effective portrait of her heroine,
+it was not one which was absolutely satisfactory to those who were the
+oldest and closest friends of Charlotte Bront&#235;. If the truth must be
+told, the life of the author of "Jane Eyre" was by no means so joyless
+as the world now believes it to have been. That during the later years
+in which this wonderful woman produced the works by which she has made
+her name famous, her career was clouded by sorrow and oppressed by
+anguish both mental and physical, is perfectly true. That she was made
+what she was in the furnace of affliction cannot be doubted; but it is
+not true that she was throughout her whole life the victim of that
+extreme depression of spirits which afflicted her at rare intervals,
+and which Mrs. Gaskell has presented to us with so much vividness and
+emphasis. On the contrary, her letters show that at any rate up to the
+time of her leaving for Brussels, she was a happy and high-spirited
+girl, and that even to the very last she had the faculty of overcoming
+her sorrows by means of that steadfast courage which was her most
+precious possession, and to which she was so much indebted for her
+successive victories over trials and disappointments of no ordinary
+character. Those who imagine that Charlotte Bront&#235;'s spirit was in any
+degree a morbid or melancholy one do her a singular injustice.
+Intensely reserved in her converse with all save the members of her
+own household, and the solitary friend to whom she clung with such
+passionate affection throughout her life, she revealed to these
+</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p class="i14">The other side, the novel</p>
+<p>Silent silver lights and darks undreamed of,</p></div></div>
+
+<p>
+which were and have remained hidden from the world, but which must be
+seen by those who would know what Charlotte Bront&#235; really was as a
+woman. Alas! those who knew her and her sisters well during their
+brief lives are few in number now. The Bront&#235;s who plucked the flower
+of fame out of the thorny waste in which their lots were cast survive
+in their books and in Mrs. Gaskell's biography. But the Bront&#235;s, the
+women who lived and suffered thirty years ago, and whose characters
+were instinct with so rare and lofty a nobility, so keen a
+sensitiveness, so pure a nobility, are known no longer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Yet one mode of making acquaintance with them is still open to some
+among us. From her school-days down to the hour in which she was
+stretched prostrate in her last sickness, Charlotte Bront&#235; kept up the
+closest and most confidential intercourse with her one life-long
+friend. To that friend she addressed letters which may be counted by
+hundreds, scarcely one of which fails to contain some characteristic
+touch worthy of the author of "Villette." No one can read this
+remarkable correspondence without learning the secret of the writer's
+character; none, as I believe, can read it without feeling that the
+woman who "stole like a shadow" into the field of English literature
+in 1847, and in less than eight years after stole as noiselessly away,
+was truer and nobler even than her works, truer and nobler even than
+that masterly picture of her life for which we are indebted to Mrs.
+Gaskell.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+These letters lie before me as I write. Here are the faded sheets of
+1832, written in the school-girl's hand, filled with the school-girl's
+extravagant terms of endearment, yet enriched here and there by
+sentences which are worthy to live&#8212;some of which have already,
+indeed, taken their place in the literature of England; and here is
+the faint pencil note written to "my own dear Nell" out of the
+writer's "dreary sick-bed," which was so soon to be the bed of death!
+Between the first letter and that last sad note what outpourings of
+the mind of Charlotte Bront&#235; are embodied in this precious pile of
+cherished manuscript! Over five-and-twenty years of a blameless life
+this artless record stretches. So far as Charlotte Bront&#235;'s history as
+a woman, and the history of her family are concerned, it is complete
+for the whole of that period, the only breaks in the story being those
+which occurred when she and her friend were together. Of her early
+literary ventures we find little here, for even to her friend she did
+not dare in the first instance to betray the novel joys which filled
+her soul when she at last discovered her true vocation, and spoke to a
+listening world; but of her later life as an author, of her labours
+from the day when she owned "Jane Eyre" as the child of her brain,
+there are constant and abundant traces. Here, too, we read all her
+secret sorrows, her hopes, her fears, her communings with her own
+heart. Many things there are in this record too sacred to be given to
+the world. Even now it is with a tender and a reverent hand that one
+must touch these "noble letters of the dead;" but those who are
+allowed to see them, to read them and ponder over them, must feel as I
+do, that the soul of Charlotte Bront&#235; stands revealed in these
+unpublished pages, and that only here can we see what manner of woman
+this really was who in the solitude and obscurity of the Yorkshire
+hill-parsonage built up for herself an imperishable name, enriched the
+literature of England with treasures of priceless value, and withal
+led for nearly forty years a life that was made sacred and noble by
+the self-repression and patient endurance which were its most marked
+characteristics.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Gaskell has done her work so well that the world would scarcely
+care to listen to a mere repetition of the Bront&#235; story, even though
+the story-teller were as gifted as the author of "Ruth" herself. But
+those who have been permitted to gain a new insight into Charlotte
+Bront&#235;'s character, those who are allowed to command materials of
+which the biographer of 1857 could make no use, may venture to lay a
+tribute-wreath of their own upon the altar of this great woman's
+memory&#8212;a tribute-wreath woven of flowers culled from her own letters.
+And it cannot be that the time is yet come when the name or the fame
+or the touching story of the unique and splendid genius to whom we owe
+"Jane Eyre," will fall upon the ears of English readers like "a tale
+of little meaning" or of doubtful interest.
+</p>
+
+
+
+
+<a name="II">&nbsp;</a>
+<p class="chapter">II.
+</p>
+
+<p class="head">
+THE STORY OF "JANE EYRE."
+</p>
+
+
+<p>
+In the late autumn of 1847 the reading public of London suddenly found
+itself called to admire and wonder at a novel which, without
+preliminary puff of any kind, had been placed in its hands. "'Jane
+Eyre,' by Currer Bell," became the theme of every tongue, and society
+exhausted itself in conjectures as to the identity of the author, and
+the real meaning of the book. It was no ordinary book, and it produced
+no ordinary sensation. Disfigured here and there by certain crudities
+of thought and by a clumsiness of expression which betrayed the hand
+of a novice, it was nevertheless lit up from the first page to the
+last by the fire of a genius the depth and power of which none but the
+dullest could deny. The hand of its author seized upon the public mind
+whether it would or no, and society was led captive, in the main
+against its will, by one who had little of the prevailing spirit of
+the age, and who either knew nothing of conventionalism, or despised
+it with heart and soul. Fierce was the revolt against the influence of
+this new-comer in the wide arena of letters, who had stolen in, as it
+were in the night, and taken the citadel by surprise. But for the
+moment all opposition was beaten down by sheer force of genius, and
+"Jane Eyre" made her way, compelling recognition, wherever men and
+women were capable of seeing and admitting a rare and extraordinary
+intellectual supremacy. "How well I remember," says Mr. Thackeray,
+"the delight and wonder and pleasure with which I read 'Jane Eyre,'
+sent to me by an author whose name and sex were then alike unknown to
+me; and how with my own work pressing upon me, I could not, having
+taken the volumes up, lay them down until they were read through." It
+was the same everywhere. Even those who saw nothing to commend in the
+story, those who revolted against its free employment of great
+passions and great griefs, and those who were elaborately critical
+upon its author's ignorance of the ways of polite society, had to
+confess themselves bound by the spell of the magician. "Jane Eyre"
+gathered admirers fast; and for every admirer she had a score of
+readers.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Those who remember that winter of nine-and-twenty years ago know how
+something like a "Jane Eyre" fever raged among us. The story which had
+suddenly discovered a glory in uncomeliness, a grandeur in
+overmastering passion, moulded the fashion of the hour, and "Rochester
+airs" and "Jane Eyre graces" became the rage. The book, and its fame
+and influence, travelled beyond the seas with a speed which in those
+days was marvellous. In sedate New England homes the history of the
+English governess was read with an avidity which was not surpassed in
+London itself, and within a few months of the publication of the novel
+it was famous throughout two continents. No such triumph has been
+achieved in our time by any other English author; nor can it be said,
+upon the whole, that many triumphs have been better merited. It
+happened that this anonymous story, bearing the unmistakable marks of
+an unpractised hand, was put before the world at the very moment when
+another great masterpiece of fiction was just beginning to gain the
+ear of the English public. But at the moment of publication "Jane
+Eyre" swept past "Vanity Fair" with a marvellous and impetuous speed
+which left Thackeray's work in the distant background; and its unknown
+author in a few weeks gained a wider reputation than that which one of
+the master minds of the century had been engaged for long years in
+building up.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The reaction from this exaggerated fame, of course, set in, and it was
+sharp and severe. The blots in the book were easily hit; its author's
+unfamiliarity with the stage business of the play was evident
+enough&#8212;even to dunces; so it was a simple matter to write smart
+articles at the expense of a novelist who laid himself open to the
+whole battery of conventional criticism. In "Jane Eyre" there was much
+painting of souls in their naked reality; the writer had gauged depths
+which the plummet of the common story-teller could never have sounded,
+and conflicting passions were marshalled on the stage with a masterful
+daring which Shakespeare might have envied; but the costumes, the
+conventional by-play, the scenery, even the wording of the dialogue,
+were poor enough in all conscience. The merest playwright or reviewer
+could have done better in these matters&#8212;as the unknown author was
+soon made to understand. Additional piquancy was given to the attack
+by the appearance, at the very time when the "Jane Eyre" fever was at
+its height, of two other novels, written by persons whose sexless
+names proclaimed them the brothers or the sisters of Currer Bell.
+Human nature is not so much changed from what it was in 1847 that one
+need apologise for the readiness with which the reading world in
+general, and the critical world in particular, adopted the theory that
+"Wuthering Heights" and "Agnes Grey" were earlier works from the pen
+which had given them "Jane Eyre." In "Wuthering Heights" some of the
+faults of the other book were carried to an extreme, and some of its
+conspicuous merits were distorted and exaggerated until they became
+positive blemishes; whilst "Agnes Grey" was a feeble and commonplace
+tale which it was easy to condemn. So the author of "Jane Eyre" was
+compelled to bear not only her own burden, but that of the two stories
+which had followed the successful novel; and the reviewers&#8212;ignorant
+of the fact that they were killing three birds at a single
+shot&#8212;rejoiced in the larger scope which was thus afforded to their
+critical energy.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here and there, indeed, a manful fight on behalf of Currer Bell was
+made by writers who knew nothing but the name and the book. "It is
+soul speaking to soul," cried <i>Fraser's Magazine</i> in December,
+1847; "it is not a book for prudes," added <i>Blackwood</i>, a few
+months later; "it is not a book for effeminate and tasteless men; it
+is for the enjoyment of a feeling heart and critical understanding."
+But in the main the verdict of the critics was adverse. It was
+discovered that the story was improper and immoral; it was said to be
+filled with descriptions of "courtship after the manner of kangaroos,"
+and to be impregnated with a "heathenish doctrine of religion;" whilst
+there went up a perfect chorus of reprobation directed against its
+"coarseness of language," "laxity of tone," "horrid taste," and "sheer
+rudeness and vulgarity." From the book to the author was of course an
+easy transition. London had been bewildered, and its literary
+quidnuncs utterly puzzled, when such a story first came forth
+inscribed with an unknown name. Many had been the rumours eagerly
+passed from mouth to mouth as to the real identity of Currer Bell.
+Upon one point there had, indeed, been something like unanimity among
+the critics, and the story of "Jane Eyre" had been accepted as
+something more than a romance, as a genuine autobiography in which
+real and sorrowful experiences were related. Even the most hostile
+critic of the book had acknowledged that "it contained the story of
+struggles with such intense suffering and sorrow, as it was sufficient
+misery to know that any one had conceived, far less passed through."
+Where then was this wonderful governess to be found? In what obscure
+hiding-place could the forlorn soul, whose cry of agony had stirred
+the hearts of readers everywhere, be discovered? We may smile now,
+with more of sadness than of bitterness, at the base calumnies of the
+hour, put forth in mere wantonness and levity by a people ever seeking
+to know some new thing, and to taste some new sensation. The favourite
+theory of the day&#8212;a theory duly elaborated and discussed in the most
+orthodox and respectable of the reviews&#8212;was that Jane Eyre and Becky
+Sharp were merely different portraits of the same character; and that
+their original was to be found in the person of a discarded mistress
+of Mr. Thackeray, who had furnished the great author with a model for
+the heroine of "Vanity Fair," and had revenged herself upon him by
+painting him as the Rochester of "Jane Eyre!" It was after dwelling
+upon this marvellous theory of the authorship of the story that the
+<i>Quarterly Review</i>, with Pecksniffian charity, calmly summed up
+its conclusions in these memorable words: "If we ascribe the book to a
+woman at all, we have no alternative but to ascribe it to one who has
+for some sufficient reason long forfeited the society of her own sex."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The world knows the truth now. It knows that these bitter and shameful
+words were applied to one of the truest and purest of women; to a
+woman who from her birth had led a life of self-sacrifice and patient
+endurance; to a woman whose affections dwelt only in the sacred
+shelter of her home, or with companions as pure and worthy as herself;
+to one of those few women who can pour out all their hearts in
+converse with their friends, happy in the assurance that years hence
+the stranger into whose hands their frank confessions may pass will
+find nothing there that is not loyal, true, and blameless. There was
+wonder among the critics, wonder too in the gay world of London, when
+the secret was revealed, and men were told that the author of "Jane
+Eyre" was no passionate light-o'-love who had merely transcribed the
+sad experiences of her own life; but "an austere little Joan of Arc,"
+pure, gentle, and high-minded, of whom Thackeray himself could say
+that "a great and holy reverence of right and truth seemed to be with
+her always." The quidnuncs had searched far and wide for the author of
+"Jane Eyre;" but we may well doubt whether, when the truth came out at
+last, they were not more than ever mystified by the discovery that
+Currer Bell was Charlotte Bront&#235;, the young daughter of a country
+parson in a remote moorland parish of Yorkshire.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+That such a woman should have written such a book was more than a nine
+days' wonder; and for the key to that which is one of the great
+marvels and mysteries of English literature we must go to Charlotte
+Bront&#235;'s life itself.
+</p>
+
+
+
+
+<a name="III">&nbsp;</a>
+<p class="chapter">III.
+</p>
+
+<p class="head">
+EARLY HISTORY OF THE BRONT&#203;S.
+</p>
+
+
+<p>
+There is a striking passage in Mr. Greg's "Enigmas of Life," in which
+the influence of external circumstances upon the inner lives of men
+and women is dwelt upon somewhat minutely, and, by way of example, the
+connection between religious "conviction" and an imperfect digestion
+is carefully traced out. That we are the creatures of circumstance can
+hardly be doubted, nor that our destinies are moulded, just as the
+coral reefs are built, by the action of innumerable influences, each
+in itself apparently trivial and insignificant. But the habit which
+leads men to find a full explanation of the lives of those who have
+attained exceptional distinction in the circumstances amid which their
+lot has been cast cannot be said to be a very wholesome or happy one.
+Few have suffered more cruelly from this trick than the Bront&#235; family.
+Graphic pictures have been presented to the world of their home among
+the hills, and of their surroundings in their early years; whilst the
+public have been asked to believe that some great shadow of gloom
+rested over their lives from their birth, and that to this fact, and
+to the influence of the moors, must be attributed, not only the
+peculiar bent of their genius, but the whole colour and shape of their
+lives. Those who are thus determined to account for everything that
+lies out of the range of common experience would do well, before they
+attempt to analyse the great mystery of genius, to reveal to us the
+true cause of the superlative excellence of this or that rare
+<i>cru</i>, the secret which gives Johannisberg or Ch&#226;teau d'Yquem its
+glory in the eyes of connoisseurs. Circumstances apparently have
+little to do with the production of the fragrance and bouquet of these
+famous wines; for we know that grapes growing close at hand on similar
+vines and seemingly under precisely similar conditions, warmed by the
+same sun, refreshed by the same showers, fanned by the same breezes,
+produce a wine which is comparatively worthless. When the world has
+expounded this riddle, it will be time enough to deal with that deeper
+problem of genius on which we are now too apt to lay presumptuous and
+even violent hands.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The Bront&#235;s have suffered grievously from this fashion, inasmuch as
+their picturesque and striking surroundings have been allowed to
+obscure our view of the women themselves. We have made a picture of
+their lives, and have filled in the mere accessories with such
+pre-Raphaelite minuteness that the distinct individuality of the
+heroines has been blurred and confused amid the general blaze of vivid
+colour, the crowd of "telling" points. No individual is to be blamed
+for this fact. The world, as we have seen, was first introduced to
+"Currer Bell" and her sisters under romantic circumstances; the lives
+of those simple, sternly-honest women were enveloped from the moment
+when the public made their acquaintance in a certain haze of romantic
+mystery; and when all had passed away, and the time came for the
+"many-headed beast" to demand the full satisfaction of its curiosity,
+it would have nothing but the completion of that romance which from
+the first it had figured in outline for itself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Who then does not know the salient points of that strange and touching
+story which tells us how the author of "Jane Eyre" lived and died? Who
+is not acquainted with that grim parsonage among the hills, where the
+sisters dwelt amidst such uncongenial and even weird influences;
+living like recluses in the house of a Protestant pastor; associated
+with sorrow and suffering, and terrible pictures of degrading vice,
+during their blameless maidenhood; constructing an ideal world of
+their own, and dwelling in it heedless of the real world which was in
+motion all around them? Who has not been amused and interested by
+those graphic pictures of Yorkshire life in the last century, in which
+the local flavour is so intense and piquant, and which are hardly the
+less interesting because they relate to an order of things which had
+passed away entirely long before the Bront&#235;s appeared upon the stage?
+And who has not been moved by the dark tragedy of Branwell Bront&#235;'s
+life, hinted at rather than explicitly stated, in Mrs. Gaskell's
+story, but yet standing out in such prominence that those who know no
+better may be forgiven if they regard it as having been the powerful
+and all-pervading influence which made the career of the sisters what
+it was? The true charm of the history of the Bront&#235;s, however, does
+not lie in these things. It is not to be found in the surroundings of
+their lives, remarkable and romantic as they were, but in the women
+themselves, and in those characteristics of their hearts and their
+intellects which were independent of the accidents of condition.
+Charlotte herself would have been the first to repudiate the notion
+that there was anything strikingly exceptional in their outward
+circumstances. With a horror of being considered eccentric that
+amounted to a passion, she united an almost morbid dread of the notice
+of strangers. If she could ever have imagined that readers throughout
+the world would come to associate her name, and still more the names
+of her idolised sisters, with the ruder features of the Yorkshire
+character, or with such a domestic tragedy as that amid which her
+unhappy brother's life terminated, her spirit would have arisen in
+indignant revolt against that which she would have regarded almost in
+the light of a personal outrage.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><a name="village"><img src="images/002.jpg" alt="HAWORTH VILLAGE" width="500" height="281"></a></div>
+<p class="caption">HAWORTH VILLAGE.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+And yet if their surroundings at Haworth had comparatively little to
+do with the development of the genius of the three sisters, it cannot
+be doubted that two influences which Mrs. Gaskell has rightly made
+prominent in her book did affect their characters, one in a minor, and
+the other in a very marked degree. The influence of the moors is to be
+traced both in their lives and their works; whilst far more distinctly
+is to be traced the influence of their father. As to the first there
+is little to be said in addition to that which all know already. There
+is a railway station now at Haworth, and all the world therefore can
+get to the place without difficulty or inconvenience. Yet even to-day,
+when the engine goes, shrieking past it many times between sunrise and
+sunset, Haworth is not as other places are. A little manufacturing
+village, sheltered in a nook among the hills and moors which stretch
+from the heart of Yorkshire into the heart of Lancashire, it bears the
+vivid impress of its situation. The moors which lie around it for
+miles on every side are superb during the summer and autumn months.
+Then Haworth is in its glory; a gray stone hamlet set in the midst of
+a vast sea of odorous purple, and swept by breezes which bear into its
+winding street the hum of the bees and the fragrance of the heather.
+But it is in the drear, leaden days of winter, when the moors are
+covered with snow, that we see what Haworth really is. Then we know
+that this is a place apart from the outer world; even the railway
+seems to have failed to bring it into the midst of that great West
+Riding which lies close at hand with its busy mills and multitudes;
+and the dullest therefore can understand that in the days when the
+railway was not, and Haworth lay quite by itself, neglected and unseen
+in its upland valley, its people must have been blessed by some at
+least of those insular peculiarities which distinguished the villagers
+of Zermatt and Pontresina before the flood of summer tourists had
+swept into those comparatively remote crannies of the Alps. Nurtured
+among these lonely moors, and accustomed, as all dwellers on
+thinly-peopled hillsides are, to study the skies and the weather, as
+the inhabitants of towns and plains study the faces of men and women,
+the Bront&#235;s unquestionably drew their love of nature, their affection
+for tempestuous winds and warring clouds, from their residence at
+Haworth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But this influence was trivial compared with the hereditary influences
+of their father's character. Few more remarkable personalities than
+that of the Rev. Patrick Bront&#235; have obtruded themselves upon the
+smooth uniformity of modern society. The readers of Mrs. Gaskell's
+biography know that the incumbent of Haworth was an eccentric man, but
+the full measure of his eccentricity and waywardness has never yet
+been revealed to the world. He was an Irishman by birth, but when
+still a young man he had gone to Yorkshire as a curate, and in
+Yorkshire he remained to the end of his days. His real name was not
+Bront&#235;&#8212;regarding the origin of which word there was so much
+unnecessary mystery when his daughter became famous&#8212;but Prunty. Born
+of humble parentage in the parish of Ahaderg, County Down, he was one
+of a large family, all of whom were said to be remarkable for their
+physical strength and personal beauty. Patrick Prunty was the most
+remarkable member of the family, and his talents were early recognised
+by Mr. Tighe, the rector of Drumgooland. This gentleman undertook part
+at least of the cost of his education, which was completed at St.
+John's College, Cambridge. As to the change of name from Prunty to
+Bront&#235;, many fantastic stories have been told. Amongst them is one
+which represents the Bront&#235;s as having derived their name from that of
+the Bronterres, an ancient Irish family with which they were
+connected. The connection may possibly have existed, but there is no
+doubt upon one point. The incumbent of Haworth in early life bore the
+name of Prunty, and it was not until very shortly, before he left
+Ireland for England that he changed it, at the request of his patron,
+Mr. Tighe, for the more euphonious appellation of Bront&#235;. He appears
+to have been a strange compound of good and evil. That he was not
+without some good is acknowledged by all who knew him. He had kindly
+feelings towards most people, and he delighted in the stern rectitude
+which distinguished many of his Yorkshire flock. When his daughter
+became famous, no one was better pleased at the circumstance than he
+was. He cut out of every newspaper every scrap which referred to her;
+he was proud of her achievements, proud of her intellect, and jealous
+for her reputation. But throughout his whole life there was but one
+person with whom he had any real sympathy, and that person was
+himself. Passionate, self-willed, vain, habitually cold and distant
+in his demeanour towards those of his own household, he exhibited in a
+marked degree many of the characteristics which Charlotte Bront&#235;
+afterwards sketched in the portrait of the Mr. Helston of "Shirley."
+The stranger who encountered him found a scrupulously polite gentleman
+of the old school, who was garrulous about his past life, and who
+needed nothing more than the stimulus of a glass of wine to become
+talkative on the subject of his conquests over the hearts of the
+ladies of his acquaintance. As you listened to the quaintly-attired
+old man who chatted on with inexhaustible volubility, you possibly
+conceived the idea that he was a mere fribble, gay, conceited,
+harmless; but at odd times a searching glance from the keen, deep-sunk
+eyes warned you that you also were being weighed in the balance by
+your companion, and that this assumption of light-hearted vanity was
+far from revealing the real man to you. Only those who dwelt under the
+same roof knew him as he really was. Among the many stories told of
+him by his children, there is one relating to the meek and gentle
+woman who was his wife, and whose lot it was to submit to persistent
+coldness and neglect. Somebody had given Mrs. Bront&#235; a very pretty
+dress, and her husband, who was as proud as he was self-willed, had
+taken offence at the gift. A word to his wife, who lived in habitual
+dread of her lordly master, would have secured all he wanted; but in
+his passionate determination that she should not wear the obnoxious
+garment, he deliberately cut it to pieces, and presented her with the
+tattered fragments. Even during his wife's lifetime he formed the
+habit of taking his meals alone; he constantly carried loaded pistols
+in his pockets, and when excited he would fire these at the doors of
+the outhouses, so that the villagers were quite accustomed to the
+sound of pistol-shots at any hour of the day in their pastor's house.
+It would be a mistake to suppose that violence was one of the weapons
+to which Mr. Bront&#235; habitually resorted. However stern and peremptory
+might be his dealings with his wife (who soon left him to spend the
+remainder of his life in a dreary widowhood), his general policy was
+to secure his end by craft rather than by force. A profound belief in
+his own superior wisdom was conspicuous among his characteristics, and
+he felt convinced that no one was too clever to be outwitted by his
+diplomacy. He had also an amazing persistency, which led him to pursue
+any course on which he had embarked with dogged determination. It
+happened in later years, when his strength was failing, and when at
+last he began to see his daughter in her true light, that he
+quarrelled with her regarding the character of one of their friends.
+The daughter, always dutiful and respectful, found that any effort to
+stem the torrent of his bitter and unjust wrath when he spoke of the
+friend who had offended him, was attended by consequences which were
+positively dangerous. The veins of his forehead swelled, his eyes
+glared, his voice shook, and she was fain to submit lest her father's
+passion should prove fatal to him. But when, wounded beyond endurance
+by his violence and injustice, she withdrew for a few days from her
+home, and told her father that she would receive no letters from him
+in which this friend's name was mentioned, the old man's cunning took
+the place of passion. He wrote long and affectionate letters to her on
+general subjects; but accompanying each letter was a little slip of
+paper, which professed to be a note from Charlotte's dog Flossy to his
+"much-respected and beloved mistress," in which the dog, declaring
+that he saw "a good deal of human nature that was hid from those who
+had the gift of language," was made to repeat the attacks upon the
+obnoxious person which Mr. Bront&#235; dared no longer make in his own
+character.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was to the care of such a father as this, in the midst of the rude
+and uncongenial society of the lonely manufacturing village, that six
+motherless children, five daughters and one son, were left in the year
+1821. The parson's children were not allowed to associate with their
+little neighbours in the hamlet; their aunt, who came to the parsonage
+after their mother's death, had scarcely more sympathy with them than
+their father himself; their only friend was the rough but kindly
+servant Tabby, who pitied the bairns without understanding them, and
+whose acts of graciousness were too often of such a character as to
+give them more pain than pleasure. So they grew up strange, lonely,
+old-fashioned children, with absolutely no knowledge of the world
+outside; so quiet and demure in their habits that, years afterwards,
+when they invited some of their Sunday scholars up to the parsonage,
+and wished to amuse them, they found that they had to ask the scholars
+to teach them how to play&#8212;they had never learned. Carefully secluded
+from the rest of the world, the little Bront&#235; children found out
+fashions of their own in the way of amusement, and curious fashions
+they were. Whilst they were still in the nursery, when the oldest of
+the family, Maria, was barely nine years old, and Charlotte, the
+third, was just six, they had begun to take a quaint interest in
+literature and politics. Heaven knows who it was who first told these
+wonderful pigmies of the great deeds of a Wellington or the crimes of
+a Bonaparte; but at an age when other children are generally busy with
+their bricks or their dolls, and when all life's interests are
+confined for them within the walls of a nursery, these marvellous
+Bront&#235;s were discussing the life of the Great Duke, and maintaining
+the Tory cause as ardently as the oldest and sturdiest of the village
+politicians in the neighbouring inn.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is a touching story of Charlotte at six years old, which gives
+us some notion of the ideal life led by the forlorn little girl at
+this time, when, her two elder sisters having been sent to school, she
+found herself living at home, the eldest of the motherless brood. She
+had read "The Pilgrim's Progress," and had been fascinated, young as
+she was, by that wondrous allegory. Everything in it was to her true
+and real; her little heart had gone forth with Christian on his
+pilgrimage to the Golden City, her bright young mind had been fired by
+the Bedford tinker's description of the glories of the Celestial
+Place; and she made up her mind that she too would escape from the
+City of Destruction, and gain the haven towards which the weary
+spirits of every age have turned with eager longing. But where was
+this glittering city, with its streets of gold, its gates of pearl,
+its walls of precious stones, its streams of life and throne of light?
+Poor little girl! The only place which seemed to her to answer
+Bunyan's description of the celestial town was one which she had heard
+the servants discussing with enthusiasm in the kitchen, and its name
+was Bradford! So to Bradford little Charlotte Bront&#235;, escaping from
+that Haworth Parsonage which she believed to be a doomed spot, set off
+one day in 1822. Ingenious persons may speculate if they please upon
+the sore disappointment which awaited her when, like older people,
+reaching the place which she had imagined to be Heaven, she found that
+it was only Bradford. But she never even reached her imaginary Golden
+City. When her tender feet had carried her a mile along the road, she
+came to a spot where overhanging trees made the highway dark and
+gloomy; she imagined that she had come to the Valley of the Shadow of
+Death, and, fearing to go forward, was presently discovered by her
+nurse cowering by the roadside.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of the school-days of the Bront&#235;s nothing need be said here. Every
+reader of "Jane Eyre" knows what Charlotte Bront&#235; herself thought of
+that charitable institution to which she has given so unenviable a
+notoriety. There she lost her oldest sister, whose fate is described
+in the tragic tale of Helen Burns; and it was whilst she was at this
+place that her second sister, Elizabeth, also died. Only one thing
+need be added to this dismal record of the stay at Cowan Bridge.
+During the whole time of their sojourn there, the young Bront&#235;s
+scarcely ever knew what it was to be free from the pangs of hunger.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Charlotte was now the head of the little family; the remaining members
+of which were her brother Branwell and her sisters Emily and Anne.
+Mrs. Gaskell has given the world a vivid picture of the life which
+these four survivors from the hardships of Cowan Bridge led between
+the years 1825 and 1831. They spent those years at Haworth, almost
+without care or sympathy. Their father saw little in their lot to
+interest him, nothing to drag him out of his selfish absorption in his
+own pursuits; their aunt, a permanent invalid, conceived that her duty
+was accomplished when she had taught them a few lessons and insisted
+on their doing a certain amount of needlework every day. For the rest
+they were left to themselves, and thus early they showed the bent of
+their genius by spending their time in writing novels.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Gaskell has given us some idea of the character of these juvenile
+performances in a series of extracts which sufficiently indicate their
+rare merit. She has, however, paid exclusive attention to Charlotte's
+productions. All readers of the Bront&#235; story will remember the account
+of the play of "The Islanders," and other remarkable specimens,
+showing with what real vigour and originality Charlotte could handle
+her pen whilst she was still in the first year of her teens; but those
+few persons who have seen the whole of the juvenile library of the
+family bear testimony to the fact that Branwell and Emily were at
+least as industrious and successful as Charlotte herself. Indeed, even
+at this early age, the <i>bizarre</i> character of Emily's genius was
+beginning to manifest itself, and her leaning towards weird and
+supernatural effects was exhibited whilst she composed her first fairy
+tales within the walls of her nursery. It may be well to bear in mind
+the frequency with which the critics have charged Charlotte Bront&#235;
+with exaggerating the precocity of children. What we know of the early
+days of the Bront&#235;s proves that what would have been exaggeration in
+any other person was in the case of Charlotte nothing but a truthful
+reproduction of her own experiences.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Only one specimen of these earliest writings of the Bront&#235;s can be
+quoted here: it is that to which I have already referred, the play of
+"The Islanders:"
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p class="ralign">
+June the 31st, 1829.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The play of "The Islanders" was formed in December, 1827, in the
+following manner. One night, about the time when the cold sleet and
+stormy fogs of November are succeeded by the snow-storms and high
+piercing night-winds of confirmed winter, we were all sitting round the
+warm blazing kitchen fire, having just concluded a quarrel with Tabby
+concerning the propriety of lighting a candle, from which she came off
+victorious, no candles having been produced. A long pause succeeded,
+which was at length broken by Branwell saying, in a lazy manner, "I
+don't know what to do." This was echoed by Emily and Anne. </p>
+
+<p> <i>Tabby.</i> Wha, ya may go t' bed. </p>
+
+<p> <i>Branwell.</i> I'd rather do anything than that. </p>
+
+<p> <i>Charlotte.</i> Why are you so glum to-night, Tabby? Oh! suppose
+we had each an island of our own. </p>
+
+<p> <i>Branwell.</i> If we had, I would choose the Island of Man. </p>
+
+<p> <i>Charlotte.</i> And I would choose the Isle of Wight. </p>
+
+<p> <i>Emily.</i> The Isle of Arran for me. </p>
+
+<p> <i>Anne.</i> And mine shall be Guernsey. </p>
+
+<p> We then chose who should be the chief men in our islands. Branwell
+chose John Bull, Astley Cooper, and Leigh Hunt; Emily, Walter Scott,
+Mr. Lockhart, Johnny Lockhart; Anne, Michael Sadler, Lord Bentinck, Sir
+Henry Halford. I chose the Duke of Wellington and two sons, Christopher
+North and Co., and Mr. Abernethy. Here our conversation was interrupted
+by the, to us, dismal sound of the clock striking seven, and we were
+summoned off to bed.
+</p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<a name="IV">&nbsp;</a>
+<p class="chapter">IV.
+</p>
+
+<p class="head">
+THE FAMILY AT HAWORTH.
+</p>
+
+
+<p>
+The years have slipped away, and the Bront&#235;s are no longer children.
+They have passed out of that strange condition of premature activity
+in which their brains were so busy, their lives so much at variance
+with the lives of others of their age; they have even "finished" their
+education, according to the foolish phrase of the world, and, having
+made some acquaintances and a couple of friends at good Miss Wooler's
+school at Roehead, Charlotte is again at home, young, hopeful, and in
+her own way merry, waiting with her brother and her sisters till that
+mystery of life which seems filled with hidden charms to those who
+still have it all before them shall be revealed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One bright June morning in 1833, a handsome carriage and pair is
+standing opposite the Devonshire Arms at Bolton Bridge, the spot loved
+by all anglers and artists who know anything of the scenery of the
+Wharfe. In the carriage with some companions is a young girl, whose
+face, figure, and manner may be conjured up by all who have read
+"Shirley," for this pleasant, comely Yorkshire maiden, as we see her
+on this particular morning, is identical with the Caroline Helston who
+figures in the pages of that novel. Miss N&#8212;&#8212; is waiting for her
+quondam schoolfellow and present bosom friend, Charlotte Bront&#235;, who
+is coming with her brother and sisters to join in an excursion to the
+enchanted site of Bolton Abbey hard by. Presently, on the steep road
+which stretches across the moors to Keighley, the sound of wheels is
+heard, mingled with the merry speech and merrier laughter of fresh
+young voices. Shall we go forward unseen, and study the approaching
+travellers whilst they are still upon the road? Their conveyance is no
+handsome carriage, but a rickety dogcart, unmistakably betraying its
+neighbourship to the carts and ploughs of some rural farmyard. The
+horse, freshly taken from the fields, is driven by a youth who, in
+spite of his countrified dress, is no mere bumpkin. His shock of red
+hair hangs down in somewhat ragged locks behind his ears, for Branwell
+Bront&#235; esteems himself a genius and a poet, and, following the fashion
+of the times, has that abhorrence of the barber's shears which genius
+is supposed to affect. But the lad's face is a handsome and a striking
+one, full of Celtic fire and humour, untouched by the slightest shade
+of care, giving one the impression of somebody altogether hopeful,
+promising, even brilliant. How gaily he jokes with his three sisters;
+with what inexhaustible volubility he pours out quotations from his
+favourite poets, applying them to the lovely scene around him; and
+with what a mischievous delight, in his superior nerve and mettle, he
+attempts feats of charioteering which fill the timid heart of the
+youngest of the party with sudden terrors! Beside him, in a dress of
+marvellous plainness and ugliness, stamped with the brand "home-made"
+in characters which none can mistake, is the eldest of the sisters.
+Charlotte is talking too; there are bright smiles upon her face; she
+is enjoying everything around her, the splendid morning, the charms of
+leafy trees and budding roses, and the ever-musical stream; most of
+all, perhaps, the charm of her brother's society, and the expectation
+of that coming meeting with her friend, which is so near at hand.
+Behind sit a pretty little girl, with fine complexion and delicate
+regular features, whom the stranger would at once pick out as the
+beauty of the company, and a tall, rather angular figure, clad in a
+dress exactly resembling Charlotte's. Emily Bront&#235; does not talk so
+much as the rest of the party, but her wonderful eyes, brilliant and
+unfathomable as the pool at the foot of a waterfall, but radiant also
+with a wealth of tenderness and warmth, show how her soul is expanding
+under the influences of the scene; how quick she is to note the least
+prominent of the beauties around her, how intense is her enjoyment of
+the songs of the birds, the brilliancy of the sunshine, the rich scent
+of the flower-bespangled hedgerows. If she does not, like Charlotte
+and Anne, meet her brother's ceaseless flood of sparkling words with
+opposing currents of speech, she utters at times a strange, deep
+guttural sound which those who know her best interpret as the language
+of a joy too deep for articulate expression. Gaze at them as they pass
+you in the quiet road, and acknowledge that, in spite of their rough
+and even uncouth exteriors, a happier four could hardly be met with in
+this favourite haunt of pleasure-seekers during a long summer's day.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Suddenly the dogcart rattles noisily into the open space in front of
+the Devonshire Arms, and the Bront&#235;s see the carriage and its
+occupants. In an instant there is silence; Branwell contrasts his
+humble equipage with that which already stands at the inn door, and a
+flush of mortified pride colours his face; the sisters scarcely note
+this contrast, but to their dismay they see that their friend is not
+alone, and each draws a long deep breath, and prepares for that
+fiercest of all the ordeals they know, a meeting with entire
+strangers. The laughter is stilled; even Branwell's volubility is at
+an end; the glad light dies out of their eyes, and when they alight
+and submit to the process of being introduced to Miss N&#8212;&#8212;'s
+companions, their faces are as dull and commonplace as their dresses.
+It is no imaginary scene we have been watching. Miss N&#8212;&#8212; still
+recalls that painful moment when the merry talk and laughter of her
+friends were quenched at sight of the company awaiting them, and when
+throughout a day to which all had looked forward with anticipations of
+delight, the three Bront&#235;s clung to each other or to their friend,
+scarcely venturing to speak above a whisper, and betraying in every
+look and word the positive agony which filled their hearts when a
+stranger approached them. It was this excessive shyness in the company
+of those who were unfamiliar to them which was the most marked
+characteristic of the sisters. The weakness was as much physical as
+moral; and those who suppose that it was accompanied by any morbid
+depression of spirits, or any lack of vigour and liveliness when the
+incubus of a stranger's presence was removed, entirely mistake their
+true character. Unhappily, first impressions are always strongest, and
+running through the whole of Mrs. Gaskell's story, may be seen the
+impression produced at her first meeting with Charlotte Bront&#235; by her
+nervous shrinking and awkwardness in the midst of unknown faces.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was not thus with those who, brought into the closest of all
+fellowship with her, the fellowship of school society, knew the
+secrets of her heart far better than did any who became acquainted
+with her in after life. To such the real Charlotte Bront&#235;, who knew no
+timidity in their presence, was a bold, clever, outspoken and
+impulsive girl; ready to laugh with the merriest, and not even
+indisposed to join in practical jokes with the rest of her
+schoolfellows. The picture we get in the "Life" is that of a victim to
+secret terrors and superstitious fancies. The real Charlotte Bront&#235;,
+when stories were current as to the presence of a ghost in the upper
+chambers of the old school-house at Roehead, did not hesitate to go up
+to these rooms alone and in the darkness of a winter's night, leaving
+her companions shivering in terror round the fire downstairs. When she
+had left school, and began that correspondence with Miss N&#8212;&#8212; which
+is the great source of our knowledge, not merely of the course of her
+life, but of the secrets of her heart, it must not be supposed that
+she wrote always in that serious spirit which pervades most of the
+letters quoted by Mrs. Gaskell. On the contrary, those who have access
+to the letters will find that even some of the passages given in the
+"Life" are allied to sentences showing that the frame of mind in which
+they were written was very different from that which it appears to
+have been. The following letter, written from Haworth in the beginning
+of 1835, is an example:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+Well, here I am as completely separated from you as if a hundred,
+instead of seventeen, miles intervened between us. I can neither hear
+you nor see you nor feel you. You are become a mere thought, an
+unsubstantial impression on the memory, which, however, is happily
+incapable of erasure. My journey home was rather melancholy, and would
+have been very much so but for the presence and conversation of my
+worthy companion. I found him a very intelligent man. He told me the
+adventures of his sailor's life, his shipwreck and the hurricane he had
+witnessed in the West Indies, with a much better flow of language than
+many of far greater pretensions are masters of. I thought he appeared a
+little dismayed by the wildness of the country round Haworth, and I
+imagine he has carried back a pretty report of it. </p>
+
+<p> What do you think of the course politics are taking? I make this
+inquiry because I now think you have a wholesome interest in the
+matter; formerly you did not care greatly about it. B&#8212;&#8212;,
+you see, is triumphant. Wretch! I am a hearty hater, and if there is
+any one I thoroughly abhor it is that man. But the Opposition is
+divided. Red-hots and lukewarms; and the Duke (<i>par excellence
+the</i> Duke) and Sir Robert Peel show no signs of insecurity, although
+they have been twice beat. So "<i>courage, mon amie!</i>" Heaven defend
+the right! as the old Cavaliers used to say before they joined battle.
+Now, Ellen, laugh heartily at all that rodomontade. But you have
+brought it on yourself. Don't you remember telling me to write such
+letters to you as I wrote to Mary? There's a specimen! Hereafter should
+follow a long disquisition on books; but I'll spare you that.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+Those who turn to Mrs. Gaskell's "Life" will find one of the sentences
+in this letter quoted, but without the burst of laughter over "all
+that rodomontade" at the end which shows that Charlotte's interest in
+politics was not unmingled with the happy levity of youth. Still more
+striking as an illustration of her true character, with its infinite
+variety of moods, its sudden transitions from grave to gay, is the
+letter I now quote:
+</p>
+
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+Last Saturday afternoon, being in one of my sentimental humours, I sat
+down and wrote to you such a note as I ought to have written to none
+but M&#8212;&#8212;, who is nearly as mad as myself; to-day, when I
+glanced it over, it occurred to me that Ellen's calm eye would look at
+this with scorn, so I determined to concoct some production more fit
+for the inspection of common sense. I will not tell you all I think and
+feel about you, Ellen. I will preserve unbroken that reserve which
+alone enables me to maintain a decent character for judgment; but for
+that I should long ago have been set down by all who know me as a
+Frenchified fool. You have been very kind to me of late, and gentle;
+and you have spared me those little sallies of ridicule which, owing to
+my miserable and wretched touchiness of character, used formerly to
+make me wince as if I had been touched with a hot iron; things that
+nobody else cares for enter into my mind and rankle there like venom. I
+know these feelings are absurd, and therefore I try to hide them; but
+they only sting the deeper for concealment, and I'm an idiot. Ellen, I
+wish I could live with you always, I begin to cling to you more fondly
+than ever I did. If we had but a cottage and a competency of our own, I
+do think we might live and love on till death, without being dependent
+on any third person for happiness.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+Mrs. Gaskell has made a very partial and imperfect use of this letter,
+by quoting merely from the words "You have been very kind to me of
+late," down to "they only sting the deeper for concealment." Thus it
+will be seen that an importance is given to an evanescent mood which
+it was far from meriting, and that lighter side to Charlotte's
+character which was prominent enough to her nearest and dearest
+friends is entirely concealed from the outer world. Again, I say, we
+must not blame Mrs. Gaskell. Such sentences as those which she omitted
+from the letter I have just given are not only entirely inconsistent
+with that ideal portrait of "Currer Bell" which the world had formed
+for itself out of the bare materials in existence during the author's
+lifetime, but are also utterly at variance with Mrs. Gaskell's
+personal conception of Charlotte Bront&#235;'s character, founded upon her
+brief acquaintance with her during her years of loneliness and fame.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The quick transitions which marked her moods in converse with her
+friends may be traced all through her letters to Miss N&#8212;&#8212;. The
+quotations I have already made show how suddenly on the same page she
+passes from gaiety to sadness; and so her letters, dealing as they do
+with an endless variety of topics, reflect only the mood of the writer
+at the moment that she penned them, and it is only by reading and
+studying the whole, not by selecting those which reflect a particular
+phase of her character, that we can complete the portrait we would
+fain produce.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Here are some extracts from letters which are not to be found in the
+"Life," and which illustrate what I have said. They were all written
+between the beginning of 1832 and the end of 1835:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+Tell M&#8212;&#8212; I hope she will derive benefit from the perusal of
+Cobbett's lucubrations; but I beg she will on no account burden her
+memory with passages to be repeated for my edification, lest I should
+not fully appreciate either her kindness or their merit, since that
+worthy personage and his principles, whether private or political, are
+no great favourites of mine. </p>
+
+<p> I am really very much obliged to you&#8212;she writes in September,
+1832&#8212;for your well-filled and <i>very</i> interesting letter. It
+forms a striking contrast to my brief meagre epistles; but I know you
+will excuse the utter dearth of news visible in them when you consider
+the situation in which I am placed, quite out of the reach of all
+intelligence except what I obtain through the medium of the newspapers,
+and I believe you would not find much to interest you in a political
+discussion, or a summary of the accidents of the week&#8230;. I am
+sorry, very sorry, that Miss &#8212;&#8212; has turned out to be so
+different from what you thought her; but, my dearest Ellen, you must
+never expect perfection in this world; and I know your naturally
+confiding and affectionate disposition has led you to imagine that Miss
+&#8212;&#8212; was almost faultless&#8230;. I think, dearest Ellen, our
+friendship is destined to form an exception to the general rule
+regarding school friendships. At least I know that absence has not in
+the least abated the sisterly affection which I feel towards you.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Your last letter revealed a state of mind which promised much. As I
+read it, I could not help wishing that my own feelings more nearly
+resembled yours; but unhappily all the good thoughts that enter
+<i>my</i> mind evaporate almost before I have had time to ascertain
+their existence. Every right resolution which I form is so transient,
+so fragile, and so easily broken, that I sometimes fear I shall never
+be what I ought.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I write a hasty line to assure you we shall be happy to see you on the
+day you mention. As you are now acquainted with the neighbourhood and
+its total want of society, and with our plain, monotonous mode of life,
+I do not fear so much as I used to do, that you will be disappointed
+with the dulness and sameness of your visit. One thing, however, will
+make the daily routine more unvaried than ever. Branwell, who used to
+enliven us, is to leave us in a few days, and enter the situation of a
+private tutor in the neighbourhood of U&#8212;&#8212;. How he will like
+to settle remains yet to be seen. At present he is full of hope and
+resolution. I, who know his variable nature and his strong turn for
+active life, dare not be too sanguine. We are as busy as possible in
+preparing for his departure, and shirt-making and collar-stitching
+fully occupy our time.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">
+April, 1835.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The election! the election! that cry has rung even among our lonely
+hills like the blast of a trumpet. How has it been round the populous
+neighbourhood of B&#8212;&#8212;? Under what banner have your brothers
+ranged themselves? the Blue or the Yellow? Use your influence with
+them; entreat them, if it be necessary on your knees, to stand by their
+country and religion in this day of danger!&#8230; Stuart Wortley, the
+son of the most patriotic patrician Yorkshire owns, must be elected the
+representative of his native province. Lord Morpeth was at Haworth last
+week, and I saw him. My opinion of his lordship is recorded in a letter
+I wrote yesterday to Mary. It is not worth writing over again, so I
+will not trouble you with it here.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+Even these brief extracts will show that Charlotte Bront&#235;'s life at
+this time was not a morbid one. These years between 1832 and 1835 must
+be counted among the happiest of her life&#8212;of all the lives of the
+little household at Haworth, in fact. The young people were accustomed
+to their father's coldness and eccentricity, and to their aunt's
+dainty distaste for all Northern customs and Northern people,
+themselves included. Shy they were and peculiar, alike in their modes
+of life and their modes of thought; but there was a wholesome, healthy
+happiness about all of them that gave promise of peaceful lives
+hereafter. Some literary efforts of a humble kind brightened their
+hopes at this time. Charlotte had written some juvenile poems (not now
+worth reprinting), and she sought the opinion of Southey upon them.
+The poet laureate gave her a kindly and considerate answer, which did
+not encourage her to persevere in these efforts; nor was an attempt by
+Branwell to secure the patronage of Wordsworth for some productions of
+his own more successful. Had anybody ventured into the wilds of
+Haworth parish at this new year of 1835, and made acquaintance with
+the parson's family, it is easy to say upon whom the attention of the
+stranger would have been riveted. Branwell Bront&#235;, of whom casual
+mention is made in one of the foregoing letters, was the hope and
+pride of the little household. All who knew him at this time bear
+testimony to his remarkable talents, his striking graces. Small in
+stature like Charlotte herself, he was endowed with a rare personal
+beauty. But it was in his intellectual gifts that his chief charm was
+found. Even his father's dull parishioners recognised the fire of
+genius in the lad; and any one who cares to go to Haworth now and
+inquire into the story of the Bront&#235;s, will find that the most vivid
+reminiscences, the fondest memories of the older people in the
+village, centre in this hapless youth. Ambitious and clever, he seemed
+destined to play a considerable part in the world. His conversational
+powers were remarkable; he gave promise of more than ordinary ability
+as an artist, and he had even as a boy written verses of no common
+power. Among other accomplishments, more curious than useful, of which
+he could boast, was the ability to write two letters simultaneously.
+It is but a small trait in the history of this remarkable family, yet
+it deserves to be noticed, that its least successful member excelled
+Napoleon himself in one respect. The great conqueror could dictate
+half-a-dozen letters concurrently to his secretaries. Branwell Bront&#235;
+could do more than this. With a pen in each hand, he could write two
+different letters at the same moment.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Charlotte was Branwell's senior by one year. In 1835, when in her
+nineteenth year, she was by no means the unattractive person she has
+been represented as being. There is a little caricature sketched by
+herself lying before me as I write. In it all the more awkward of her
+physical points are ingeniously exaggerated. The prominent forehead
+bulges out in an aggressive manner, suggestive of hydrocephalus, the
+nose, "tip-tilted like the petal of a flower," and the mouth are made
+unnecessarily large; whilst the little figure is clumsy and ungainly.
+But though she could never pretend to beauty, she had redeeming
+features, her eyes, hair, and massive forehead all being attractive
+points. Emily, who was two years her junior, had, like Charlotte, a
+bad complexion; but she was tall and well-formed, whilst her eyes were
+of remarkable beauty. All through her life her temperament was more
+than merely peculiar. She inherited not a little of her father's
+eccentricity, untempered by her father's <i>savoir faire</i>. Her
+aversion to strangers has been already mentioned. When the curates,
+who formed the only society of Haworth, found their way to the
+parsonage, she avoided them as though they had brought the pestilence
+in their train. On the rare occasions when she went out into the
+world, she would sit absolutely silent in the company of those who
+were unfamiliar to her. So intense was this reserve that even in her
+own family, where alone she was at ease, something like dread was
+mingled with the affection felt towards her. On one occasion, whilst
+Charlotte's friend was visiting the parsonage, Charlotte herself was
+unable through illness to take any walks with her. To the amazement of
+the household, Emily volunteered to accompany Miss N&#8212;&#8212; on a ramble
+over the moors. They set off together, and the girl threw aside her
+reserve, and talked with a freedom and vigour which gave evidence of
+the real strength of her character. Her companion was charmed with her
+intelligence and geniality. But on returning to the parsonage
+Charlotte was found awaiting them, and, as soon as she had a chance of
+doing so, she anxiously put to Miss N&#8212;&#8212; the question, "How did Emily
+behave herself?" It was the first time she had ever been known to
+invite the company of any one outside the narrow limits of the family
+circle. Her chief delight was to roam on the moors, followed by her
+dogs, to whom she would whistle in masculine fashion. Her heart,
+indeed, was given to these dumb creatures of the earth. She never
+forgave those who ill-treated them, nor trusted those whom they
+disliked. One is reminded of Shelley's "Sensitive Plant" by some
+traits of Emily Bront&#235;:
+</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>If the flowers had been her own infants, she</p>
+<p>Could never have nursed them more tenderly;</p></div></div>
+
+<p>
+and, like the lady of the poem, her tenderness and charity could reach
+even
+</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>&#8212;&#8212;the poor banished insects, whose intent,</p>
+<p>Although they did ill, was innocent.</p></div></div>
+
+<p>
+One instance of her remarkable personal courage is related in
+"Shirley," where she herself is sketched under the character of the
+heroine. It is her adventure with the mad dog which bit her at the
+door of the parsonage kitchen whilst she was offering it water. The
+brave girl took an iron from the fire, where it chanced to be heating,
+and immediately cauterised the wound on her arm, making a broad, deep
+scar, which was there until the day of her death. Not until many weeks
+after did she tell her sisters what had happened. Passionately fond of
+her home among the hills, and of the rough Yorkshire people among whom
+she had been reared, she sickened and pined away when absent from
+Haworth. A strange untamed and untamable character was hers; and none
+but her two sisters ever seem to have appreciated her remarkable
+merits, or to have recognised the fine though immature genius which
+shows itself in every line of the weird story of "Wuthering Heights."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Anne, the youngest of the family, had beauty in addition to her other
+gifts. Intellectually she was greatly inferior to her sisters; but her
+mildness and sweetness of temperament won the affections of many who
+were repelled by the harsher exteriors of Charlotte and Emily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This was the family which lived happily and quietly among the hills
+during those years when life with its vicissitudes still lay in the
+distance. Gay their existence could not be called; but their letters
+show that it was unquestionably peaceful, happy, and wholesome.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><a name="house"><img src="images/003.jpg" alt="THE HOUSE THAT CHARLOTTE VISITED" width="462" height="251"></a></div>
+<p class="caption">THE HOUSE THAT CHARLOTTE VISITED.
+</p>
+
+
+
+
+<a name="V">&nbsp;</a>
+<p class="chapter">V.
+</p>
+
+<p class="head">
+LIFE AS A GOVERNESS.
+</p>
+
+
+<p>
+Moved by the hope of lightening the family expenses and enabling
+Branwell to get a thorough artistic training at the Royal Academy,
+Charlotte resolved to go out as a governess. Her first "place" was at
+her old school at Roehead, where she was with her friend, Miss Wooler,
+and where she was also very near the home of her confidante, Miss
+N&#8212;&#8212;. Emily went with her for a time, but she soon sickened and pined
+for the moors, and after a trial of but a few months she returned to
+Haworth. A great deal of sympathy has been bestowed upon the Bront&#235;s
+in connection with their lives as governesses; nor am I prepared to
+say that this sympathy is wholly misplaced. Their reserve, their
+affection for each other, their ignorance of the world, combined
+to make "the cup of life as it is mixed for the class termed
+governesses"&#8212;to use Charlotte's own phrase&#8212;particularly distasteful
+to them. But it is a mistake to suppose that they were treated with
+harshness during their governess life, or that Charlotte, at least,
+felt her trials to be at all unbearable. It was decidedly unpleasant
+to sacrifice the independence and the family companionship of Haworth
+for drudgery and loneliness in the household of a stranger; but it was
+a duty, and as such it was accepted without repining by two, at least,
+of the sisters. Emily's peculiar temperament made her quite unfitted
+for life among strangers; she made many attempts to overcome her
+reserve, but all were unavailing; and after a brief experience in one
+or two families in different parts of Yorkshire, she returned to
+Haworth to reside there permanently as her father's housekeeper. There
+is no need to dwell upon this episode in the lives of the Bront&#235;s.
+They were living among unfamiliar faces, and had little temptation to
+display themselves in their true characters, but extracts from a few
+of Charlotte's letters to her friends will show something of the
+course of her thought at this time. With the exception of a detached
+sentence or two these letters will be quite new to the readers of Mrs.
+Gaskell's "Life:"
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+I have been waiting for an opportunity of sending a letter to you as
+you wished; but as no such opportunity offers itself, I have at length
+determined to write to you by post, fearing that if I delayed any
+longer you would attribute my tardiness to indifference. I can scarcely
+realise the distance that lies between us, or the length of time which
+may elapse before we meet again. Now, Ellen, I have no news to tell
+you, no changes to communicate. My life since I saw you last has passed
+away as monotonously and unvaryingly as ever&#8212;nothing but teach,
+teach, teach, from morning till night. The greatest variety I ever have
+is afforded by a letter from you, a call from the T&#8212;&#8212;s, or
+by meeting with a pleasant new book. The "Life of Oberlin," and Legh
+Richmond's "Domestic Portraiture," are the last of this description I
+have perused. The latter work strongly attracted and strangely
+fascinated my attention. Beg, borrow, or steal it without delay, and
+read the "Memoir of Richmond." That short record of a brief and
+uneventful life I shall never forget. It is beautiful, not on account
+of the language in which it is written, not on account of the incidents
+it details, but because of the simple narration it gives of the life
+and death of a young, talented, sincere Christian. Get the book, Ellen
+(I wish I had it to give you), read it, and tell me what you think of
+it. Yesterday I heard that you had been ill since you were in London. I
+hope you are better now. Are you any happier than you were? Try to
+reconcile your mind to circumstances, and exert the quiet fortitude of
+which I know you are not destitute. Your absence leaves a sort of
+vacancy in my feelings which nothing has as yet offered of sufficient
+interest to supply. I do not forget ten o'clock. I remember it every
+night, and if a sincere petition for your welfare will do you any good
+you will be benefited. I know the Bible says: "The prayer of the
+<i>righteous</i> availeth much," and I am <i>not righteous</i>.
+Nevertheless I believe God despises no application that is uttered in
+sincerity. My own dear E&#8212;&#8212;, good-bye. I can write no more,
+for I am called to a less pleasant avocation.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">
+Dewsbury Moor, Oct. 2, 1836.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I should have written to you a week ago, but my time has of late been
+so wholly taken up that till now I have really not had an opportunity
+of answering your last letter. I assure you I feel the kindness of so
+early a reply to my tardy correspondence. It gave me a sting of
+self-reproach&#8230;. My sister Emily is gone into a situation as
+teacher in a large school of near forty pupils, near Halifax. I have
+had one letter from her since her departure. It gives an appalling
+account of her duties. Hard labour from six in the morning till near
+eleven at night, with only one half-hour of exercise between. This is
+slavery. I fear she will never stand it. It gives me sincere pleasure,
+my dear Ellen, to learn that you have at last found a few associates of
+congenial minds. I cannot conceive a life more dreary than that passed
+amidst sights, sounds, and companions all alien to the nature within
+us. From the tenor of your letters it seems that your mind remains
+fixed as it ever was, in no wise dazzled by novelty or warped by evil
+example. I am thankful for it. I could not help smiling at the
+paragraphs which related to &#8212;&#8212;. There was in them a touch
+of the genuine unworldly simplicity which forms part of your character.
+Ellen, depend upon it, all people have their dark side. Though some
+possess the power of throwing a fair veil over the defects, close
+acquaintance slowly removes the screen, and one by one the blots
+appear; till at last we see the pattern of perfection all slurred over
+with stains which even affection cannot efface.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+The affectionate commendations of her friend are constantly
+accompanied by references of a very different character to herself.
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+If I like people&#8212;she says in one of her letters&#8212;it is my
+nature to tell them so, and I am not afraid of offering incense to your
+vanity. It is from religion that you derive your chief charm, and may
+its influence always preserve you as pure, as unassuming, and as
+benevolent in thought and deed as you are now. What am I compared to
+you? I feel my own utter worthlessness when I make the comparison. I'm
+a very coarse, commonplace wretch! I have some qualities that make me
+very miserable, some feelings that you can have no participation
+in&#8212;that few, very few people in the world can at all understand.
+I don't pride myself on these peculiarities. I strive to conceal and
+suppress them as much as I can, but they burst out sometimes, and then
+those who see the explosion despise me, and I hate myself for days
+afterwards. </p>
+
+<p> All my notes to you, Ellen, are written in a hurry. I am now
+snatching an opportunity. Mr. J&#8212;&#8212; is here; by his means it
+will be transmitted to Miss E&#8212;&#8212;, by her means to
+X&#8212;&#8212;, by his means to you. I do not blame you for not coming
+to see me. I am sure you have been prevented by sufficient reasons; but
+I do long to see you, and I hope I shall be gratified momentarily, at
+least, ere long. Next Friday, if all be well, I shall go to
+G&#8212;&#8212;. On Sunday I hope I shall at least catch a glimpse of
+you. Week after week I have lived on the expectation of your coming.
+Week after week I have been disappointed. I have not regretted what I
+said in my last note to you. The confession was wrung from me by
+sympathy and kindness, such as I can never be sufficiently thankful
+for. I feel in a strange state of mind; still gloomy, but not
+despairing. I keep trying to do right, checking wrong feelings;
+repressing wrong thoughts&#8212;but still, every instant I find myself
+going astray. I have a constant tendency to scorn people who are far
+better than I am. A horror at the idea of becoming one of a certain
+set&#8212;a dread lest if I made the slightest profession I should sink
+at once into Phariseeism, merge wholly in the ranks of the
+self-righteous. In writing at this moment I feel an irksome disgust at
+the idea of using a single phrase that sounds like religious cant. I
+abhor myself; I despise myself. If the doctrine of Calvin be true, I am
+already an outcast. You cannot imagine how hard, rebellious, and
+intractable all my feelings are. When I begin to study on the subject I
+almost grow blasphemous, atheistical in my sentiments. Don't desert
+me&#8212;don't be horrified at me. You know what I am. I wish I could
+see you, my darling. I have lavished the warmest affections of a very
+hot, tenacious heart upon you. If you grow cold it is over. </p>
+
+<p> You will excuse a very brief and meagre answer to your kind note
+when I tell you that at the moment it reached me, and that just now
+whilst I am scribbling a reply, the whole house is in the bustle of
+packing and preparation, for on this day we all <i>go home</i>. Your
+palliation of my defects is kind and charitable, but I dare not trust
+its truth. Few would regard them with so lenient an eye as you do. Your
+consolatory admonitions are kind, Ellen; and when I can read them over
+in quietness and alone, I trust I shall derive comfort from them. But
+just now, in the unsettled, excited state of mind which I now feel, I
+cannot enter into the pure scriptural spirit which they breathe. It
+would be wrong of me to continue the subject. My thoughts are
+distracted and absorbed by other ideas. You do not mention your visit
+to Haworth. Have you spoken of it to the family? Have they agreed to
+let you come? But I will write when I get home. Ever since last Friday
+I have been as busy as I could be in finishing up the half-year's
+lessons, which concluded with a terrible fog in geographical problems
+(think of explaining that to Misses &#8212;&#8212; and
+&#8212;&#8212;!), and subsequently in mending Miss &#8212;&#8212;'s
+clothes. Miss &#8212;&#8212; is calling me: something about my
+<i>prot&#233;g&#233;e's</i> nightcap. Good-bye. We shall meet again ere
+many days, I trust.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+Here it will be seen that the religious struggle was renewed. The
+woman who was afterwards to be accused of "heathenism" was going
+through tortures such as Cowper knew in his darkest hours, and, like
+him, was acquiring faith, humility, and resignation in the midst of
+the conflict. But such letters as this are only episodical; in general
+she writes cheerfully, sometimes even merrily.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><a name="school"><img src="images/004.jpg" alt="THE ROE HEAD SCHOOL" width="496" height="441"></a></div>
+<p class="caption">THE ROE HEAD SCHOOL.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+What would the <i>Quarterly</i> reviewer and the other charitable
+people, who openly declared their conviction that the author of "Jane
+Eyre" was an improper person, who had written an improper book, have
+said had they been told that she had written the following letter on
+the subject of her first offer of marriage&#8212;written it, too, at the
+time when she was a governess, and in spite of the fact that the offer
+opened up to her a way of escape from all anxiety as to her future
+life?
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+You ask me whether I have received a letter from T&#8212;&#8212;. I
+have about a week since. The contents I confess did a little surprise
+me; but I kept them to myself, and unless you had questioned me on the
+subject I would never have adverted to it. T&#8212;&#8212; says he is
+comfortably settled at &#8212;&#8212;, and that his health is much
+improved. He then intimates that in due time he will want a wife, and
+frankly asks me to be that wife. Altogether the letter is written
+without cant or flattery, and in common-sense style which does credit
+to his judgment. Now there were in this proposal some things that might
+have proved a strong temptation. I thought if I were to marry so
+&#8212;&#8212; could live with me, and how happy I should be. But again
+I asked myself two questions: Do I love T&#8212;&#8212; as much as a
+woman ought to love her husband? Am I the person best qualified to make
+him happy? Alas! my conscience answered "No" to both these questions. I
+felt that though I esteemed T&#8212;&#8212;, though I had a kindly
+leaning towards him, because he is an amiable, well-disposed man, yet I
+had not and never could have that intense attachment which would make
+me willing to die for him&#8212;and if ever I marry it must be in that
+light of adoration that I will regard my husband. Ten to one I shall
+never have the chance again; but <i>n'importe</i>. Moreover, I was
+aware he knew so little of me he could hardly be conscious to whom he
+was writing. Why, it would startle him to see me in my natural home
+character. He would think I was a wild, romantic enthusiast indeed. I
+could not sit all day long making a grave face before my husband. I
+would laugh and satirise, and say whatever came into my head first; and
+if he were a clever man and loved me, the whole world weighed in the
+balance against his smallest wish would be light as air. Could I,
+knowing my mind to be such as that, conscientiously say that I would
+take a grave, quiet young man like T&#8212;&#8212;? No; it would have
+been deceiving him, and deception of that sort is beneath me. So I
+wrote a long letter back in which I expressed my refusal as gently as I
+could, and also candidly avowed my reasons for that refusal. I
+described to him, too, the sort of character I thought would suit him
+for a wife.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+The girl who could thus calmly decline a more than merely "eligible"
+offer, and thus honestly state her reasons for doing so to the friend
+she trusted, was strangely different from the author of "Jane Eyre"
+pictured by the critics and the public. Perhaps the full cost of the
+refusal related in the foregoing letter is only made clear when it is
+brought into contrast with such a confession as the following, made
+very soon afterwards:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+I am miserable when I allow myself to dwell on the necessity of
+spending my life as a governess. The chief requisite for that station
+seems to me to be the power of taking things easily when they come, and
+of making oneself comfortable and at home wherever one may chance to
+be&#8212;qualities in which all our family are singularly deficient. I
+know I cannot live with a person like Mrs. &#8212;&#8212;; but I hope
+all women are not like her, and my motto is "Try again."
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+How thoroughly at all times she could sympathise alike with the joys
+and sorrows of others, is proved by many letters extending over the
+whole period of her life. The following is neither the earliest nor
+the most characteristic of those utterances of a tender and heartfelt
+sympathy with her special friend, which are to be found in her
+correspondence, but as Mrs. Gaskell has not made use of it, I may
+quote it here:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p class="ralign">
+1838.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We were at breakfast when your note reached me, and I consequently
+write in great hurry. Your trials seem to thicken. I trust God will
+either remove them or give you strength to bear them. If I could but
+come to you and offer you all the little assistance either my head or
+hands could afford! But that is impossible. I scarcely dare offer to
+comfort you about &#8212;&#8212; lest my consolation should seem like
+mockery. I know that in cases of sickness strangers cannot measure what
+relations feel. One thing, however, I need not remind <i>you</i> of.
+You will have repeated it over and over to yourself before now: God
+does all for the best; and even should the worst happen, and Death seem
+finally to destroy hope, remember that this will be but a practical
+test of the strong faith and calm devotion which have marked you a
+Christian so long. I would hope, however, that the time for this test
+is not yet come, that your brother may recover, and all be well. It
+grieves me to hear that your own health is so indifferent. Once more I
+wish I were with you to lighten at least by sympathy the burden that
+seems so unsparingly laid upon you. Let me thank you for remembering me
+in the midst of such hurry and affliction. We are all apt to grow
+selfish in distress. This, so far as I have found, is not your case.
+<i>When</i> shall I see you again? The uncertainty in which the answer
+to that question must be involved gives me a bitter feeling. Through
+all changes, through all chances, I trust I shall love you as I do now.
+We can pray for each other and think of each other. Distance is no bar
+to recollection. You have promised to write to me, and I do not doubt
+that you will keep your word. Give my love to M&#8212;&#8212; and your
+mother. Take with you my blessing and affection, and all the warmest
+wishes of a warm heart for your welfare.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+From one of her situations as governess in a private family (she had
+long since left the kind shelter of Miss Wooler's house) she writes in
+1841 a series of letters showing how little she relished the "cup of
+life as it is mixed for the class termed governesses."
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+It is twelve o'clock at night; but I must just write you a word before
+I go to bed. If you think I'm going to refuse your invitation, or if
+you sent it me with that idea, you're mistaken. As soon as I had read
+your shabby little note, I gathered up my spirits directly, walked on
+the impulse of the moment into Mrs. &#8212;&#8212;'s presence, popped
+the question, and for two minutes received no answer. "Will she refuse
+me when I work so hard for her?" thought I. "Ye&#8212;e&#8212;es,"
+drawled madam in a reluctant, cold tone. "Thank you, madam!" said I
+with extreme cordiality, and was marching from the room when she
+recalled me with "You'd better go on Saturday afternoon, then, when the
+children have holiday, and if you return in time for them to have all
+their lessons on Monday morning, I don't see that much will be lost."
+You <i>are</i> a genuine Turk, thought I; but again I assented, and so
+the bargain was struck. Saturday after next, then, is the day
+appointed. I'll come, God knows, with a thankful and joyful heart, glad
+of a day's reprieve from labour. If you don't send the gig I'll walk. I
+am coming to taste the pleasure of liberty; a bit of pleasant congenial
+talk, and a sight of two or three faces I like. God bless you! I want
+to see you again. Huzza for Saturday afternoon after next! Good-night,
+my lass! </p>
+
+<p> &nbsp; </p>
+
+<p> During the last three weeks that hideous operation called "a
+thorough clean" has been going on in the house. It is now nearly
+completed, for which I thank my stars, as during its progress I have
+fulfilled the double character of nurse and governess, while the nurse
+has been transmuted into cook and housemaid. That nurse, by-the-bye, is
+the prettiest lass you ever saw&#8230;. I was beginning to think Mrs.
+&#8212;&#8212; a good sort of body in spite of her bouncing and
+toasting, her bad grammar and worse orthography; but I have had
+experience of one little trait in her character which condemns her a
+long way with me. After treating a person on the most familiar terms of
+equality for a long time, if any little thing goes wrong, she does not
+scruple to give way to anger in a very coarse, unladylike manner,
+though in justice no blame could be attached where she ascribed it all.
+I think passion is the true test of vulgarity or refinement. This place
+looks exquisitely beautiful just now. The grounds are certainly lovely,
+and all as green as an emerald. I wish you would just come and look at
+it.
+</p></div>
+
+
+
+
+<a name="VI">&nbsp;</a>
+<p class="chapter">VI.
+</p>
+
+<p class="head">
+THE TURNING-POINT.
+</p>
+
+
+<p>
+The "storm and stress" period of Charlotte Bront&#235;'s life was not what
+the world believes it to have been. Like the rest of our race, she had
+to fight her own battle in the wilderness, not with one devil, but
+with many; and it was this sharp contest with the temptations which
+crowd the threshold of an opening life which made her what she was.
+The world believes that it was under the parsonage roof that the
+author of "Jane Eyre" gathered up the precious experiences which were
+afterwards turned to such good account. Mrs. Gaskell, who was carried
+away by her honest womanly horror of hardened vice, gives us to
+understand that the tragic turning-point in the history of the sisters
+was connected with the disgrace and ruin of their brother. We are even
+asked to believe that but for the folly of a single woman, whom it is
+probable that Charlotte never saw, "Currer Bell" would never have
+taken up her pen, and no halo of glory would have settled on the
+scarred and rugged brows of prosaic Haworth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is not so. There may be disappointment among those who have been
+nurtured on the traditions of the Bront&#235; romance when they find that
+the reality is different from what they supposed it to be; some
+shallow judges may even assume that Charlotte herself loses in moral
+stature when it is shown that it was not her horror at her brother's
+fall which drove her to find relief in literary speech. But the truth
+must be told; and for my part I see nothing in that truth which
+affects, even in an infinitesimal degree, the fame and the honour of
+the woman of whom I write.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was Charlotte's visit to Brussels, then, first as pupil and
+afterwards as teacher in the school of Madame H&#233;ger, which was the
+turning-point in her life, which changed its currents, and gave to it
+a new purpose and a new meaning. Up to the moment of that visit she
+had been the simple, kindly, truthful Yorkshire girl, endowed with
+strange faculties, carried away at times by burning impulses, moved
+often by emotions the nature of which she could not fathom, but always
+hemmed in by her narrow experiences, her limited knowledge of life and
+the world. Until she went to Belgium, her sorest troubles had been
+associated with her dislike to the society of strangers, her heaviest
+burden had been the necessity under which she lay of tasting that "cup
+of life as it is mixed for governesses" which she detested so
+heartily. Under the belief that they could qualify themselves to keep
+a school of their own if they had once mastered the delicacies of the
+French and German languages, she and Emily set off for this sojourn in
+Brussels.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One may be forgiven for speculating as to her future lot had she
+accepted the offer of marriage she received in her early governess
+days, and settled down as the faithful wife of a sober English
+gentleman. In that case "Shirley" perhaps might have been written, but
+"Jane Eyre" and "Villette" never. She learnt much during her two
+years' sojourn in the Belgian capital; but the greatest of all the
+lessons she mastered whilst there was that self-knowledge the taste of
+which is so bitter to the mouth, though so wholesome to the life. Mrs.
+Gaskell has made such ample use of the letters she penned during the
+long months which she spent as an exile from England, that there is
+comparatively little left to cull from them. Everybody knows the
+outward circumstances of her story at this time. For a brief period
+she had the company of Emily; and the two sisters, working together
+with the unremitting zeal of those who have learned that time is
+money, were happy and hopeful, enjoying the novel sights of the gay
+foreign capital, gathering fresh experiences every day, and looking
+forward to the moment when they would return to familiar Haworth, and
+realise the dream of their lives by opening a school of their own
+within the walls of the parsonage. But then Emily left, and Charlotte,
+after a brief holiday at home, returned alone. Years after, writing to
+her friend, she speaks of her return in these words: "I returned to
+Brussels after aunt's death against my conscience, prompted by what
+then seemed an irresistible impulse. I was punished for my selfish
+folly by a total withdrawal for more than two years of happiness and
+peace of mind." Why did she thus go back "against her conscience?" Her
+friends declared that her future husband dwelt somewhere within sound
+of the chimes of St. Gudule, and that she insisted upon returning to
+Brussels because she was about to be married there. We know now how
+different was the reality. The husband who awaited her was even then
+about to begin his long apprenticeship of love at Haworth. Yet none
+the less had her spirit, if not her heart, been captured and held
+captive in the Belgian city. It is not in her letters that we find the
+truth regarding her life at this time. The truth indeed is there, but
+not all the truth. "In catalepsy and dread trance," says Lucy Snowe,
+"I studiously held the quick of my nature&#8230;. It is on the surface
+only the common gaze will fall." The secrets of her inner life could
+not be trusted to paper, even though the lines were intended for no
+eyes but those of her friend and confidante. There are some things, as
+we know well, that the heart hides as by instinct, and which even
+frank and open natures only reveal under compulsion. Writing to her
+friend from Brussels in October, 1843, she says: "I have much to say,
+Ellen; many little odd things, queer and puzzling enough, which I do
+not like to trust to a letter, but which one day, perhaps, or rather
+one evening, if ever we should find ourselves again by the fireside at
+Haworth, or at B&#8212;&#8212;, with our feet on the fender, curling our hair, I
+may communicate to you." One of the hardest features of the last year
+she spent at Brussels was the necessity she was under of locking all
+the deepest emotions of her life within her own breast, of preserving
+the calm and even cold exterior, which should tell nothing to the
+common gaze, above the troubled, fevered heart that beat within.
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+When do you think I shall see you?&#8212;she cries to her friend within
+a few days of her final return to Haworth&#8212;I have, of course, much
+to tell you, and I dare say you have much also to tell me&#8212;things
+which we should neither of us wish to commit to paper&#8230;. I do not
+know whether you feel as I do, but there are times now when it appears
+to me as if all my ideas and feelings, except a few friendships and
+affections, are changed from what they used to be. Something in me
+which used to be enthusiasm is tamed down and broken. I have fewer
+illusions. What I wish for now is active exertion&#8212;a stake in
+life. Haworth seems such a lonely, quiet spot, buried away from the
+world. I no longer regard myself as young; indeed, I shall soon be
+twenty-eight, and it seems as if I ought to be working and braving the
+rough realities of the world, as other people do. It is, however, my
+duty to restrain this feeling at present, and I will endeavour to do
+so.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+Yes; she was "disillusioned" now, and she had brought back from
+Brussels a heart which could never be quite so light, a spirit which
+could never again soar so buoyantly, as in those earlier years when
+the tree of knowledge was still untasted, and the mystery of life
+still unrevealed. This stay in Belgium was, as I have said, the
+turning-point in Charlotte Bront&#235;'s career, and its true history and
+meaning is to be found, not in her "Life" and letters, but in
+"Villette," the master-work of her mind, and the revelation of the
+most vivid passages in her own heart's history. "I said I disliked
+Lucy Snowe," is a remark which Mrs. Gaskell innocently repeats in her
+memoir of Charlotte Bront&#235;. One need not be surprised at it. Lucy
+Snowe was never meant to be liked&#8212;by everybody; but none the less is
+Lucy Snowe the truest picture we possess of the real Charlotte Bront&#235;;
+whilst not a few of the fortunes which befell this strange heroine are
+literal transcripts from the life of her creator. One little incident
+in "Villette"&#8212;Lucy's impulsive visit to a Roman Catholic
+confessor&#8212;is taken direct from Charlotte's own experience. During one
+of the long lonely holidays in the foreign school, when her mind was
+restless and disturbed, her heart heavy, her nerves jarred and
+jangled, she fled from the great empty schoolrooms to seek peace in
+the street; and she found, not peace perhaps, but sympathy at least,
+in the counsels of a priest, seated at the Confessional in a church
+into which she wandered, who took pity on the little heretic, and
+soothed her troubled spirit without attempting to enmesh it in the
+folds of Romanism. It was from experiences such as these, with a
+chastened heart and a nature tamed down, though by no means broken,
+that she returned to familiar Haworth, to face "the rough realities of
+the world."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Rough, indeed, those realities were in her case. Her brother, once the
+hope of the family, had now become its burden and its curse; and from
+that moment he was to be the prodigal for whom no fatted calf would
+ever be killed. Her father was fast losing his eyesight; she and her
+sisters were getting on in life, and "something must be done."
+Charlotte had returned home, but her heart was still in Brussels, and
+the wings of her spirit began to beat impatiently against the cage in
+which she found herself imprisoned. It was only the old story. She had
+gone out into the world, had tasted strange joys, and drunk deep of
+waters the very bitterness of which seemed to endear them to her.
+Returning to Haworth she went back a new woman, with tastes and hopes
+which it was hard to reconcile with the monotony of life in the
+parsonage which had once satisfied her completely.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"If I <i>could</i> leave home I should not be at Haworth," she says
+soon after her return. "I know life is passing away, and I am doing
+nothing, earning nothing; a very bitter knowledge it is at moments,
+but I see no way out of the mist." And then, almost for the first time
+in her life, something like a cry of despair goes up from her lips:
+"Probably, when I am free to leave home, I shall neither be able to
+find place nor employment. Perhaps, too, I shall be quite past the
+prime of life, my faculties will be wasted, and my few acquirements in
+a great measure forgotten. These ideas sting me keenly sometimes; but
+whenever I consult my conscience, it affirms that I am doing right in
+staying at home, and bitter are its upbraidings when I yield to an
+eager desire for release."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But this outburst of personal feeling was exceptional, and was uttered
+in one ear only. Within the walls of her home Charlotte again became
+the house-mother, busying herself with homely cares, and ever watching
+for some opportunity of carrying her plan of school-keeping into
+execution. Nor did she allow either the troubles at home, or that
+weight at her own heart which she bore in secrecy, to render her
+spirit morbid and melancholy. Not a few who have read Mrs. Gaskell's
+work labour under the belief that this was the effect that Charlotte
+Bront&#235;'s trials had upon her. As a matter of fact, however, she was
+far too strong, brave, cheerful&#8212;one had almost said manly&#8212;to give
+way to any such selfish repinings. She never was one of those sickly
+souls who go about "glooming over the woes of existence, and how
+unworthy God's universe is to have so distinguished a resident." Even
+when her own sorrows were deepest, and her lot seemed hardest, she
+found a lively pleasure in discussing the characters and lots of
+others, and expended as much pains and time in analysing the inner
+lives of her friends as our sham Byrons are wont to expend upon the
+study of their own feelings and emotions. Indeed, of that self-pity
+which is so common a characteristic of the young, no trace is to be
+found in her correspondence. Let the following letter, hitherto
+unpublished, written at the very time when the household clouds were
+blackest, speak for her freedom from morbid self-consciousness, as
+well as for her hearty interest in the well-being of those around her:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+You are a very good girl indeed to send me such a long and interesting
+letter. In all that account of the young lady and gentleman in the
+railway carriage I recognise your faculty for observation, which is a
+rarer gift than you imagine. You ought to be thankful for it. I never
+yet met with an individual devoid of observation whose conversation was
+interesting, nor with one possessed of that power in whose society I
+could not manage to pass a pleasant hour. I was amused with your
+allusions to individuals at &#8212;&#8212;. I have little doubt of the
+truth of the report you mention about Mr. Z&#8212;&#8212; paying
+assiduous attention to &#8212;&#8212;. Whether it will ever come to a
+match is another thing. <i>Money</i> would decide that point, as it
+does most others of a similar nature. You are perfectly right in saying
+that Mr. Z&#8212;&#8212; is more influenced by opinion than he himself
+suspects. I saw his lordship in a new light last time I was at
+&#8212;&#8212;. Sometimes I could scarcely believe my ears when I heard
+the stress he laid on wealth, appearance, family, and all those
+advantages which are the idols of the world. His conversation on
+marriage (and he talked much about it) differed in no degree from that
+of any hackneyed fortune-hunter, except that with his own peculiar and
+native audacity he avowed views and principles which more timid
+individuals conceal. Of course I raised no argument against anything he
+said. I listened, and laughed inwardly to think how indignant I should
+have been eight years since if anyone had accused Z&#8212;&#8212; of
+being a worshipper of Mammon and of Interest. Indeed, I still believe
+that the Z&#8212;&#8212; of ten years ago is not the Z&#8212;&#8212; of
+to-day. The world, with its hardness and selfishness, has utterly
+changed him. He thinks himself grown wiser than the wisest. In a
+worldly sense he is wise. His feelings have gone through a process of
+petrifaction which will prevent them from ever warring against his
+interest; but Ichabod! all glory of principle, and much elevation of
+character are gone! I learnt another thing. Fear the smooth side of
+Z&#8212;&#8212;'s tongue more than the rough side. He has the art of
+paying peppery little compliments, which he seems to bring out with a
+sort of difficulty, as if he were not used to that kind of thing, and
+did it rather against his will than otherwise. These compliments you
+feel disposed to value on account of their seeming rarity. Fudge! They
+are at any one's disposal, and are confessedly hollow blarney.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+Still more significant, however, is the following letter, showing so
+kindly and careful an interest in the welfare of the friend to whom it
+is addressed, even whilst it bears the bitter tidings of a great
+household sorrow:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p class="ralign">
+July 31, 1845.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was glad to get your little packet. It was quite a treasure of
+interest to me. I think the intelligence about G&#8212;&#8212; is
+cheering. I have read the lines to Miss &#8212;&#8212;. They are
+expressive of the affectionate feelings of his nature, and are
+poetical, insomuch as they are true. Faults in expression, rhythm,
+metre, were of course to be expected. All you say about Mr.
+&#8212;&#8212; amused me much. Still, I cannot put out of my mind one
+fear, viz. that you should think too much about him. Faulty as he is,
+and as you know him to be, he has still certain qualities which might
+create an interest in your mind before you were aware. He has the art
+of impressing ladies by something involuntary in his look and manner,
+exciting in them the notion that he cares for them, while his words and
+actions are all careless, inattentive, and quite uncompromising for
+himself. It is only men who have seen much of life and of the world,
+and who are become in a measure indifferent to female attractions, that
+possess this art. So be on your guard. These are not pleasant or
+flattering words, but they are the words of one who has known you long
+enough to be indifferent about being temporarily disagreeable, provided
+she can be permanently useful. </p>
+
+<p> I got home very well. There was a gentleman in the railroad
+carriage whom I recognised by his features immediately as a foreigner
+and a Frenchman. So sure was I of it that I ventured to say to him,
+"<i>Monsieur est fran&#231;ais, n'est-ce pas</i>?" He gave a start of
+surprise, and answered immediately in his own tongue. He appeared still
+more astonished and even puzzled when, after a few minutes' further
+conversation, I inquired if he had not passed the greater part of his
+life in Germany. He said the surmise was correct. I guessed it from his
+speaking French with the German accent. </p>
+
+<p> It was ten o'clock at night when I got home. I found Branwell ill.
+He is so very often, owing to his own fault. I was not therefore
+shocked at first. But when Anne informed me of the immediate cause of
+his present illness I was very greatly shocked. He had last Thursday
+received a note from Mr. &#8212;&#8212; sternly dismissing him&#8230;.
+We have had sad work with him since. He thought of nothing but stunning
+or drowning his distressed mind. No one in the house could have rest,
+and at last we have been obliged to send him from home for a week with
+someone to look after him. He has written to me this morning, and
+expresses some sense of contrition for his frantic folly. He promises
+amendment on his return, but so long as he remains at home I scarce
+dare hope for peace in the house. We must all, I fear, prepare for a
+season of distress and disquietude. I cannot now ask Miss
+&#8212;&#8212; or anyone else.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+The gloom in the household deepened; but Charlotte was still strong
+enough and brave enough to meet the world, to retain her accustomed
+interest in her friends, and to discuss as of yore the characters and
+lives of those around her. Curious are the glimpses one gets of her
+circle of acquaintances at this time. Little did many of those with
+whom she was brought in contact think of the keen eyes which were
+gazing out at them from under the prominent forehead of the parson's
+daughter. Yet not the least interesting feature of her correspondence
+is the evidence it affords that she was gradually gaining that
+knowledge of character which was afterwards to be lavished upon her
+books. A string of extracts from letters hitherto unpublished will
+suffice to show how the current of her life and thoughts ran in those
+days of domestic darkness, whilst the dawn of her fame was still
+hidden in the blackest hour of the night:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+I have just read M&#8212;&#8212;'s letters. They are very interesting,
+and show the original and vigorous cast of her mind. There is but one
+thing I could wish otherwise in them, and that is a certain tendency to
+flightiness. It is not safe, it is not wise; and will often cause her
+to be misconstrued. Perhaps <i>flightiness</i> is not the right word;
+but it is a devil-may-care tone, which I do not like when it proceeds
+from under a hat, and still less from under a bonnet. </p>
+
+<p> I return you Miss &#8212;&#8212;'s notes with thanks. I always like
+to read them. They appear to me so true an index of an amiable mind,
+and one not too conscious of its own worth. Beware of awakening in her
+this consciousness by undue praise. It is a privilege of
+simple-hearted, sensible, but not brilliant people that they can
+<i>be</i> and <i>do</i> good without comparing their own thoughts and
+actions too closely with those of other people, and thence drawing
+strong food for self-appreciation. Talented people almost always know
+full well the excellence that is in them&#8230;. You ask me if we are
+more comfortable. I wish I could say anything favourable; but how can
+we be more comfortable so long as Branwell stays at home and
+degenerates instead of improving? It has been lately intimated to him
+that he would be received again on the same railroad where he was
+formerly stationed if he would behave more steadily, but he refuses to
+make an effort. He will not work, and at home he is a drain on every
+resource, an impediment to all happiness. But there's no use in
+complaining. </p>
+
+<p> I thank you again for your last letter, which I found as full or
+fuller of interest than either of the preceding ones&#8212;it is just
+written as I wish you to write to me&#8212;not a detail too much. A
+correspondence of that sort is the next best thing to actual
+conversation, though it must be allowed that between the two there is a
+wide gulf still. I imagine your face, voice, presence very plainly when
+I read your letters. Still imagination is not reality, and when I
+return them to their envelope and put them by in my desk I feel the
+difference sensibly enough. My curiosity is a little piqued about that
+countess you mention. What is her name? you have not yet given it. I
+cannot decide from what you say whether she is really clever or only
+eccentric. The two sometimes go together, but are often seen apart. I
+generally feel inclined to fight very shy of eccentricity, and have no
+small horror of being thought eccentric myself, by which observation I
+don't mean to insinuate that I class myself under the head clever. God
+knows a more consummate ass in sundry important points has seldom
+browsed the green herb of His bounties than I. O Lord, Nell, I'm in
+danger sometimes of falling into self-weariness. I used to say and to
+think in former times that X&#8212;&#8212; would certainly be married.
+I am not so sanguine on that point now. It will never suit her to
+accept a husband she cannot love, or at least respect, and it appears
+there are many chances against her meeting with such a one under
+favourable circumstances; besides, from all I can hear and see, money
+seems to be regarded as almost the Alpha and Omega of requisites in a
+wife. Well, if she is destined to be an old maid I don't think she will
+be a repining one. I think she will find resources in her own mind and
+disposition which will help her to get on. As to society, I don't
+understand much about it, but from the few glimpses I have had of its
+machinery it seems to me to be a very strange, complicated affair
+indeed, wherein nature is turned upside down. Your well-bred people
+appear to me, figuratively speaking, to walk on their heads, to see
+everything the wrong way up&#8212;a lie is with them truth, truth a
+lie, eternal and tedious botheration is their notion of happiness,
+sensible pursuits their <i>ennui</i>. But this may be only the view
+ignorance takes of what it cannot understand. I refrain from judging
+them, therefore, but if I were called upon to <i>swop</i>&#8212;you
+know the word, I suppose&#8212;to swop tastes and ideas and feelings
+with &#8212;&#8212;, for instance, I should prefer walking into a good
+Yorkshire kitchen fire and concluding the bargain at once by an act of
+voluntary combustion. </p>
+
+<p> I shall scribble you a short note about nothing, just to have a
+pretext for screwing a letter out of you in return. I was sorry you did
+not go to W&#8212;&#8212;, firstly, because you lost the pleasure of
+observation and enjoyment; and secondly, because I lost the second-hand
+indulgence of hearing your account of what you had seen. I laughed at
+the candour with which you give your reason for wishing to be there.
+Thou hast an honest soul as ever animated human carcase, and a clean
+one, for it is not ashamed of showing its inmost recesses: only be
+careful with whom you are frank. Some would not rightly appreciate the
+value of your frankness, and never cast pearls before swine. You are
+quite right in wishing to look well in the eyes of those whom you
+desire to please. It is natural to desire to appear to advantage
+(<i>honest</i> not <i>false</i> advantage of course) before people we
+respect. Long may the power and the inclination to do so be spared you;
+long may you look young and handsome enough to dress in white; and long
+may you have a right to feel the consciousness that you look agreeable.
+I know you have too much judgment to let an over-dose of vanity spoil
+the blessing and turn it into a misfortune. After all though, age will
+come on, and it is well you have something better than a nice face for
+friends to turn to when that is changed. I hope this excessively cold
+weather has not harmed you or <i>yours</i> much. It has nipped me
+severely&#8212;taken away my appetite for a while, and given me
+toothache; in short put me in the ailing condition in which I have more
+than once had the honour of making myself such a nuisance both at
+B&#8212;&#8212; and &#8212;&#8212;. The consequence is that at this
+present speaking I look almost old enough to be your mother&#8212;gray,
+sunk, and withered. To-day, however, it is milder, and I hope soon to
+feel better; indeed, I am not <i>ill</i> now, and my toothache is quite
+subsided; but I experience a loss of strength and a deficiency of
+spirit which would make me a sorry companion to you or anyone else. I
+would not be on a visit now for a large sum of money.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">
+June, 1846.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I hope all the mournful contingencies of death are by this time removed
+from &#8212;&#8212;, and that some little sense of relief is beginning
+to be experienced by its wearied inmates. &#8212;&#8212; suffered
+greatly, I make no doubt; and I trust, and even believe, that his long
+sufferings on earth will be taken as sufficient expiation for his
+errors. One shudders for him, but it is his relations&#8212;his mother
+and sisters&#8212;whom I truly and permanently pity.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">
+July 10th, 1846.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class="sc">Dear Ellen</span>,&#8212;Who gravely asked you whether
+Miss Bront&#235; was not going to be married to &#8212;&#8212;? I
+scarcely need say that there never was rumour more unfounded. It
+puzzles me to think how it could possibly have originated. A cold,
+far-away sort of civility, are the only terms on which I have ever been
+with Mr. &#8212;&#8212;. I could by no means think of mentioning such a
+rumour to him, even as a joke. It would make me the laughing-stock of
+himself and his fellow-curates, for half a year to come. They regard me
+as an old maid; and I regard them, one and all, as highly
+uninteresting, narrow, and unattractive specimens of the "coarser sex."
+</p></div>
+
+
+
+
+<a name="VII">&nbsp;</a>
+<p class="chapter">VII.
+</p>
+
+<p class="head">
+AUTHORSHIP AND BEREAVEMENT.
+</p>
+
+
+<p>
+The reader has seen that it was not the degradation of Branwell Bront&#235;
+which formed the turning-point in Charlotte's life. Mrs. Gaskell,
+anxious to support her own conception of what <i>should have been</i>
+Charlotte's feelings with regard to her brother's ruin, has scarcely
+done justice either to herself or to her heroine. Thus she makes use
+of a passage in one of the letters quoted in the foregoing chapter,
+but in doing so omits what are perhaps the most characteristic words
+in it. "He" (Branwell) "has written this morning expressing some sense
+of contrition; &#8230; but as long as he remains at home I scarce dare
+hope for peace in the house." This is the form in which the passage
+appears in the "Biography," whereas Charlotte had written of her
+brother's having expressed "contrition for his frantic folly," and of
+his having "promised amendment on his return." Mrs. Gaskell could not
+bring herself to speak of such flagrant sins as those of which young
+Bront&#235; had been guilty under the name of "folly," nor could she
+conceive that there was any possibility of amendment on the part of
+one who had fallen so low in vice. Moreover, one of her objects was to
+punish those who had shared the lad's misconduct, and to whom she
+openly attributed not only his ruin but the premature deaths of his
+sisters. Thus she felt compelled to take throughout her book a far
+deeper and more tragic view of this miserable episode in the Bront&#235;
+story than Charlotte herself took. Having read all her letters written
+at this period of her life to her two most confidential friends, I am
+justified in saying that the impression produced on Charlotte by
+Branwell's degrading fall was not so deep as that which was produced
+on Mrs. Gaskell, who never saw young Bront&#235;, by the mere recital of
+the story. Yet Charlotte, though too brave, healthy, and reasonable in
+all things to be utterly weighed down by the fact that her brother had
+fallen a victim to loathsome vice, was far from being insensible to
+the sadness and shamefulness of his condition. What she thought of it
+she has herself told the world in the story of "The Professor" (p.
+198):
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+Limited as had yet been my experience of life, I had once had the
+opportunity of contemplating near at hand an example of the results
+produced by a course of interesting and romantic domestic treachery. No
+golden halo of fiction was about this example; I saw it bare and real,
+and it was very loathsome. I saw a mind degraded by the practice of
+mean subterfuge, by the habit of perfidious deception, and a body
+depraved by the infectious influence of the vice-polluted soul. I had
+suffered much from the forced and prolonged view of this spectacle;
+those sufferings I did not now regret, for their simple recollection
+acted as a most wholesome antidote to temptation. They had inscribed on
+my reason the conviction that unlawful pleasure, trenching on another's
+rights, is delusive and envenomed pleasure&#8212;its hollowness
+disappoints at the time, its poison cruelly tortures afterwards, its
+effects deprave for ever.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+Upon the gentle and sensitive mind of Anne Bront&#235; the effect of
+Branwell's fall was such as Mrs. Gaskell depicts. She was literally
+broken down by the grief she suffered in seeing her brother's ruin;
+but Charlotte and Emily were of stronger fibre than their sister, and
+their predominant feeling, as expressed in their letters, is one of
+sheer disgust at their brother's weakness, and of indignation against
+all who had in any way assisted in his downfall. This may not be
+consistent with the popular conception of Charlotte's character, but
+it is strictly true.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+We must then dismiss from our minds the notion that the brother's fate
+exercised that paramount influence over the sisters' lives which seems
+to be believed. Yet, as we have seen, there was a very strong though
+hidden influence working in Charlotte during those years in which
+their home was darkened by Branwell's presence. Her yearning for
+Brussels and the life that now seemed like a vanished dream, continued
+almost as strong as ever. At Haworth everything was dull, commonplace,
+monotonous. The school-keeping scheme had failed; poverty and
+obscurity seemed henceforth to be the appointed lot of all the
+sisters. Even the source of intercourse with friends was almost
+entirely cut off; for Charlotte could not bear the shame of exposing
+the prodigal of the family to the gaze of strangers. It was at this
+time, and in the mood described in the letters quoted in the preceding
+chapter, that she took up her pen, and sought to escape from the
+narrow and sordid cares which environed her by a flight into the
+region of poetry. She had been accustomed from childhood to write
+verses, few of which as yet had passed the limits of mediocrity. Now,
+with all that heart-history through which she had passed at Brussels
+weighing upon her, she began to write again, moved by a stronger
+impulse, stirred by deeper thoughts than any she had known before. In
+this secret exercise of her faculties she found relief and enjoyment;
+her letters to her friend showed that her mind was regaining its tone,
+and the dreary out-look from "the hills of Jud&#230;a" at Haworth began to
+brighten. It was a great day in the lives of all the sisters when
+Charlotte accidentally discovered that Emily also had dared to "commit
+her soul to paper." The younger sister was keenly troubled when
+Charlotte made the discovery, for her poems had been written in
+absolute secrecy. But mutual confessions hastened her reconcilement.
+Charlotte produced her own poems, and then Anne also, blushing as was
+her wont, poured some hidden treasures of the same kind into the
+eldest sister's lap. So it came to pass that in 1846, unknown to their
+nearest friends, they presented to the world&#8212;at their own cost and
+risk, poor souls!&#8212;that thin volume of poetry "by Currer, Ellis, and
+Acton Bell," now almost forgotten, the merits of which few readers
+have recognised and few critics proclaimed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Strong, calm, sincere, most of these poems are; not the spasmodic or
+frothy outpourings of Byron-stricken girls; not even mere echoes,
+however skilful, of the grand music of the masters. When we dip into
+the pages of the book, we see that these women write because they
+feel. They write because they have something to say; they write not
+for the world, but for themselves, each sister wrapping her own secret
+within her own soul. Strangely enough, it is not Charlotte who carries
+off the palm in these poems. Verse seems to have been too narrow for
+the limits of her genius; she could not soar as she desired to do
+within the self-imposed restraints of rhythm, rhyme, and metre. Here
+and there, it is true, we come upon lines which flash upon us with the
+brilliant light of genius; but, upon the whole, we need not wonder
+that Currer Bell achieved no reputation as a poet. Nor is Anne to be
+counted among great singers. Sweet, indeed her verses are, radiant
+with the tenderness, resignation, and gentle humility which were the
+prominent features of her character. One or two of her little poems
+are now included in popular collections of hymns used in Yorkshire
+churches; but, as a rule, her compositions lack the vigorous life
+which belongs to those of her sisters. It is Emily who takes the first
+place in this volume. Some of her poems have a lyrical beauty which
+haunts the mind ever after it has become acquainted with them; others
+have a passionate emphasis, a depth of meaning, an intensity and
+gravity which are startling when we know who the singer is, and which
+furnish a key to many passages in "Wuthering Heights" which the world
+shudders at and hastily passes by. Such lines as these ought to make
+the name of Emily Bront&#235; far more familiar than it is to the students
+of our modern English literature:
+</p>
+
+<div class="poem">
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>Death! that struck when I was most confiding</p>
+<p class="i2">In my certain faith of joy to be&#8212;</p>
+<p>Strike again, Time's withered branch dividing</p>
+<p class="i2">From the fresh root of Eternity!</p></div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>Leaves upon Time's branch were growing brightly,</p>
+<p class="i2">Full of sap and full of silver dew;</p>
+<p>Birds beneath its shelter gathered nightly;</p>
+<p class="i2">Daily round its flowers the wild bees flew.</p></div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>Sorrow passed, and plucked the golden blossom;</p>
+<p class="i2">Guilt stripped off the foliage in its pride;</p>
+<p>But within its parent's kindly bosom</p>
+<p class="i2">Flowed for ever Life's restoring tide.</p></div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>Little mourned I for the parted gladness,</p>
+<p class="i2">For the vacant nest and silent song&#8212;</p>
+  <p>  Hope was there, and laughed me out of sadness,</p>
+<p class="i2">Whispering, "Winter will not linger long!"</p></div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>And behold! with tenfold increase blessing,</p>
+<p class="i2">Spring adorned the beauty-burdened spray;</p>
+<p>Wind and rain and fervent heat, caressing,</p>
+<p class="i2">Lavished glory on that second May!</p></div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>High it rose&#8212;no winged grief could sweep it;</p>
+<p class="i2">Sin was scared to distance by its shine;</p>
+<p>Love, and its own life, had power to keep it</p>
+<p class="i2">From all wrong&#8212;from every blight but thine,</p></div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>Cruel Death! The young leaves droop and languish;</p>
+<p class="i2">Evening's gentle air may still restore&#8212;</p>
+<p>No! the morning sunshine mocks my anguish&#8212;</p>
+<p class="i2">Time, for me, must never blossom more!</p></div>
+
+<div class="stanza">
+<p>Strike it down, that other boughs may flourish</p>
+<p class="i2">Where that perished sapling used to be;</p>
+<p>Thus at least its mouldering corpse will nourish</p>
+<p class="i2">That from which it sprung&#8212;Eternity.</p></div></div>
+
+<p>
+The little book was a failure. This first flight ended only in
+discomfiture; and Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell were once more left to
+face the realities of life in Haworth parsonage, uncheered by literary
+success. This was in the summer and autumn of 1846; about which time
+they were compelled to think of cares which came even nearer home than
+the failure of their volume of poems. Their father's eyesight was now
+almost gone, and all their thoughts were centred upon the operation
+which was to restore it. It was to Manchester that Mr. Bront&#235; was
+taken by his daughters to undergo this operation. Many of the letters
+which were written by Charlotte at this period have already been
+published; but the two which I now quote are new, and they serve to
+show what were the narrow cares and anxieties which nipped the sisters
+at this eventful crisis in their lives:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p class="ralign">
+September 22nd, 1846.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class="sc">Dear Ellen</span>,&#8212;I have nothing new to tell
+you, except that papa continues to do well, though the process of
+recovery appears to me very tedious. I daresay it will yet be many
+weeks before his sight is completely restored; yet every time Mr.
+Wilson comes, he expresses his satisfaction at the perfect success of
+the operation, and assures me papa will, ere long, be able both to read
+and write. He is still a prisoner in his darkened room, into which,
+however, a little more light is admitted than formerly. The nurse goes
+to-day&#8212;her departure will certainly be a relief, though she is, I
+daresay, not the worst of her class.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">
+September 29th, 1846.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class="sc">Dear Ellen</span>,&#8212;When I wrote to you last, our
+return was uncertain indeed, but Mr. Wilson was called away to
+Scotland; his absence set us at liberty. I hastened our departure, and
+now we are at home. Papa is daily gaining strength. He cannot yet
+exercise his sight much, but it improves, and I have no doubt will
+continue to do so. I feel truly thankful for the good insured and the
+evil exempted during our absence. What you say about &#8212;&#8212;
+grieves me much, and surprises me too. I know well the malaria of
+&#8212;&#8212;, it is an abominable smell of gas. I was sick from it
+ten times a day while I stayed there. That they should hesitate to
+leave from scruples about furnishing new houses, provokes and amazes
+me. Is not the furniture they have very decent? The inconsistency of
+human beings passes belief. I wonder what their sister would say to
+them, if they told her that tale? She sits on a wooden stool without a
+back, in a log-house without a carpet, and neither is degraded nor
+thinks herself degraded by such poor accommodation.
+</p></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><a name="parsonage"><img src="images/005.jpg" alt="HAWORTH PARSONAGE AND GRAVEYARD" width="450" height="315"></a></div>
+<p class="caption">HAWORTH PARSONAGE AND GRAVEYARD.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It was about the time when this journey to Manchester was first
+projected, and very shortly after they had become convinced that their
+poems were a failure, that the sisters embarked upon another and more
+important literary venture. The pen once taken up could not be laid
+down. By poetry they had only lost money; but the idea had occurred to
+them that by prose-writing money was to be made. At any rate, in
+telling the stories of imaginary people, in opening their hearts
+freely upon all those subjects on which they had thought deeply in
+their secluded lives, they would find relief from the solitude of
+Haworth. Each of the three accordingly began to write a novel. The
+stories were commenced simultaneously, after a long consultation, in
+which the outlines of the plots, and even the names of the different
+characters, were settled. How one must wish that some record of that
+strange literary council had been preserved! Charlotte, in after life,
+spoke always tenderly, lovingly, almost reverentially, of the days in
+which she and her well-beloved sisters were engaged in settling the
+plan and style of their respective romances. That time seemed sacred
+to her, and though she learnt to smile at the illusions under which
+the work was begun, and could see clearly enough the errors and
+crudities of thought and method which all three displayed, she never
+allowed any one in her presence to question the genius of Emily and
+Anne, or to ridicule the prosaic and business-like fashion in which
+the novel-writing was undertaken by the three sisters. Returning to
+the old customs of their childhood, they sat round the table of their
+sitting-room in the parsonage, each busy with her pen. No trace of
+their occupation at this time is to be found in their letters; and on
+the rare occasions on which the father or the brother came into their
+room, nothing was said as to the work that was going on. The
+novel-writing, like the writing and publishing of the poems, was still
+kept profoundly secret. "There is no gentleman of the name in this
+parish," said Mr. Bront&#235; to the village postman, when the latter
+ventured to ask who the Mr. Currer Bell could be for whom letters came
+so frequently from London. But every night the three sisters, as they
+paced the barely-furnished room, or strained their eyes across the
+tombstones, to the spot where the weather-stained church-tower rose
+from a bank of nettles, told each other what the work of the day had
+been, and criticised each other's labours with the freedom of that
+perfect love which casts out all fear of misconception. And here I may
+interpolate two letters written whilst the novel-writing was in
+progress, which are in some respects not altogether insignificant:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+<span class="sc">Dear Nell</span>,&#8212;Your last letter both amused
+and edified me exceedingly. I could not but laugh at your account of
+the fall in B&#8212;&#8212;, yet I should by no means have liked to
+have made a third party in that exhibition. I have endured one fall in
+your company, and undergone one of your ill-timed laughs, and don't
+wish to repeat my experience. Allow me to compliment you on the skill
+with which you can seem to give an explanation, without enlightening
+one one whit on the question asked. I know no more about Miss R.'s
+superstition now, than I did before. What is the
+superstition?&#8212;about a dead body? And what is the inference drawn?
+Do you remember my telling you&#8212;or did I ever tell you&#8212;about
+that wretched and most criminal Mr. J. S.? After running an infamous
+career of vice, both in England and France, abandoning his wife to
+disease and total destitution in Manchester, with two children and
+without a farthing, in a strange lodging-house? Yesterday evening
+Martha came upstairs to say that a woman&#8212;"rather lady-like," as
+she said&#8212;wished to speak to me in the kitchen. I went down. There
+stood Mrs. S., pale and worn, but still interesting-looking, and
+cleanly and neatly dressed, as was her little girl who was with her. I
+kissed her heartily. I could almost have cried to see her, for I had
+pitied her with my whole soul when I heard of her undeserved
+sufferings, agonies, and physical degradation. She took tea with us,
+stayed about two hours, and frankly entered into the narrative of her
+appalling distresses. Her constitution has triumphed over her illness;
+and her excellent sense, her activity, and perseverance have enabled
+her to regain a decent position in society, and to procure a
+respectable maintenance for herself and her children. She keeps a
+lodging-house in a very eligible part of the suburbs of &#8212;&#8212;
+(which I know), and is doing very well. She does not know where Mr. S.
+is, and of course can never more endure to see him. She is now staying
+a few days at E&#8212;&#8212;, with the &#8212;&#8212;s, who I believe
+have been all along very kind to her, and the circumstance is greatly
+to their credit. </p>
+
+<p> I wish to know whether about Whitsuntide would suit you for coming
+to Haworth. We often have fine weather just then. At least I remember
+last year it was very beautiful at that season. Winter seems to have
+returned with severity on us at present, consequently we are all in the
+full enjoyment of a cold. Much blowing of noses is heard, and much
+making of gruel goes on in the house. How are you all?
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">
+May 12th, 1847.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class="sc">Dear Ellen</span>,&#8212;We shall all be glad to see
+you on the Thursday or Friday of next week, whichever day will suit you
+best. About what time will you be likely to get here, and how will you
+come&#8212;by coach to Keighley, or by a gig all the way to Haworth?
+There must be no impediments now. I could not do with them; I want very
+much to see you. I hope you will be decently comfortable while you
+stay. Branwell is quieter now, and for a good reason. He has got to the
+end of a considerable sum of money, of which he became possessed in the
+spring, and consequently is obliged to restrict himself in some degree.
+You must expect to find him weaker in mind, and the complete rake in
+appearance. I have no apprehension of his being at all uncivil to you,
+on the contrary he will be as smooth as oil. </p>
+
+<p> I pray for fine weather, that we may be able to get out while you
+stay. Good-bye for the present. Prepare for much dulness and monotony.
+Give my love to all at B&#8212;&#8212;.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+Is it needful to tell how the three stories&#8212;"The Professor,"
+"Wuthering Heights," and "Agnes Grey"&#8212;are sent forth at last from the
+little station at Keighley, to fare as best they may in that unknown
+London which is still an ideal city to the sisters, peopled not with
+ordinary human beings, but with creatures of some strangely-different
+order? Can any one be ignorant of the weary months which passed whilst
+"The Professor" was going from hand to hand, and the stories written
+by Emily and Anne were waiting in a publisher's desk until they could
+be given to the world on the publisher's own terms? Charlotte had
+failed, but the brave heart was not to be baffled. No sooner had the
+last page of "The Professor" been finished than the first page of
+"Jane Eyre" was begun. The whole of that wondrous story passed through
+the author's busy brain whilst the life around her was clad in these
+sombre hues, and disappointment, affliction, and gloomy forebodings
+were her daily companions. The decisive rejection of her first tale by
+Messrs. Smith, Elder, and Co. had been accompanied by some kindly
+words of advice; so it is to that firm that she now entrusts the
+completed manuscript of "Jane Eyre." The result has already been told.
+On August 24, 1847, the story is sent from Leeds to London; and before
+the year is out, all England is ringing with the praises of the novel
+and its author.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Need I defend the sisters from the charge sometimes brought against
+them that they were unfaithful to their friends in not taking them
+into their confidence? Surely not. They had pledged themselves to each
+other that the secret should be sternly guarded as something sacred,
+kept even from those of their own household. They were not working for
+fame; for again and again they give proof that personal fame is the
+last thing to which they aspire. But they had found their true
+vocation; the call to work was irresistible; they had obeyed it, and
+all that they sought now was to leave their work to speak for itself,
+dissevered absolutely from the humble personality of the authors.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In a letter from Anne Bront&#235;, written in January, 1848, at which time
+the literary quidnuncs both of England and America were eagerly
+discussing contradictory theories as to the authorship of "Jane Eyre,"
+and of the two other stories which had appeared from the pens of Ellis
+and Acton Bell, I find the following passage: "I have no news to tell
+you, for we have been nowhere, seen no one, and done nothing (to
+<i>speak</i> of) since you were here, and yet we contrive to be busy
+from morning till night." The gentle and scrupulously conscientious
+girl, whilst hiding the secret from her friend, cannot violate the
+truth even by a hairbreadth. The italics are her own. Nothing <i>that
+can be spoken of</i> has been done. The friend had her own suspicions.
+Staying in a southern house for the winter, the new novel about which
+everybody was talking was produced, fresh from town. One of the guests
+was deputed to read it aloud, and before she had proceeded far
+Charlotte Bront&#235;'s schoolfellow had pierced the secret of the
+authorship. Three months before, Charlotte had been spending a few
+days at Miss N&#8212;&#8212;'s house, and had openly corrected the proof-sheets
+of the story in the presence of her hostess; but she had given the
+latter no encouragement to speak to her on the subject, and nothing
+had been said. Now, however, in the surprise of the moment, Miss N&#8212;&#8212;
+told the company that this must have been written by Miss Bront&#235;; and
+astute friends at once advised her not to mention the fact that she
+knew the author of "Jane Eyre" to any one, as her acquaintance with
+such a person would be regarded as a reflection on her own character!
+When Charlotte was challenged by her friend, she uttered stormy
+denials in general terms, which carried a complete confirmation of the
+truth; and when, in the spring of 1848, Miss N&#8212;&#8212; visited Haworth,
+full confession was made, and the poems brought forth and shown to
+her, in addition to the stories.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Those who read Charlotte Bront&#235;'s letters will see that even before
+this avowal of her flight in authorship there is a distinct change in
+their tone. Not that she is less affectionate towards her early
+friend, or that she shows the smallest abatement of her interest in
+the fortunes of her old companions. On the contrary, it would almost
+seem as though the great event, which had altered the current of her
+life, had only served to bind her more closely than before to those
+whom she had known and loved in her obscurity. But there is a
+perceptible growth of power and independence in her mode of handling
+the topics, often trivial enough in themselves, which arise in any
+prolonged correspondence, which shows how much her mind had grown, how
+greatly her views had been enlarged, by the intellectual labours
+through which she had passed. The following was the last letter
+written by her to her schoolfellow whilst the authorship of "Jane
+Eyre" was still a secret, and it will, I think, bear out what I have
+said:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p class="ralign">
+    April 25th, 1848.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I was not at all surprised at the contents of your note. Indeed, what
+part of it was new to us? V&#8212;&#8212; has his good and bad side,
+like most others. There is his own original nature, and there are the
+alterations the world has made in him. Meantime, why do B&#8212;&#8212;
+and G&#8212;&#8212; trouble themselves with matching him? Let him, in
+God's name, court half the country-side and marry the other half, if
+such procedure seem good in his eyes, and let him do it all in
+quietness. He has his own botherations, no doubt; it does not seem to
+be such very easy work getting married, even for a man, since it is
+necessary to make up to so many ladies. More tranquil are those who
+have settled their bargain with celibacy. I like Q&#8212;&#8212;'s
+letters more and more. Her goodness is indeed better than mere talent.
+I fancy she will never be married, but the amiability of her character
+will give her comfort. To be sure, one has only her letters to judge
+from, and letters often deceive; but hers seem so artless and
+unaffected. Still, were I in your place I should feel uneasy in the
+midst of this correspondence. Does a doubt of mutual satisfaction in
+case you should one day meet never torment you?&#8230; Anne says it
+pleases her to think that you have kept her little drawing. She would
+rather have done it for you than for a stranger.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+Very quietly and sedately did "Currer Bell" take her sudden change of
+fortune. She corresponded freely with her publishers, and with the
+critics who had written to her concerning her book; she told her
+father the secret of her authorship, and exhibited to him the draft
+which was the substantial recompense of her labours; but in her
+letters to her friend no difference of tone is to be detected. Success
+was very sweet to her, as we know; but she bore her honours meekly,
+betraying nothing of the gratified ambition which must have filled her
+soul. She had not even revealed her identity to the publisher till, by
+an accident, she became aware of the rumour that the writer had
+satirised Mr. Thackeray under the character of Rochester, and had even
+obtruded on the sorrows of his private life. Shocked at this
+supposition, she went to London by the night train, accompanied by
+Anne, and having breakfasted at the station, walked to the
+establishment in Cornhill, where she had much difficulty in
+penetrating to the head of the house, having stated that he would not
+know her by her name. At last he came into the shop, saying, with some
+annoyance: "Young woman, what can you want with me?" "Sir, we have
+come up from Yorkshire. I wish to speak to you privately. I wrote
+'Jane Eyre.'" "<i>You</i> wrote 'Jane Eyre!'" cried the delighted
+publisher; and taking them into his office, insisted on their coming
+to the house of his mother, who would take every care of them.
+Charlotte related afterwards the strange contrast between the desolate
+waiting at the station in the early morning, and their loneliness in
+the crowd of the great city, and finding themselves in the evening
+seated among the brilliant company at the Opera House, listening to
+the performance of Jenny Lind.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But her thoughts were soon turned from her literary triumphs. Branwell,
+who had been so long the dark shadow in their "humble home," was taken
+from them without any lengthened preliminary warning. Sharing to the
+full the eccentricity of the family, he resolved to die as nobody else
+had ever died before; and when the last agony came on he rose to his
+feet, as though proudly defying death itself to do its worst, and
+expired standing. In the following letter, hitherto unpublished, to one
+of her friends&#8212;not to her old schoolfellow&#8212;Charlotte thus speaks of
+the last act in the tragedy of her brother's life:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p class="ralign">
+Haworth, October 14th, 1848.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The event to which you allude came upon us indeed with startling
+suddenness, and was a severe shock to us all. My poor brother has long
+had a shaken constitution, and during the summer his appetite had been
+diminished and he had seemed weaker; but neither we, nor himself, nor
+any medical man who was consulted on his case, thought it one of
+immediate danger: he was out of doors two days before his death, and
+was only confined to bed one single day. I thank you for your kind
+sympathy. Many, under the circumstances, would think our loss rather a
+relief than otherwise; in truth, we must acknowledge, in all humility
+and gratitude, that God has greatly tempered judgment with mercy; but
+yet, as you doubtless know from experience, the last earthly separation
+cannot take place between near relations without the keenest pangs on
+the part of the survivors. Every wrong and sin is forgotten then; pity
+and grief share the heart and the memory between them. Yet we are not
+without comfort in our affliction. A most propitious change marked the
+few last days of poor Branwell's life; his demeanour, his language, his
+sentiments, were all singularly altered and softened, and this change
+could not be owing to the fear of death, for within half an hour of his
+decease he seemed unconscious of danger. In God's hands we leave him!
+He sees not as man sees. Papa, I am thankful to say, has borne the
+event pretty well. His distress was great at first. To lose an only son
+is no ordinary trial. But his physical strength has not hitherto failed
+him, and he has now in a great measure recovered his mental composure;
+my dear sisters are pretty well also. Unfortunately illness attacked me
+at the crisis, when strength was most needed; I bore up for a day or
+two, hoping to be better, but got worse; fever, sickness, total loss of
+appetite and internal pain were the symptoms. The doctor pronounced it
+to be bilious fever&#8212;but I think it must have been in a mitigated
+form; it yielded to medicine and care in a few days; I was only
+confined to my bed a week, and am, I trust, nearly well now. I felt it
+a grievous thing to be incapacitated from action and effort at a time
+when action and effort were most called for. The past month seems an
+overclouded period in my life.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+Alas! the brave woman who felt it to be "a grievous thing" that she
+could not bear her full share of the family burden, little knew how
+terribly that burden was to be increased, how much heavier and blacker
+were the clouds which awaited her than any through which she had yet
+passed. The storm which even then was gathering upon her path was one
+which no sunshine of fame or prosperity could dissipate. The one to
+whom Charlotte's heart had always clung most fondly, the sister who
+had been nearest to her in age and nearest to her in affection, Emily,
+the brilliant but ill-fated child of genius, began to fade. "She had
+never," says Charlotte, speaking in the solitude of her fame,
+"lingered over any task in her life, and she did not linger now." Yet
+the quick decline of Emily Bront&#235; is one of the saddest of all the sad
+features of the story. I have spoken of her reserve. So intense was it
+that when dying she refused to admit even to her own sisters that she
+was ill. They saw her fading before their eyes; they knew that the
+grave was yawning at her feet; and yet they dared not offer her any
+attention such as an invalid needed, and such as they were longing to
+bestow upon her. It was the cruellest torture of Charlotte's life.
+During the brief period of Emily's illness, her sister writes as
+follows to her friend:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+I mentioned your coming to Emily as a mere suggestion, with the faint
+hope that the prospect might cheer her, as she really esteems you
+perhaps more than any other person out of this house. I found, however,
+it would not do; any, the slightest excitement or putting out of the
+way, is not to be thought of, and indeed I do not think the journey in
+this unsettled weather, with the walk from Keighley and back, at all
+advisable for yourself. Yet I should have liked to see you, and so
+would Anne. Emily continues much the same: yesterday I thought her a
+little better, but to-day she is not so well. I hope still, for I
+<i>must</i> hope; she is as dear to me as life. If I let the faintness
+of despair reach my heart I shall become worthless. The attack was, I
+believe, in the first place, inflammation of the lungs; it ought to
+have been met promptly in time; but she would take no care, use no
+means, she is too intractable. I <i>do</i> wish I knew her state and
+feelings more clearly. The fever is not so high as it was, but the pain
+in the side, the cough, the emaciation are there still.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+The days went by in the parsonage, slowly, solemnly, each bringing
+some fresh burden of sorrow to the broken hearts of Charlotte and
+Anne. Emily's resolute spirit was unbending to the last. Day after day
+she refused to own that she was ill, refused to take rest or medicine
+or stimulants; compelled her trembling hands to labour as of old. And
+so came the bitter morning in December, the story of which has been
+told by Mrs. Gaskell with simple pathos, when she "arose and dressed
+herself as usual, making many a pause, but doing everything for
+herself," even going on with her sewing as at any time during the
+years past; until suddenly she laid the unfinished work aside,
+whispered faintly to her sister: "If you send for a doctor I will see
+him now," and in two hours passed quietly away.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The broken father, supported on either side by his surviving
+daughters, followed Emily to her grave in the old church. There was
+one other mourner&#8212;the fierce old dog whom she had loved better almost
+than any human being.
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+Yes&#8212;says Charlotte, writing to her friend&#8212;there is no Emily
+in time or on earth now. Yesterday we put her poor wasted mortal frame
+quietly under the church pavement. We are very calm at present. Why
+should we be otherwise? The anguish of seeing her suffer is over. We
+feel she is at peace. No need now to tremble for the hard frost and the
+keen wind. Emily does not feel them. She died in a time of promise. We
+saw her taken from life in its prime. But it is God's will, and the
+place where she is gone is better than that she has left.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+It was in the very month of December, 1848, when Charlotte passed
+through this fierce ordeal, and wrote these tender words of love and
+resignation, that the <i>Quarterly Review</i> denounced her as an
+improper woman, who "for some sufficient reason" had forfeited the
+society of her sex!
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Terrible was the storm of death which in three short months swept off
+two of the little household at Haworth; but it had not even yet
+exhausted all its fury. Scarcely had Emily been laid in the grave than
+Anne, the youngest and gentlest of the three sisters, began to fade.
+Very slowly did she droop. The winter passed away, and the spring came
+with a glimmer of hope; but the following unpublished letter, written
+on the 16th of May, shows with what fears Charlotte set forth on that
+visit to Scarborough which her sister insisted upon undertaking as a
+last resource:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+Next Wednesday is the day fixed for our departure; Ellen accompanies us
+at her own kind and friendly wish. I would not refuse her society, but
+dared not urge her to go, for I have little hope that the excursion
+will be one of pleasure or benefit to those engaged in it. Anne is
+extremely weak. She herself has a fixed impression that the sea-air
+will give her a chance of regaining strength. That chance therefore she
+must have. Having resolved to try the experiment, misgivings are
+useless, and yet when I look at her misgivings will rise. She is more
+emaciated than Emily was at the very last, her breath scarcely serves
+her to mount the stairs, however slowly. She sleeps very little at
+night, and often passes most of the forenoon in a semi-lethargic state.
+Still she is up all day, and even goes out a little when it is fine.
+Fresh air usually acts as a temporary stimulus, but its reviving power
+diminishes.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+I am indebted to the faithful friend and companion to whom allusion is
+made above, for the following account of the sad journey to
+Scarborough, and of its tragic end:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+On our way to Scarborough we stopped at York, and after a rest at the
+George Hotel, and partaking of dinner, which she enjoyed, Anne went out
+in a bath-chair, and made purchases, along with Charlotte, of bonnets
+and dresses, besides visiting the minister. The morning after her
+arrival at Scarborough, she insisted on going to the baths, and would
+be left there with only the attendant in charge. She walked back alone
+to her lodgings, but fell exhausted as she reached the garden-gate. She
+never named this, but it was discovered afterwards. The same day she
+had a drive in a donkey carriage, and talked with the boy-driver on
+kindness to animals. On Sunday she wanted again to be left alone, and
+for us to go to church. Finding we would not leave her, she begged that
+she might go out, and we walked down towards the saloon, she resting
+half way, and sending us on with the excuse that she wanted us to see
+the place, this being <i>our</i> first visit, though not hers. In the
+evening, after again asking us to go to church, she sat by the
+sitting-room window, enjoying a very glorious sunset. Next morning (the
+day she died) she rose by seven o'clock and dressed herself, refusing
+all assistance. She was the first of the little party to be ready to go
+downstairs; but when she reached the head of the stairs, she felt
+fearful of descending. Charlotte went to her and discovered this. I
+fancying there was some difficulty, left my room to see what it was,
+when Anne smilingly told me she felt afraid of the steps downward. I
+immediately said: "Let me try to carry you;" she looked pleased, but
+feared for me. Charlotte was angry at the idea, and greatly distressed,
+I could see, at this new evidence of Anne's weakness. Charlotte was at
+last persuaded to go to her room and leave us. I then went a step or
+two below Anne, and begged her to put her arms round my neck, and I
+said: "I will carry you like a baby." She still feared, but on my
+promising to put her down if I could not do it, she consented to trust
+herself to me. Strength seemed to be given for the effort, but on
+reaching the foot of the stairs, poor Anne's head fell like a leaden
+weight upon the top of mine. The shock was terrible, for I felt it
+could only be death that was coming. I just managed to bear her to the
+front of her easy-chair and drop her into it, falling myself on my
+knees before her, very miserable at the fact, and letting her fall at
+last, though it was into her chair. She was shaken, but she put out her
+arms to comfort me, and said: "You know it could not be helped, you did
+your best." After this she sat at the breakfast-table and partook of a
+basin of boiled milk prepared for her. As 11 <span
+class="sclc">A.M.</span> approached, she wondered if she could be
+conveyed home in time to die there. At 2 <span class="sclc">P.M.</span>
+death had come, and left only her beautiful form in the sweetest peace.
+</p>
+
+<p> She rendered up her soul with that sweetness and resignation of
+spirit which had adorned her throughout her brief life, even in the
+last hour crying: "Take courage, Charlotte, take courage!" as she bade
+farewell to the sister who was left. </p>
+
+<p> Before me lie the few letters which remain of Emily and Anne. There
+is little in them worth preserving. Both make reference to the fact
+that Charlotte is the great correspondent of the family, and that their
+brief and uninteresting epistles can have no charm for one who is
+constantly receiving letters from her. Yet that modest reserve which
+distinguished the greatest of the three is plainly visible in what
+little remains of the correspondence of the others. They had discovered
+before their death the real power that lay within them; they had just
+experienced the joy which comes from the exercise of this power; they
+had looked forward to a future which should be sunny and prosperous, as
+no other part of their lives of toil and patient endurance had been.
+Suddenly death had confronted them, and they recognised the fact that
+they must leave their work undone. Each faced the dread enemy in her
+own way, but neither shrank even from that blow. Emily's proud spirit
+refused to be conquered, and, as we have seen, up to the last agony she
+carried herself as one sternly indifferent to the weaknesses of the
+flesh, including that final weakness which must conquer all of us in
+the end. Anne found consolation, pure and deep, in her religious faith,
+and she died cheerfully in the firm belief that she was but entering
+upon that fuller life which lay beyond the grave. The one was defiant,
+the other resigned; but courage and fortitude were shown by each in
+accordance with her own special idiosyncrasy.
+</p></div>
+
+
+
+
+<a name="VIII">&nbsp;</a>
+<p class="chapter">VIII.
+</p>
+
+<p class="head">
+"SHIRLEY."
+</p>
+
+
+<p>
+Charlotte went back from Scarborough to Haworth alone. Her father met
+her with unwonted demonstrations of affection, and she "tried to be
+glad" that she was once more under the familiar roof. "But this time
+joy was not to be the sensation." Yet the courage which had held her
+sisters to the end supported her amid the pangs of loneliness and
+bereavement. Even now there was no bitterness, no morbid gloom in the
+heart which had suffered so keenly. Quietly but resolutely setting
+aside her own sorrow, refusing all the invitations of her friend to
+seek temporary relief in change of scene, she sat down to complete the
+story which was intended to tell the world what the lost Emily had
+seemed to be in the eyes of her fond sister. By herself, in the room
+in which a short year ago three happy sisters had worked together,
+within the walls which could never again echo with the old voices, or
+walking on the moors, which would never more be trodden by the firm,
+elastic step of Emily, she composed the brilliant story of
+"Shirley"&#8212;the brightest and healthiest of her works. As she writes
+she sometimes sends forth messages to those who love her, which tell
+us of the spirit of the hero or the martyr burning within the frail
+frame of the solitary woman. "Submission, courage, exertion when
+practicable&#8212;these seem to be the weapons with which we must fight
+life's long battle;" and that these are no mere words she proves with
+all her accustomed honesty and sincerity, by acting up to them to the
+very letter. But at times the burden presses upon her till it is
+almost past endurance. Strangely enough, it is a comparative trifle,
+as the world counts it, the illness of a servant, that occasions her
+fiercest outburst of open grief:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+You have to fight your way through labour and difficulty at home, it
+appears, but I am truly glad now you did not come to Haworth. As
+matters have turned out you would have found only discomfort and gloom.
+Both Tabby and Martha are at this moment ill in bed. Martha's illness
+has been most serious. She was seized with internal inflammation ten
+days ago; Tabby's lame leg has broken out, she cannot stand or walk. I
+have one of Martha's sisters to help me, and her mother comes up
+sometimes. There was one day last week when I fairly broke down for ten
+minutes, and sat down and cried like a fool. Martha's illness was at
+its height; a cry from Tabby had called me into the kitchen, and I had
+found her laid on the floor, her head under the kitchen-grate. She had
+fallen from her chair in attempting to rise. Papa had just been
+declaring that Martha was in imminent danger; I was myself depressed
+with headache and sickness that day; I hardly knew what to do or where
+to turn. Thank God, Martha is now convalescent; Tabby, I trust, will be
+better soon. Papa is pretty well. I have the satisfaction of knowing
+that my publishers are delighted with what I sent them&#8212;this
+supports me, but life is a battle. May we <i>all</i> be enabled to
+fight it well.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+This letter is dated September 24, 1849, at which time "Shirley" is
+written, and in the hands of her publishers. She has painted the
+character of Emily in that of Shirley herself; and her friend Ellen is
+shadowed forth to the world in the person of Caroline Helston. When
+the book, with its vivid pictures of Yorkshire life at the beginning
+of the century, and its masterly sketches of characters as real as
+those which Shakespeare brings upon the stage, is published, there is
+but one outcry of praise, even from the critics who were so eager to
+condemn "Jane Eyre." Up to this point she had preserved her anonymity,
+but now she is discovered, and her admirers in London persuade her at
+last to visit them, and make acquaintance with her peers in the
+Republic of Letters, the men and women whose names were household
+words in Haworth Parsonage long before "Currer Bell" had made her
+first modest appeal to the world.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><a name="field"></a><img src="images/006.jpg" alt="THE &quot;FIELD HEAD&quot; OF SHIRLEY" width="473" height="256"></div>
+<p class="caption">THE "FIELD HEAD" OF SHIRLEY.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+A passage from one of the following letters, written during this first
+sojourn in London, has already been published; but it will well bear
+reprinting:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p class="ralign">
+December, 1849.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I have just remembered that as you do not know my address you cannot
+write to me till you get it. I came to this big Babylon last Thursday,
+and have been in what seems to me a sort of whirl ever since; for
+changes, scenes, and stimulus, which would be a trifle to others, are
+much to me. I found when I mentioned to Mr. &#8212;&#8212; my plan of
+going to Dr. &#8212;&#8212;'s it would not do at all. He would have
+been seriously hurt: he made his mother write to me, and thus I was
+persuaded to make my principal stay at his house. So far I have found
+no reason to regret this decision. Mrs. &#8212;&#8212; received me at
+first like one who has had the strictest orders to be scrupulously
+attentive. I had fire in my bedroom evening and morning, two wax
+candles, &#38;c., and Mrs. &#8212;&#8212; and her daughters seemed to
+look on me with a mixture of respect and alarm. But all this is
+changed; that is to say, the attention and politeness continue as great
+as ever, but the alarm and estrangement are quite gone; she treats me
+as if she liked me, and I begin to like her much. Kindness is a potent
+heart-winner. I had not judged too favourably of &#8212;&#8212; on a
+first impression&#8212;he pleases me much: I like him better as a son
+and brother than as a man of business. Mr. W&#8212;&#8212; too is
+really most gentlemanly and well-informed; his weak points he certainly
+has, but these are not seen in society. Mr. X&#8212;&#8212; (the little
+man) has again shown his parts. Of him I have not yet come to a clear
+decision. Abilities he has, for he rules his firm and keeps forty young
+men under strict control by his iron will. His young superior likes
+him, which, to speak the truth, is more than I do at present. In fact,
+I suspect that he is of the Helston order of men&#8212;rigid, despotic,
+and self-willed. He tries to be very kind, and even to express sympathy
+sometimes, and he does not manage it. He has a determined, dreadful
+nose in the middle of his face, which, when poked into my countenance,
+cuts into my soul like iron. Still he is horribly intelligent, quick,
+searching, sagacious, and with a memory of relentless tenacity: to turn
+to&#8212;after him is to turn from granite to easy down or warm fur. I
+have seen Thackeray. </p>
+
+<p> As to being happy, I am under scenes and circumstances of
+excitement, but I suffer acute pain sometimes&#8212;mental pain, I
+mean. At the moment Mr. Thackeray presented himself I was thoroughly
+faint from inanition, having eaten nothing since a very slight
+breakfast, and it was then seven o'clock in the evening. Excitement and
+exhaustion together made savage work of me that evening. What he
+thought of me I cannot tell. This evening I am going to meet Miss
+Martineau; she has written to me most kindly; she knows me only as
+Currer Bell; I am going alone; how I shall get on I do not know. If
+Mrs. &#8212;&#8212; were not kind, I should sometimes be miserable; but
+she treats me almost affectionately, her attentions never flag. I have
+seen many things; I hope some day to tell you what. Yesterday I went
+over the new Houses of Parliament with Mr. &#8212;&#8212;. An attack of
+rheumatic fever has kept poor Mr. X&#8212;&#8212; out of the way since
+I wrote last. I am sorry for <i>his</i> sake. It grows quite dark. I
+must stop. I shall not stay in London a day longer than I first
+intended. On those points I form my resolutions, and will not be
+shaken. The thundering <i>Times</i> has attacked me savagely.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+The following letters (with one exception not previously published)
+belong to the spring of 1850, when Charlotte was at home again,
+engaged in attending to her father and to the household cares which
+shared her attention with literary work and anxieties. The first,
+which refers exclusively to her visit to London, was addressed to one
+of her old friends in Yorkshire:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+Ellen it seems told you that I spent a fortnight in London last
+December. They wished me very much to stay a month, alleging that I
+should in that time be able to secure a complete circle of
+acquaintance, but I found a fortnight of such excitement quite enough.
+The whole day was usually devoted to sight-seeing, and often the
+evening was spent in society; it was more than I could bear for any
+length of time. On one occasion I met a party of my critics&#8212;seven
+of them. Some of them had been my bitter foes in print, but they were
+prodigiously civil face to face. These gentlemen seemed infinitely
+grander, more pompous, dashing, showy, than the few authors I saw. Mr.
+Thackeray, for example, is a man of very quiet, simple demeanour; he
+is, however, looked upon with some awe and even distrust. His
+conversation is very peculiar, too perverse to be pleasant. It was
+proposed to me to see Charles Dickens, Lady Morgan, Mesdames Trollope,
+Gore, and some others; but I was aware these introductions would bring
+a degree of notoriety I was not disposed to encounter; I declined
+therefore with thanks. Nothing charmed me more during my stay in town
+than the pictures I saw; one or two private collections of Turner's
+best water-colours were indeed a treat. His later oil paintings are
+strange things&#8212;things that baffle description. I have twice seen
+Macready act; once in "Macbeth," and once in "Othello." I astounded a
+dinner-party by honestly saying I did not like him. It is the fashion
+to rave about his splendid acting; anything more false and artificial,
+less genuinely impressive than his whole style, I could scarcely have
+imagined. The fact is, the stage system altogether is hollow nonsense.
+They act farces well enough; the actors comprehend their parts and do
+them justice. They comprehend nothing about tragedy or Shakespeare, and
+it is a failure. I said so, and by so saying produced a blank silence,
+a mute consternation. I was indeed obliged to dissent on many
+occasions, and to offend by dissenting. It seems now very much the
+custom to admire a certain wordy, intricate, obscure style of poetry,
+such as Elizabeth Barrett Browning writes. Some pieces were referred
+to, about which Currer Bell was expected to be very rapturous, and
+failing in this he disappointed. London people strike a provincial as
+being very much taken up with little matters, about which no one out of
+particular town circles cares much. They talk too of persons, literary
+men and women, whose names are scarcely heard in the country, and in
+whom you cannot get up an interest. I think I should scarcely like to
+live in London, and were I obliged to live there I should certainly go
+little into company&#8212;especially I should eschew the literary
+critics. </p>
+
+<p> &nbsp; </p>
+
+<p> I have, since you went, had a remarkable epistle from Thackeray,
+long, interesting, characteristic; but it unfortunately concludes with
+the strict injunction, <i>Show this letter to no one</i>; adding that
+if he thought his letters were seen by others, he would either cease to
+write, or write only what was conventional. But for this circumstance I
+should have sent it with the others. I answered it at length. Whether
+my reply will give satisfaction or displeasure remains yet to be
+ascertained. Thackeray's feelings are not such as can be gauged by
+ordinary calculation: variable weather is what I should ever expect
+from that quarter. Yet in correspondence, as in verbal intercourse,
+this would torment me.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><a name="church"><img src="images/007.jpg" alt="THE &quot;BRIARFIELD&quot; CHURCH OF SHIRLEY" width="473" height="277"></a></div>
+<p class="caption">THE "BRIARFIELD" CHURCH OF SHIRLEY.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I believe I should have written to you before, but I don't know what
+heaviness of spirit has beset me of late, made my faculties dull, made
+rest weariness, and occupation burdensome. Now and then the silence of
+the house, the solitude of the room has pressed on me with a weight I
+found it difficult to bear, and recollection has not failed to be as
+alert, poignant, obtrusive, as other feelings were languid. I attribute
+this state of things partly to the weather. Quicksilver invariably
+falls low in storms and high winds, and I have ere this been warned of
+approaching disturbance in the atmosphere by a sense of bodily
+weakness, and deep, heavy mental sadness, which some would call
+<i>presentiment</i>. Presentiment indeed it is, but not at all
+supernatural. The Haworth people have been making great fools of
+themselves about "Shirley;" they take it in the enthusiastic light.
+When they got the volumes at the Mechanics' Institution, all the
+members wanted them; they cast lots for the whole three, and whoever
+got a volume was only allowed to keep it two days, and to be fined a
+shilling <i>per diem</i> for longer detention. It would be mere
+nonsense and vanity to tell you what they say. I have had no letters
+from London for a long time, and am very much ashamed of myself to
+find, now that that stimulus is withdrawn, how dependent upon it I had
+become. I cannot help feeling something of the excitement of
+expectation till post-hour comes, and when day after day it brings
+nothing I get low. This is a stupid, disgraceful, unmeaning state of
+things. I feel bitterly enraged at my own dependence and folly. It is
+so bad for the mind to be quite alone, to have none with whom to talk
+over little crosses and disappointments, and laugh them away. If I
+could write I daresay I should be better, but I cannot write a line.
+However (<span class="sc">D. V.</span>), I shall contend against the
+idiocy. I had rather a foolish letter from Miss &#8212;&#8212; the
+other day. Some things in it nettled me, especially an unnecessarily
+earnest assurance that in spite of all I had gone and done in the
+writing line I still retained a place in her esteem. My answer took
+strong and high ground at once. I said I had been troubled by no doubts
+on the subject, that I neither did myself nor her the injustice to
+suppose there was anything in what I had written to incur the just
+forfeiture of esteem. I was aware, I intimated, that some persons
+thought proper to take exceptions at "Jane Eyre," and that for their
+own sakes I was sorry, as I invariably found them individuals in whom
+the animal largely predominated over the intellectual, persons by
+nature coarse, by inclination sensual, whatever they might be by
+education and principle. </p>
+
+<p> &nbsp; </p>
+
+<p> I enclose a slip of newspaper for your amusement. Me it both amused
+and touched, for it alludes to some who are in this world no longer. It
+is an extract from an American paper, and is written by an emigrant
+from Haworth. You will find it a curious mixture of truth and
+inaccuracy. Return it when you write again. I also send you for perusal
+an opinion of "Jane Eyre," written by a <i>working man</i> in this
+village; rather, I should say, a record of the feelings the book
+excited in the poor fellow's mind; it was not written for my
+inspection, nor does the writer now know that his little document has
+by intricate ways come into my possession, and I have forced those who
+gave it to promise that they will never inform him of this
+circumstance. He is a modest, thoughtful, feeling, reading being, to
+whom I have spoken perhaps about three times in the course of my life;
+his delicate health renders him incapable of hard or close labour; he
+and his family are often under the pressure of want. He feared that if
+Miss Bront&#235; saw what he had written she would laugh it to scorn.
+But Miss Bront&#235; considers it one of the highest, because one of
+the most truthful and artless tributes her work has yet received. You
+must return this likewise. I do you great honour in showing it to you.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+Once more we can see that the healthy, happy interest she takes in the
+welfare of others is beginning to assert itself. For a time, under the
+keen smart of the wounds death had inflicted on her, she had found
+little heart to discuss the affairs of her circle of friends in her
+correspondence; but now the outer world vindicates its claim to her
+renewed attention, and she again begins to discuss and analyse the
+characters of her acquaintances with a skill and minuteness which make
+them as interesting even to strangers as any of the most
+closely-studied characters of fiction can be.
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+I return Q&#8212;&#8212;'s letter. The business is a most unpleasant
+one to be concerned in. It seems to me <i>now</i> altogether unworthy
+in its beginning, progress, and ending. Q&#8212;&#8212; is the only
+pure thing about it; she stands between her coarse father and cold,
+unloving suitor, like innocence between a pair of world-hardened
+knaves. The comparison seems rather hard to be applied to
+V&#8212;&#8212;, but as I see him now he merits it. If V&#8212;&#8212;
+has no means of keeping a wife, if he does not possess a sixpence he is
+sure of, how can he think of marrying a woman from whom he cannot
+expect she should work to keep herself? V&#8212;&#8212;'s want of
+candour, the twice-falsified account he gave of the matter, tells
+painfully and deeply against him. It shows a glimpse of his hidden
+motives such as I refrain from describing in words. After all he is
+perhaps only like the majority of men. Certainly those men who lead a
+gay life in their youth, and arrive at middle life with feelings
+blunted and passions exhausted, can have but one aim in
+marriage&#8212;the selfish advancement of their interest. And to think
+that such men take as wives&#8212;as second selves&#8212;women young,
+modest, sincere, pure in heart and life, with feelings all fresh and
+emotions all unworn, and bind such virtue and vitality to their own
+withered existence, such sincerity to their own hollowness, such
+disinterestedness to their own haggard avarice! to think this, troubles
+the soul to its inmost depths. Nature and justice forbid the banns of
+such wedlock. This note is written under excitement. Q&#8212;&#8212;'s
+letter seems to have lifted so fraudulent a veil, and to show both
+father and suitor lurking behind in shadow so dark, acting from motives
+so poor and low, so conscious of each other's littleness, and
+consequently so destitute of mutual respect! These things incense me,
+but I shall cool down. </p>
+
+<p> &nbsp; </p>
+
+<p> I cannot find your last letter to refer to, and therefore this will
+be no answer to it. You must write again by return of post if possible,
+and let me know how you are progressing. What you said in your last
+confirmed my opinion that your late attack had been coming on for a
+long time. Your wish for a cold-water bath, &#38;c, is, I should think,
+the result of fever. Almost everyone has complained lately of some
+tendency to slow fever. I have felt it in frequent thirst and in
+frequent appetite. Papa too, and even Martha, have complained. I fear
+this damp weather will scarcely suit you; but write and say all. Of
+late I have had many letters to answer; and some very bothering ones
+from people who want opinions about their books, who seek acquaintance,
+and who flatter to get it; people who utterly mistake all about me.
+They are most difficult to answer, put off, and appease, without
+offending; for such characters are excessively touchy, and when
+affronted turn malignant. Their books are too often deplorable.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+In June, 1850, she is induced to pay another visit to London, going
+upon this occasion whilst the season is at its height, though she has
+stipulated before going that she is "not to be lionised."
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+I came to London last Thursday. I am staying at &#8212;&#8212;. Here I
+feel very comfortable. Mrs. &#8212;&#8212; treats me with a serene,
+equable kindness which just suits me. Her son is as before&#8212;genial
+and friendly. I have seen very few persons, and am not likely to see
+many, as the agreement was that I was to be very quiet. We have been to
+the exhibition of the Royal Academy, to the opera, and the Zoological
+Gardens. The weather is splendid. I shall not stay longer than a
+fortnight in London; the feverishness and exhaustion beset me somewhat,
+but I think not quite so badly as before&#8212;as indeed I have not yet
+been so much tired. </p>
+
+<p> &nbsp; </p>
+
+<p> I am leaving London if all be well on Tuesday, and shall be very
+glad to come to you for a few days if that arrangement still remains
+convenient to you. My London visit has much surpassed my expectations
+this time. I have suffered less, and enjoyed more than before; rather a
+trying termination yet remains to me. Mrs. &#8212;&#8212;'s youngest
+son is at school in Scotland, and her eldest is going to fetch him home
+for the vacation. The other evening he announced his intention of
+taking one of his sisters with him, and the evening after he further
+proposed that Miss Bront&#235; should go down to Edinburgh and join
+them there, and see that city and its suburbs. I concluded he was
+joking, laughed and declined. However, it seems he was in earnest, and
+being always accustomed to have his will, he brooks opposition ill. The
+thing appearing to me perfectly out of the question, I still refused.
+Mrs. &#8212;&#8212; did not at all favour it, but her worthy son only
+waxed more determined. This morning she came and entreated me to go;
+G&#8212;&#8212; wished it so much, he had begged her to use her
+influence, &#38;c. &#38;c. Now, I believe that he and I understand each
+other very well, and respect each other very sincerely. We both know
+the wide breach time has made between us. We do not embarrass each
+other, or very rarely. My six or eight years of seniority, to say
+nothing of lack of all pretensions to beauty, &#38;c, are a perfect
+safeguard. I should not in the least fear to go with him to China. I
+like to see him pleased. I greatly <i>dis</i>like to ruffle and
+disappoint him; so he shall have his mind, and if all be well I mean to
+join him in Edinburgh, after I have spent a few days with you. With his
+buoyant animal spirits and youthful vigour he will make severe demands
+on my muscles and nerves; but I daresay I shall get through somehow.
+</p></div>
+
+
+
+
+<a name="IX">&nbsp;</a>
+<p class="chapter">IX.
+</p>
+
+<p class="head">
+LONELINESS AND FAME.
+</p>
+
+
+<p>
+Charlotte Bront&#235;'s letters during 1850 and 1851 are among the most
+valuable illustrations of the true character of the woman which we
+possess. Stricken as she had been by successive bereavements, which
+had robbed her of her dearest friends and companions, and left her the
+sole prop of the dull house on the moors and of its aged head, she had
+yet recovered much of her peace of mind and even of her vitality and
+cheerfulness. She had now, also, begun to see something of life as it
+is presented, not to despised governesses, but to successful
+authoresses. Her visits to London had brought her into contact with
+some of the leaders of the literary world. Who can have forgotten her
+interview with Thackeray, when she was "moved to speak to the giant of
+some of his shortcomings?" Haworth itself had become a point of
+attraction to curious persons, and not a few visitors found their way
+under one pretence or another to the old parsonage, to be received
+with effusive courtesy by Mr. Bront&#235;, and with shy indifference by his
+daughter. Her correspondence, too, became widely-spread among men and
+women of distinction in the world and in Society. Altogether it was a
+different life upon which she now looked out from her remote eyrie
+among the hills&#8212;a life with many new interests in it, with much that
+was calculated to awaken chords in her heart hitherto untouched, and
+to bring to light new characteristics of her temper and genius. One
+would fain speculate upon what might have been, but for the desolation
+wrought in her home and heart by that tempest of death which raged
+during the autumn of 1848 and the spring of 1849. As it was, no
+novelty could make her forget what had been; no new faces, however
+welcome, could dim the tender visions of the faces that were seen no
+more, or could weaken in any degree the affection with which she still
+clung to the friend of her school-days. Simplicity and sincerity are
+the prevailing features of her letters, during this critical time in
+her life, as during all the years which had preceded it. They reflect
+her mind in many moods; they show her in many different situations;
+but they never fail to give the impression of one whose allegiance to
+her own conscience and whose reverence for truth and purity remain now
+what they had been in her days of happy and unworldly obscurity. The
+letters I now quote are quite new to the public.
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p class="ralign">
+July 18th, 1850.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+You must cheer up, for your letter proves to me that you are
+low-spirited. As for me, what I said is to be taken in this sense:
+that, under the circumstances, it would be presumptuous in me to
+calculate on a long life&#8212;a truth obvious enough. For the rest, we
+are all in the hands of Him who apportions His gifts, health or
+sickness, length or brevity of days, as is best for the receiver: to
+him who has work to do time will be given in which to do it; for him to
+whom no task is assigned the season of rest will come earlier. As to
+the suffering preceding our last sleep, the sickness, decay, the
+struggle of flesh and spirit, it <i>must</i> come sooner or later to
+all. If, in one point of view, it is sad to have few ties in the world,
+in another point of view it is soothing; women who have husbands and
+children must look forward to death with more pain, more fear, than
+those who have none. To dismiss the subject, I wish (without cant, and
+not in any hackneyed sense) that both you and I could always say in
+this matter, the will of God be done. I am beginning to get settled at
+home, but the solitude seems heavy as yet. It is a great change, but in
+looking forward I try to hope for the best. So little faith have I in
+the power of any temporary excitement to do real good that I put off
+day by day writing to London to tell them I have come home; and till
+then it was agreed I should not hear from them. It is painful to be
+dependent on the small stimulus letters give. I sometimes think I will
+renounce it altogether, close all correspondence on some quiet pretext,
+and cease to look forward at post-time for any letters but yours.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">
+ August 1st, 1850.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class="sc">My dear E.</span>,&#8212;I have certainly felt the
+late wet weather a good deal, and been somewhat bothered with
+frequently-returning colds, and so has Papa. About him I have been far
+from happy: every cold seems to make and leave him so weak. It is easy
+to say this world is only a scene of probation, but it is a hard thing
+to feel. Your friends the &#8212;&#8212;s seem to be happy just now,
+and long may they continue to be so! Give C. Bront&#235;'s sincere love
+to R&#8212;&#8212; and tell her she hopes Mr. &#8212;&#8212; will make
+her a good husband. If he does not, woe be to him! I wish a similar
+wish for Q&#8212;&#8212;; and then I do really think there will be a
+kind of happiness. That proposition about remaining at H&#8212;&#8212;
+sounds like beginning life sensibly, with no showy dash&#8212;I like
+it. Are you comfortable amongst all these turtle-doves? I could not
+maintain your present position for a day; I should feel <i>de trop</i>,
+as the French say; that is in the way. But you are different to me. My
+portrait is come from London, and the Duke of Wellington's, and kind
+letters enough. Papa thinks the portrait looks older than I do. He says
+the features are far from flattered, but acknowledges that the
+expression is wonderfully good and life-like. I left the book called
+"Social Aspects" at B&#8212;&#8212;; accept it from me. I may well give
+it you, for the author has kindly sent me another copy&#8230;. You ask
+for some promise: who that does not know the future can make promises?
+Not I.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">
+September 2nd, 1850.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Poor Mrs. A&#8212;&#8212; it seems is gone; I saw her death in the
+papers. It is another lesson on the nature of life, on its strange
+brevity, and in many instances apparent futility&#8230;.
+V&#8212;&#8212; came here on Saturday last; T&#8212;&#8212;, who was to
+have accompanied him, was prevented from executing his intention. I
+regretted his absence, for I by no means coveted the long
+<i>t&#234;te-&#224;-t&#234;te</i> with V&#8212;&#8212;. However, it
+passed off pretty well. He is satisfied now with his own prospects, and
+this makes him&#8212;on the surface&#8212;satisfied with other things.
+He spoke of Q&#8212;&#8212; with content and approbation. He looks
+forward to marriage as a sort of harbour where he is to lay up his now
+somewhat battered vessel in quiet moorings. He has seen all he wants to
+see of life; now he is prepared to settle. I listened to all with
+equanimity and cheerfulness&#8212;not assumed but real&#8212;for Papa
+is now somewhat better; his appetite and spirits are improved, and that
+eases my mind of cankering anxiety. My own health, too, is, I think,
+really benefited by the late changes of air and scene; I fancy, at any
+rate, that I feel stronger. Still I mused in my own way on
+V&#8212;&#8212;'s character&#8212;its depth and scope, I believe, are
+ascertained. </p>
+
+<p> I saw the governess at &#8212;&#8212;; she looked a little better
+and more cheerful. She was almost as pleased to see me as if we had
+been related; and when I bid her good-bye expressed an earnest hope
+that I would soon come again. The children seem fond of her, and on the
+whole obedient&#8212;two great alleviations of the inevitable evils of
+her position. </p>
+
+<p> Cheer up, dear Nell, and try not to stagnate; or, when you cannot
+help it, and when your heart is constricted and oppressed, remember
+what life is and must be to all: some moments of sunshine alternating
+with many of overclouded and often tempestuous darkness. Humanity
+cannot escape its fate, which is to drink a mixed cup. Let us believe
+that the gall and the vinegar are salutary.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">
+Sept. 14th, 1850.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I wish, dear Ellen, you would tell me what is the "twaddle" about my
+marrying, which you hear. If I knew the details I should have a better
+chance of guessing the quarter from which such gossip comes. As it is I
+am quite at a loss. Whom am I to marry? I think I have scarcely seen a
+single man with whom such a union would be possible since I left
+London. Doubtless there are men whom, if I chose to encourage, I might
+marry. But no matrimonial lot is even remotely offered me which seems
+to me truly desirable. And even if that were the case there would be
+many obstacles. The least allusion to such a thing is most offensive to
+Papa. An article entitled "Currer Bell" has lately appeared in <i>The
+Palladium</i>, a new periodical published in Edinburgh. It is an
+eloquent production, and one of such warm sympathy and high
+appreciation as I had never expected to see. It makes mistakes about
+authorship, &#38;c, but those I hope one day to set right. Mr.
+X&#8212;&#8212; (the little man) first informed me of this article. I
+was somewhat surprised to receive his letter, having concluded nine
+months ago that there would be no more correspondence from that
+quarter. I enclose a note from him received subsequently, in answer to
+my acknowledgment. Read it, and tell me exactly how it impresses you
+regarding the writer's character, &#38;c. He is deficient neither in
+spirit nor sense.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">
+October 14th, 1850.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I return Q&#8212;&#8212;'s letter. She seems quite happy and fully
+satisfied of her husband's affection. Is this the usual way of spending
+the honeymoon? To me it seems as if they overdo it. That travelling,
+and tugging, and fagging about, and getting drenched and muddled, by no
+means harmonises with my notions of happiness. Besides, the two meals a
+day, &#38;c, would do one up. It all reminds me too sharply of the few
+days I spent with V&#8212;&#8212; in London nearly ten years since,
+when I was many a time fit to drop with the fever and the faintness
+resulting from long fasting and excessive fatigue. However, no doubt a
+bride can bear such things better than others. I smiled to myself at
+some passages. She has wondrous faith in her husband's intellectual
+powers and acquirements. V&#8212;&#8212;'s illusions will soon be over,
+but Q&#8212;&#8212;'s will not&#8212;and therein she is happier than
+he&#8230;. I suppose &#8212;&#8212; will probably discover that he,
+too, wants a wife. But I will say no more. You know I disapprove of
+jesting and teasing on these matters. Idle words sometimes do
+unintentional harm.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">
+December, 1850.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I got home all right yesterday soon after two o'clock, and found Papa,
+thank God, well and free from cold. To-day some amount of sickliness
+and headache is bothering me, but nothing to signify&#8230;. The
+Christmas books waiting for me were, as I expected, from Thackeray,
+Mrs. Gaskell, and Mr. Ruskin. No letter from Mr. W&#8212;&#8212;. It is
+six weeks since I heard from him. I feel uneasy, but do not like to
+write. <i>The Examiner</i> is very sore about my Preface, because I did
+not make it a special exception in speaking of the mass of critics. The
+soreness is unfortunate and gratuitous, for in my mind I certainly
+excepted it. Another paper shows painful sensitiveness on the same
+account; but it does not matter, these things are all transitory.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+The "Preface" to which she alludes in the foregoing letter, was that
+to her collected edition of Emily and Anne Bront&#235;'s works, in which
+she makes allusion to the fact that the "critics failed to do justice"
+to "Wuthering Heights" and "Agnes Grey" when they were published.
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p class="ralign">
+Jan. 20th, 1851.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thank you heartily for the two letters I owe you. You seem very gay at
+present, and provided you only take care not to catch cold with coming
+home at night, I am not sorry to hear it; a little movement,
+cheerfulness, stimulus, is not only beneficial, but necessary. Your
+last letter but one made me smile. I think you draw great conclusions
+from small inferences. I think those "fixed intentions" you fancy are
+imaginary. I think the "under-current" amounts simply to this, a kind
+of natural liking and sense of something congenial. Were there no vast
+barrier of age, fortune, &#38;c, there is perhaps enough personal
+regard to make things possible which now are impossible. If men and
+women married because they like each other's temper, look,
+conversation, nature, and so on&#8212;and if, besides, years were more
+nearly equal&#8212;the chance you allude to might be admitted as a
+chance; but other reasons regulate matrimony&#8212;reasons of
+convenience, of connection, of money. Meantime I am content to know him
+as a friend, and pray God to continue to me the common sense to look on
+one so young, so rising, and so hopeful in no other light. The hint
+about the Rhine disturbs me; I am not made of stone and what is mere
+excitement to others is fever to me. However it is a matter for the
+future, and long to look forward to. As I see it now, the journey is
+out of the question&#8212;for many reasons&#8212;I rather wonder he
+should think of it. Good-bye. Heaven grant us both some quiet wisdom
+and strength, not merely to bear the trial of pain, but to resist the
+lure of pleasure when it comes in such a shape as our better judgment
+disapproves.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">
+Feb. 26th, 1851.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+You ought always to conclude that when I don't write it is simply
+because I have nothing particular to say. Be sure that ill news will
+travel fast enough, and good news too when such commodity comes. If I
+could often <i>be</i> or <i>seem</i> in brisk spirits, I might write
+oftener, knowing that my letters would amuse. But as times go, a
+glimpse of sunshine now and then is as much as one has a right to
+expect. However, I get on very decently. I am now and then tempted to
+break through my resolution of not having you to come before summer,
+and to ask you to come to this Patmos in a week or two. But it would be
+dull&#8212;very dull&#8212;for you&#8230;. What would you say to coming
+here the week after next to stay only just so long as you could
+comfortably bear the monotony? If the weather were dry, and the moors
+fine, I should not mind it so much&#8212;we could walk for change.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+About this time it is clear that Miss Bront&#235; was suffering from one of
+her periodical attacks of nervous exhaustion. She makes repeated
+references in her letters to her ailments, attributing them generally
+to her liver, and she also mentions frequently an occurrence which had
+given her not a little anxiety and concern. This was an offer of
+marriage from a business man in a good position, whom she had already
+met in London. The following letters, which are inserted here without
+regard to the precise date, and of which Mrs. Gaskell has merely used
+half-a-dozen lines, relate to this subject:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+You are to say no more about "Jupiter" and "Venus." What do you mean by
+such heathen trash? The fact is no fallacy can be wilder, and I won't
+have it hinted at, even in jest because my common sense laughs it to
+scorn. The idea of X&#8212;&#8212; shocks me less; it would be a more
+likely match, if "matches" were at all in question, <i>which they are
+not</i>. He still sends his little newspaper, and the other day there
+came a letter of a bulk, volume, pith, judgment, and knowledge, worthy
+to have been the product of a giant. </p>
+
+<p> &nbsp; </p>
+
+<p> X&#8212;&#8212; has been, and is gone; things are just as they
+were. I only know, in addition to the slight information I possessed
+before, that this Australian undertaking is necessary to the continued
+prosperity of his firm, that he alone was pronounced to possess the
+power and means to carry it out successfully, that mercantile honour,
+combined with his own sense of duty, obliged him to accept the post of
+honour and of danger to which he has been appointed, that he goes with
+great personal reluctance, and that he contemplates an absence of five
+years. He looked much thinner and older. I saw him very near, and once
+through my glass. The resemblance to Branwell struck me forcibly; it is
+marked. He is not ugly, but very peculiar. The lines in his face show
+an inflexibility, and, I must add, a hardness of character, which does
+not attract. As he stood near me, as he looked at me in his keen way,
+it was all I could do to stand my ground tranquilly and steadily, and
+not to recoil as before. It is no use saying anything if I am not
+candid. I avow then that on this occasion, predisposed as I was to
+regard him very favourably, his manners and his personal appearance
+scarcely pleased me more than at the first interview. He gave me a book
+at parting, requesting in his brief way that I would keep it for his
+sake, and adding hastily: "I shall hope to hear from you in Australia;
+your letters <i>have</i> been and <i>will</i> be a greater refreshment
+than you can think or I can tell." And so he is gone, and stern and
+abrupt little man as he is, too often jarring as are his manners, his
+absence and the exclusion of his idea from my mind, leave me certainly
+with less support and in deeper solitude than before. You see, dear
+Nell, we are still precisely on the same level. <i>You</i> are not
+isolated. I feel that there is a certain mystery about this transaction
+yet, and whether it will ever be cleared up to me, I do not know.
+However, my plain duty is to wean my mind from the subject, and if
+possible to avoid pondering over it&#8230;. I feel that in his way he
+has a regard for me; a regard which I cannot bring myself entirely to
+reciprocate in kind, and yet its withdrawal leaves a painful blank. I
+have just got your note. Above, you have all the account of my visitor.
+I dare not aver that your kind wish that the visit would yield me more
+pleasure than pain has been fulfilled. Something at my heart aches and
+gnaws drearily. But I must cultivate fortitude. </p>
+
+<p> &nbsp; </p>
+
+<p> Thank you for your kind note. It was kind of you to write it,
+though it <i>was</i> your school-day. I never knew you to let a slight
+impediment stand in your way when doing a friendly action. Certainly I
+shall not soon forget last Friday, and never, I think, the evening and
+night succeeding that morning and afternoon. Evils seldom come singly,
+and soon after X&#8212;&#8212; was gone Papa grew much worse. He went
+to bed early. Was sick and ill for an hour, and when at last he began
+to doze and I left him, I came down to the dining-room with a sense of
+weight, fear, and desolation hard to express and harder to endure. A
+wish that you were with me did cross my mind; but I repelled it as a
+most selfish wish. Indeed it was only short-lived; my natural tendency
+in moments of this sort is to get through the struggle alone; to think
+that one is burdening others makes all worse. You speak to me in soft,
+consolatory accents; but I hold far sterner language to myself, dear
+Nell. An absence of five years; a dividing expanse of three oceans; the
+wide difference between a man's active career and a woman's passive
+existence. These things are almost equivalent to a life-long
+separation. But there is another thing which forms a barrier more
+difficult to pass than any of these. Would X&#8212;&#8212; and I ever
+suit? Could I ever feel for him enough love to accept of him as a
+husband? Friendship, gratitude, esteem, I have; but each moment that he
+came near me, and that I could see his eyes fastened upon me, my veins
+ran ice. Now that he is away I feel far more gently towards him; it is
+only close by that I grow rigid. I did not want to be proud nor intend
+to be proud, but I was forced to be so. Most true is it that we are
+overruled by One above us, that in His hands our very will is as clay
+in the hands of the potter. </p>
+
+<p> &nbsp; </p>
+
+<p> I trust Papa is not worse; but he varies. He has never been down to
+breakfast but once since you left. The circumstance of having him to
+think about just now is good for me in one way; it keeps my thoughts
+off other matters which have been complete bitterness and ashes; for I
+do assure you a more entire crumbling away of a seeming foundation of
+support and prospect of hope than that which I allude to can scarcely
+be realised. </p>
+
+<p> &nbsp; </p>
+
+<p> I have heard from X&#8212;&#8212; to-day, a quiet little note. He
+returned to London a week since on Saturday. He leaves England next
+month. His note concludes with asking whether he has any chance of
+seeing me in London before that time. I must tell him that I have
+already fixed June for my visit, and, therefore, in all human
+probability we shall see each other no more. There is still a want of
+plain mutual understanding in this business, and there is sadness and
+pain in more ways than one. My conscience, I can truly say, does not
+<i>now</i> accuse me of having treated X&#8212;&#8212; with injustice
+or unkindness. What I once did wrong in this way I have endeavoured to
+remedy both to himself and in speaking of him to others. I am sure he
+has estimable and sterling qualities; but with every
+disposition&#8212;with every wish&#8212;with every intention even to
+look on him in the most favourable point of view at his last visit, it
+was impossible for me in my inmost heart to think of him as one that
+might one day be acceptable as a husband&#8230;. No, if X&#8212;&#8212;
+be the only husband fate offers to me, single I must always remain. But
+yet at times I grieve for him; and perhaps it is superfluous, for I
+cannot think he will suffer much&#8212;a hard nature, occupation,
+change of scene will befriend him. </p>
+
+<p> &nbsp; </p>
+
+<p> I have had a long, kind letter from Miss Martineau lately. She says
+she is well and happy. Also I have had a very long letter from Mr.
+&#8212;&#8212;, the first for many weeks. He speaks of X&#8212;&#8212;
+with much respect and regret, and says he will be greatly missed by
+many friends. I discover with some surprise that Papa has taken a
+decided liking to X&#8212;&#8212;. The marked kindness of his manner to
+him when he bade him good-bye, exhorting him to be "true to himself,
+his country, and his God," and wishing him all good wishes, struck me
+with some astonishment at the time; and whenever he has alluded to him
+since, it has been with significant eulogy&#8230;. You say Papa has
+penetration. On this subject I believe he has indeed. I have told him
+nothing, yet he seems to be <i>au fait</i> to the whole business. I
+could think at some moments his guesses go further than mine. I believe
+he thinks a prospective union, deferred for five years, with such a
+decorous, reliable personage, would be a very proper and advisable
+affair. However I ask no questions, and he asks me none; and if he did
+I should have nothing to tell him.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+The summer following this affair of the heart witnessed another visit
+to London, where she heard Mr. Thackeray's lectures on the humourists.
+How she enjoyed listening to her idol, in one of his best moods, need
+not be told. Some there are still living who remember that first
+lecture, when all London had assembled to listen to the author of
+"Vanity Fair," and the rumour suddenly ran round the room that the
+author of "Jane Eyre" was among the audience. Men and women were at
+fault at first, in their efforts to distinguish "Currer Bell" in that
+brilliant company of literary and social notabilities; but at last she
+was discovered hiding under the motherly wing of a chaperon, timid,
+blushing, but excited and pleased&#8212;<i>not</i> at the attention she
+herself attracted, but at the treat she had in prospect. One or two
+gentlemen sought and obtained introductions to her&#8212;amongst them Lord
+Carlisle and Mr. Monckton Milnes. They were not particularly impressed
+by the appearance or the speech of the parson's daughter. Her person
+was insignificant, her dress somewhat rustic, her language quaintly
+precise and formal, her manner odd and constrained. Altogether this
+was a woman whom even London could not lionise; somebody outwardly
+altogether too plain, simple, unpretending, to admit of hero-worship.
+Within there was, as we know, something entirely exceptional and
+extraordinary; but, like Lucy Snowe, she still kept her real self
+hidden under a veil which no casual friend or chance acquaintance was
+allowed to lift. It was but a brief visit to the "Big Babylon," and
+then back to Haworth, to loneliness and duty! In July, 1851, she
+writes from the parsonage to one of her friends as follows:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+My first feeling on receiving your note was one of disappointment, but
+a little consideration sufficed to show me that "all was for the best."
+In truth it was a great piece of extravagance on my part to ask you and
+Ellen together; it is much better to divide such good things. To have
+your visit in prospect will console me when hers is in retrospect. Not
+that I mean to yield to the weakness of clinging dependently to the
+society of friends, however dear; but still as an occasional treat I
+must value and even seek such society as a necessary of life. Let me
+know then whenever it suits your convenience to come to Haworth, and,
+unless some change I cannot now foresee occurs, a ready and warm
+welcome will await you. Should there be any cause rendering it
+desirable to defer the visit, I will tell you frankly. The pleasures of
+society I cannot offer you; nor those of fine scenery. But I place very
+much at your command&#8212;the moors, some books, a series of quiet
+"curling-hair-times," and an old pupil into the bargain. Ellen may have
+told you that I spent a month in London this summer. When you come you
+shall ask what questions you like on that point, and I will answer to
+the best of my stammering ability. Do not press me much on the subject
+of the Crystal Palace. I went there five times, and certainly saw some
+interesting things, and the <i>coup d'&#339;il</i> is striking and
+bewildering enough. But I never was able to get up any raptures on the
+subject, and each renewed visit was made under coercion rather than my
+own free will. It is an excessively bustling place; and after all, its
+wonders appeal too exclusively to the eye, and rarely touch the heart
+or head. I make an exception to the last assertion in favour of those
+who possess a large range of scientific knowledge. Once I went with Sir
+David Brewster, and perceived that he looked on objects with other eyes
+than mine.
+</p></div>
+
+
+
+
+<a name="X">&nbsp;</a>
+<p class="chapter">X.
+</p>
+
+<p class="head">
+"VILLETTE."
+</p>
+
+
+<p>
+With the autumn of 1851 another epoch in the life of Charlotte Bront&#235;
+was ushered in. She began to write "Villette." Something has already
+been said of the true character of that marvellous book, in which her
+own deepest experiences and ripest wisdom are given to the world. Of
+the manner in which it was written her readers know nothing. Yet this,
+the best-beloved child of her genius, was brought forth with a travail
+so bitter that more than once she was tempted to lay aside her pen and
+hush her voice for ever. Every sentence was wrung from her as though
+it had been a drop of blood, and the book was built up bit by bit,
+amid paroxysms of positive anguish, occasioned in part by her own
+physical weakness and suffering, but still more by the torture through
+which her mind passed as she depicted scene after scene from the
+darkest chapter in her own life, for the benefit of those for whom she
+wrote. It is from her letters that at this time also we get the best
+indications of what she was passing through. Few, perhaps, reading
+these letters would suppose that their writer was at that very time
+engaged in the production of a great masterpiece, destined to hold its
+own among the ripest and finest fruits of English genius. But no one
+can read them without seeing how true the woman's soul was, how deep
+her sympathy with those she loved, how keen her criticisms of even the
+dull and commonplace characters around her, how vivid and sincere her
+interest in everything which was passing either in the great world
+which lay afar off, or in the little world the drama of which was
+being enacted under her own eyes. Even the ordinary incidents
+mentioned in her letters, the chance expressions which drop from her
+pen, have an interest when we remember who it is that speaks, and at
+what hour in her life this speech falls from her.
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p class="ralign">
+September, 1851.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I have mislaid your last letter, and so cannot look it over to see what
+there is in it to answer; but it is time it was answered in some
+fashion, whether I have anything to say or not. Miss &#8212;&#8212;'s
+note is very like her. All that talk about "friendship," "mutual
+friends," "auld lang syne," &#38;c., sounds very like palaver. Mrs.
+&#8212;&#8212; wrote to me a week or a fortnight since&#8212;a
+well-meaning, amiable note, dwelling a good deal, excusably perhaps, on
+the good time that is coming. I mean, to speak plain English, on her
+expectation of soon becoming a mother. No doubt it is very natural in
+her to feel as if no woman had ever been a mother before; but I could
+not help inditing an answer calculated to shake her up a bit. A day or
+two since I had another note from her, quite as good as usual, but I
+think a trifle nonplussed by the rather unceremonious fashion in which
+her terrors and the expected personage were handled&#8230;. It is
+useless to tell you how I live. I endure life; but whether I enjoy it
+or not is another question. However, I get on. The weather, I think,
+has not been very good lately; or else the beneficial effects of change
+of air and scene are evaporating. In spite of regular exercise the old
+headaches and starting, wakeful nights are coming upon me again. But I
+<i>do</i> get on, and have neither wish nor right to complain.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">October, 1851.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I am not at all intending to go from home at present. I have just
+refused successively, Miss Martineau, Mrs. Gaskell, and Mrs. Forster. I
+could not go if I would. One person after another in the house has been
+ailing for the last month and more. First Tabby had the influenza, then
+Martha took it and is ill in bed now, and I grieve to say Papa too has
+taken cold. So far I keep pretty well, and am thankful for it, for who
+else would nurse them all? Some painful mental worry I have gone
+through this autumn; but there is no use in dwelling on all that. At
+present I seem to have some respite. I feel more disinclined than ever
+for letter-writing&#8230;. Life is a struggle.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">November, 1851.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Papa, Tabby, and Martha are at present all better, but yet none of them
+well. Martha especially looks feeble. I wish she had a better
+constitution. As it is, one is always afraid of giving her too much to
+do; and yet there are many things I cannot undertake myself; and we do
+not like to change when we have had her so long. The other day I
+received the enclosed letter from Australia. I had had one before from
+the same quarter, which is still unanswered. I told you I did not
+expect to hear thence&#8212;nor did I. The letter is long, but it will
+be worth your while to read it. In its way it has merit&#8212;that
+cannot be denied&#8212;abundance of information, talent of a certain
+kind, alloyed (I think) here and there with errors of taste. This
+little man with all his long letters remains as much a conundrum to me
+as ever. Your account of the H&#8212;&#8212; "domestic joys" amused me
+much. The good folks seem very happy; long may they continue so! It
+somewhat cheers me to know that such happiness <i>does</i> exist on
+earth.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">November, 1851.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All here is pretty much as usual&#8230;. The only events of my life
+consist in that little change occasional letters bring. I have had two
+from Miss W&#8212;&#8212; since she left Haworth, which touched me
+much. She seems to think so much of a little congenial company, a
+little attention and kindness. She says she has not for many days known
+such enjoyment as she experienced during the ten days she stayed here.
+Yet you know what Haworth is&#8212;dull enough. Before answering
+X&#8212;&#8212;'s letter from Australia I got up my courage to write to
+&#8212;&#8212; and beg him to give me an impartial account of
+X&#8212;&#8212;'s character and disposition, owning that I was very
+much in the dark on these points and did not like to continue
+correspondence without further information. I got the answer which I
+enclose. Since receiving it I have replied to X&#8212;&#8212; in a
+calm, civil manner. At the earliest I cannot hear from him again before
+the spring.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">December, 1851.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I hope you have got on this last week well. It has been very trying
+here. Papa so far has borne it unhurt; but these winds and changes have
+given me a bad cold; however, I am better now than I was. Poor old
+Keeper (Emily's dog) died last Monday morning, after being ill one
+night. He went gently to sleep; we laid his old faithful head in the
+garden. Flossy is dull, and misses him. There was something very sad in
+losing the old dog; yet I am glad he met a natural fate. People kept
+hinting that he ought to be put away, which neither Papa nor I liked to
+think of. If I were near a town, and could get cod-liver oil fresh and
+sweet, I really would most gladly take your advice and try it; but how
+I could possibly procure it at Haworth I do not see&#8230;. You ask
+about "The Lily and the Bee." If you have read it, you have effected an
+exploit beyond me. I glanced at a few pages, and laid it down hopeless,
+nor can I now find courage to resume it. But then, I never liked
+Warren's writings. "Margaret Maitland" is a good book, I doubt not.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+At this point the illness of which she makes light in these letters
+increased to such an extent as to alarm her father, and at last she
+consented to lay aside her work and allow herself the pleasure and
+comfort of a visit from her friend. The visit was a source of
+happiness whilst it lasted; but when it was over the depression
+returned, and there was a serious relapse. Something of her sufferings
+at this time&#8212;whilst "Villette" was still upon the stocks&#8212;will be
+gathered from the following letter, dated January 1852:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+I wish you could have seen the coolness with which I captured your
+letter on its way to Papa, and at once conjecturing its tenor, made the
+contents my own. Be quiet. Be tranquil. It is, dear Nell, my decided
+intention to come to B&#8212;&#8212; for a few days when I <i>can</i>
+come; but of this last I must positively judge for myself, and I must
+take my time. I am better to-day&#8212;much better; but you can have
+little idea of the sort of condition into which mercury throws people
+to ask me to go from home anywhere in close or open carriage. And as to
+talking&#8212;four days ago I could not well have articulated three
+sentences. Yet I did not need nursing, and I kept out of bed. It was
+enough to burden myself; it would have been misery to me to have
+annoyed another.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">
+March, 1852.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The news of E. T.'s death came to me last week in a letter from
+M&#8212;&#8212;, a long letter, which wrung my heart so in its simple,
+strong, truthful emotion, I have only ventured to read it once. It
+ripped up half-scarred wounds with terrible force&#8212;the death-bed
+was just the same&#8212;breath failing, &#38;c. She fears she will now
+in her dreary solitude become "a stern, harsh, selfish woman." This
+fear struck home. Again and again I have felt it for myself; and what
+is <i>my</i> position to M&#8212;&#8212;'s? I should break out in
+energetic wishes that she would return to England, if reason would
+permit me to believe that prosperity and happiness would there await
+her. But I see no such prospect. May God help her as God only can help!
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+To another friend she writes as follows, in reply to an invitation to
+leave Haworth for a short visit:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p class="ralign">
+March 12th, 1852.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Your kind note holds out a strong temptation, but one that <i>must be
+resisted</i>. From home I must not go unless health or some cause
+equally imperative render a change necessary. For nearly four months
+now (<i>i.e.</i> since I first became ill) I have not put pen to paper;
+my work has been lying untouched, and my faculties have been rusting
+for want of exercise; further relaxation is out of the question, and
+<i>I will not permit myself to think of it</i>. My publisher groans
+over my long delays; I am sometimes provoked to check the expression of
+his impatience with short and crusty answers. Yet the pleasure I now
+deny myself I would fain regard as only deferred. I heard something
+about your purposing to visit Scarborough in the course of the summer;
+and could I by the close of July or August bring my task to a certain
+point, how glad should I be to join you there for a while!&#8230;
+However, I dare not lay plans at this distance of time; for me so much
+must depend, first, on Papa's health (which throughout the winter has
+been, I am thankful to say, really excellent), and, second, on the
+progress of work&#8212;a matter not wholly contingent on wish or will,
+but lying in a great measure beyond the reach of effort, or out of the
+pale of calculation.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+As the summer advanced her sufferings were scarcely abated, and at
+last, in search of some relief, she made a sudden visit by herself to
+Filey, inspired in part by her desire to see the memorial-stone
+erected above her sister's grave at Scarborough.
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p class="ralign">
+Filey Bay, June, 1852.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class="sc">My dear Miss</span> &#8212;&#8212;,&#8212;Your kind
+and welcome note reached me at this place, where I have been staying
+three weeks <i>quite alone</i>. Change and sea-air had become
+necessary. Distance and other considerations forbade my accompanying
+Ellen to the South, much as I should have liked it had I felt quite
+free and unfettered. Ellen told me some time ago that you were not
+likely to visit Scarborough till the autumn, so I forthwith packed my
+trunk and betook myself here. The first week or ten days I greatly
+feared the seaside would not suit me, for I suffered almost incessantly
+from headache and other harassing ailments; the weather, too, was dark,
+stormy, and excessively&#8212;<i>bitterly</i>&#8212;cold. My solitude
+under such circumstances partook of the character of desolation; I had
+some dreary evening hours and night vigils. However, that passed. I
+think I am now better and stronger for the change, and in a day or two
+hope to return home. Ellen told me that Mr. W&#8212;&#8212; said people
+with my tendency to congestion of the liver should walk three or four
+hours every day; accordingly, I have walked as much as I could since I
+came here, and look almost as sunburnt and weather-beaten as a
+fisherman or a bathing-woman, with being out in the open air. As to my
+work, it has stood obstinately still for a long while; certainly a
+torpid liver makes a torpid brain. No spirit moves me. If this state of
+things does not entirely change, my chance of a holiday in the autumn
+is not worth much; yet I should be very sorry not to meet you for a
+little while at Scarborough. The duty to be discharged at Scarborough
+was the chief motive that drew me to the east coast. I have been there,
+visited the churchyard, and seen the stone. There were five errors;
+consequently I had to give directions for its being re-faced and
+re-lettered.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+The sea-air did her good; but she was still unable to carry her great
+work forward, in spite of the urgent pressure put upon her by those
+who in this respect merely expressed the impatience of the public.
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p class="ralign">
+Haworth, July, 1852.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I am again at home, where (thank God) I found all well. I certainly
+feel much better than I did, and would fain trust that the improvement
+may prove permanent&#8230;. The first fortnight I was at Filey I had
+constantly recurring pain in the right side, and sick headache into the
+bargain. My spirits at the same time were cruelly
+depressed&#8212;prostrated sometimes. I feared the miseries and the
+suffering of last winter were all returning; consequently I am now
+indeed thankful to find myself so much better&#8230;. You ask about
+Australia. Let us dismiss the subject in a few words, and not recur to
+it. All is silent as the grave. Cornhill is silent too; there has been
+bitter disappointment there at my having no work ready for this season.
+Ellen, we must not rely upon our fellow-creatures&#8212;only on
+ourselves, and on Him who is above both us and them. My <i>labours</i>,
+as you call them, stand in abeyance, and I cannot hurry them. I must
+take my own time, however long that time may be.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">
+August, 1852.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I am thankful to say that Papa's convalescence seems now to be quite
+confirmed. There is scarcely any remainder of the inflammation in his
+eyes, and his general health progresses satisfactorily. He begins even
+to look forward to resuming his duty ere long, but caution must be
+observed on that head. Martha has been very willing and helpful during
+Papa's illness. Poor Tabby is ill herself at present with English
+cholera, which complaint, together with influenza, has lately been
+almost universally prevalent in this district. Of the last I have
+myself had a touch; but it went off very gently on the whole, affecting
+my chest and liver less than any cold has done for the last three
+years&#8230;. I write to you about yourself rather under constraint and
+in the dark; for your letters, dear Nell, are most remarkably oracular,
+dropping nothing but hints which tie my tongue a good deal. What, for
+instance, can I say to your last postscript? It is quite sibylline. I
+can hardly guess what checks you in writing to me. Perhaps you think
+that as <i>I</i> generally write with some reserve, you ought to do the
+same. <i>My</i> reserve, however, has its origin not in design, but in
+necessity. I am silent because I have literally <i>nothing to say</i>.
+I might, indeed, repeat over and over again that my life is a pale
+blank, and often a very weary burden, and that the future sometimes
+appals me; but what end could be answered by such repetition, except to
+weary you and enervate myself? The evils that now and then wring a
+groan from my heart lie in my position&#8212;not that I am a
+<i>single</i> woman and likely to remain a <i>single</i> woman, but
+because I am a lonely woman and likely to be <i>lonely</i>. But it
+cannot be helped, and therefore <i>imperatively must be borne</i>, and
+borne, too, with as few words about it as may be. I write this just to
+prove to you that whatever you would freely <i>say</i> to me you may
+just as freely write. Understand that I remain just as resolved as ever
+not to allow myself the holiday of a visit from you till <i>I</i> have
+done my work. After labour, pleasure; but while work was lying at the
+wall undone, I never yet could enjoy recreation.
+</p></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><a name="letter"><img src="images/008.jpg" alt="SIMILE LETTER OF CHARLOTTE BRONT&#203;" width="400" height="1849"></a></div>
+<p class="caption">SIMILE LETTER OF CHARLOTTE BRONT&#203;.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Slowly page after page of "Villette" was now being written. The reader
+sees from these letters that the book was composed in no happy mood.
+Writing to her publisher a few weeks after the date of the last letter
+printed above, she says: "I can hardly tell you how I hunger to hear
+some opinions beside my own, and how I have sometimes desponded and
+almost despaired, because there was no one to whom to read a line, or
+of whom to ask a counsel. 'Jane Eyre' was not written under such
+circumstances, nor were two-thirds of 'Shirley.' I got so miserable
+about it that I could bear no allusion to the book. It is not finished
+yet; but now I hope." But though her work pressed so incessantly upon
+her, and her feverish anxiety to have it done weighed so heavily upon
+her health and spirits, she could still find time to answer her
+friend's letters in a way which showed that her interest in the outer
+world was as keen as ever:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p class="ralign">
+September, 1852.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thank you for A&#8212;&#8212;'s notes. I like to read them, they are so
+full of news, but they are illegible. A great many words I really
+cannot make out. It is pleasing to hear that M&#8212;&#8212; is doing
+so well, and the tidings about &#8212;&#8212; seem also good. I get a
+note from &#8212;&#8212; every now and then, but I fear my last reply
+has not given much satisfaction. It contained a taste of that
+unpalatable commodity called <i>advice</i>&#8212;such advice, too, as
+might be, and I dare say was, construed into faint reproof. I can
+scarcely tell what there is about &#8212;&#8212; that, in spite of
+one's conviction of her amiability, in spite of one's sincere wish for
+her welfare, palls upon one, satiates, stirs impatience. She
+<i>will</i> complacently put forth opinions and tastes as her own which
+are <i>not</i> her own, nor in any sense natural to her. My patience
+can really hardly sustain the test of such a jay in borrowed plumes.
+She prated so much about the fine wilful spirit of her child, whom she
+describes as a hard, brown little thing, who will do nothing but what
+pleases himself, that I hit out at last&#8212;not very hard, but enough
+to make her think herself ill-used, I doubt not. Can't help it. She
+often says she is not "absorbed in self," but the fact is, I have
+seldom seen anyone more unconsciously, thoroughly, and often weakly
+egotistic. Then, too, she is inconsistent. In the same breath she
+boasts her matrimonial happiness and whines for sympathy. Don't
+understand it. With a paragon of a husband and child, why that whining,
+craving note? Either her lot is not all she professes it to be, or she
+is hard to content.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+In October the resolute determination to allow herself no relaxation
+until "Villette" was finished broke down. She was compelled to call
+for help, and to acknowledge herself beaten in her attempt to crush
+out the yearning for company:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p class="ralign">
+October, 1852.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Papa expresses so strong a wish that I should ask you to come, and I
+feel some little refreshment so absolutely necessary myself, that I
+really must beg you to come to Haworth for one single week. I thought I
+would persist in denying myself till I had done my work, but I find it
+won't do. The matter refuses to progress, and this excessive solitude
+presses too heavily. So let me see your dear face, Nell, just for one
+reviving week. Could you come on Wednesday? Write to-morrow, and let me
+know by what train you would reach Keighley, that I may send for you.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+The visit was a pleasant one in spite of the weariness of body and
+mind which troubled Charlotte. She laid aside her task for that "one
+little week," went out upon the moors with her friend, talked as of
+old, and at last, when she was left alone once more, declared that the
+change had done her "inexpressible good." Writing to her friend
+immediately after the latter had left her, she says:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+Your note came only this morning. I had expected it yesterday, and was
+beginning actually to feel weary&#8212;like you. This won't do. I am
+afraid of caring for you too much. You must have come upon
+&#8212;&#8212; at an unfavourable moment, seen it under a cloud. Surely
+they are not always or often thus, or else married life is indeed but a
+slipshod paradise. I only send <i>The Examiner</i>, not having yet read
+<i>The Leader</i>. I was spared the remorse I feared. On Saturday I
+fell to business, and as the welcome mood is still decently existent,
+and my eyes consequently excessively tired with scribbling, you must
+excuse a mere scrawl. Papa was glad to hear you had got home
+well&#8212;as well as we&#8230;. I do miss my dear bed-fellow; no more
+of that calm sleep.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+Her pen now began to move more quickly, and the closing chapters of
+"Villette" were written with comparative ease, so that at last she
+writes thus, on November 22nd:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p class="ralign">
+Monday morning.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Truly thankful am I to be able to tell you that I finished my long task
+on Saturday, packed and sent off the parcel to Cornhill. I said my
+prayers when I had done it. Whether it is well or ill done I don't
+know. <i>D. V.</i>, I will now try to wait the issue quietly. The book,
+I think, will not be considered pretentious, nor is it of a character
+to excite hostility. As Papa is pretty well, I may, I trust, dear Nell,
+do as you wish me, and come for a few days to B&#8212;&#8212;. Miss
+Martineau has also urgently asked me to go and see her. I promised, if
+all were well, to do so at the close of November or the commencement of
+December, so that I could go on from B&#8212;&#8212; to Westmoreland.
+Would Wednesday suit you? "Esmond" shall come with me&#8212;<i>i.e.</i>
+Thackeray's novel.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+Every reader knows in what fashion "Villette" ends, and most persons
+also know from Mrs. Gaskell that the reason why the actual issue is
+left in some uncertainty was the author's filial desire to gratify her
+father. Charlotte herself was firmly resolved that she would
+<i>not</i> make Lucy Snowe the happy wife of Paul Emanuel. She never
+meant to "appoint her lot in pleasant places." Lucy was to bear the
+storm and stress of life in the same manner as that in which her
+creator had been compelled to bear it; and she was to be left in the
+end alone, robbed for ever of the hope of spending the happy afternoon
+of her existence in the sunshine of love and congenial society. But
+Mr. Bront&#235;, altogether unconscious of that tragedy of heart-sickness
+and soul-weariness which was being enacted under his own roof, and
+which furnished so striking a parallel to the story which ran through
+"Villette," would not brook a gloomy ending to the tale, and by
+protestations and entreaties induced his daughter at least so far to
+alter her plan as to leave the issue in doubt.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+So "Villette" went its way, as "Jane Eyre" and "Shirley " had done
+before it, from the secluded parsonage at Haworth up to the busy
+publishing-house in Cornhill, and thence out into the world. There was
+some fear on Charlotte's part when the MS. had been despatched. She
+herself was gradually forming that which remained the fixed conviction
+of her life&#8212;the conviction that in "Villette" she had done her best,
+and that, for good or for ill, by it her reputation must stand or
+fall. But she was intensely anxious, as we have seen, to have the
+opinions of others upon the story. Nor was it only a general verdict
+on its merits for which she called. She was uneasy upon some minor
+points. According to her wont, she had taken most of her characters
+from life, and it was not during her stay at Brussels alone that she
+had studied the models which she employed when writing the book.
+Naturally, she was curious to know whether she had painted her
+portraits too literally. So "Villette" was allowed to pass, whilst
+still in MS., into the hands of the original of "Dr. John." When that
+gentleman had read the story, and criticised all the characters with
+the freedom of unconsciousness, her mind was set at rest, and she knew
+that she had not transgressed the bounds which divide the story-teller
+from the biographer.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In the meantime, her work done, she hurried away from Haworth to spend
+a well-earned holiday at B&#8212;&#8212; with her friend. "Esmond" accompanied
+her, and the quiet afternoons were spent in reading it aloud. On
+December 9th she writes from Haworth, announcing her safe return to
+her own home:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+I got home safely at five o'clock yesterday afternoon, and, I am most
+thankful to say, found Papa and all the rest quite well. I did my
+business satisfactorily in Leeds, getting the head-dress rearranged as
+I wished. It is now a very different matter to the bushy, tasteless
+thing it was before. On my arrival I found no proof-sheets, but a
+letter from Mr. S&#8212;&#8212;, which I would have enclosed, but so
+many words are scarce legible you would have no pleasure in reading it.
+He continues to make a mystery of his "reason"; something in the third
+volume sticks confoundedly in his throat; and as to the "female
+character" about which I asked, he responds that "she is an odd,
+fascinating little puss," but affirms that "he is not in love with
+her." He tells me also that he will answer no more questions about
+"Villette." This morning I have a brief note from Mr. Williams,
+intimating that he has not yet been permitted to read the third volume.
+Also there is a note from Mrs. &#8212;&#8212;, very kind. I almost wish
+I could still look on that kindness just as I used to do: it was very
+pleasant to me once. Write <i>immediately</i>, dear Nell, and tell me
+how your mother is. Give my kindest regards to her and all others at
+B&#8212;&#8212;. Everybody seemed very good to me this last visit. I
+remember it with corresponding pleasure.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+The private reception of "Villette" was not altogether that for which
+its author had hoped. Her publisher had objections to urge against
+certain features of the story, and those who saw the book in
+manuscript were not slow to express their own disapproval. It was
+evident that there was disappointment at Cornhill; and the proud
+spirit of Miss Bront&#235; was keenly troubled. The letters in which she
+dwells on what was passing at that time need not be reproduced here,
+for their purport is sufficiently indicated by that which has just
+been given. But it is worth while to notice the scrupulous modesty
+with which she listened to all that was said by those who found fault,
+her careful anxiety to understand their objections, such as they were,
+and her perfect readiness to discuss every point raised with them. Of
+irritability under this criticism there is no trace, only a certain
+sadness and sorrow at the discovery that she had not succeeded in
+impressing others as she had hoped to do. Yet she is scarcely
+surprised that it is so. Had she not written years before, when
+"Shirley" was first produced, these words?&#8212;
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+No matter, whether known or unknown, misjudged or the contrary, I am
+resolved not to write otherwise. I shall bend as my powers tend. The
+two human beings who understood me, and whom I understood, are gone. I
+have some that love me yet, and whom I love without expecting, or
+having a right to expect, that they shall perfectly understand me. I am
+satisfied, but I must have my own way in the matter of writing&#8230;.
+I am thankful to God who gave me the faculty; and it is for me a part
+of my religion to defend this gift and to profit by its possession.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+So now she is not astonished at finding herself misunderstood. Nor is
+she angry. She is perfectly ready to explain her real meaning to those
+who have misjudged her, but she is resolute in abiding by what she has
+written. The work wrung from her during those two years of pain and
+sorrow is not work which can be altered at will to please another.
+Even to meet the entreaties of her father she had refused to do more
+than draw a veil over the catastrophe in which the plot ends; and she
+cannot introduce new incidents, or lay on new colours, because the
+little circle of critics sitting in judgment on her manuscript have
+pronounced it to be imperfect. "I fear they" (the readers) "must be
+satisfied with what is offered. My palette affords no brighter tints;
+were I to attempt to deepen the reds or burnish the yellows, I should
+but blotch." Yet she admits that those who judge the book only from
+the outside have some reason to complain that it is not as other
+novels are:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+You say that Lucy Snowe may be thought morbid and weak, unless the
+history of her life be more freely given. I consider that she <i>is</i>
+both morbid and weak at times; her character sets up no pretensions to
+unmixed strength, and anybody living her life would necessarily become
+morbid. It was no impetus of healthy feeling which urged her to the
+confessional, for instance; it was the semi-delirium of solitary grief
+and sickness. If, however, the book does not express all this, there
+must be a great fault somewhere. I might explain away a few other
+points, but it would be too much like drawing a picture and then
+writing underneath the name of the object intended to be represented.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+Happily, the heart of the great reading world is bigger and truer as a
+whole than any part of it is. What those who read the manuscript of
+"Villette" failed to see at the first glance was seen instantly by the
+public when the book was placed in its hands. From critics of every
+school and degree there came up a cry of wonder and admiration, as men
+saw out of what simple characters and commonplace incidents genius had
+evoked this striking work of literary art. Popular, perhaps, the book
+could scarcely hope to be, in the vulgar acceptation of the word. The
+author had carefully avoided the "flowery and inviting" course of
+romance, and had written in silent obedience to the stern dictates of
+an inspiration which, as we have seen, only came at intervals, leaving
+her between its visits cruelly depressed and pained, but which when it
+came held her spell-bound and docile. Yet out of the dull record of
+humble woes, marked by no startling episodes, adorned by few of the
+flowers of poetry, she had created such a heart-history as remains to
+this day without a rival in the school of English fiction to which it
+belongs.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I bring together a batch of notes, not all addressed to the same
+person, which give her account of the reception and success of the
+book:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p class="ralign">
+February 11th, 1853.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Excuse a very brief note, for I have time only to thank you for your
+last kind and welcome letter, and to say that, in obedience to your
+wishes, I send you by this day's post two reviews&#8212;<i>The
+Examiner</i> and <i>The Morning Advertiser</i>&#8212;which, perhaps,
+you will kindly return at your leisure. Ellen has a third&#8212;<i>The
+Literary Gazette</i>&#8212;which she will likewise send. The reception
+of the book has been favourable thus far&#8212;for which I am
+thankful&#8212;less, I trust, on my own account than for the sake of
+those few real friends who take so sincere an interest in my welfare as
+to be happy in my happiness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">
+February 15th.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I am very glad to hear that you got home all right, and that you
+managed to execute your commissions in Leeds so satisfactorily. You do
+not say whether you remembered to order the Bishop's dessert; I shall
+know, however, by to-morrow morning. I got a budget of no less than
+seven papers yesterday and to-day. The import of all the notices is
+such as to make my heart swell with thankfulness to Him who takes note
+both of suffering and work and motives. Papa is pleased too. As to
+friends in general, I believe I can love them still without expecting
+them to take any large share in this sort of gratification. The longer
+I live, the more plainly I see that gentle must be the strain on
+fragile human nature. It will not bear much. </p>
+
+<p> I have heard from Mrs. Gaskell. Very kind, panegyrical, and so on.
+Mr. S&#8212;&#8212; tells me he has ascertained that Miss Martineau
+<i>did</i> write the notice in <i>The Daily News</i>. J. T. offers to
+give me a regular blowing-up and setting down for &#163;5, but I tell
+him <i>The Times</i> will probably let me have the same gratis.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">
+March 10th, 1853.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I only got <i>The Guardian</i> newspaper yesterday morning, and have
+not yet seen either <i>The Critic</i> or <i>Sharpe's Magazine</i>.
+<i>The Guardian</i> does not wound me much. I see the motive, which,
+indeed, there is no attempt to disguise. Still I think it a choice
+little morsel for foes (Mr. &#8212;&#8212; was the first to bring the
+news of the review to Papa), and a still choicer morsel for "friends"
+who&#8212;bless them!&#8212;while they would not perhaps positively do
+one an injury, still take a dear delight in dashing with bitterness the
+too sweet cup of success. Is <i>Sharpe's</i> small article like a bit
+of sugar-candy, too, Ellen? or has it the proper wholesome wormwood
+flavour? Of course I guess it will be like <i>The Guardian</i>. My
+"dear friends" will weary of waiting for <i>The Times</i>. "O Sisera!
+why tarry the wheels of thy chariot so long?"
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">March 22nd.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Thank you for sending &#8212;&#8212;'s notes. Though I have not
+attended to them lately, they always amuse me. I like to read them; one
+gets from them a clear enough idea of her sort of life.
+&#8212;&#8212;'s attempts to improve his good partner's mind make me
+smile. I think it all right enough, and doubt not they are happy in
+their way; only the direction he gives his efforts seems of rather
+problematic wisdom. Algebra and optics! Why not enlarge her views by a
+little well-chosen general reading? However, they do right to amuse
+themselves in their own way. The rather dark view you seem to take of
+the general opinion about "Villette" surprises me the less, as only the
+more unfavourable reviews seem to have come in your way. Some reports
+reach me of a different tendency; but no matter; time will show. As to
+the character of Lucy Snowe, my intention from the first was that she
+should not occupy the pedestal to which "Jane Eyre" was raised by some
+injudicious admirers. She is where I meant her to be, and where no
+charge of self-laudation can touch her.
+</p></div>
+
+
+
+
+<a name="XI">&nbsp;</a>
+<p class="chapter">XI.
+</p>
+
+<p class="head">
+MARRIAGE AND DEATH.
+</p>
+
+
+<p>
+Every book, as we know, has its secret history, hidden from the world
+which reads only the printed pages, but legible enough to the author,
+who sees something more than the words he has set down for the public
+to read. Thackeray tells us how, reading again one of his smaller
+stories, written at a sad period of his own life, he brought back all
+the scene amid which the little tale was composed, and woke again to a
+consciousness of the pangs which tore his heart when his pen was busy
+with the imaginary fortunes of the puppets he had placed upon the
+mimic stage. Between the lines he read quite a different story from
+that which was laid before the reader. I have tried to show how
+largely this was the case with Charlotte Bront&#235;'s novels. Each was a
+double romance, having one meaning for the world, and another for the
+author. Yet she herself, when she wrote "Shirley" and "Villette," had
+no conception of the strange blending of the secret currents of the
+two books which was in store for her, or of the unexpected fate which
+was to befall the real heroine of her last work&#8212;to wit, herself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I have told how fixed was her belief that "Lucy Snowe's" fate was to
+be a tragic one&#8212;a life the closing years of which were to be spent in
+loneliness and anguish, and amid the bitterness of withered hopes.
+Very few readers can have forgotten the closing passage of "Villette,"
+in which the catastrophe, though veiled, can be readily discovered:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+The sun passes the equinox; the days shorten, the leaves grow sere;
+but&#8212;he is coming. </p>
+
+<p> Frosts appear at night; November has sent his fogs in advance; the
+wind takes its autumn moan; but&#8212;he is coming. </p>
+
+<p> The skies hang full and dark&#8212;a rack sails from the west; the
+clouds cast themselves into strange forms&#8212;arches and broad
+radiations; there rise resplendent mornings&#8212;glorious, royal,
+purple as a monarch in his state; the heavens are one flame; so wild
+are they, they rival battle at its thickest&#8212;so bloody, they shame
+Victory in her pride. I know some signs of the sky; I have noted them
+ever since childhood. God, watch that sail! Oh! guard it! </p>
+
+<p> The wind shifts to the west. Peace, peace, Banshee&#8212;"keening"
+at every window! It will rise&#8212;it will swell&#8212;it shrieks out
+long: wander as I may through the house this night, I cannot lull the
+blast. The advancing hours make it strong: by midnight, all sleepless
+watchers hear and fear a wild south-west storm&#8230;. </p>
+
+<p> Peace, be still! Oh! a thousand weepers, praying in agony on
+waiting shores, listened for that voice, but it was not
+uttered&#8212;not uttered till, when the hush came, some could not feel
+it; till, when the sun returned, his light was night to some!
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+In darkness such as here is shadowed forth, Charlotte Bront&#235; believed
+that her own life would close; all sunshine gone, all joys swept clean
+away by the bitter blast of death, all hopes withered or uprooted. But
+the end which she pictured was not to be. God was more merciful than
+her own imaginings; and at eventide there was light and peace upon her
+troubled path.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Those who turn to the closing passage of "Shirley" will find there
+reference to "a true Christian gentleman," who had taken the place of
+the hypocrite Malone, one of the famous three curates of the story.
+This gentleman, a Mr. McCarthy, was, like the rest, no fictitious
+personage. His original was to be found in the person of Mr. Nicholls,
+who for several years had lived a simple, unobtrusive life at Haworth,
+as curate to Mr. Bront&#235;, and whose name often occurs in Charlotte's
+letters to her friend. In none of these references to him is there the
+slightest indication that he was more than an honoured friend. Nor was
+it so. Whilst Mr. Nicholls, dwelling near Miss Bront&#235;, and observing
+her far more closely than any other person could do, had formed a deep
+and abiding attachment for her, she herself was wholly unconscious of
+the fact. Its first revelation came upon her as something like a
+shock; as something also like a reproach. Whilst she had thought
+herself alone, doomed to a life of solitude and pain, a tender yet a
+manly love had all the while been growing round her.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is obvious that the letters which she addressed at this time
+(December, 1852) to her friend cannot be printed here. Yet no letters
+more honourable to the woman, the daughter, and the lover have ever
+been penned. There is no restraint now in the outpourings of her
+heart. Her friend is taken into her full confidence, and every hope
+and fear and joy is spoken out as only women who are pure and truthful
+and entirely noble can venture to speak out. Mrs. Gaskell has briefly
+but distinctly stated the broad features of this strange love story,
+giving such promise at the time, so happy and beautiful in its brief
+fruition, so soon to be quenched in the great darkness. Mr. Bront&#235;
+resented the attentions of Mr. Nicholls to his daughter in a manner
+which brought to light all the sternness and bitterness of his
+character. There had been of late years a certain mellowing of his
+disposition, which Charlotte had dwelt upon with hopeful joy, as her
+one comfort in her lonely life at Haworth. How much he owed to her
+none knew but himself. When he was sinking under the burden of his
+son's death, she had rescued him; when, for one dark and bitter
+interval, he had sought refuge from grief and remorse in the coward's
+solace, her brave heart, her gentleness, her unyielding courage, had
+brought him back again from evil ways, and sustained and kept him in
+the path of honour; and now his own ambitions were more than satisfied
+by her success; he found himself shining in the reflected glory of his
+daughter's fame, and sunned himself, poor man, in the light and
+warmth. But all the old jealousy, the intense acerbity of his
+character, broke out when he saw another person step between himself
+and her, and that other no idol of the great world of London, but
+simply the honest man who had dwelt almost under his own roof-tree for
+years.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When, having heard with surprise and emotion, the story of Mr.
+Nicholls's attachment, Charlotte communicated his offer to her father,
+"agitation and anger disproportionate to the occasion ensued. My blood
+boiled with a sense of injustice. But Papa worked himself into a state
+not to be trifled with. The veins on his forehead started up like
+whipcord, and his eyes became suddenly bloodshot. I made haste to
+promise that on the morrow Mr. Nicholls should have a distinct
+refusal." It so happened that very soon after this, that is to say
+when "Villette" was published, Miss Martineau caused deep pain to its
+writer by condemning the manner in which "all the female characters in
+all their thoughts and lives" were represented as "being full of one
+thing&#8212;love." The critic not unjustly pointed out that love was not
+the be-all and the end-all of a woman's life. Perhaps her pen would
+not have been so sharp in touching on this subject, had she known with
+what quiet self-sacrifice the author of "Villette" had but a few weeks
+before set aside her own preferences and inclinations, and submitted
+her lot to her father's angry will. This truly must be reckoned as
+another illustration of the extent to which the <i>Quarterly</i>
+reviewer of 1848 had formed an accurate conception of the character of
+"Currer Bell."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Not only was the struggle which followed sharp and painful, it was
+also stubborn and prolonged. Mr. Nicholls resigned the curacy he had
+held so many years, and prepared to leave Haworth. Mr. Bront&#235; not only
+showed no signs of relenting, but openly exulted in his departure, and
+lost no opportunity of expressing in bitterly sarcastic language his
+opinion of his colleague's conduct. How deeply Charlotte suffered at
+this time is proved by the letters before me. Firmly convinced that
+her first duty was to the parent whose only remaining stay she was,
+she never wavered in her determination to sacrifice every wish of her
+own to his comfort. But her heart was racked with pity for the man who
+was suffering through his love for her, and her indignation was roused
+to fever-heat by the gross injustice of her father's conduct.
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+Compassion or relenting is no more to be looked for from Papa than sap
+from firewood. I never saw a battle more sternly fought with the
+feelings than Mr. N. fights with his, and when he yields momentarily,
+you are almost sickened by the sense of the strain upon him. However,
+he is to go, and I cannot speak to him or look at him or comfort him a
+whit&#8212;and I must submit. Providence is over all; that is the only
+consolation. </p>
+
+<p> In all this&#8212;she says, after speaking again of the severity of
+the struggle&#8212;it is not <i>I</i> who am to be pitied at all, and
+of course nobody pities me. They all think in Haworth that I have
+disdainfully refused him. If pity would do him any good he ought to
+have, and I believe has, it. They may abuse me if they will. Whether
+they do or not I can't tell. </p>
+
+<p> &nbsp; </p>
+
+<p> I thought of you on New Year's Day, and hope you got well over your
+formidable tea-making. I am busy, too, in my little way, preparing to
+go to London this week&#8212;a matter which necessitates some little
+application to the needle. I find it quite necessary I should go to
+superintend the press, as Mr. S&#8212;&#8212; seems quite determined
+not to let the printing get on till I come. I have actually only
+received three proof-sheets since I was at Brookroyd. Papa wants me to
+go too, to be out of the way, I suppose; but I am sorry for one other
+person whom nobody pities but me&#8230;. They don't understand the
+nature of his feelings, but I see now what they are. Mr.
+N&#8212;&#8212; is one of those who attach themselves to very few,
+whose sensations are close and deep, like an underground stream,
+running strong but in a narrow channel. He continues restless and ill.
+He carefully performs the occasional duty, but does not come near the
+church, procuring a substitute every Sunday. A few days since he wrote
+to Papa requesting permission to withdraw his resignation. Papa
+answered that he should only do so on condition of giving his written
+promise never again to broach the obnoxious subject either to him or to
+me. This he has evaded doing, so the matter remains unsettled. I feel
+persuaded the termination will be, his departure for Australia. Dear
+Nell, without loving him, I don't like to think of him suffering in
+solitude, and wish him anywhere so that he were happier. He and Papa
+have never met or spoken yet.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+During this crisis in her life, when suffering had come to her in a
+new and sharp form, but when happily the black cloud was lit up on the
+other side by the rays of the sun, she went up to London to spend a
+few weeks. From the letters written during her visit I make these
+extracts:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p class="ralign">
+January 11th, 1853.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I came here last Wednesday. I had a delightful day for my journey, and
+was kindly received at the close. My time has passed pleasantly enough
+since I came, yet I have not much to tell you; nor is it likely I shall
+have. I do not mean to go out much or see many people. Sir J.
+S&#8212;&#8212; wrote to me two or three times before I left home, and
+made me promise to let him know when I should be in town, but I reserve
+to myself the right of deferring the communication till the latter part
+of my stay. All in this house appear to be pretty much as usual, and
+yet I see some changes. Mrs. &#8212;&#8212; and her daughter look well
+enough; but on Mr. &#8212;&#8212; hard work is telling early. Both his
+complexion, his countenance, and the very lines of his features are
+altered. It is rather the remembrance of what he was than the fact of
+what he is which can warrant the picture I have been accustomed to give
+of him. One feels pained to see a physical alteration of this kind; yet
+I feel glad and thankful that it is <i>merely</i> physical. As far as I
+can judge, mind and manners have undergone no
+deterioration&#8212;rather, I think, the contrary.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">
+January 19th, 1853.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I still continue to get on very comfortably and quietly in London, in
+the way I like, seeing rather things than persons. Being allowed to
+have my own choice of sights this time I selected the <i>real</i>
+rather than the <i>decorative</i> side of life. I have been over two
+prisons, ancient and modern, Newgate and Pentonville; also the Bank,
+the Exchange, the Foundling Hospital; and to-day, if all be well, I go
+with Dr. Forbes to see Bethlehem Hospital. Mrs. &#8212;&#8212; and her
+daughters are, I believe, a little amazed at my gloomy tastes; but I
+take no notice. Papa, I am glad to say, continues well. I enclose
+portions of two notes of his which will show you better than anything I
+can say how he treats a certain subject. My book is to appear at the
+close of this month. Mrs. Gaskell wrote to beg that it should not clash
+with "Ruth," and it was impossible to refuse to defer the publication a
+week or two.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+The visit to London did good; but it could not remove the pain which
+she suffered during this period of conflict.
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p class="ralign">Haworth, May 19th, 1853.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is almost a relief to hear that you only think of staying at
+G&#8212;&#8212; a month; though of course one must not be selfish in
+wishing you to come home soon&#8230;. I cannot help feeling
+satisfaction in finding that the people here are getting up a
+subscription to offer a testimonial of respect to Mr. N&#8212;&#8212;
+on his leaving the place. Many are expressing both their commiseration
+and esteem for him. The churchwardens recently put the question to him
+plainly: Why was he going? Was it Mr. Bront&#235;'s fault or his own?
+His own, he answered. Did he blame Mr. Bront&#235;? No, he did not: if
+anybody was wrong, it was himself. Was he willing to go? No; it gave
+him great pain. Yet he is not always right. I must be just. Papa
+addressed him at the school tea-drinking with <i>constrained</i>
+civility, but still with <i>civility</i>. He did not reply civilly; he
+cut short further words. This sort of treatment is what Papa never will
+forget or forgive. It inspires him with a silent bitterness not to be
+expressed&#8230;. It is a dismal state of things. The weather is fine
+now, dear Nell. We will take these sunny days as a good omen for your
+visit.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">
+May 27th, 1853.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+You will want to know about the leave-taking. The whole matter is but a
+painful subject, but I must treat it briefly. The testimonial was
+presented in a public meeting. Mr. F&#8212;&#8212; and Mr.
+G&#8212;&#8212; were there. Papa was not very well, and I advised him
+to stay away, which he did. As to the last Sunday, it was a cruel
+struggle. Mr. N&#8212;&#8212; ought not to have had to take any duty.
+He left Haworth this morning at six o'clock. Yesterday evening he
+called to render into Papa's hands the deeds of the National School,
+and to say good-bye. They were busy cleaning, washing the paint,
+&#38;c., so he did not find me there. I would not go into the parlour
+to speak to him in Papa's presence. He went out, thinking he was not to
+see me; and indeed till the very last moment I thought it best not. But
+perceiving that he stayed long before going out at the gate, and
+remembering his long grief, I took courage, and went out, trembling and
+miserable. I found him leaning against the garden door&#8230;. Of
+course I went straight to him. Very few words were interchanged; those
+few barely articulate: several things I should have liked to ask him
+were swept entirely from my memory. Poor fellow! but he wanted such
+hope and such encouragement as I <i>could</i> not give him. Still I
+trust he must know now that I am not cruelly blind and indifferent to
+his constancy and grief. For a few weeks he goes to the South of
+England&#8212;afterwards he takes a curacy somewhere in Yorkshire, but
+I don't know where. Papa has been far from strong lately. I dare not
+mention Mr. N&#8212;&#8212;'s name to him. He speaks of him quietly and
+without opprobrium to others; but to me he is implacable on the matter.
+However, he is gone&#8212;gone&#8212;and there's an end of it! I see no
+chance of hearing a word about him in future, unless some stray shred
+of intelligence comes through Mr. G&#8212;&#8212; or some other
+second-hand source.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+The remainder of the year 1853 was a chequered one. Mr. Nicholls left
+Haworth; Charlotte remained with her father. Those who saw her at this
+time bear testimony to the unfailing, never-flagging devotion she
+displayed towards one who was wounding her cruelly. But she bore this
+sorrow, like those which had preceded it, bravely and cheerfully. To
+her friend she opened her heart at times, revealing something of what
+she was suffering; but to all others she was silent.
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p class="ralign">
+Haworth, April 13th, 1853.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class="sc">My dear Miss</span> &#8212;&#8212;,&#8212;Your last
+kind letter ought to have been answered long since, and would have
+been, did I find it practicable to proportion the promptitude of the
+response to the value I place upon my correspondents and their
+communications. You will easily understand, however, that the contrary
+rule often holds good, and that the epistle which importunes often
+takes precedence of that which interests. My publishers express entire
+satisfaction with the reception which has been accorded to "Villette."
+And, indeed, the majority of the reviews has been favourable enough.
+You will be aware, however, that there is a minority, small in
+character, which views the work with no favourable eye. "Currer Bell's"
+remarks on Romanism have drawn down on him the condign displeasure of
+the High Church party, which displeasure has been unequivocally
+expressed through their principal organs, <i>The Guardian</i>, <i>The
+English Churchman</i>, and <i>The Christian Remembrancer</i>. I can
+well understand that some of the charges launched against me by these
+publications will tell heavily to my prejudice in the minds of most
+readers. But this must be borne; and for my part, I can suffer no
+accusation to oppress me much which is not supported by the inward
+evidence of Conscience and Reason. "Extremes meet," says the proverb;
+in proof whereof I would mention that Miss Martineau finds with
+"Villette" nearly the same fault as the Puseyites. She accuses me of
+attacking Popery "with virulence," of going out of my way to assault it
+"passionately." In other respects she has shown, with reference to the
+work, a spirit so strangely and unexpectedly acrimonious, that I have
+gathered courage to tell her that the gulf of mutual difference between
+her and me is so wide and deep, the bridge of union so slight and
+uncertain, I have come to the conclusion that frequent intercourse
+would be most perilous and unadvisable, and have begged to adjourn
+<i>sine die</i> my long-projected visit to her. Of course she is now
+very angry, but it cannot be helped. Two or three weeks since I
+received a long and kind letter from Mr. &#8212;&#8212;, which I
+answered a short time ago. I believe he thinks me a much better
+advocate for <i>change</i>, and what is called "political progress,"
+than I am. However, in my reply I did not touch on these subjects. He
+intimated a wish to publish some of his own MSS. I fear he would hardly
+like the somewhat dissuasive tendency of my answer; but really, in
+these days of headlong competition, it is a great risk to publish.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">
+April 18th, 1853.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+If all be well, I think of going to Manchester about the close of this
+week. I only intend staying a few days; but I can say nothing about
+coming back by B&#8212;&#8212;. Do not expect me; I would rather see
+you at Haworth by-and-by. Two or three weeks since, Miss Martineau
+wrote to ask why she did not hear from me, and to press me to go to
+Ambleside. Explanations ensued; the notes on each side were quite
+civil; but, having deliberately formed my resolution on substantial
+grounds, I adhered to it. I have declined being her visitor, and bid
+her good-bye. It is best so; the antagonism of our natures and
+principles was too serious to be trifled with.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+This difference with Miss Martineau is not a thing to dwell on now.
+The pity is that two women so truthful, so sincere, so bold in their
+utterances should ever have differed. Charlotte Bront&#235; had known how
+to stand bravely by Miss Martineau when she believed that the latter
+was suffering because of her honestly-formed opinions; she had known
+how to speak on her behalf with timely generosity and force. But her
+sensitive nature was wounded to the quick by criticisms which she
+believed to be unjust; and so these two great women parted, and met
+again no more.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To the mental pain which she was now suffering from her father's
+conduct there was added keen physical torture. During this summer of
+1853 many of her letters contain sentences like this: "I have been
+suffering most severely for ten days with continued pain in the
+head&#8212;on the nerves it is said to be. Blistering at last seems to have
+done it some good; but I am yet weak and bewildered." A visit from
+Mrs. Gaskell, who came to see how Haworth looked in its autumn robe of
+splendour, did her some good; but still more was gained by a journey
+to the seaside in the company of her old friend and schoolmistress,
+Miss Wooler, before which she had addressed to her the following
+letter:
+</p>
+
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p class="ralign">
+Haworth, August 30th, 1853.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class="sc">My dear Miss W.</span>,&#8212;I was from home when
+your kind letter came, and, as it was not forwarded, I did not get it
+till my return. All the summer I have felt the wish and cherished the
+intention to join you for a brief period at the seaside; nor do I yet
+entirely relinquish the purpose, though its fulfilment must depend on
+my father's health. At present he complains so much of weakness and
+depressed spirits, that no thoughts of leaving him can be entertained.
+Should he improve, however, I would fain come to you before autumn is
+quite gone. </p>
+
+<p> My late absence was but for a week, when I accompanied Mr. and Mrs.
+&#8212;&#8212; and baby on a trip to Scotland. They went with the
+intention of taking up their quarters at Kirkcudbright, or some
+watering-place on the Solway Firth. We hardly reached that locality,
+and had stayed but one night, when the baby (that rather despotic
+member of modern households) exhibited some symptoms of indisposition.
+To my unskilled perception its ailments appeared very slight, nowise
+interfering with its appetite or spirits; but parental eyes saw the
+matter in a different light. The air of Scotland was pronounced
+unpropitious to the child, and consequently we had to retrace our
+steps. I own I felt some little reluctance to leave "bonnie Scotland"
+so soon and so abruptly, but of course I could not say a word, since,
+however strong on my own mind the impression that the ailment in
+question was very trivial and temporary (an impression confirmed by the
+issue), I could not be absolutely certain that such was the case; and
+had any evil consequences followed a prolonged stay, I should never
+have forgiven myself. </p>
+
+<p> Ilkley was the next place thought of. We went there, but I only
+remained three days, for, in the hurry of changing trains at one of the
+stations, my box was lost, and without clothes I could not stay. I have
+heard of it twice, but have not yet regained it. In all probability it
+is now lying at Kirkcudbright, where it was directed. </p>
+
+<p> Notwithstanding some minor trials, I greatly enjoyed this little
+excursion. The scenery through which we travelled from Dumfries to
+Kirkcudbright (a distance of thirty miles, performed outside a
+stage-coach) was beautiful, though not at all of a peculiarly Scottish
+character, being richly cultivated and well wooded. I liked Ilkley,
+too, exceedingly, and shall long to revisit the place. On the whole, I
+thought it for the best that circumstances obliged me to return home so
+soon, for I found Papa far from well. He is something better now, yet I
+shall not feel it right to leave him again till I see a more thorough
+re-establishment of health and strength. </p>
+
+<p> With some things to regret and smile at, I saw things to admire in
+the small family party with which I travelled. Mr. &#8212;&#8212; makes
+a most devoted father and husband. I admired his great kindness to his
+wife; but I rather groaned (inwardly) over the unbounded indulgence of
+both parents towards their only child. The world does not revolve round
+the sun; that is a mistake. Certain babies, I plainly perceive, are the
+important centre of all things. The papa and mamma could only take
+their meals, rest, and exercise at such times and in such manner as the
+despotic infant permitted. While Mrs. &#8212;&#8212; eat her dinner,
+Mr. &#8212;&#8212; relieved guard as nurse. A nominal nurse, indeed,
+accompanied the party, but her place was a sort of anxious waiting
+sinecure, as the child did not fancy her attendance. Tenderness to
+offspring is a virtue, yet I think I have seen mothers who were most
+tender and thoughtful, yet in very love for their children would not
+permit them to become tyrants either over themselves or others. </p>
+
+<p> I shall be glad and grateful, my dear Miss W., to hear from you
+again whenever you have time or inclination to write&#8212;though, as I
+told you before, there is no fear of my misunderstanding silence.
+Should you leave Hornsea before winter sets in, I trust you will just
+come straight to Haworth, and pay your long-anticipated visit there
+before you go elsewhere. Papa and the servants send their respects. I
+always duly deliver your kind messages of remembrance, because they
+give pleasure.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+December came, and she writes to this friend expressing her wonder as
+to how she is spending the long winter evenings&#8212;"alone, probably,
+like me." It was a dreary winter for her; but the spring was at hand.
+Mr. Bront&#235;, studying his daughter with keen eyes, could not hide from
+himself the fact that her health and spirits were drooping now as they
+had never drooped before. All work with the pen was laid aside; and
+household cares, attendance upon her father or on the old servant, who
+now also needed to be waited upon, occupied her time; but her heart
+was heavy with a burden such as she had never previously known. At
+last the stern nature of the man was broken down by his genuine
+affection for his daughter. His opposition to her marriage was
+suddenly laid aside; he asked her to recall Mr. Nicholls to Haworth,
+and with characteristic waywardness he now became as anxious that the
+wedding should take place as he had ever been that it should be
+prevented.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There was a curious misadventure regarding the letter inviting Mr.
+Nicholls to Haworth, which is explained in the first of the letters I
+now quote.
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p class="ralign">
+Haworth, March 28th, 1854.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The enclosure in yours of yesterday puzzled me at first, for I did not
+immediately recognise my own handwriting. When I did, the sensation was
+one of consternation and vexation, as the letter ought by all means to
+have gone on Friday. It was intended to relieve him from great anxiety.
+However, I trust he will get it to-day; and, on the whole, when I think
+it over, I can only be thankful that the mistake was no worse, and did
+not throw the letter into the hands of some indifferent and
+unscrupulous person. I wrote it after some days of indisposition and
+uneasiness, and when I felt weak and unfit to write. While writing to
+<i>him</i> I was at the same time intending to answer <i>your</i> note;
+which I suppose accounts for the confusion of ideas shown in the mixed
+and blundering address. </p>
+
+<p> I wish you could come about Easter rather than at another time, for
+this reason. Mr. Nicholls, if not prevented, proposes coming over then.
+I suppose he will be staying at Mr. &#8212;&#8212;'s, as he has done
+two or three times before; but he will be frequently coming here, which
+would enliven your visits a little. Perhaps, too, he might take a walk
+with us occasionally. Altogether, it would be a little change for you,
+such as you know I could not always offer. If all be well, he will come
+under different circumstances to any that have attended his visits
+before. Were it otherwise, I should not ask you to meet him, for when
+aspects are gloomy and unpropitious, the fewer there are to suffer from
+the cloud, the better. He was here in January, and was then
+received&#8230;. I trust it will be a little different now. Papa has
+breakfasted in bed to-day, and has not yet risen. His bronchitis is
+still troublesome. I had a bad week last week, but am greatly better
+now, for my mind is a little relieved, though very sedate, and rising
+only to expectations the most moderate. Some time, perhaps in May, I
+may be in your neighbourhood, and shall then hope to come to B.; but,
+as you will understand from what I have now stated, I could not come
+before. Think it over, dear E., and come to Haworth if you can.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">
+April 11th, 1854.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The result of Mr. Nicholls's visit is that Papa's consent is gained and
+his respect won, for Mr. Nicholls has in all things proved himself
+disinterested and forbearing. He has shown, too, that, while his
+feelings are exquisitely keen, he can freely forgive&#8230;. In fact,
+dear Ellen, I am engaged. Mr. Nicholls in the course of a few months
+will return to the curacy of Haworth. I stipulated that I would not
+leave Papa, and to Papa himself I proposed a plan of residence which
+should maintain his seclusion and convenience uninvaded, and in a
+pecuniary sense bring him gain instead of loss. What seemed at one time
+impossible is now arranged, and Papa begins really to take a pleasure
+in the prospect. For myself, dear E&#8212;&#8212;, while thankful to
+One who seems to have guided me through much difficulty, much and deep
+distress and perplexity of mind, I am still very calm&#8230;. What I
+taste of happiness is of the soberest order. Providence offers me this
+destiny. Doubtless, then, it is the best for me; nor do I shrink from
+wishing those dear to me one not less happy. It is possible that our
+marriage may take place in the course of the summer. Mr. Nicholls
+wishes it to be in July. He spoke of you with great kindness, and said
+he hoped you would be at our wedding. I said I thought of having no
+other bridesmaid. Did I say right? I mean the marriage to be literally
+<i>as quiet as possible</i>. Do not mention these things as yet.
+Good-bye. There is a strange, half-sad feeling in making these
+announcements. The whole thing is something other than the imagination
+paints it beforehand&#8212;cares, fears, come mixed inextricably with
+hopes. I trust yet to talk the matter over with you.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+So at length the day had dawned, and every letter now is filled with
+the hopes and cares of the expectant bride.
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p class="ralign">
+April 15th.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I hope to see you somewhere about the second week in May. The
+Manchester visit is still hanging over my head; I have deferred it and
+deferred it, but have finally promised to go about the beginning of
+next month. I shall only stay about three days; then I spend two or
+three days at H., then come to B. The three visits must be compressed
+into the space of a fortnight, if possible. I suppose I shall have to
+go to Leeds. My purchases cannot be either expensive or extensive. You
+must just resolve in your head the bonnets and dresses: something that
+can be turned to decent use and worn after the wedding-day will be
+best, I think. I wrote immediately to Miss W&#8212;&#8212;, and
+received a truly kind letter from her this morning. Papa's mind seems
+wholly changed about this matter; and he has said, both to me and when
+I was not there, how much happier he feels since he allowed all to be
+settled. It is a wonderful relief for me to hear him treat the thing
+rationally, and quietly and amicably to talk over with him themes on
+which once I dared not touch. He is rather anxious that things should
+get forward now, and takes quite an interest in the arrangement of
+preliminaries. His health improves daily, though this east wind still
+keeps up a slight irritation in the throat and chest. The feeling which
+has been disappointed in Papa was <i>ambition</i>&#8212;paternal
+pride&#8212;ever a restless feeling, as we all know. Now that this
+unquiet spirit is exorcised, justice, which was once quite forgotten,
+is once more listened to, and affection, I hope, resumes some power. My
+hope is that in the end this arrangement will turn out more truly to
+Papa's advantage than any other it was in my power to achieve. Mr. N.
+only in his last letter refers touchingly to his earnest desire to
+prove his gratitude to Papa by offering support and consolation to his
+declining age. This will not be mere <i>talk</i> with him. He is no
+talker, no dealer in mere professions.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">
+April 28th.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Papa, thank God! continues to improve much. He preached twice on
+Sunday, and again on Wednesday, and was not tired. His mind and mood
+are different to what they were; so much more cheerful and quiet. I
+trust the illusions of ambition are quite dissipated, and that he
+really sees it is better to relieve a suffering and faithful heart, to
+secure in its fidelity a solid good, than unfeelingly to abandon one
+who is truly attached to <i>his</i> interests as well as mine, and
+pursue some vain empty shadow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">
+Hemsworth, May 6th.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I came here on Thursday afternoon. I shall stay over Saturday and
+Sunday, and, if all be well, I hope to come to B. on Monday, after
+dinner, and just in time for tea. I leave you to judge by your own
+feelings whether I long to see you or not. &#8212;&#8212; tells me you
+are looking better. She tells me also that I am not&#8212;rather ugly,
+as usual. But never mind that, dear Nell&#8212;as, indeed, you never
+did. On the whole, I <i>feel</i> very decently at present, and within
+the last fortnight have had much respite from headache. You are kind in
+being so much in earnest in wishing for Mr. N. to come to B., and I am
+sorry that circumstances do not favour such a step. But, knowing how
+matters stood, I did not repeat the proposal to him, for I thought it
+would be like tempting him to forget duty.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+In the following letters, in addition to the pleasing side-lights
+which they throw upon her life in its new aspect, there is another
+feature which deserves to be noticed&#8212;that is, the exceeding
+tenderness with which the writer watches over her friend. The new love
+entering into her heart has but made the old love stronger, and she
+lavishes upon the sole remaining companion of her youth the care and
+affection which can no longer be bestowed upon sisters of her own
+blood.
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p class="ralign">
+Haworth, May 14th.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I took the time of the Leeds, Keighley, Skipton trains from the
+February time-table, and when I got to Leeds found myself all wrong.
+The trains on that line were changed. One had that moment left the
+station&#8212;indeed, it was just steaming away; there was not another
+till a quarter after five o'clock; so I had just four hours to sit and
+twirl my thumbs. I got over the time somehow, but I was vexed to think
+how much more pleasantly I might have spent it at B. It was just seven
+o'clock when I reached home. I found Papa well. It seems he has been
+particularly well during my absence, but to-day he is a little sickly,
+and only preached once. However, he is better again this evening. I
+could not leave you, dear Ellen, with a very quiet mind, or take away a
+satisfied feeling about you. Not that I think that bad cough lodged in
+a dangerous quarter; but it shakes your system, wears you out, and
+makes you look ill. <i>Take care of it, do, dear Ellen. Avoid the
+evening air for a time</i>; keep in the house when the weather is cold.
+Observe these precautions till the cough is quite gone, and you regain
+strength, and feel better able to bear chill and change. Believe me, it
+does not suit you at present to be much exposed to variations of
+temperature. I send the mantle with this, but have made up my mind not
+to let you have the cushion now, lest you should sit stitching over it
+too closely. It will do any time, and whenever it comes will be your
+present all the same.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">
+May 22nd.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I wonder how you are, and whether that harassing cough is better; but I
+am afraid the variable weather of last week will not have been
+favourable to improvement. I <i>will</i> not and <i>do</i> not believe
+the cough lies on any vital organ. Still it is a mark of weakness, and
+a warning to be scrupulously careful about undue exposure. Just now,
+dear Ellen, an hour's inadvertence might derange your whole
+constitution for years to come&#8212;might throw you into a state of
+chronic ill-health which would waste, fade, and wither you up
+prematurely. So, once and again, TAKE CARE. If you go to
+&#8212;&#8212;, or any other evening party, pack yourself in blankets
+and a feather-bed to come home, also fold your boa twice over your
+mouth, to serve as a respirator. Since I came home I have been very
+busy sketching. The little new room is got into order now, and the
+green and white curtains are up. They exactly suit the papering, and
+look neat and clean enough. I had a letter a day or two since,
+announcing that Mr. N. comes to-morrow. I feel anxious about him, more
+anxious on one point than I dare quite express to myself. It seems he
+has again been suffering sharply from his rheumatic affection. I hear
+this not from himself, but from another quarter. He was ill whilst I
+was at Manchester and B. He uttered no complaint to me, dropped no hint
+on the subject. Alas! he was hoping he had got the better of it; and I
+know how this contradiction of his hopes will sadden him. For unselfish
+reasons he did so earnestly wish this complaint might not become
+chronic. I fear&#8212;I fear&#8212;but, however, I mean to stand by him
+now, whether in weal or woe. This liability to rheumatic pain was one
+of the strong arguments used against the marriage. It did not weigh,
+somehow. If he is doomed to suffer, it seems that so much the more will
+he need care and help. And yet the ultimate possibilities of such a
+case are appalling. Well, come what may, God help and strengthen both
+him and me. I look forward to to-morrow with a mixture of impatience
+and anxiety. Poor fellow! I want to see with my own eyes how he is.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">Haworth, June 7th.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I am very glad and thankful to hear that you continue better, though I
+am afraid your cough will have returned a little during the late chilly
+change in the weather. Are you taking proper care of yourself, and
+either staying in the house or going out warmly clad, and with a boa
+doing duty as a respirator? On this last point I incline particularly
+to insist, for you seemed careless about it, and unconscious how much
+atmospheric harm the fine thick hairs of the fur might ward off. I was
+very miserable about Papa again some days ago. While the weather was so
+sultry and electric, about a week since, he was suddenly attacked with
+deafness, and complained of other symptoms which showed the old
+tendency to the head. His spirits, too, became excessively depressed.
+It was all I could do to keep him up, and I own I was sad and depressed
+myself. However he took some medicine, which did him good. The change
+to cooler weather, too, has suited him. The temporary deafness has
+quite disappeared for the present, and his head is again clear and
+cool. I can only earnestly trust he will continue better. That unlucky
+&#8212;&#8212; continues his efforts to give what trouble he can, and I
+am obliged to conceal things from Papa's knowledge as well as I can, to
+spare him that anxiety which hurts him so much&#8230;. I feel compelled
+to throw the burden of the contest upon Mr. Nicholls, who is younger
+and can bear it better. The worst of it is, Mr. N. has not Papa's right
+to speak and act, or he would do it to purpose. I should then have to
+mediate, not rouse; to play the part of
+</p>
+<div class="indent">
+<p>
+Feather-bed 'twixt castle-wall<br>
+And heavy brunt of cannon-ball.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">
+June 16th.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class="sc">My dear Miss W</span>&#8212;&#8212;,&#8212;Owing to
+certain untoward proceedings, matters have hitherto been kept in such a
+state of uncertainty that I could not make any approach towards fixing
+the day; and now, if I would avoid inconveniencing Papa, I must hurry.
+I believe the commencement of July is the furthest date upon which I
+can calculate; possibly I may be obliged to accept one still
+nearer&#8212;the close of June. I cannot quite decide till next week.
+Meantime, will you, my dear Miss W&#8212;&#8212;, come as soon as you
+possibly can, and let me know at your earliest convenience the day of
+your arrival. I have written to Ellen, begging her to communicate with
+you&#8230;. Your absence would be a real and grievous disappointment.
+Papa also seems much to wish your presence. Mr. Nicholls enters with
+true kindness into my wish to have all done quietly; and he has made
+such arrangements as will, I trust, secure literal privacy. Yourself,
+Ellen, and Mr. S. will be the only persons present at the ceremony. Mr.
+and Mrs. G. are asked to the breakfast afterwards. I know you will
+kindly excuse this brief note, for I am and have been <i>very</i> busy,
+and must still be busy up to the very day. Give my sincere love to all
+Mr. C&#8212;&#8212;'s family. I hope Mr. C. and Mr. Nicholls may meet
+some day. I believe mutual acquaintance would in time bring mutual
+respect; but one of them, at least, requires <i>knowing</i> to be
+<i>appreciated</i>. And I must say that I have not yet found him to
+lose with closer knowledge. I make no grand discoveries, but I
+occasionally come upon a quiet little nook of character which excites
+esteem. He is always reliable, truthful, faithful, affectionate; a
+little unbending, perhaps, but still persuadable and open to kind
+influence&#8212;a man never, indeed, to be driven, but who may be led.
+</p></div>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><a name="haworth"><img src="images/009.jpg" alt="HAWORTH CHURCH" width="450" height="313"></a></div>
+<p class="caption">HAWORTH CHURCH.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The marriage took place on June 29th, 1854. A neighbouring clergyman
+read the service; Charlotte's "dear Nell" was the solitary bridesmaid;
+her old schoolmistress, whose friendship had ever been dear to her,
+Miss Wooler, gave her away; and visitors to Haworth who are shown the
+marriage register will see that these two faithful and trusted friends
+were the only witnesses. Immediately after the marriage the bride and
+bridegroom started for Ireland, to visit some of the relatives of Mr.
+Nicholls. "I trust I feel thankful to God for having enabled me to
+make a right choice; and I pray to be enabled to repay as I ought the
+affectionate devotion of a truthful, honourable, unboastful man," are
+words which appear in the first letter written from Ireland. A month
+later the bride writes as follows to her friend:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p class="ralign">
+Dublin, July 28th, 1854.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I really cannot rest any longer without writing you a line, which I
+have literally not had time to do during the last fortnight. We have
+been travelling about, with only just such cessation as enabled me to
+answer a few of the many notes of congratulation forwarded, and which I
+dared not suffer to accumulate till my return, when I know I shall be
+busy enough. We have been to Killarney, Glen Gariffe, Tarbert, Tralee,
+Cork, and are now once more in Dublin again on our way home, where we
+hope to arrive next week. I shall make no effort to describe the
+scenery through which we have passed. Some parts have exceeded all I
+ever imagined. Of course, much pleasure has sprung from all this, and
+more, perhaps, from the kind and ceaseless protection which has ever
+surrounded me, and made travelling a different matter to me from what
+it has heretofore been. Dear Nell, it is written that there shall be no
+unmixed happiness in this world. Papa has not been well, and I have
+been longing, <i>longing intensely</i> sometimes, to be at home.
+Indeed, I could enjoy and rest no more, and so home we are going.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+It was a new life to which she was returning. Wedded to one who had
+proved by years of faithfulness and patience how strong and real was
+his love for her, it seemed as though peace and sunshine, the
+brightness of affection and the pleasures of home, were at length
+about to settle upon her and around her. The bare sitting-room in the
+parsonage, which for six years of loneliness and anguish had been
+peopled only by the heart-sick woman and the memories of those who had
+left her, once more resounded with the voices of the living. The
+husband's strong and upright nature furnished something for the wife
+to lean against; the painful sense of isolation which had so long
+oppressed her vanished utterly, and in its place came that "sweet
+sense of depending" which is the most blessed fruit of a trustful
+love. A great calm seemed to be breathed over the spirit of her life
+after the fitful fever which had raged so long; and her friends saw
+new shoots of tenderness, new blossoms of gentleness and affection,
+peeping forth in nooks of her character which had hitherto been
+barren. Of her letters during these happy months of peace and
+expectation I cannot quote much; they are too closely intertwined with
+the life of those who survive to permit of this being done; but all of
+them breathe the same spirit. They show that the courage, the
+patience, the cheerfulness with which the rude buffetings of fate had
+been borne in that stormy middle-passage of her history, had brought
+their own reward; and that joy had come at last, not perhaps in the
+shape she had imagined in her early youth, but as a substantial
+reality, and no longer a mocking illusion.
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p class="ralign">
+August 9th, 1854.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&#8212;&#8212; will probably end by accepting &#8212;&#8212;; and
+judging from what you say, it seems to me that it would be rational to
+do so. If, indeed, some one else whom she preferred <i>wished</i> to
+have her, and had duly and sincerely come forward, matters would be
+different. But this it appears is not the case; and to cherish any
+<i>unguarded</i> and unsustained preference is neither right nor wise.
+Since I came home I have not had one unemployed moment. My life is
+changed indeed; to be wanted continually, to be constantly called for
+and occupied, seems so strange; yet it is a marvellously good thing. As
+yet I don't quite understand how some wives grow so selfish. As far as
+my experience of matrimony goes, I think it tends to draw you out and
+away from yourself&#8230;. Dear Nell, during the last six weeks the
+colour of my thoughts is a good deal changed. I know more of the
+realities of life than I once did. I think many false ideas are
+propagated, perhaps unintentionally. I think those married women who
+indiscriminately urge their acquaintance to marry, much to blame. For
+my part I can only say with deeper sincerity and fuller significance,
+what I always said in theory: Wait God's will. Indeed, indeed, Nell, it
+is a solemn and strange and perilous thing for a woman to become a
+wife. Man's lot is far, far different&#8230;. Have I told you how much
+better Mr. Nicholls is? He looks quite strong and hale. To see this
+improvement in him has been a great source of happiness to me; and, to
+speak truth, a source of wonder too.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">
+Haworth, September 7th, 1854.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I send a French paper to-day. You would almost think I had given them
+up, it is so long since one was despatched. The fact is they had
+accumulated to quite a pile during my absence. I wished to look them
+over before sending them off, and as yet I have scarcely found time.
+That same <i>time</i> is an article of which I once had a large stock
+always on hand; where it is all gone to now it would be difficult to
+say, but my moments are very fully occupied. Take warning, Ellen. The
+married woman can call but a very small portion of each day her own.
+Not that I complain of this sort of monopoly as yet, and I hope I never
+shall incline to regard it as a misfortune, but it certainly exists. We
+were both disappointed that you could not come on the day I mentioned.
+I have grudged this splendid weather very much. The moors are in their
+glory; I never saw them fuller of purple bloom; I wanted you to see
+them at their best. They are fast turning now, and in another week, I
+fear, will be faded and sere. As soon as ever you can leave home, be
+sure to write and let me know&#8230;. Papa continues greatly better. My
+husband flourishes; he begins indeed to express some slight alarm at
+the growing improvement in his condition. I think I am
+decent&#8212;better certainly than I was two months ago; but people
+don't compliment me as they do Arthur&#8212;excuse the name; it has
+grown natural to use it now.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+&nbsp;
+</p>
+
+<p class="ralign">
+Haworth, September 16th, 1854.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class="sc">My dear Miss</span> &#8212;&#8212;,&#8212;You kindly
+tell me not to write while Ellen is with me; I am expecting her this
+week; and as I think it would be wrong long to defer answering a letter
+like yours, I will reduce to practice the maxim: "There is no time like
+the present," and do it at once. It grieves me that you should have had
+any anxiety about my health; the cough left me before I quitted
+Ireland, and since my return home I have scarcely had an ailment,
+except occasional headaches. My dear father, too, continues much
+better. Dr. B&#8212;&#8212; was here on Sunday, preaching a sermon for
+the Jews, and he gratified me much by saying that he thought Papa not
+at all altered since he saw him last&#8212;nearly a year ago. I am
+afraid this opinion is rather flattering; but still it gave me
+pleasure, for I had feared that he looked undeniably thinner and older.
+You ask what visitors we have had. A good many amongst the clergy,
+&#38;c., in the neighbourhood, but none of note from a distance.
+Haworth is, as you say, a very quiet place; it is also difficult of
+access, and unless under the stimulus of necessity, or that of strong
+curiosity, or finally, that of true and tried friendship, few take
+courage to penetrate to so remote a nook. Besides, now that I am
+married, I do not expect to be an object of much general interest.
+Ladies who have won some prominence (call it either <i>notoriety</i> or
+celebrity) in their single life, often fall quite into the background
+when they change their names. But if true domestic happiness replace
+fame, the change is indeed for the better. Yes, I am thankful to say
+that my husband is in improved health and spirits. It makes me content
+and grateful to hear him, from time to time, avow his happiness in the
+brief but plain phrase of sincerity. My own life is more occupied than
+it used to be; I have not so much time for thinking: I am obliged to be
+more practical, for my dear Arthur is a very practical as well as a
+very punctual, methodical man. Every morning he is in the national
+school by nine o'clock; he gives the children religious instruction
+till half-past ten. Almost every afternoon he pays visits amongst the
+poor parishioners. Of course he often finds a little work for his wife
+to do, and I hope she is not sorry to help him. I believe it is not bad
+for me that his bent should be so wholly towards matters of real life
+and active usefulness&#8212;so little inclined to the literary and
+contemplative. As to his continued affection and kind attentions, it
+does not become me to say much of them; but as yet they neither change
+nor diminish. I wish, my dear Miss &#8212;&#8212;, <i>you</i> had some
+kind, faithful companion to enliven your solitude at R&#8212;&#8212;,
+some friend to whom to communicate your pleasure in the scenery, the
+fine weather, the pleasant walks. You never complain, never murmur,
+never seem otherwise than thankful; but I know you must miss a
+privilege none could more keenly appreciate than yourself.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+There are other letters like the foregoing, all speaking of the
+constant occupation of time, which once hung heavily, all giving
+evidence that peace and love had made their home in her heart, all
+free from that strain of sadness which was so common in other years.
+One only of these letters, that written on the morrow of her last
+Christmas Day, need be quoted, however.
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p class="ralign">
+Haworth, December 26th.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I return Mrs. &#8212;&#8212;'s letter: it is as you say, very genuine,
+truthful, affectionate, <i>maternal</i>, without a taint of sham or
+exaggeration. She will love her child without spoiling it, I think. She
+does not make an uproar about her happiness either. The longer I live
+the more I suspect exaggerations. I fancy it is sometimes a sort of
+fashion for each to vie with the other in protestations about their
+wondrous felicity&#8212;and sometimes they <i>fib</i>! I am truly glad
+to hear you are all better at B&#8212;&#8212;. In the course of three
+or four weeks now I expect to get leave to come to you. I certainly
+long to see you again. One circumstance reconciles me to this
+delay&#8212;the weather. I do not know whether it has been as bad with
+you as with us; but here for three weeks we have had little else than a
+succession of hurricanes&#8230;. You inquire after Mrs. Gaskell. She
+has not been here, and I think I should not like her to come now till
+summer. She is very busy now with her story of "North and South." I
+must make this note very short. Arthur joins me in sincere good wishes
+for a happy Christmas and many of them to you and yours. He is well,
+thank God, and so am I; and he <i>is</i> "my dear boy"
+certainly&#8212;dearer now than he was six months ago. In three days we
+shall actually have been married that length of time.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+There was not much time for literary labours during these happy months
+of married life. The wife, new to her duties, was engaged in mastering
+them with all the patience, self-suppression, and industry which had
+characterised her throughout her life. Her husband was now her first
+thought; and he took the time which had formerly been devoted to
+reading, study, thought, and writing. But occasionally the pressure
+she was forced to put upon herself was very severe. Mr. Nicholls had
+never been attracted towards her by her literary fame; with literary
+effort, indeed, he had no sympathy, and upon the whole he would rather
+that his wife should lay aside her pen entirely than that she should
+gain any fresh triumphs in the world of letters. So she submitted, and
+with cheerful courage repressed that "gift" which had been her solace
+in sorrows deep and many. Yet once "the spell" was too strong to be
+resisted, and she hastily wrote a few pages of a new story called
+"Emma," in which once more she proposed to deal with her favourite
+theme&#8212;the history of a friendless girl. One would fain have seen how
+she would have treated her subject, now that "the colour of her
+thoughts" had been changed, and that a happy marriage had introduced
+her to a new phase of that life which she had studied so closely and
+so constantly. But it was not to be. On January 19, when she had
+returned to Haworth, after a visit to Sir J. K. Shuttleworth's, she
+wrote to her friend as follows. This letter was the last written in
+ink to her schoolfellow:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p class="ralign">Haworth, January 19th, 1855.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Since our return from Gawthorpe we have had Mr. B&#8212;&#8212;, one of
+Arthur's cousins, staying with us. It was a great pleasure. I wish you
+could have seen him and made his acquaintance: a true gentleman by
+nature and cultivation is not, after all, an everyday thing&#8230;. I
+very much wish to come to B&#8212;&#8212;, and I hoped to be able to
+write with certainty and fix Wednesday, the 31st January, as the day;
+but the fact is I am not sure whether I shall be well enough to leave
+home. At present I should be a most tedious visitor. My health has
+really been very good ever since my return from Ireland, till about ten
+days ago. Indigestion and continual faint sickness have been my portion
+ever since. I never before felt as I have done lately. I am rather
+mortified to lose my good looks and grow thin as I am doing, just when
+I thought of going to B&#8212;&#8212;. Poor J&#8212;&#8212;! I still
+hope he will get better, but A&#8212;&#8212; writes grievous though not
+always clear or consistent accounts. Dear Ellen, I want to see you, and
+I hope I shall see you well.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+Those around her were not alarmed at first. They hoped that before
+long all would be well with her again; they could not believe that the
+joys of which she had just begun to taste were about to be snatched
+away. But her weakness grew apace; the sickness knew no abatement; and
+a deadly fear began to creep into the hearts of husband and father.
+She was soon so weak that she was compelled to remain in bed, and from
+that "dreary bed" she wrote two or three faint pencil notes which
+still exist&#8212;the last pathetic chapters in that life-long
+correspondence from which we have gathered so many extracts. In one of
+them, which Mrs. Gaskell has published, she says: "I want to give you
+an assurance which I know will comfort you&#8212;and that is that I find in
+my husband the tenderest nurse, the kindest support, the best earthly
+comfort that ever woman had. His patience never fails, and it is tried
+by sad days and broken nights." In another, the last, she says: "I
+cannot talk&#8212;even to my dear, patient, constant Arthur I can say but
+few words at once." One dreary March morning, when frost still bound
+the earth and no spring sun had come to gladden the hearts of those
+who watched for summer, her friend received another letter, written,
+not in the neat, minute hand of Charlotte Bront&#235;, but in her father's
+tremulous characters:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p class="ralign">
+Haworth, near Keighley,<br>
+March 30th, 1855.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+<span class="sc">My dear Madam</span>,&#8212;We are all in great
+trouble, and Mr. Nicholls so much so that he is not sufficiently strong
+and composed as to be able to write. I therefore devote a few lines to
+tell you that my dear daughter is very ill, and apparently on the verge
+of the grave. If she could speak she would no doubt dictate to us
+whilst answering your kind letter. But we are left to ourselves to give
+what answer we can. The doctors have no hope of her case, and fondly as
+we a long time cherished hope, that hope is now gone; and we have only
+to look forward to the solemn event with prayer to God that He will
+give us grace and strength sufficient unto our day. </p>
+
+<p class="close"> Ever truly and respectfully yours, </p>
+
+<p class="sig"> P. Bront&#235;.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+The following day, March 31st, 1855, the blinds were drawn once again
+at Haworth Parsonage; the last and greatest of the children of the
+house had passed away; and the brilliant name of Charlotte Bront&#235; had
+become a name and nothing more! "We are left to ourselves," said Mr.
+Bront&#235; in the letter I have just quoted&#8212;and so it was. Not the glory
+only, but the light, had fled from the parsonage where the childless
+father and the widowed husband sat together beside their dead. Of all
+the drear and desolate spots upon that wild Yorkshire moorland there
+was none now so dreary and so desolate as the house which had once
+been the home of Charlotte Bront&#235;.
+</p>
+
+
+
+
+<a name="XII">&nbsp;</a>
+<p class="chapter">XII.
+</p>
+
+<p class="head">
+POSTHUMOUS HONOURS.
+</p>
+
+
+<p>
+There is a deeper truth in the maxim which bids us judge no man happy
+till his death than most of us are apt to perceive. For sometimes the
+happiness of a life is crowned by death itself; and that which to the
+superficial gaze seems but the dreary and tragic close of the play, is
+really the welcome release from the burden which had become too heavy
+to be borne longer. But where life and breath fail suddenly in the
+moment of fullest hope, apparently in the moment also of greatest
+bliss, the strain upon our faith is almost too severe, and blinded and
+bewildered, we see nothing and feel nothing but the awful stroke of
+fate which has laid the loved one low, and the great gap which remains
+at the table and the hearth. It was with such a feeling as this that
+the outer world heard of that Easter-day tragedy which had been
+enacted to the bitter end among the Yorkshire hills. Those who knew
+the little household at Haworth had been watching, as has already been
+told, for that fulness of joy which seemed close at hand. They had
+seen the lonely authoress developing into the trustful happy wife, and
+they looked forward to no distant day when children should be gathered
+at her knee, and a new generation, born amid happier circumstances,
+freed from the strain and stress which had been laid upon her, should
+perpetuate a great name, and perhaps something of a great genius.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The announcement that all these hopes had been brought to nothing fell
+upon the world as a blow not easily to be borne. When it was made
+known that the author of "Jane Eyre" was dead, there rose up even from
+those who had been her bitter critics during her lifetime, a cry of
+pain and regret which would have astonished nobody more than herself
+had she been able to hear it. The genuine unaffected modesty which had
+enabled her to preserve the simplicity of her character amid all the
+temptations which thronged round her at the height of her fame, had
+prevented her from ever feeling herself to be a person of consequence
+in the world. What she did in the way of writing she did because she
+could not escape the commanding authority of her own genius; but the
+idea that by doing this she had made herself conspicuously great never
+once occurred to her. There is not a letter extant from her which
+shows that she thought anything of the fame or the fortune she had
+acquired. On the contrary everything that remains of her inner life
+proves that to the very last she esteemed herself as humbly as ever
+she did during the days of her "governessing" in Yorkshire or at
+Brussels. She knew of course that she attracted attention wherever she
+went; but her own unfeigned belief seems to have been that this
+attention was due solely to curiosity, and to curiosity of a not very
+pleasant or flattering kind. Brought up as she had been among those
+who regarded any literary pursuit, and above all the writing of a
+book, as something beyond the proper limits of the rights and duties
+of her sex, she had never quite escaped from the notion that in
+putting pen to paper she was in some vague way offending against the
+proprieties of society. It has been shown by an extract from one of
+her letters, how keenly and indignantly she repudiated the notion that
+she had ever written anything of which she needed to be ashamed. Her
+pure heart vindicated her absolutely upon that point. But, from first
+to last, she seemed during her literary career to feel that in writing
+novels she had sinned against the conventional canons, and that she
+was in consequence looked upon not as a great woman who had taken a
+lofty place in the republic of letters, but as a social curiosity who
+had done something which made her for the time-being notorious. How
+ready she was to forget her success as a writer is shown by a thousand
+passages in her correspondence, many of these passages being too
+tender or sacred for quotation. It is impossible to read her letters
+without seeing that, with the exception of a solitary friend, the
+companions of her daily life in Yorkshire did not feel at all drawn
+towards her by her literary fame. With her accustomed humility she
+accepted herself at their valuation, and whilst the nations afar off
+were praising her, she herself was perfectly ready to take a humble
+place in the circle of her friends at home. The tastes of her husband
+had unquestionably something to do in maintaining this simple and
+sincere modesty up to the end of her life. He was resolute in putting
+aside all thought of her literary achievements; his whole anxiety&#8212;an
+anxiety arising almost entirely from his desire for her happiness&#8212;was
+that she should cease entirely to be the author, and should become the
+busy, useful, contented wife of the village clergyman. It would be
+wrong to hide the fact that she was compelled to place a severe strain
+upon herself in order to comply with her husband's wishes; and once,
+as we have seen, her strength of self-repression gave way, and she
+indulged in the forbidden luxury of work with the pen. But it is not
+surprising that, surrounded by those who, loving her very dearly, yet
+withheld from her all recognition of her position as one of the great
+writers of the day, she should have accepted their estimate of her
+place with characteristic humility, and believed herself to be of
+little or no account outside the walls of her own home.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In this belief she lived and died. Among the letters before me, but
+from which I must forbear to quote, are not a few written during that
+last sad illness when the end began to loom before her vision. In
+these, whilst there are many anxious inquiries after the friends of
+early days, and many remarks upon their varying fortunes, many
+allusions, too, to her husband and father, and to parish work at
+Haworth, there is not a line which speaks of her own feelings as an
+author, or of the work which she had accomplished during the brief
+closing years of her life. The novelist has passed entirely out of
+sight, and only the wife, the friend, the expectant mother, remains. I
+know nothing which more touchingly shows one how small a thing is
+great fame, how little even the most marked and marvellous successes
+can affect the realities of life, than the last chapters of Charlotte
+Bront&#235;'s correspondence do. Her death, all unknown to the great world
+outside; her quiet funeral, treated only as the funeral of the
+clergyman's daughter, the curate's wife; the modest announcement of
+her end sent to the local papers&#8212;all these are in keeping with her
+own low estimate of herself.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But death, the great touchstone of humanity, revealed her true
+position to the world, and to her surviving relatives and friends.
+Copies of the newspapers of that sad March week in 1855 lie before me,
+carefully treasured up by loving hands. They speak with an eloquence
+which is not always that of mere words, of a nation's mourning for a
+great soul gone prematurely to its account. Of all these tributes of
+loving admiration, there are two which must be singled out for special
+mention. One is Miss Martineau's generous though not wholly
+satisfactory notice of "Currer Bell" in <i>The Daily News</i>, and the
+other the far more sympathetic article by "Shirley," which appeared in
+<i>Fraser's Magazine</i> a few months later.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Her father, her husband, her life-long friend, were wonderfully
+touched and moved when they found how closely the simple, modest
+woman, who had been so long a sweet and familiar presence to them, had
+wound herself round the great heart of the reading public. But they
+were slow to grasp all the truth. When it was proposed that some
+record of this noble life should be preserved, and when Mrs. Gaskell
+was named as the fittest among all Charlotte's literary acquaintances
+to undertake the office, there was strong and keen opposition on the
+part of those who had been nearest and dearest to her. With a natural
+feeling, to which no word of blame can be attached, but which again
+throws light upon the character of her surroundings in life, they
+objected to any revelation to the world of the real character and
+career of the lost member of their household. Happily, their scruples
+were overcome, and the world was permitted to read the story of the
+Bront&#235;s as told by one who was herself a woman of genius and of the
+highest moral worth. The reader of this monograph will not, it is to
+be hoped, imagine that the writer has presumed to set himself up as a
+rival to Mrs. Gaskell. He can no more pretend to equal her in the
+treatment of his subject than in the freshness of the interest
+attaching to it. And if he has found himself obliged to differ from
+her on some points not wholly unimportant, it must be borne in mind
+that the writer of to-day is free from not a few of the difficulties
+and restraints which weighed upon the writer of twenty years ago. Mrs.
+Gaskell had, indeed, to labour under serious disadvantages in her
+task. Not only was she unable to obtain full and ready access to all
+the materials which she needed to employ, but she was also compelled
+to introduce much irrelevant and even hurtful matter into a delightful
+and beautiful story. When, after gathering up the bare outline of the
+life she proposed to write, she complained to Mr. Bront&#235; that there
+were not incidents enough in the history of his daughter to make an
+interesting narrative of the ordinary length, his reply was a
+characteristic one: "If there are not facts enough in Charlotte's life
+to make a book, madam, you must invent some." There is no need to say
+that Mrs. Gaskell declined to follow this advice; but none the less
+was she hampered all through her work by the necessity of introducing
+topics which had but little to do with her main theme; and we see the
+result in the fact that the plain unadorned tale of Charlotte Bront&#235;
+and her sisters has been interwoven with dismal episodes with which
+properly it had no concern.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The publication of Mrs. Gaskell's biography came, however, as a
+revelation upon the world. Readers everywhere had learned to admire
+the writings of "Currer Bell," and to mourn over the premature
+extinction of her genius, but few of them had imagined that the life
+and personal character of the author of "Jane Eyre" had been what it
+was.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The following letter from Charles Kingsley to Mrs. Gaskell
+sufficiently indicates the revulsion of feeling wrought in many minds
+by the publication of the "Memoir:"
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p class="ralign">
+St. Leonards, May 14, 1857.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Let me renew our long-interrupted acquaintance by complimenting you on
+poor Miss Bront&#235;'s "Life." You have had a delicate and a great
+work to do, and you have done it admirably. Be sure that the book will
+do good. It will shame literary people into some stronger belief that a
+simple, virtuous, practical home life, is consistent with high
+imaginative genius; and it will shame, too, the prudery of a not over
+cleanly though carefully white-washed age, into believing that purity
+is now (as in all ages till now) quite compatible with the knowledge of
+evil. I confess that the book has made me ashamed of myself. "Jane
+Eyre" I hardly looked into, very seldom reading a work of
+fiction&#8212;yours, indeed, and Thackeray's, are the only ones I care
+to open. "Shirley" disgusted me at the opening, and I gave up the
+writer and her books with a notion that she was a person who liked
+coarseness. How I misjudged her! and how thankful I am that I never put
+a word of my misconceptions into print, or recorded my misjudgments of
+one who is a whole heaven above me. </p>
+
+<p> Well have you done your work, and given us the picture of a valiant
+woman made perfect by sufferings. I shall now read carefully and
+lovingly every word she has written, especially those poems, which
+ought not to have fallen dead as they did, and which seem to be (from a
+review in the current <i>Fraser</i>) of remarkable, strength and
+purity.<a href="#note1" name="noteref1">
+<small>[1]</small></a>
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+The effect of the portrait was heightened by the admirable skill with
+which the background was drawn; and the story of the life gained a
+popularity which hardly any other recent English biography has
+attained. Yet, from the first, people were found here and there who,
+whilst acknowledging the skill, the sympathy, and the entire sincerity
+displayed by Mrs. Gaskell, yet whispered that the Charlotte Bront&#235; of
+the story was not in all particulars the Charlotte Bront&#235; they had
+known.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><a name="interior"><img src="images/010.jpg" alt="INTERIOR OF HAWORTH CHURCH" width="475" height="346"></a></div>
+<p class="caption">INTERIOR OF HAWORTH CHURCH.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One great change resulted immediately from the publication of Mrs.
+Gaskell's work. Haworth and its parsonage became the shrine to which
+hundreds of literary pilgrims from all parts of the globe began to
+find their way. To see the house in which the three sisters had spent
+their lives and done their work, to stand at the altar at which
+Charlotte was married, and beneath which her ashes now rest, and to
+hear her aged father preach one of his pithy, sensible, but dogmatic
+sermons, was what all literary lion-hunters aspired to do. In
+Yorkshire, indeed, the stolid people of the West Riding were not
+greatly moved by this enthusiasm. Just as Charlotte herself had seemed
+an ordinary and rather obscure person to her Yorkshire friends, so
+Haworth was still regarded as being a very dull and dreary village by
+those who lived near it. But the empire of genius knows no
+geographical boundaries, and if at her own doors Charlotte Bront&#235;'s
+sway was unrecognised, from far-distant quarters of the world there
+came the free and full acknowledgment of her power. No other land,
+however, furnished so many eager and enthusiastic visitors to the
+Bront&#235; shrine as the United States, and the number of Americans who
+found their way to Haworth during the ten years immediately following
+the death of the author of "Jane Eyre" would, if properly recorded,
+astonish the world. The bleak and lonely house by the side of the
+moors, with its dismal little garden stretching down to the
+churchyard, where the village dead of many a generation rest, and its
+dreary out-look upon the old tower rising from its bank of nettles,
+the squalid houses of the hamlet, and the bare moorlands beyond,
+received almost as many visitors from the other side of the Atlantic
+during those years as Abbotsford or Stratford-upon-Avon. Mr. Bront&#235;
+and Mr. Nicholls, though they were anxious to avoid the pertinacious
+intrusion of these curious but enthusiastic guests, could not entirely
+escape from meeting them. It followed that many an American lady and
+gentleman wandered through the rooms where the three sisters had dwelt
+together in love and unity, and where Charlotte had laboured alone
+after the light of her life had fled from her, and many an American
+magazine and newspaper contained the record of the impressions which
+these visits left upon the minds of those who made them.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+In only one case does it seem necessary to recall those impressions.
+The late Mr. Raymond, for many years editor of <i>The New York
+Times</i>, visited Haworth, and wrote an account of his visit, some
+passages of which may well be reproduced here. He tells us how on his
+railway journey to Keighley, at that time the nearest railway station
+to Haworth, he "astonished an intelligent, sociable, and very
+agreeable English lady, his sole companion in the railway carriage, by
+telling her the errand which had brought him to Yorkshire. She lived
+in the neighbourhood, had read the 'Jane Eyre' novels, and 'supposed
+the girls were clever;' but 'she would not go ten steps to see where
+they lived, nor could she understand how a stranger from America
+should feel any interest in their affairs.'" Arrived at Haworth, and
+having satisfied himself as to the appearance of the parsonage and the
+character of the surrounding neighbourhood, Mr. Raymond went to the
+Black Bull Inn to dine and sleep. "As I took my candle to go to my
+chamber, I stepped for a moment into the kitchen, where the landlord
+and landlady were having a comfortable chat over pipes and ale, with a
+companionable rustic of the place, who proved to be a nephew of the
+old servant Tabby, who lived so long, and at last died in the service
+of the Bront&#235; family. I joined the circle, and sat there till long
+after midnight. Branwell was clearly the hero of the village worship.
+A little red-headed fellow, the landlord said, quick, bright,
+abounding in stories, in jokes, and in pleasant talk of every kind; he
+was a general favourite in town, and the special wonder of the Black
+Bull circles. Small as he was, it was impossible to frighten him. They
+had seen him volunteer during a mill-riot to go in and thrash a dozen
+fellows, any one of whom could have put him in his pocket and carried
+him off at a minute's notice. Indeed a characteristic of the whole
+family seems to have been an entire insensibility to danger and to
+fear. Emily and Charlotte, these people told me, were one day walking
+through the street, when their great dog, Keeper, engaged in a fight
+with another dog of equal size. Whilst everybody else stood aloof and
+shouted, these girls went in, caught Keeper by the neck, and by dint
+of tugging, and beating him over the head, succeeded in dragging him
+away." I extract this passage because of the confirmation which it
+gives, on the authority of one who made his inquiries very soon after
+the death of Charlotte Bront&#235;, of the account of some of the family
+characteristics which appear in these pages; nor will the story of Mr.
+Raymond's interview with Mr. Bront&#235;, told as it is with American
+directness, be without its interest and its value.
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+The next morning I prepared to call at the parsonage. I was told that
+Mr. Bront&#235; and Mr. Nicholls declined to receive strangers, having
+a great aversion to visits of curiosity, and being exceedingly retiring
+and reserved in their habits. I sent in my card, however, and was shown
+into the little library at the right of the entrance, where I was asked
+to await Mr. Nicholls's appearance. The room was small, very plainly
+furnished, with small bookcases round the walls, the one between the
+windows containing copies of the Bront&#235; novels. Mr. Nicholls soon
+came in and made me welcome. To my apologies for my intrusion he
+assured me that while they were under the necessity of declining many
+visits, both he and his father were always happy to see their friends,
+and that the words "New York" upon my card were quite sufficient to
+insure me a welcome. Mr. Bront&#235;, he said, was not up when I
+called, but had desired him to detain me until he could dress and come
+down, as he did soon after. I had an exceedingly pleasant conversation
+of half an hour with them both&#8230;. Mr. Bront&#235;'s personal
+appearance is striking and peculiar. He is tall, thin, and rather
+muscular, has a quick energetic manner, a reflective and by no means
+unpleasant countenance, and a resolute promptness of movement which
+indicated marked decision and firmness of character. The extraordinary
+stories told by Mrs. Gaskell of his inflammable temper, of his burning
+silk dresses belonging to his wife which he did not approve of her
+wearing, of his sawing chairs and tables, and firing off pistols in the
+back-yard by way of relieving his superfluous anger, find no warrant
+certainly in his present appearance, and are generally considered
+exaggerations. I remarked to him that I had been agreeably disappointed
+in the face of the country and the general aspect of the town, that
+they were less sombre and repulsive than Mrs. Gaskell's descriptions
+led me to expect. Mr. Nicholls and Mr. Bront&#235; smiled at each
+other, and the latter remarked: "Well, I think Mrs. Gaskell tried to
+make us all appear as bad as she could." Mr. Bront&#235; wears a very
+wide white neckcloth, and usually sinks his chin so that his mouth is
+barely visible over it. This gives him rather a singular expression,
+which is rendered still more so by spectacles with large round glasses
+enclosed in broad metallic rims. Though over eighty years old and
+somewhat infirm, he preaches once every Sunday in his church&#8230;. As
+I rose to take my leave Mr. Nicholls asked me to step into the parlour
+and look at Charlotte's portrait. It is the one from which the
+engraving in the "Life" is made; but the latter does no justice to the
+picture, which Mr. Nicholls said was a perfect likeness of the
+original. I remarked that the engraving gives to the face, and
+especially to the eyes, a weird, sinister, and unpleasant expression
+which did not appear in the portrait. He said he had observed it, and
+that nothing could be more unjust, for Charlotte's eyes were as soft
+and affectionate in their expression as could possibly be conceived.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+Slight as these scraps from the pen of an American "interviewer" may
+seem, they have their value as contemporary records of scenes and
+incidents the memory of which is fast fading away. Yet even to-day old
+men and women are to be found in Haworth who can regale the curious
+stranger with many a reminiscence, more or less original, of the
+family which has given so great a glory to the place.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Mr. Bront&#235; lived six years after the death of Charlotte. In spite of
+his great age he preached regularly in the church till within a few
+months of his death; and when at last he took to his bed, he retained
+his active interest in the affairs of the world. The newspapers which
+Charlotte mentions in one of her juvenile lucubrations as being
+regularly "taken in" at the patronage&#8212;<i>The Leeds Mercury</i> and
+<i>The Intelligencer</i>&#8212;were still brought to him, and read aloud.
+Every scrap of political information which he could gather up he
+cherished as a precious morsel; and any visitor who could tell him how
+the currents of public life were moving in the great West Riding towns
+around him, was certain to be welcome. But the chief enjoyment of his
+later years was connected with the public respect shown for his
+daughter's memory. The tributes to her virtues and her genius which
+were poured from the press after the publication of Mrs. Gaskell's
+work were valued by him to the latest moment of his life; and in the
+end he at last understood something of the character and the inner
+life of the child who had dwelt so long a stranger under her father's
+roof.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+One point I must notice ere I quit the subject of Charlotte Bront&#235;'s
+father. Some of those who knew him in his later years, including one
+who is above all others entitled to an opinion on the subject, have
+objected to the portrait of him presented in these pages, as being
+over-coloured. So far as his early life and manhood are concerned, I
+cannot admit the force of the objection; for what has been told of Mr.
+Bront&#235; in these pages has been gathered from the best of all
+sources&#8212;from the letters of his children and the recollections of
+those who saw much of him during that period. But it is perfectly true
+that in old age, after the marriage, and still more after the death of
+Charlotte, he was wonderfully softened in character. The fierce
+outburst of opposition to the engagement between his daughter and Mr.
+Nicholls was almost the last trace of that vehement passion which
+consumed him during his earlier years; and those visitors who, like
+Mr. Raymond, first became acquainted with him in the closing days of
+his life, found it difficult to believe that the stories told of his
+propensities in youth and middle-age could possibly be true. Time did
+its work at last, even on his adamantine character, softening the
+asperities, and wearing away the corners of a disposition, the angular
+eccentricities of which had long been so noticeable. Nor ought mention
+of the closing scenes of Mr. Bront&#235;'s life to be made without some
+reference to the part which Mr. Nicholls played at Haworth during
+those last sad years. The faithful husband remained under the
+parsonage roof in the character of a faithful son. The two men, bound
+together by so tender and sacred a tie, were not lightly to be
+separated, now that the living and visible link had been taken away.
+To some it may seem strange that Charlotte Bront&#235; should have given
+her heart to one who was little disposed to sympathise with the
+overmastering passion inspired by her genius. But if in her husband
+she had found one who was not likely to have helped her in her
+literary work, she had also found in him a friend whose steadfastness
+even to the death was nobly proved. During all these sad and lonely
+years, whilst the father of the Bront&#235;s waited for the summons which
+should call him once more into their company, Charlotte's husband
+lived with him, the patient companion of his hours of pain and
+weariness, the faithful guardian of that living legacy which had been
+bequeathed to him by the woman whom he loved. And by this
+self-sacrificing life he did greater honour to the memory of Charlotte
+Bront&#235; than by the most tender and vivid appreciation of her
+intellectual greatness.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+There is a strange sad harmony between the closing chapter of the
+Bront&#235; story and the earlier ones. The brightness had fled for ever
+from the parson's house; the gaiety which it had once witnessed was
+gone; even its fame as the home of one who was a living force in
+English literature had departed; but there still remained one to bear
+witness in his own person to the nobleness of that entire devotion to
+duty of the necessity of which Charlotte was so fully convinced. The
+friendship by which Mr. Nicholls soothed the last days of Mr. Bront&#235;
+is a touching episode in the Haworth story, and it is one which cannot
+be allowed to pass unnoticed.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When Mr. Bront&#235; died there was a general wish, not only among those
+who were impressed by the claims of all connected with his family upon
+Haworth, but by the parishioners themselves, that his son-in-law
+should succeed him, and that the relationship of the Bront&#235;s to the
+place where their lives had been spent and their work accomplished,
+should thus not be absolutely severed. But the bestowal of church
+patronage is not always influenced by considerations of this kind. The
+incumbency of Haworth was given to a stranger; Mr. Nicholls returned
+to Ireland; and new faces and a new life filled the parsonage-house in
+which "Jane Eyre" and "Wuthering Heights" were written.
+</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter"><a name="organ"><img src="images/011.jpg" alt="THE ORGAN LOFT, OVER THE BRONT&#203; TABLET AND PEW" width="480" height="410"></a></div>
+<p class="caption">THE ORGAN LOFT, OVER THE BRONT&#203; TABLET AND PEW.
+</p>
+
+
+
+
+<a name="XIII">&nbsp;</a>
+<p class="chapter">XIII.
+</p>
+
+<p class="head">
+THE BRONT&#203; NOVELS.
+</p>
+
+
+<p>
+The Bront&#235; novels continued to sell largely for some time after
+Charlotte's death. The publication of Mrs. Gaskell's "Life" added not
+a little to the sale, and both at home and abroad the fame of the
+three sisters was greatly increased. But in recent years the
+disposition has been almost to ignore these books; and though fresh
+editions have recently been issued they have had no circulation worthy
+of being compared with that which they maintained between 1850 and
+1860. Yet though there has not been the same interest in these
+remarkable performances as that which formerly prevailed, they
+continue from time to time to attract the attention of literary
+critics both in this and other countries, the works of "Currer Bell"
+naturally holding the foremost place in the critiques upon the
+writings of the sisters.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Wuthering Heights," the solitary prose work of Emily Bront&#235;, is now
+practically unread. Even those who admire the genius of the family,
+those who have the highest opinion of the qualities displayed in "Jane
+Eyre" or "Villette," turn away with something like a shudder from
+"that dreadful book," as one who knew the Bront&#235;s intimately always
+calls it. But I venture to invite the attention of my readers to this
+story, as being in its way as marvellous a <i>tour de force</i> as
+"Jane Eyre" itself. It is true that as a novel it is repulsive and
+almost ghastly. As one reads chapter after chapter of the horrible
+chronicles of Heathcliff's crimes, the only literary work that can be
+recalled for comparison with it is the gory tragedy of "Titus
+Andronicus." From the first page to the last there is hardly a
+redeeming passage in the book. The atmosphere is lurid and storm-laden
+throughout, only lighted up occasionally by the blaze of passion and
+madness. The hero himself is the most unmitigated villain in fiction;
+and there is hardly a personage in the story who is not in some shape
+or another the victim of mental or moral deformities. Nobody can
+pretend that such a story as this ever ought to have been written;
+nobody can read it without feeling that its author must herself have
+had a morbid if not a diseased mind. Much, however, may be said in
+defence of Emily Bront&#235;'s conduct in writing "Wuthering Heights." She
+was in her twenty-eighth year when it was written, and the reader has
+seen something of the circumstances of her life, and the motives which
+led her to take up her pen. The life had been, so far as the outer
+world could judge, singularly barren and unproductive. Its one
+eventful episode was the short visit to Brussels. But Brussels had
+made no such impression upon Emily as it made upon Charlotte. She went
+back to Haworth quite unchanged; her love for the moors stronger than
+ever; her self-reserve only strengthened by the assaults to which it
+had been exposed during her residence among strangers; her whole
+nature still crying out for the solitary life of home, and the
+sustenance which she drew from the congenial society of the animals
+she loved and the servants she understood. When, partly in the forlorn
+hope of making money by the use of her pen, but still more to give
+some relief to her pent-up feelings, she began to write "Wuthering
+Heights," she knew nothing of the world. "I am bound to avow," says
+Charlotte, "that she had scarcely more practical knowledge of the
+peasants amongst whom she lived than a nun has of the country people
+who sometimes pass her convent gates." Love, except the love for
+nature and for her own nearest relatives, was a passion absolutely
+unknown to her&#8212;as any one who cares to study the pictures of it in
+"Wuthering Heights" may easily perceive. Of harsh and brutal, or
+deliberate crime, she had no personal knowledge. She had before her,
+it is true, a sad instance of the results of vicious self-indulgence,
+and from that she drew materials for some portions of her story. But
+so far as the great movements of human nature were concerned&#8212;of those
+movements which are not to be mastered by book learning, but which
+must come as the tardy fruits of personal experience&#8212;she was in
+absolute ignorance. Little as Charlotte herself knew at this time of
+the world, and of men and women, she was an accomplished mistress of
+the secrets of life, in comparison with Emily.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+When a woman has lived such a life as that of "Ellis Bell," her first
+literary effort must be regarded as the attempt of an innocent and
+ignorant child. It may be full of faults; all the conditions which
+should govern a work of art may have been neglected; the book itself,
+so far as story, tone, and execution are concerned, may be an entire
+mistake; but it will nevertheless give us far more insight into the
+real character of the author than any more elaborate and successful
+work, constructed after experience has taught her what to do and what
+to avoid in order to secure the ear of the public.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Wuthering Heights," then, is the work of one who, in everything but
+years, was a mere child, and its great and glaring faults are to be
+forgiven as one forgives the mistakes of childhood. But how vast was
+the intellectual greatness displayed in this juvenile work! The author
+seizes the reader at the first moment at which they meet, holds him
+thrilled, entranced, terrified perhaps, in a grasp which never
+relaxes, and leaves him at last, after a perusal of the story, shaken
+and exhausted as by some great effort of the mind. Surely nowhere in
+modern English fiction can more striking proof be found of the
+possession of "the creative gift" in an extraordinary degree than is
+to be obtained in "Wuthering Heights." From what unfathomed recesses
+of her intellect did this shy, nervous, untrained girl produce such
+characters as those which hold the foremost place in her story? Mrs.
+Dean, the faithful domestic, we can understand; for her model was at
+Emily's elbow in the kitchen at Haworth. Joseph, the quaint High
+Calvinist, whose fidelity to his creed is unredeemed by a single touch
+of fellow-feeling with the human creatures around him, was drawn from
+life; and vigorous and powerful though his portrait is, one can
+understand it also. But Heathcliff, and the two Catherines, and
+Hareton Earnshaw&#8212;none of these ever came within the ken of Emily
+Bront&#235;. No persons approaching them in originality or force of
+character were to be found in her circle of friends. Here and there
+some psychologist, learned in the secrets of morbid human nature, may
+have conceived the existence of such persons&#8212;evolved them from an
+inner consciousness which had been enlightened by years of studious
+labour. But no such slow and painful process guided the pen of Emily
+Bront&#235; in painting these weird and wonderful portraits. They come
+forth with all the vigour and freshness, the living reality and
+impressiveness, which can belong only to the spontaneous creations of
+genius. They are no copies, indeed, but living originals, owing their
+lives to her own travail and suffering.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Regarded in this light they must, I think, be counted among the
+greatest curiosities of literature. Their very repulsiveness adds to
+their force. I have said that Heathcliff is the greatest villain in
+fiction. The reader of the story is disposed to echo the agonised cry
+of his wife when she asks: "Is Mr. Heathcliff a man? If so, is he mad?
+And if not, is he a devil?" It is not pleasant to see such a character
+obtruded upon us in a novel; but I repeat, it is far more difficult to
+paint a consummate villain of the Heathcliff type than to draw any of
+the more ordinary types of humanity. The concentration of power
+required in performing the task is enormous. At every moment the
+writer is tempted to turn aside and relieve the darkness by some touch
+of light; and the risk which the artist must encounter if he gives way
+to this temptation is that of destroying the whole effect of the
+picture. Light and shade there must be, or the portrait becomes a mere
+daub of blackness; and the man whom the author has desired to create
+stands forth as a monster, unrecognisable as a creature belonging to
+the same race as ourselves. But unless these lighter shades are
+introduced with a tact and a self-command which belong rather to
+genius than to art, there must, as I have said, be complete failure.
+Now, Emily Bront&#235; has not failed in her portrait of Heathcliff. He
+stands, indeed, absolutely alone in that great human portrait-gallery
+which forms one of the chambers in the noble edifice of English
+literature. We can compare him to nobody else among the creatures of
+fiction. We cannot even trace his literary pedigree. He is a distinct
+being, not less original than he is hateful. But this circumstance
+does not alter the fact that we accept him at once as a real being,
+not a merely grotesque monster. He stands as much alone as
+Frankenstein's creature did; but we recognise within him that subtle
+combination of elements which gives him kinship with the human race.
+Here, then, Emily Bront&#235; has succeeded; and girl as she was when she
+wrote, she has succeeded where some of the most practised writers have
+failed entirely. Compare "Wuthering Heights," for example, with the
+fantastic horrors of Lord Lytton's "Strange Story," and you feel at
+once how much more powerful and masterly is the touch of the woman.
+Lord Lytton's villain, though he has been drawn with so much care and
+skill, is often absurd and at last entirely wearisome. Emily Bront&#235;'s
+is consistent, terrible, fascinating, from beginning to end. Then,
+again, the writer never tries to frighten her reader with a bogey. She
+never hints at the possibility of supernatural agencies being at work
+behind the scene. Even when she is showing us that Heathcliff is for
+ever haunted by the dead Catherine, she makes it clear by the words
+she puts into his own mouth that his belief on the subject is nothing
+more than the delusion of a disordered brain, worried by a guilty
+conscience. "I knew no living thing in flesh and blood was by," says
+Heathcliff, describing how he dug down into Catherine's grave on the
+night after she had been buried; "but as certainly as you perceive the
+approach to some substantial body in the dark, so certainly I felt
+that Cathy was there: not under me, but on the earth. A sudden sense
+of relief flowed from my heart through every limb. I relinquished my
+labour of agony, and turned consoled at once&#8212;unspeakably consoled.
+Her presence was with me; it remained while I refilled the grave and
+led me home. You may laugh if you will; but I was sure I should see
+her there. I was sure she was with me, and I could not help talking to
+her. Having reached the Heights I rushed eagerly to the door. It was
+fastened; and I remember that accursed Earnshaw and my wife opposed my
+entrance. I remember stopping to kick the breath out of him, and then
+hurrying upstairs to my room and hers. I looked round impatiently&#8212;I
+felt her by me&#8212;I could <i>almost</i> see her, and yet I <i>could
+not</i>! I ought to have sweat blood then, from the anguish of my
+yearning&#8212;from the fervour of my supplications to have but one
+glimpse! I had not one. She showed herself, as she often was in life,
+a devil to me. And, since then, sometimes more and sometimes less,
+I've been the sport of that intolerable torture&#8230;. When I sat in the
+house with Hareton, it seemed that on going out I should meet her;
+when I walked on the moors I should meet her coming in. When I went
+from home I hastened to return. She <i>must</i> be somewhere at the
+Heights, I was certain! And when I slept in her chamber&#8212;I was beaten
+out of that. I couldn't lie there; for the moment I closed my eyes,
+she was either outside the window, or sliding back the panels, or
+entering the room, or even resting her darling head on the same pillow
+as she did when a child; and I must open my lids to see. And so I
+opened and closed them a hundred times a night&#8212;to be always
+disappointed!" Here is a picture of a man who is really haunted. No
+supernatural agency is invoked; no strain is put upon the reader's
+credulity. We are asked to believe in the suspension of no law of
+nature. In one word, we can all understand how a wicked man, whose
+brain has, as it were, been made drunk with the fumes of his own
+wickedness, can be persecuted throughout his whole life by terrors of
+this kind; and just because we are able to conceive and understand it,
+this haunting of Heathcliff by the ghost of his dead mistress is
+infinitely more terrible than if it had been accompanied either by the
+paraphernalia of rococo horrors which Mrs. Radcliffe habitually
+invoked, or by those refined and subtle supernatural phenomena which
+Lord Lytton employs in his famous ghost story.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+This strict honesty which refused to allow the writer of the weirdest
+story in the English language to avail herself of the easiest of all
+the modes of stimulating a reader's terrors, is shown all through the
+novel. The workmanship is good from beginning to end, though the art
+is crude and clumsy. She never allows a date to escape her memory, nor
+are there any of those broken threads which usually abound in the
+works of inexperienced writers. All is neatly, clearly, carefully
+finished off. Every date fits into its place, and so does every
+incident. The reader is never allowed to wander into a blind alley.
+Though at the outset he finds himself in a bewildering maze, far too
+complicated in construction to comply with the canons of literary art,
+he has only to go straight on, and in the end he will find everything
+made plain. Emily permits no fact however minute to drop from her
+grasp. Irrelevant though it may seem at the moment when the reader
+meets with it, a place has been prepared for it in the edifice which
+the patient hands are rearing, and in the end it will be fitted into
+that place. Thus there is no scamped work in the story; nor any
+sacrifice of details in order to obtain those broad effects in which
+the tale abounds.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Let the reader turn to "Wuthering Heights," and he will find many a
+simple innocent revelation of the character of the author peeping out
+from its pages in unexpected places. We know how the story was
+written, and how day by day it was submitted to the revision of
+Charlotte and Anne. We may be sure under these circumstances that
+Emily did not allow too much of her true inner nature to appear in
+what she wrote. Even from her sisters she habitually concealed some of
+the strongest and deepest emotions of her heart. But such passages as
+the following, when read in the light of her history, as we know it
+now, are of strange and abiding interest:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+He said the pleasantest manner of spending a hot July day was lying
+from morning till evening on a bank of heath in the middle of the
+moors, with the bees humming dreamily about among the bloom, and the
+larks singing high up over head, and the blue sky and bright sun
+shining steadily and cloudlessly. That was his most perfect idea of
+heaven's happiness. Mine was rocking in a rustling green tree, with a
+west wind blowing, and bright white clouds flitting rapidly above; and
+not only larks, but throstles and blackbirds and linnets and cuckoos,
+pouring out music on every side, and the moors seen at a distance
+broken into cool dusky dells; but close by great swells of long grass
+undulating in waves to the breeze; and woods and sounding water, and
+the whole world awake and wild with joy. He wanted all to lie in an
+ecstasy of peace. I wanted all to sparkle and dance in a glorious
+jubilee. I said his heaven would be only half alive; and he said mine
+would be drunk. I said I should fall asleep in his; and he said he
+could not breathe in mine.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+For "he," read "Anne," and accept Emily as speaking for herself, and
+we have in this passage a vivid description of the opposing tastes of
+the two sisters.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The abhorrence which Charlotte felt for the High Calvinism, which was
+the favourite creed around her, was felt even more strongly by Emily.
+Her poems throw not a little light upon this feature of her character;
+but we also gain some from her solitary novel. Joseph, the old
+man-servant, was a study from life, and he represented one of a class
+whom the author thoroughly disliked, but for whom at the same time she
+entertained a certain respect. Again and again she breaks forth with
+all the force of sarcasm she can command against "the wearisomest,
+self-righteous pharisee that ever ransacked a Bible to rake the
+promises to himself and fling the curses to his neighbours." Yet there
+is no character in the story over whom she lingers more lovingly than
+Joseph, and it is only in painting his portrait that she allows
+herself to be betrayed into the display of any of that humour which,
+according to her sisters, always lurked very near the surface of her
+character, ever ready to show itself when no stranger was at hand. Few
+who have read "Wuthering Heights" can have forgotten Joseph's quaint
+remark when the boy Heathcliff has disappeared, and the others are
+speculating on his fate.
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+Nay, nay, he's noan at Gimmerton. I's never wonder but he's at t'
+bottom of a bog-boile. This visitation worn't for nowt, and I wod hev
+ye to look out, miss. Yah muh be t' next. Thank Hivin for all! All
+works togither for gooid to them as is chozzen, and piked out fro' th'
+rubbidge. Yah knaw whet t' Scripture ses.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+There is one passage in the story which furnishes so strange a
+foreshadowing of Emily's own death, that it is difficult to believe
+that she did not bear it in her mind during those last hours when she
+faced the dread enemy with such unwavering resolution. She is writing
+of the death of Mrs. Earnshaw.
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+Poor soul! till within a week of her death that gay heart never failed
+her; and her husband persisted doggedly, nay furiously, in affirming
+her health improved every day. When Kenneth warned him that his
+medicines were useless at that stage of the malady, and he needn't put
+him to further expense by attending her, he retorted: </p>
+
+<p> "I know you need not. She's well; she does not want any more
+attendance from you! She never was in a consumption. It was a fever,
+and it is gone: her pulse is as slow as mine now, and her cheek as
+cool!" </p>
+
+<p> He told his wife the same story, and she seemed to believe him. But
+one night while leaning on his shoulder, in the act of saying she
+thought she should be able to get up to-morrow, a fit of coughing took
+her&#8212;a very slight one&#8212;he raised her in his arms; she put
+her two hands about his neck, her face changed, and she was dead.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+Strange and inscrutable, indeed, are the mysteries of the human heart!
+Let the reader turn from the passage I have quoted to that letter in
+which Charlotte laments that "Emily is too intractable," and let him
+read how she refused to believe that she was ill until death caught
+her as suddenly as it did the wife of Earnshaw. The blindness to the
+approach of danger, which she describes so clearly in her story, was
+but a few months afterwards displayed even more fully by herself. In
+this last quotation, which I venture to make from a book now seldom
+opened, we see the author speaking evidently out of the fulness of her
+heart on a subject on which in conversation she was specially
+reserved.
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+I don't know if it be a peculiarity in me, but I am seldom otherwise
+than happy when watching in the chamber of death, should no frenzied or
+despairing mourner share the duty with me. I see a repose that neither
+earth nor hell can break, and I feel an assurance of the endless and
+shadowless hereafter&#8212;the Eternity they have entered&#8212;where
+life is boundless in its duration, and love in its sympathy, and joy in
+its fulness. I noticed on that occasion how much selfishness there is
+even in a love like Mr. Linton's, when he so regretted Catherine's
+blessed release! To be sure, one might have doubted, after the wayward
+and impatient existence she had led, whether she merited a haven of
+peace at last. One might doubt in seasons of cold reflection; but not
+then in the presence of her corpse. It asserted its own tranquillity,
+which seemed a pledge of equal quiet to its former inhabitant.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+Even these fragments, culled from the pages of "Wuthering Heights,"
+are sufficient to show how little the story has in common with the
+ordinary novel. Differing widely in every respect from "Jane Eyre,"
+dealing with characters and circumstances which belong to the romance
+rather than the reality of life, it is yet stamped by the same
+originality, the same daring, the same thoughtfulness, and the same
+intense individuality. It is a marvel to all who know anything of the
+secrets of literary work, that Haworth Parsonage should have produced
+"Jane Eyre;" but how is the marvel increased, when we know that at the
+same time it produced, from the brain of another inmate, the wonderful
+story of "Wuthering Heights." Brimful of faults as it may be, that
+book is alone sufficient to prove that a rare and splendid genius was
+lost to the world when Emily Bront&#235; died.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+All interested in the story of the Bront&#235;s must be curious to know
+whence Emily derived the materials for this romance. I have said that
+Heathcliff and the other prominent characters of the story are
+creations of her own; and indeed the book in its originality is almost
+unique. But this does not affect the fact that somewhere, and at some
+period during her life, the seed which brought forth this strange
+fruit must have been sown. It has been suggested by some&#8212;strangely
+ignorant, surely, of the conditions of West Riding life during the
+present century&#8212;that Emily obtained the skeleton of her plot from her
+own observation of people around her. But the life round Haworth was
+really tame and commonplace. Josephs and Mrs. Deans could be found in
+and about the village in abundance; but there were no people round
+whose lives hung anything of the mystery which attaches to Heathcliff.
+It was, so far as I can learn, during her early girlhood that Emily's
+mind was filled with those grim traditions which she afterwards
+employed in writing "Wuthering Heights." Mr. Bront&#235;, in addition to
+his other gifts, had the faculty of storytelling highly developed, and
+his delight was to use this faculty in order to awaken superstitious
+terrors in the hearts of his children.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Though he habitually took his meals alone, he would often appear at
+the table where his daughters, with possibly their one female friend,
+were breakfasting, and, without joining in the repast, would entertain
+the little company of schoolgirls with wild legends not only relating
+to life in Yorkshire during the last century, but to that still wilder
+life which he had left behind him in Ireland. A cold smile would play
+round his mouth as he added horror to horror in his attempts to move
+his children; and his keen eyes sparkled with triumph when he found he
+had succeeded in filling them with alarm. Emily listened to these
+stories with bated breath, drinking them, in eagerly. She could repeat
+them afterwards by the hour together to her sisters; and no better
+proof of the deep root they took in her sensitive nature can be
+desired, than the fact that they led her to write "Wuthering Heights."
+Thus the paternal influence, strong as it was in the case of all the
+daughters, was peculiarly strong as regarded Emily; and we can gauge
+the nature of that influence in the weird and ghastly story which was
+brought forth under its shadow.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+It is with a feeling of curious disappointment that one rises from the
+perusal of the writings of Anne Bront&#235;. She wrote two novels, "Agnes
+Grey" and "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall," neither of which will really
+repay perusal. In the first she sought to set forth some of the
+experiences which had befallen her in that patient placid life which
+she led as a governess. They were not ordinary experiences, the reader
+should know. I have resolutely avoided, in writing this sketch of
+Charlotte Bront&#235; and her sisters, all unnecessary reference to the
+tragedy of Branwell Bront&#235;'s life. But it is a strange sad feature of
+that story, that the pious and gentle youngest sister was compelled to
+be a closer and more constant witness of his sins and his sufferings
+than either Charlotte or Emily. She was living under the same roof
+with him when he went astray and was thrust out in deep disgrace. I
+have said already that the effect of his career upon her own was as
+strong and deep as Mrs. Gaskell represents it to have been. Branwell's
+fall formed the dark turning-point in Anne Bront&#235;'s life. So it was
+not unnatural that it should colour her literary labours. Accordingly,
+whilst "Agnes Grey" gives us some of the scenes of her governess life,
+dressed up in the fashion of the ordinary romances of thirty years
+ago, "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" presents us with a dreary and
+repulsive picture of Branwell Bront&#235;'s condition after his fall.
+Charlotte, in her brief memoir of her sisters, does bare justice to
+Anne when she speaks in these words upon the subject:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+"The Tenant of Wildfell Hall," by "Acton Bell," had likewise an
+unfavourable reception. At this I cannot wonder. The choice of subject
+was an entire mistake. Nothing less congruous with the writer's nature
+could be conceived. The motives which dictated this choice were pure,
+but, I think, slightly morbid. She had in the course of her life been
+called on to contemplate, near at hand, and for a long time, the
+terrible effects of talents misused and faculties abused; hers was
+naturally a sensitive, reserved, and dejected nature; what she saw sank
+very deeply into her mind; it did her harm. She brooded over it till
+she believed it to be a duty to reproduce every detail (of course with
+fictitious characters, incidents, and situations) as a warning to
+others. She hated her work, but would pursue it. When reasoned with on
+the subject, she regarded such reasonings as a temptation to
+self-indulgence. She must be honest; she must not varnish, soften, or
+conceal. This well-meant resolution brought on her misconception and
+some abuse, which she bore, as it was her custom to bear whatever was
+unpleasant, with mild steady patience. She was a very sincere and
+practical Christian, but the tinge of religious melancholy communicated
+a sad hue to her brief blameless life.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+What a picture one gets of this third and least considered of the
+Bront&#235; sisters in the passage which I have quoted! A lovable,
+fair-featured girl, leading a blameless life, lighted up by few hopes
+of any brighter future&#8212;for the one little romance of her own heart
+had been destroyed ere this by the unrelenting hand of death&#8212;and not
+inspired as her sisters were by the passion of the artist or the
+creator; a girl whose simple faith was still unmoved from its first
+foundations; whose delight was in visiting the poor and helping the
+sick, who had no sustaining conviction of her own strength such as
+maintained Charlotte and Emily in their darkest hours, and whose very
+piety was "tinged with melancholy." This is the girl who, not from any
+of the irresistible impulses which attend the exercise of the creative
+faculty, but from a simple sense of duty, set herself the hard task of
+depicting in the pages of a novel the consequences of a shocking vice
+with which her brother's degradation had brought her into close and
+abiding contact. Of course she failed. It is not by hands so weak as
+those of Anne Bront&#235; that effective blows are struck at such sins as
+she assailed. But whilst we acknowledge her failure, let us do justice
+both to the self-sacrificing courage and the fervent piety which led
+her to undertake this painful work.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Of Charlotte Bront&#235;'s novels, as a whole, I shall say nothing at this
+point; but something may very properly be said here of the story which
+she wrote at the time when her sisters were engaged in writing
+"Wuthering Heights" and "Agnes Grey." It was not published until after
+her death, and after the world had learned from Mrs. Gaskell's pages
+something of the truth about her life. Its interest to the ordinary
+reader was to a considerable extent discounted by the fact that the
+author had so largely used the materials in her last great work,
+"Villette." But even as a mere novel "The Professor" has striking
+merits, and would well repay perusal from that point of view alone;
+whilst as a means of gaining fresh light with regard to the character
+of the writer, it is not less valuable than "Wuthering Heights"
+itself. True, "The Professor" is not really a first attempt. "A first
+attempt it certainly was not," says Charlotte in reference to it, "as
+the pen which wrote it had previously been worn a good deal in a
+practice of some years." But the previous writings, of which hardly a
+trace now remains&#8212;those early MSS. having been carefully destroyed,
+with the exception of the few which Mrs. Gaskell was permitted to
+see&#8212;were in no respect finished productions, nor had they been
+written with a view to publication. The first occasion on which
+Charlotte Bront&#235; really began a prose work which she proposed to
+commit to the press was on that day when, seated by her two sisters,
+she joined them in penning the first page of a new novel.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+To all practical intents, therefore, "The Professor" is entitled to be
+regarded as a first work; and certainly nothing can show Charlotte's
+peculiar views on the subject of novel-writing more clearly or
+strikingly than this book does. The world knows how resolutely in all
+her writings she strove to be true to life as she saw it. In "Jane
+Eyre" there are, indeed, romantic incidents and situations, but even
+in that work there is no trespassing beyond the limits always allowed
+to the writer of fiction; whilst it must not be forgotten that "Jane
+Eyre" was in part a response to the direct appeal from the publishers
+for something different in character from "The Professor." In that
+first story she determined that she would write a man's life as men's
+lives usually are. Her hero was "never to get a shilling he had not
+earned;" no sudden turns of fortune were "to lift him in a moment to
+wealth and high station;" and he was not even to marry "a beautiful
+girl or a lady of rank." "As Adam's son he should share Adam's doom,
+and drain throughout life a mixed and moderate cup of enjoyment."
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Very few novel-readers will share this conception of what a novel
+ought to be. The writer of fiction is an artist whose accepted duty it
+is to lift men and women out of the cares of ordinary life, out of the
+sordid surroundings which belong to every lot in this world, and to
+show us life under different, perhaps under fantastic, conditions: a
+life which by its contrast to that we ourselves are leading shall
+furnish some relief to our mental vision, wearied and jaded by its
+constant contemplation of the fevers and disappointments, the crosses
+and long years of weary monotony, which belong to life as it is. We
+know how a great living writer has ventured to protest against this
+theory, and how in her finest works of fiction she has shown us life
+as it is, under the sad and bitter conditions of pain, sorrow, and
+hopelessness. But Charlotte Bront&#235; wrote "The Professor" long before
+"George Eliot" took up her pen; and she must at least receive credit
+for having been in the field as a reformer of fiction before her
+fellow-labourer was heard of.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+She was true to the conditions she had laid down for herself in
+writing "The Professor." Nothing more sober and matter-of-fact than
+that story is to be found in English literature. And yet, though the
+landscape one is invited to view is but a vast plain, without even a
+hillock to give variety to the prospect, it has beauties of its own
+which commend it to our admiration. The story, as everybody knows,
+deals with Brussels, from which she had just returned when she began
+to write it. But it is sad to note the difference between the spirit
+of "The Professor" and that which is exhibited in "Villette." Dealing
+with the same circumstances, and substantially with the same story,
+the author has nevertheless cast each in a mould of its own. Nor is
+the cause of this any secret to those who know Charlotte Bront&#235;. When
+she wrote "The Professor," disillusioned though she was, she was still
+young, and still blessed with that fervent belief in a better future
+which the youthful heart can never quite cast out, even under the
+heaviest blows of fate. She had come home restless and miserable,
+feeling Haworth to be far too small and quiet a place for her; and her
+mind could not take in the reality that under that modest roof the
+remainder of her life was destined to be spent. Suffering and unhappy
+as she was, she could not shut out the hope that brighter days lay
+before her. The fever of life racked her; but in the very fact that it
+burnt so high there was proof that love and hope, the capacity for a
+large enjoyment of existence, still lived within her. So "The
+Professor," though a sad, monotonous book, has life and hope, and a
+fair faith in the ultimate blessedness of all sorrowful ones, shining
+through all its pages; and it closes in a scene of rest and peace.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Very different is the case with "Villette." It was written years after
+the period when "The Professor" was composed, when the hard realities
+of life had ceased to be veiled under tender mists of sentiment or
+imagination, and when the lonely present, the future, "which often
+appals me," made the writer too painfully aware that she had drunk the
+cup of existence almost to the dregs. As a piece of workmanship there
+is no comparison between it and the earlier story. On every page we
+see traces of the artist's hand. Genius flashes forth from both works
+it is true, but in "Villette" it is genius chastened and restrained by
+a cultivated taste, or working under that high pressure which only the
+trained writer can bring to bear upon it. Yet, whilst we must admit
+the immense superiority of the later over the earlier work, we cannot
+turn from the one to the other without being painfully touched by the
+sad, strange difference in the spirit which animates them. The
+stories, as I have said, are nearly the same. With some curious
+transformations, in fact, they are practically identical. But they are
+only the same in the sense in which the portrait of the fair and
+hopeful girl, with life's romance shining before her eyes, is the same
+as the portrait of the worn and solitary woman for whom the romance is
+at an end. A whole world of suffering, of sorrow, of patient
+endurance, lies between the two. I have spoken of the mood in which
+"The Professor" was written&#8212;Hope still lingered at that time in the
+heart, breathing its merciful though illusory suggestions of something
+brighter and better in the future. All who have passed through the
+ordeal of a life's sorrow will be able to understand the distinction
+between the temperament of the author at that period in her life, and
+her temperament when she composed "Villette." For such suffering ones
+know, how, in the first and bitterest moment of sorrow, the heart
+cannot shut out the blessed belief that a time of release from the
+pain will come&#8212;a time far off, perhaps, but in which a day bright as
+that which has suddenly been eclipsed will shine again. It is only as
+the years go by, and as the first ache of intolerable anguish has been
+lulled into a dreary rest by habit, that the faith which gave them
+strength to bear the keenest smart, takes flight, and leaves them to
+the pale monotony of a twilight which can know no dawn. It was in this
+later and saddest stage of endurance that "Villette" was written. The
+sharpest pangs of the heart-experiences at Brussels had vanished. The
+author, no longer full of the self-consciousness of the girl, could
+even treat her own story, her own sorrows of that period, with a
+lighter hand, a more artistic touch, than when she first wrote of
+them; but through all her work there ran the dreary conviction that in
+those days of mingled joy and suffering she had tasted life at its
+best, and that in the future which lay before her there could be
+nothing which should renew either the strong delights or keen anguish
+of that time. So the book is pitched, as we know, in a key of almost
+absolute hopelessness. Nothing but the genius of Charlotte Bront&#235;
+could have saved such a work from sinking under its own burden of
+gloom. That this intense and tragic study of a soul should have had
+power to fascinate, not the psychologist alone, but the vast masses of
+the reading world, is a triumph which can hardly be paralleled in
+recent literary efforts. In "The Professor" we move among the same
+scenes, almost among the same characters and incidents, but the whole
+atmosphere is a different one. It is a dull, cold atmosphere, if you
+will, but one feels that behind the clouds the sun is shining, and
+that sooner or later the hero and heroine will be allowed to bask in
+his reviving rays. Set the two stories together, and read them in the
+light of all that passed between the years in which they were
+written&#8212;the death of Branwell, of Emily, and of Anne, the utter
+shattering of some fair illusions which buoyed up Charlotte's heart in
+the first years of her literary triumph, the apparent extinction of
+all hope as to future happiness&#8212;and you will get from them a truer
+knowledge of the author's soul than any critic or biographer could
+convey to you.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Ere I part from "The Professor," which, naturally enough, never gained
+much attention from the public, I must extract from it one passage, a
+parallel to which may be found in many of Charlotte Bront&#235;'s letters.
+It describes, as none but one who had suffered could do, one of those
+seasons of mental depression, arising from bodily illness, by which
+she was visited at intervals, and under the influence of which not a
+little of her work was done. Reading it, we get some idea of the true
+origin of much in her character that was supposed to be morbid and
+unnatural:
+</p>
+<div class="blockquote">
+<p>
+Man is ever clogged with his mortality, and it was my mortal nature
+which now faltered and plained; my nerves which jarred and gave a false
+sound, because the soul, of late rushing headlong to an aim, had
+overstrained the body's comparative weakness. A horror of great
+darkness fell upon me; I felt my chamber invaded by one I had known
+formerly but had thought for ever departed. I was temporarily a prey to
+hypochondria. She had been my acquaintance, nay, my guest, once before
+in boyhood; I had entertained her at bed and board for a year; for that
+space of time I had her to myself in secret; she lay with me, she ate
+with me, she walked out with me, showing me nooks in woods, hollows in
+hills, where we could sit together, and where she could drop her drear
+veil over me, and so hide sky and sun, grass and green tree; taking me
+entirely to her death-cold bosom and holding me with arms of bone. What
+tales she would tell me at such hours! What songs she would recite in
+my ears! How she would discourse to me of her own country&#8212;the
+grave&#8212;and again and again promise to conduct me there ere long;
+and drawing me to the very brink of a black sullen river, show me on
+the other side shores unequal with mound, monument, and tablet,
+standing up in a glimmer more hoary than moonlight. "Necropolis!" she
+would whisper, pointing to the pale piles, and add, "it contains a
+mansion prepared for you." But my boyhood was lonely, parentless;
+uncheered by brother or sister; and there was no marvel that, just as I
+rose to youth, a sorceress, finding me lost in vague mental wanderings,
+with many affections and few objects, glowing aspirations and gloomy
+prospects, strong desires and tender hopes, should lift up her illusive
+lamp to me in the distance, and lure me to her vaulted home of horrors.
+</p></div>
+
+<p>
+It was when, under the influence of occasional spells of physical
+suffering such as she here describes, that Miss Bront&#235; gave those who
+saw her the impresion that her mind was naturally a morbid one; and,
+as I have said before, the same influence is at times perceptible in
+her writings. One of the purposes with which this little book has been
+written is to show the world how much of the gloom and depression
+which are now associated with her story, must be attributed to purely
+physical or accidental causes.
+</p>
+
+
+
+
+<a name="XIV">&nbsp;</a>
+<p class="chapter">XIV.
+</p>
+
+<p class="head">
+CONCLUSION.
+</p>
+
+
+<p>
+No apology need be offered for any single feature of Charlotte
+Bront&#235;'s life or character. She was what God made her in the furnace
+of sore afflictions and yet more sore temptations; her life, instinct
+with its extraordinary individuality, was, notwithstanding, always
+subject to exterior influences for the existence of which she was not
+responsible, and which more than once threatened to change the whole
+nature and purpose of her being; her genius, which brought forth its
+first-fruits under the cold shade of obscurity and adversity, was
+developed far more largely by sorrow, loneliness, and pain, than by
+the success which she gained in so abundant a degree. There are
+features of her character which we can scarcely comprehend, for the
+existence of which we are unable to account; and there are features of
+her genius which jar upon our sympathies and ruffle our conventional
+ideas; but for neither will one word of apology or excuse be offered
+by any who really know and love this great woman.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The fashion which exalted her to such a pinnacle of fame, like many
+another fashion, has lost its vogue; and the present generation,
+wrapped in admiration of another school of fiction, has consigned the
+works of "Currer Bell" to a premature sepulchre. But her friends need
+not despair; for from that dreary tomb of neglect an hour of
+resurrection must come, and the woman who has given us three of the
+most masterful books of the century, will again assert her true
+position in the literature of her country. We hear nothing now of the
+"immorality" of her writings. Younger people, if they turn from the
+sparkling or didactic pages of the most popular of recent stories to
+"Jane Eyre" or "Villette," in the hope of finding there some stimulant
+which may have power to tickle their jaded palates, will search in
+vain for anything that even borders upon impropriety&#8212;as we understand
+the word in these enlightened days&#8212;and they will form a strange
+conception of the generation of critics which denounced "Currer Bell"
+as the writer of immoral works of fiction. But it is said that there
+is coarseness in her stories, "otherwise so entirely noble." Even Mrs.
+Gaskell has assented to the charge; and it is generally believed that
+Charlotte Bront&#235;, as a writer, though not immoral in tone, was rude in
+language and coarse in thought. The truth, I maintain, is, that this
+so-called coarseness is nothing more than the simplicity and purity,
+the straightforwardness and unconsciousness which an unspotted heart
+naturally displays in dealing with those great problems of life which,
+alas! none who have drunk deep of the waters of good and evil can ever
+handle with entire freedom from embarrassment. An American writer<a href="#note2" name="noteref2">
+<small>[2]</small></a>
+has spoken of Charlotte Bront&#235; as "the great pre-Raphaelite among
+women, who was not ashamed or afraid to utter what God had shown her,
+and was too single-hearted of aim to swerve one hairbreadth in
+duplicating nature's outlines." She was more than this however; she
+was bold enough to set up a standard of right of her own; and when
+still the unknown daughter of the humble Yorkshire parson, she could
+stir the hearts of readers throughout the world with the trumpet-note
+of such a declaration as this: "Conventionality is not morality;
+self-righteousness is not religion; to pluck the mask from the face of
+the Pharisee is not to lift an impious hand to the Crown of Thorns."
+Let it be remembered that these words were written nearly thirty years
+ago, when conventionalism was still a potent influence in checking the
+free utterance of our inmost opinions; and let us be thankful that in
+that heroic band to whom we owe the emancipation of English thought, a
+woman holds an honourable place.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Writing of her life just after it had closed, her friend Miss
+Martineau said of her: "In her vocation she had, in addition to the
+deep intuitions of a gifted woman, the strength of a man, the patience
+of a hero, and the conscientiousness of a saint." Those who know her
+best will apply to her personal character the epithets which Miss
+Martineau reserved for her career as an author. It has been my object
+in these pages to supplement the picture painted in Mrs. Gaskell's
+admirable biography by the addition of one or two features, slight in
+themselves perhaps, and yet not unimportant when the effect of the
+whole as a faithful portrait is considered. Charlotte Bront&#235; was not
+naturally a morbid person; in youth she was happy and high-spirited;
+and up to the last moment of her life she had a serene strength and
+cheerfulness which seldom deserted her, except when acute physical
+suffering was added to her mental pangs. If her mind could have been
+freed from the depressing influences exerted on it by her frail and
+suffering body, it would have been one of the healthiest and most
+equable minds of our age. As it was, it showed itself able to meet the
+rude buffetings of fate without shrinking and without bravado; and the
+woman who is to this day regarded by the world at large as a marvel of
+self-conscious genius and of unchecked morbidness, was able to her
+dying hour to take the keenest, liveliest interest in the welfare of
+her friends, to pour out all her sympathy wherever she believed it was
+needed and deserved, and to lighten the grim parsonage of Haworth by a
+presence which, in the sacred recesses of her home, was bright and
+cheerful, as well as steadfast and calm.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+"Do not underrate her oddity," said a gifted friend who knew her
+during her heyday of fame, while these pages were being written. Her
+oddity, it must be owned, was extreme&#8212;so far as the world could
+judge. But I have striven to show how much this eccentricity was
+outward and superficial only, due in part to the peculiar conditions
+of her early life, but chiefly to the excessive shyness in the
+presence of strangers which she shared with her sisters. At heart, as
+some of these letters will show, she was one of the truest women who
+ever breathed; and her own heart-history was by no means so
+exceptional, so far removed from the heart-history of most women, as
+the public believes.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+The key to her character was simple and unflinching devotion to duty.
+Once she failed,<a href="#note3" name="noteref3">
+<small>[3]</small></a> or rather, once she allowed inclination to blind
+her as to the true direction of the path of duty, and that single
+failure coloured the whole of her subsequent life. But her own
+condemnation of herself was more sharp and bitter than any which could
+have been passed upon her by the world, and from that one venial error
+she drew lessons which enabled her henceforward to live with a steady,
+constant power of self-sacrifice at her command such as distinguishes
+saints and heroes rather than ordinary men and women. Hot, impulsive,
+and tenacious in her affections, she suffered those whom she loved the
+most dearly to be torn from her without losing faith in herself or in
+God; tenderly sensitive as to the treatment which her friends
+received, she repaid the cruelty and injustice of her father towards
+the man whose heart she had won, by a depth of devotion and
+self-sacrifice which can only be fully estimated by those who know
+under what bitter conditions it was lavished upon an unworthy parent;
+bound, as all the children of genius are, by the spell of her own
+imagination, she was yet able during the closing months of her life to
+lay aside her pen, and give herself up wholly, at the desire of her
+husband, to those parish duties which had such slight attractions for
+her. Those who, knowing these facts, still venture to assert that the
+virtues which distinguished "Currer Bell" the author were lacking in
+Charlotte Bront&#235; the woman, must have minds warped by deep-rooted and
+unworthy prejudices.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+I have expressed my conviction that the comparative neglect from which
+"Jane Eyre" and its sister-works now suffer is only temporary. It is
+true that in some respects these books are not attractive. Though they
+are written with a terse vigour which must make them grateful to all
+whose palates are cloyed by the pretty writing of the present
+generation, they undoubtedly err on the side of a lack of literary
+polish. And though the portraits presented to us in their pages are
+wonderful as works of art, unsurpassed as studies of character, the
+range of the artist is a limited one, and, as a rule, the subjects
+chosen are not the most pleasing that could have been conceived. Yet
+one great and striking merit belongs to this masterly painter of men
+and women, which is lacking in some who, treading to a certain extent
+in her footsteps, have achieved even a wider and more brilliant
+reputation. There is no taint of the dissecting-room about her books;
+we are never invited to admire the supreme cleverness of the operator
+who, with unsparing knife, lays bare before us the whole cunning
+mechanism of the soul which is stretched under the scalpel; nor are we
+bidden to pause and listen to those didactic moralisings which belong
+rather to the preacher or the lecturer than the novelist. It is the
+artist, not the anatomist who is instructing us; and after all, we may
+derive a more accurate knowledge of men and women as they are from the
+cartoons of a Raphael than from the most elaborate diagrams or
+sections of the most eminent of physiologists.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+Perhaps no merit is more conspicuous in Charlotte Bront&#235;'s writings
+than their unswerving honesty. Writing always "under the spell," at
+the dictation, as it were, of an invisible and superior spirit, she
+would never write save when "the fit was upon her" and she had
+something to say. "I have been silent lately because I have
+accumulated nothing since I wrote last," is a phrase which fell from
+her on one occasion. Save when she believed that she had accumulated
+something, some truth which she was bound to convey to the world, she
+would not touch her pen. She had every temptation to write fast and
+freely. Money was needed at home, and money was to be had by the mere
+production of novels which, whether good, bad, or indifferent, were
+certain to sell. But she withstood the temptation bravely, withstood
+it even when it came strengthened by the supplications of her friends;
+and from first to last she gave the world nothing but her best. This
+honesty&#8212;rare enough unfortunately among those whose painful lot it is
+to coin their brains into money&#8212;was carried far beyond these limits.
+When in writing she found that any character had escaped from her
+hands&#8212;and every writer of fiction knows how easily this may
+happen&#8212;she made no attempt to finish the portrait according to the
+canons of literary art. She waited patiently for fresh light; studying
+deeply in her waking hours, dreaming constantly of her task during her
+uneasy slumbers, until perchance the light she needed came and she
+could go on. But if it came not she never pretended to supply the
+place of this inspiration of genius by any clever trick of literary
+workmanship. The picture was left unfinished&#8212;perfect so far as it
+went, but broken off at the point at which the author's keen
+intuitions had failed or fled from her. Nor when her work was done
+would she consent to alter or amend at the bidding of others; for the
+sake of no applause, of no success, would she change the fate of any
+of her characters as they had been fixed in the crucible of her
+genius. Even when her father exerted all his authority to secure
+another ending to the tale of "Villette," he could only, as we have
+seen, persuade his daughter to veil the catastrophe. The hero was
+doomed; and Charlotte, whatever might be her own inclination, could
+not save him from his fate. Books so true, so honest, so simple, so
+thorough as these, depend for their ultimate fate upon no transitions
+of fashion, no caprices of the public taste. They will hold their own
+as the slow-born fruits of a great genius, long after the productions
+of a score of facile pens now able to secure the world's attention
+have been utterly forgotten. The daring and passion of "Jane Eyre,"
+the broad human sympathies, sparkling humour, and graphic portraiture
+of "Shirley," and the steady, patient, unsurpassed concentration of
+power which distinguishes "Villette," can hardly cease to command
+admiration whilst the literature of this century is remembered and
+studied.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+But when we turn from the author to the woman, from the written pages
+to the writer, and when, forgetting the features and fortunes of those
+who appear in the romances of "Currer Bell," we recall that touching
+story which will for ever be associated with Haworth Parsonage and
+with the great family of the Bront&#235;s, we see that the artist is
+greater than her works, that the woman is nobler and purer than the
+writer, and that by her life, even more than by her labours, the
+author of "Jane Eyre" must always teach us those lessons of courage,
+self-sacrifice, and patient endurance of which our poor humanity
+stands in such pressing and constant need.
+</p>
+
+<br>
+<p class="ctr">
+THE END.
+</p>
+
+<p class="ctr">
+<small>CHARLES DICKENS AND EVANS, CRYSTAL PALACE PRESS.</small>
+</p>
+
+<hr class="med">
+
+<p class="ctr">
+<b>Footnotes</b>
+</p>
+
+
+<p class="fn">
+<a name="note1" href="#noteref1">[1]</a> "Charles Kingsley: his Letters and Memories of his Life," vol. ii.
+p. 24.
+</p>
+
+<p class="fn">
+<a name="note2" href="#noteref2">[2]</a> Harper's <i>New Monthly Magazine</i>, February, 1866.
+</p>
+
+<p class="fn">
+<a name="note3" href="#noteref3">[3]</a> I ought perhaps to point out, as this passage may otherwise be
+open to misconception, that the failure to which I refer is that
+confessed by herself in a letter I have quoted on page 59.
+</p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Charlotte Brontė, by T. Wemyss Reid
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHARLOTTE BRONTĖ ***
+
+***** This file should be named 37888-h.htm or 37888-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/8/8/37888/
+
+Produced by StevenGibbs and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
+
+
+</pre>
+
+</body>
+</html>
+
diff --git a/37888-h/images/001.jpg b/37888-h/images/001.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..54061de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/37888-h/images/001.jpg
diff --git a/37888-h/images/002.jpg b/37888-h/images/002.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..db4fe17
--- /dev/null
+++ b/37888-h/images/002.jpg
diff --git a/37888-h/images/003.jpg b/37888-h/images/003.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..88340c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/37888-h/images/003.jpg
diff --git a/37888-h/images/004.jpg b/37888-h/images/004.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a83b2b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/37888-h/images/004.jpg
diff --git a/37888-h/images/005.jpg b/37888-h/images/005.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d13e9f1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/37888-h/images/005.jpg
diff --git a/37888-h/images/006.jpg b/37888-h/images/006.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..89a48cd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/37888-h/images/006.jpg
diff --git a/37888-h/images/007.jpg b/37888-h/images/007.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..965d43e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/37888-h/images/007.jpg
diff --git a/37888-h/images/008.jpg b/37888-h/images/008.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8e818d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/37888-h/images/008.jpg
diff --git a/37888-h/images/009.jpg b/37888-h/images/009.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9ad9e43
--- /dev/null
+++ b/37888-h/images/009.jpg
diff --git a/37888-h/images/010.jpg b/37888-h/images/010.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8b44a01
--- /dev/null
+++ b/37888-h/images/010.jpg
diff --git a/37888-h/images/011.jpg b/37888-h/images/011.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a0ea118
--- /dev/null
+++ b/37888-h/images/011.jpg
diff --git a/37888-h/images/frontis.jpg b/37888-h/images/frontis.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cc01ff6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/37888-h/images/frontis.jpg
diff --git a/37888-h/images/head.jpg b/37888-h/images/head.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1eec71d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/37888-h/images/head.jpg
diff --git a/37888-h/images/head2.jpg b/37888-h/images/head2.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bbef08f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/37888-h/images/head2.jpg
diff --git a/37888-h/images/poemhead.jpg b/37888-h/images/poemhead.jpg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1acd44e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/37888-h/images/poemhead.jpg
diff --git a/37888.txt b/37888.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5ba29e8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/37888.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,6968 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Charlotte Bronte, by T. Wemyss Reid
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Charlotte Bronte
+       A Monograph
+
+Author: T. Wemyss Reid
+
+Release Date: October 30, 2011 [EBook #37888]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHARLOTTE BRONTE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by StevenGibbs and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: REV. PATRICK BRONTE.]
+
+
+CHARLOTTE BRONTE.
+
+A Monograph.
+
+
+BY
+T. WEMYSS REID.
+
+
+_WITH ILLUSTRATIONS._
+
+
+London:
+MACMILLAN AND CO.
+1877.
+
+[_All Rights Reserved._]
+
+
+_THIRD EDITION._
+
+CHARLES DICKENS AND EVANS, CRYSTAL PALACE PRESS.
+
+
+
+TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
+THE LORD HOUGHTON, D.C.L. F.R.S. &c.
+THIS MEMORIAL OF A LIFE
+WHICH HAS ADDED A NEW GLORY TO THE
+LITERARY HISTORY OF YORKSHIRE
+IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED BY HIS GRATEFUL FRIEND
+THE AUTHOR.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+I have spoken so freely in the opening chapter of this Monograph of
+the circumstances under which it has been written, that very little
+need be said by way of introduction here. This attempt to throw some
+fresh light upon the character of one of the most remarkable women of
+our age has not been a task lightly taken up, or hastily performed.
+The life and genius of Charlotte Bronte had long engaged my attention
+before I undertook, at the request of the lady to whom I am indebted
+for most of the original materials I have employed in these pages, the
+work which I have now completed. In executing that work I have had
+ample reason to feel and acknowledge my own deficiencies. With the
+knowledge that I was treading in the footsteps of so consummate a
+literary artist as Mrs. Gaskell, I have been compelled to refrain from
+writing not a few of the chapters in Charlotte Bronte's life which are
+necessary to a complete acquaintance with her character, simply
+because they had been written so well already. And whilst I
+necessarily shrink from any appearance of rivalry with Charlotte
+Bronte's original biographer, I have been additionally oppressed by
+the feeling that the pen which can do full justice to one of the most
+moving and noble stories in English literature has not yet been found.
+But I have been sustained both by the sympathy of many friends, known
+and unknown, who share my feelings with regard to the Brontes, and by
+the invaluable assistance rendered to me by those who were intimately
+acquainted with the household at Haworth Parsonage. Foremost among
+these must be mentioned Miss Ellen Nussey, the schoolfellow and
+life-long friend of Charlotte Bronte, who has freely placed at my
+disposal all the letters and other materials she possessed from which
+any light could be thrown upon the career of her old companion, and
+who has in addition aided me with much valuable counsel and advice
+in the decision of many difficult points. Miss Wooler, who was
+Charlotte's attached teacher, and who still happily survives in a
+green old age, has also placed me under obligations by her readiness
+to supply me with her pupil's letters to herself. Nor must I omit
+to mention my indebtedness to Lord Houghton for information upon
+questions which could only be decided by those who met "Currer Bell"
+during her brief visits to London at a time when she was one of the
+literary lions of society.
+
+The additions made in this volume to the Monograph as it originally
+appeared in _Macmillan's Magazine_ are numerous and considerable.
+It should be mentioned that a few of the letters now published (about
+twenty) were printed some years ago in an American magazine now
+extinct. The remainder, and by far the larger portion, will be
+entirely new to readers alike in England and the United States.
+
+HEADINGLEY HILL, LEEDS,
+_February, 1877_.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+In Memory of
+
+Maria, wife of the Rev'd P. Bronte. A.B., Minister of Haworth. She
+died Sept'r 15th, 1821, in the 59th year of her age. Also of Maria,
+their daughter; who died May 6th, 1825, in the 12th year of her age.
+Also of Elizabeth, their Daughter; who died June 15th, 1825, in the
+11th year of her age. Also of Patrick Branwell, their son; who died
+Sept'r 24th, 1848, aged 31 years. Also of Emily Jane, their daughter;
+who died Dec'r 19th, 1848, aged 30 years. Also of Anne, their
+daughter; who died May 28th, 1849, aged 29 years. She was buried at
+the Old Church, Scarborough. Also of Charlotte, their daughter; wife
+of the Rev'd A. B. Nicolls, B.A. She died March 31st, 1855, in the
+39th year of her age. Also of the aforementioned Rev'd P. Bronte,
+A.B., who died June 7th, 1861, in the 85th year of his age; having
+been Incumbent of Haworth for upwards of 41 years.
+
+"_The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law;
+but thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord
+Jesus Christ._" 1 Cor. xv. 56, 57.
+
+THE NEW BRONTE TABLET.]
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+                                                                 PAGE
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+INTRODUCTORY                                                        1
+
+Mrs. Gaskell's "Memoir"--Charlotte Bronte's Letters.
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+THE STORY OF "JANE EYRE"                                            7
+
+"Jane Eyre:" its Publication and Popularity; Unfavourable Criticisms
+--Mr. Thackeray and "Rochester"--Loose Gossip--The Truth.
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+EARLY HISTORY OF THE BRONTES                                       14
+
+Charlotte Bronte's Surroundings: the True Charm of her Story--
+Haworth--Mr. Bronte: his Characteristics and Eccentricities--The
+Bronte Children--Charlotte's Escape to the Golden City--Juvenile
+Efforts--"The Play of the Islanders."
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE FAMILY AT HAWORTH                                              29
+
+Charlotte and her Friend--Bolton Bridge--A Family Sketch--Shyness
+of the Sisters--Varying Moods--The Youthful Politician--Branwell
+Bronte--Emily--Anne.
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+LIFE AS A GOVERNESS                                                45
+
+Governess Life--A Mental Struggle--First offer of Marriage--Sympathy
+with others--Trials of her own Life.
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE TURNING-POINT                                                  57
+
+The Storm and Stress Period--Not what the World supposes it to
+have been--Visit to Brussels: its Influence upon her Life--
+Disillusioned--Return Home--A Fallen Idol--A Pleasant Meeting
+--Branwell's Disgrace.
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+AUTHORSHIP AND BEREAVEMENT                                         73
+
+Branwell's Fall--Publication of the Poems--Emily's Poetry--
+Novel-writing begun--"The Professor"--"Wuthering Heights"--
+"Agnes Grey"--"Jane Eyre"--The Secret of the Authorship--
+Growth in Power--Branwell's Death--Decline and Death of
+Emily--Death of Anne.
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+"SHIRLEY"                                                          99
+
+The Bitterness of Bereavement--Visit to London--Meets Thackeray
+--Authors and Critics--"Shirley" published: its Reception by
+the Critics--Husbands and Wives--An Invitation.
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+LONELINESS AND FAME                                               112
+
+Life at Home--Rumours of Marriage--Edits the Works of her Sisters
+--An offer of Marriage--Mr. Thackeray's Lectures--The Crystal
+Palace.
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+"VILLETTE"                                                        127
+
+"Villette" begun--Life and Letters whilst writing it--Great
+Depression of Spirits--Difficulty in writing--"Lucy Snowe"--
+"Villette" finished: its Private Reception; the Public Verdict:
+Waiting for _The Times_.
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+MARRIAGE AND DEATH                                                148
+
+A Secret History--Mr. Nicholls--Offer of Marriage--Mr. Bronte's
+Opposition--A Cruel Struggle--Mr. Nicholls leaves Haworth--The
+High Church Party and "Villette"--Miss Martineau--A Trip to
+Scotland--Brighter Prospects--Engaged to Mr. Nicholls--New
+Out-look upon Life--The Wedding--Married Life--The Last
+Christmas--Illness and Death.
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+POSTHUMOUS HONOURS                                                183
+
+A Nation's Mourning--Charlotte's Humility--Mrs. Gaskell's "Memoir:"
+Effect produced by it--Letter from Mr. Kingsley--Pilgrims to
+Haworth--An American Visitor--Death of Mr. Bronte--Devotion of
+Mr. Nicholls.
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+THE BRONTE NOVELS                                                 201
+
+The Bronte Novels--"Wuthering Heights:" its Cleverness and
+Weirdness--Characters of the Story--Emily's Genius--Curious
+Foreshadowings--Mr. Bronte's Influence on Emily--Anne's Novels
+--"The Professor."
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+CONCLUSION                                                        228
+
+Charlotte's Character--Sufferings and Work.
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
+
+
+REV. PATRICK BRONTE                                     _Frontispiece_
+
+                                                                 PAGE
+
+THE NEW BRONTE TABLET                                               x
+
+HAWORTH VILLAGE                                          _Facing_  18
+
+THE HOUSE THAT CHARLOTTE VISITED                                   44
+
+THE ROE HEAD SCHOOL                                      _Facing_  46
+
+HAWORTH PARSONAGE AND GRAVEYARD                             "      82
+
+THE "FIELD HEAD" OF SHIRLEY                                 "     101
+
+THE "BRIARFIELD" CHURCH OF SHIRLEY                          "     106
+
+FAC-SIMILE LETTER OF CHARLOTTE BRONTE                       "     134
+
+HAWORTH CHURCH                                              "     172
+
+INTERIOR OF HAWORTH CHURCH                                  "     191
+
+ORGAN LOFT OVER THE BRONTE TABLET AND PEW                         200
+
+
+
+
+To the Memory of the Author of "Jane Eyre."
+
+
+    Beside her sisters lay her down to rest,
+    By the lone church that stands amid the moors;
+    And let her grave be wet with moorland showers;
+    Let moorland larks sing o'er her mouldering breast!
+    Hers was the keen true spirit, that confest
+    That she was nurtured in no garden bowers,
+    Nor taught to deck her brow with cultured flowers,
+    Nor by the soft and summer wind carest.
+    Her words came o'er us, as in harvest-tide
+    Come the swift rain-clouds o'er her native skies,
+    Scattering the thin sheaves by the heather's side;
+    So fared it with our tame hypocrisies:
+    But lo! the clouds are past, and far and wide
+    The purple ridges glow beneath our eyes.
+
+W. H. CHARLTON.
+
+_Hesleyside, 1855._
+
+
+
+
+CHARLOTTE BRONTE.
+
+
+
+
+I.
+
+INTRODUCTORY.
+
+
+It is just twenty years since one of the most fascinating and artistic
+biographies in the English language was given to the world. Mrs.
+Gaskell's "Life of Charlotte Bronte" no sooner appeared than it took
+firm possession of the public mind; and it has ever since retained its
+hold upon all who take an interest in the career of one who has been
+called, in language which is far less extravagant in reality than in
+appearance, "the foremost woman of her age." Written with admirable
+skill, in a style at once powerful and picturesque, and with a
+sympathy such as only one artist could feel for another, it richly
+merited the popularity which it gained and has kept. Mrs. Gaskell,
+however, laboured under one serious disadvantage, which no longer
+exists in anything like the same degree in which it did twenty years
+ago. Writing but a few months after Charlotte Bronte had been laid in
+her grave, and whilst the father to whom she was indebted for so much
+that was characteristic in her life and genius was still living, Mrs.
+Gaskell had necessarily to deal with many circumstances which affected
+living persons too closely to be handled in detail. Even as it was she
+involved herself in serious embarrassment by some of her allusions to
+incidents connected more or less nearly with the life of Charlotte
+Bronte; corrections and retractations were forced upon her, the later
+editions of the book differed considerably from the first, and at last
+she was compelled to announce that any further correspondence
+concerning it must be conducted through her solicitors. Thus she was
+crippled in her attempt to paint a full-length picture of a remarkable
+life, and her story was what Mr. Thackeray called it, "necessarily
+incomplete, though most touching and admirable."
+
+There was, moreover, another matter in which Mrs. Gaskell was at
+fault. She seems to have set out with the determination that her work
+should be pitched in a particular key. She had formed her own
+conception of Charlotte Bronte's character, and with the passion of
+the true artist and the ability of the practised writer she made
+everything bend to that conception. The result was that whilst she
+produced a singularly striking and effective portrait of her heroine,
+it was not one which was absolutely satisfactory to those who were the
+oldest and closest friends of Charlotte Bronte. If the truth must be
+told, the life of the author of "Jane Eyre" was by no means so joyless
+as the world now believes it to have been. That during the later years
+in which this wonderful woman produced the works by which she has made
+her name famous, her career was clouded by sorrow and oppressed by
+anguish both mental and physical, is perfectly true. That she was made
+what she was in the furnace of affliction cannot be doubted; but it is
+not true that she was throughout her whole life the victim of that
+extreme depression of spirits which afflicted her at rare intervals,
+and which Mrs. Gaskell has presented to us with so much vividness and
+emphasis. On the contrary, her letters show that at any rate up to the
+time of her leaving for Brussels, she was a happy and high-spirited
+girl, and that even to the very last she had the faculty of overcoming
+her sorrows by means of that steadfast courage which was her most
+precious possession, and to which she was so much indebted for her
+successive victories over trials and disappointments of no ordinary
+character. Those who imagine that Charlotte Bronte's spirit was in any
+degree a morbid or melancholy one do her a singular injustice.
+Intensely reserved in her converse with all save the members of her
+own household, and the solitary friend to whom she clung with such
+passionate affection throughout her life, she revealed to these
+
+                      The other side, the novel
+    Silent silver lights and darks undreamed of,
+
+which were and have remained hidden from the world, but which must be
+seen by those who would know what Charlotte Bronte really was as a
+woman. Alas! those who knew her and her sisters well during their
+brief lives are few in number now. The Brontes who plucked the flower
+of fame out of the thorny waste in which their lots were cast survive
+in their books and in Mrs. Gaskell's biography. But the Brontes, the
+women who lived and suffered thirty years ago, and whose characters
+were instinct with so rare and lofty a nobility, so keen a
+sensitiveness, so pure a nobility, are known no longer.
+
+Yet one mode of making acquaintance with them is still open to some
+among us. From her school-days down to the hour in which she was
+stretched prostrate in her last sickness, Charlotte Bronte kept up the
+closest and most confidential intercourse with her one life-long
+friend. To that friend she addressed letters which may be counted by
+hundreds, scarcely one of which fails to contain some characteristic
+touch worthy of the author of "Villette." No one can read this
+remarkable correspondence without learning the secret of the writer's
+character; none, as I believe, can read it without feeling that the
+woman who "stole like a shadow" into the field of English literature
+in 1847, and in less than eight years after stole as noiselessly away,
+was truer and nobler even than her works, truer and nobler even than
+that masterly picture of her life for which we are indebted to Mrs.
+Gaskell.
+
+These letters lie before me as I write. Here are the faded sheets of
+1832, written in the school-girl's hand, filled with the school-girl's
+extravagant terms of endearment, yet enriched here and there by
+sentences which are worthy to live--some of which have already,
+indeed, taken their place in the literature of England; and here is
+the faint pencil note written to "my own dear Nell" out of the
+writer's "dreary sick-bed," which was so soon to be the bed of death!
+Between the first letter and that last sad note what outpourings of
+the mind of Charlotte Bronte are embodied in this precious pile of
+cherished manuscript! Over five-and-twenty years of a blameless life
+this artless record stretches. So far as Charlotte Bronte's history as
+a woman, and the history of her family are concerned, it is complete
+for the whole of that period, the only breaks in the story being those
+which occurred when she and her friend were together. Of her early
+literary ventures we find little here, for even to her friend she did
+not dare in the first instance to betray the novel joys which filled
+her soul when she at last discovered her true vocation, and spoke to a
+listening world; but of her later life as an author, of her labours
+from the day when she owned "Jane Eyre" as the child of her brain,
+there are constant and abundant traces. Here, too, we read all her
+secret sorrows, her hopes, her fears, her communings with her own
+heart. Many things there are in this record too sacred to be given to
+the world. Even now it is with a tender and a reverent hand that one
+must touch these "noble letters of the dead;" but those who are
+allowed to see them, to read them and ponder over them, must feel as I
+do, that the soul of Charlotte Bronte stands revealed in these
+unpublished pages, and that only here can we see what manner of woman
+this really was who in the solitude and obscurity of the Yorkshire
+hill-parsonage built up for herself an imperishable name, enriched the
+literature of England with treasures of priceless value, and withal
+led for nearly forty years a life that was made sacred and noble by
+the self-repression and patient endurance which were its most marked
+characteristics.
+
+Mrs. Gaskell has done her work so well that the world would scarcely
+care to listen to a mere repetition of the Bronte story, even though
+the story-teller were as gifted as the author of "Ruth" herself. But
+those who have been permitted to gain a new insight into Charlotte
+Bronte's character, those who are allowed to command materials of
+which the biographer of 1857 could make no use, may venture to lay a
+tribute-wreath of their own upon the altar of this great woman's
+memory--a tribute-wreath woven of flowers culled from her own letters.
+And it cannot be that the time is yet come when the name or the fame
+or the touching story of the unique and splendid genius to whom we owe
+"Jane Eyre," will fall upon the ears of English readers like "a tale
+of little meaning" or of doubtful interest.
+
+
+
+
+II.
+
+THE STORY OF "JANE EYRE."
+
+
+In the late autumn of 1847 the reading public of London suddenly found
+itself called to admire and wonder at a novel which, without
+preliminary puff of any kind, had been placed in its hands. "'Jane
+Eyre,' by Currer Bell," became the theme of every tongue, and society
+exhausted itself in conjectures as to the identity of the author, and
+the real meaning of the book. It was no ordinary book, and it produced
+no ordinary sensation. Disfigured here and there by certain crudities
+of thought and by a clumsiness of expression which betrayed the hand
+of a novice, it was nevertheless lit up from the first page to the
+last by the fire of a genius the depth and power of which none but the
+dullest could deny. The hand of its author seized upon the public mind
+whether it would or no, and society was led captive, in the main
+against its will, by one who had little of the prevailing spirit of
+the age, and who either knew nothing of conventionalism, or despised
+it with heart and soul. Fierce was the revolt against the influence of
+this new-comer in the wide arena of letters, who had stolen in, as it
+were in the night, and taken the citadel by surprise. But for the
+moment all opposition was beaten down by sheer force of genius, and
+"Jane Eyre" made her way, compelling recognition, wherever men and
+women were capable of seeing and admitting a rare and extraordinary
+intellectual supremacy. "How well I remember," says Mr. Thackeray,
+"the delight and wonder and pleasure with which I read 'Jane Eyre,'
+sent to me by an author whose name and sex were then alike unknown to
+me; and how with my own work pressing upon me, I could not, having
+taken the volumes up, lay them down until they were read through." It
+was the same everywhere. Even those who saw nothing to commend in the
+story, those who revolted against its free employment of great
+passions and great griefs, and those who were elaborately critical
+upon its author's ignorance of the ways of polite society, had to
+confess themselves bound by the spell of the magician. "Jane Eyre"
+gathered admirers fast; and for every admirer she had a score of
+readers.
+
+Those who remember that winter of nine-and-twenty years ago know how
+something like a "Jane Eyre" fever raged among us. The story which had
+suddenly discovered a glory in uncomeliness, a grandeur in
+overmastering passion, moulded the fashion of the hour, and "Rochester
+airs" and "Jane Eyre graces" became the rage. The book, and its fame
+and influence, travelled beyond the seas with a speed which in those
+days was marvellous. In sedate New England homes the history of the
+English governess was read with an avidity which was not surpassed in
+London itself, and within a few months of the publication of the novel
+it was famous throughout two continents. No such triumph has been
+achieved in our time by any other English author; nor can it be said,
+upon the whole, that many triumphs have been better merited. It
+happened that this anonymous story, bearing the unmistakable marks of
+an unpractised hand, was put before the world at the very moment when
+another great masterpiece of fiction was just beginning to gain the
+ear of the English public. But at the moment of publication "Jane
+Eyre" swept past "Vanity Fair" with a marvellous and impetuous speed
+which left Thackeray's work in the distant background; and its unknown
+author in a few weeks gained a wider reputation than that which one of
+the master minds of the century had been engaged for long years in
+building up.
+
+The reaction from this exaggerated fame, of course, set in, and it was
+sharp and severe. The blots in the book were easily hit; its author's
+unfamiliarity with the stage business of the play was evident
+enough--even to dunces; so it was a simple matter to write smart
+articles at the expense of a novelist who laid himself open to the
+whole battery of conventional criticism. In "Jane Eyre" there was much
+painting of souls in their naked reality; the writer had gauged depths
+which the plummet of the common story-teller could never have sounded,
+and conflicting passions were marshalled on the stage with a masterful
+daring which Shakespeare might have envied; but the costumes, the
+conventional by-play, the scenery, even the wording of the dialogue,
+were poor enough in all conscience. The merest playwright or reviewer
+could have done better in these matters--as the unknown author was
+soon made to understand. Additional piquancy was given to the attack
+by the appearance, at the very time when the "Jane Eyre" fever was at
+its height, of two other novels, written by persons whose sexless
+names proclaimed them the brothers or the sisters of Currer Bell.
+Human nature is not so much changed from what it was in 1847 that one
+need apologise for the readiness with which the reading world in
+general, and the critical world in particular, adopted the theory that
+"Wuthering Heights" and "Agnes Grey" were earlier works from the pen
+which had given them "Jane Eyre." In "Wuthering Heights" some of the
+faults of the other book were carried to an extreme, and some of its
+conspicuous merits were distorted and exaggerated until they became
+positive blemishes; whilst "Agnes Grey" was a feeble and commonplace
+tale which it was easy to condemn. So the author of "Jane Eyre" was
+compelled to bear not only her own burden, but that of the two stories
+which had followed the successful novel; and the reviewers--ignorant
+of the fact that they were killing three birds at a single
+shot--rejoiced in the larger scope which was thus afforded to their
+critical energy.
+
+Here and there, indeed, a manful fight on behalf of Currer Bell was
+made by writers who knew nothing but the name and the book. "It is soul
+speaking to soul," cried _Fraser's Magazine_ in December, 1847; "it is
+not a book for prudes," added _Blackwood_, a few months later; "it is
+not a book for effeminate and tasteless men; it is for the enjoyment of
+a feeling heart and critical understanding." But in the main the
+verdict of the critics was adverse. It was discovered that the story
+was improper and immoral; it was said to be filled with descriptions of
+"courtship after the manner of kangaroos," and to be impregnated with a
+"heathenish doctrine of religion;" whilst there went up a perfect
+chorus of reprobation directed against its "coarseness of language,"
+"laxity of tone," "horrid taste," and "sheer rudeness and vulgarity."
+From the book to the author was of course an easy transition. London
+had been bewildered, and its literary quidnuncs utterly puzzled, when
+such a story first came forth inscribed with an unknown name. Many had
+been the rumours eagerly passed from mouth to mouth as to the real
+identity of Currer Bell. Upon one point there had, indeed, been
+something like unanimity among the critics, and the story of "Jane
+Eyre" had been accepted as something more than a romance, as a genuine
+autobiography in which real and sorrowful experiences were related.
+Even the most hostile critic of the book had acknowledged that "it
+contained the story of struggles with such intense suffering and
+sorrow, as it was sufficient misery to know that any one had conceived,
+far less passed through." Where then was this wonderful governess to be
+found? In what obscure hiding-place could the forlorn soul, whose cry
+of agony had stirred the hearts of readers everywhere, be discovered?
+We may smile now, with more of sadness than of bitterness, at the base
+calumnies of the hour, put forth in mere wantonness and levity by a
+people ever seeking to know some new thing, and to taste some new
+sensation. The favourite theory of the day--a theory duly elaborated
+and discussed in the most orthodox and respectable of the reviews--was
+that Jane Eyre and Becky Sharp were merely different portraits of the
+same character; and that their original was to be found in the person
+of a discarded mistress of Mr. Thackeray, who had furnished the great
+author with a model for the heroine of "Vanity Fair," and had revenged
+herself upon him by painting him as the Rochester of "Jane Eyre!" It
+was after dwelling upon this marvellous theory of the authorship of the
+story that the _Quarterly Review_, with Pecksniffian charity, calmly
+summed up its conclusions in these memorable words: "If we ascribe the
+book to a woman at all, we have no alternative but to ascribe it to one
+who has for some sufficient reason long forfeited the society of her
+own sex."
+
+The world knows the truth now. It knows that these bitter and shameful
+words were applied to one of the truest and purest of women; to a
+woman who from her birth had led a life of self-sacrifice and patient
+endurance; to a woman whose affections dwelt only in the sacred
+shelter of her home, or with companions as pure and worthy as herself;
+to one of those few women who can pour out all their hearts in
+converse with their friends, happy in the assurance that years hence
+the stranger into whose hands their frank confessions may pass will
+find nothing there that is not loyal, true, and blameless. There was
+wonder among the critics, wonder too in the gay world of London, when
+the secret was revealed, and men were told that the author of "Jane
+Eyre" was no passionate light-o'-love who had merely transcribed the
+sad experiences of her own life; but "an austere little Joan of Arc,"
+pure, gentle, and high-minded, of whom Thackeray himself could say
+that "a great and holy reverence of right and truth seemed to be with
+her always." The quidnuncs had searched far and wide for the author of
+"Jane Eyre;" but we may well doubt whether, when the truth came out at
+last, they were not more than ever mystified by the discovery that
+Currer Bell was Charlotte Bronte, the young daughter of a country
+parson in a remote moorland parish of Yorkshire.
+
+That such a woman should have written such a book was more than a nine
+days' wonder; and for the key to that which is one of the great
+marvels and mysteries of English literature we must go to Charlotte
+Bronte's life itself.
+
+
+
+
+III.
+
+EARLY HISTORY OF THE BRONTES.
+
+
+There is a striking passage in Mr. Greg's "Enigmas of Life," in which
+the influence of external circumstances upon the inner lives of men
+and women is dwelt upon somewhat minutely, and, by way of example, the
+connection between religious "conviction" and an imperfect digestion
+is carefully traced out. That we are the creatures of circumstance can
+hardly be doubted, nor that our destinies are moulded, just as the
+coral reefs are built, by the action of innumerable influences, each
+in itself apparently trivial and insignificant. But the habit which
+leads men to find a full explanation of the lives of those who have
+attained exceptional distinction in the circumstances amid which their
+lot has been cast cannot be said to be a very wholesome or happy one.
+Few have suffered more cruelly from this trick than the Bronte family.
+Graphic pictures have been presented to the world of their home among
+the hills, and of their surroundings in their early years; whilst the
+public have been asked to believe that some great shadow of gloom
+rested over their lives from their birth, and that to this fact, and
+to the influence of the moors, must be attributed, not only the
+peculiar bent of their genius, but the whole colour and shape of their
+lives. Those who are thus determined to account for everything that
+lies out of the range of common experience would do well, before they
+attempt to analyse the great mystery of genius, to reveal to us the
+true cause of the superlative excellence of this or that rare _cru_,
+the secret which gives Johannisberg or Chateau d'Yquem its glory in
+the eyes of connoisseurs. Circumstances apparently have little to do
+with the production of the fragrance and bouquet of these famous
+wines; for we know that grapes growing close at hand on similar vines
+and seemingly under precisely similar conditions, warmed by the same
+sun, refreshed by the same showers, fanned by the same breezes,
+produce a wine which is comparatively worthless. When the world has
+expounded this riddle, it will be time enough to deal with that deeper
+problem of genius on which we are now too apt to lay presumptuous and
+even violent hands.
+
+The Brontes have suffered grievously from this fashion, inasmuch as
+their picturesque and striking surroundings have been allowed to
+obscure our view of the women themselves. We have made a picture of
+their lives, and have filled in the mere accessories with such
+pre-Raphaelite minuteness that the distinct individuality of the
+heroines has been blurred and confused amid the general blaze of vivid
+colour, the crowd of "telling" points. No individual is to be blamed
+for this fact. The world, as we have seen, was first introduced to
+"Currer Bell" and her sisters under romantic circumstances; the lives
+of those simple, sternly-honest women were enveloped from the moment
+when the public made their acquaintance in a certain haze of romantic
+mystery; and when all had passed away, and the time came for the
+"many-headed beast" to demand the full satisfaction of its curiosity,
+it would have nothing but the completion of that romance which from
+the first it had figured in outline for itself.
+
+Who then does not know the salient points of that strange and touching
+story which tells us how the author of "Jane Eyre" lived and died? Who
+is not acquainted with that grim parsonage among the hills, where the
+sisters dwelt amidst such uncongenial and even weird influences;
+living like recluses in the house of a Protestant pastor; associated
+with sorrow and suffering, and terrible pictures of degrading vice,
+during their blameless maidenhood; constructing an ideal world of
+their own, and dwelling in it heedless of the real world which was in
+motion all around them? Who has not been amused and interested by
+those graphic pictures of Yorkshire life in the last century, in which
+the local flavour is so intense and piquant, and which are hardly the
+less interesting because they relate to an order of things which had
+passed away entirely long before the Brontes appeared upon the stage?
+And who has not been moved by the dark tragedy of Branwell Bronte's
+life, hinted at rather than explicitly stated, in Mrs. Gaskell's
+story, but yet standing out in such prominence that those who know no
+better may be forgiven if they regard it as having been the powerful
+and all-pervading influence which made the career of the sisters what
+it was? The true charm of the history of the Brontes, however, does
+not lie in these things. It is not to be found in the surroundings of
+their lives, remarkable and romantic as they were, but in the women
+themselves, and in those characteristics of their hearts and their
+intellects which were independent of the accidents of condition.
+Charlotte herself would have been the first to repudiate the notion
+that there was anything strikingly exceptional in their outward
+circumstances. With a horror of being considered eccentric that
+amounted to a passion, she united an almost morbid dread of the notice
+of strangers. If she could ever have imagined that readers throughout
+the world would come to associate her name, and still more the names
+of her idolised sisters, with the ruder features of the Yorkshire
+character, or with such a domestic tragedy as that amid which her
+unhappy brother's life terminated, her spirit would have arisen in
+indignant revolt against that which she would have regarded almost in
+the light of a personal outrage.
+
+[Illustration: HAWORTH VILLAGE.]
+
+And yet if their surroundings at Haworth had comparatively little to
+do with the development of the genius of the three sisters, it cannot
+be doubted that two influences which Mrs. Gaskell has rightly made
+prominent in her book did affect their characters, one in a minor, and
+the other in a very marked degree. The influence of the moors is to be
+traced both in their lives and their works; whilst far more distinctly
+is to be traced the influence of their father. As to the first there
+is little to be said in addition to that which all know already. There
+is a railway station now at Haworth, and all the world therefore can
+get to the place without difficulty or inconvenience. Yet even to-day,
+when the engine goes, shrieking past it many times between sunrise and
+sunset, Haworth is not as other places are. A little manufacturing
+village, sheltered in a nook among the hills and moors which stretch
+from the heart of Yorkshire into the heart of Lancashire, it bears the
+vivid impress of its situation. The moors which lie around it for
+miles on every side are superb during the summer and autumn months.
+Then Haworth is in its glory; a gray stone hamlet set in the midst of
+a vast sea of odorous purple, and swept by breezes which bear into its
+winding street the hum of the bees and the fragrance of the heather.
+But it is in the drear, leaden days of winter, when the moors are
+covered with snow, that we see what Haworth really is. Then we know
+that this is a place apart from the outer world; even the railway
+seems to have failed to bring it into the midst of that great West
+Riding which lies close at hand with its busy mills and multitudes;
+and the dullest therefore can understand that in the days when the
+railway was not, and Haworth lay quite by itself, neglected and unseen
+in its upland valley, its people must have been blessed by some at
+least of those insular peculiarities which distinguished the villagers
+of Zermatt and Pontresina before the flood of summer tourists had
+swept into those comparatively remote crannies of the Alps. Nurtured
+among these lonely moors, and accustomed, as all dwellers on
+thinly-peopled hillsides are, to study the skies and the weather, as
+the inhabitants of towns and plains study the faces of men and women,
+the Brontes unquestionably drew their love of nature, their affection
+for tempestuous winds and warring clouds, from their residence at
+Haworth.
+
+But this influence was trivial compared with the hereditary influences
+of their father's character. Few more remarkable personalities than
+that of the Rev. Patrick Bronte have obtruded themselves upon the
+smooth uniformity of modern society. The readers of Mrs. Gaskell's
+biography know that the incumbent of Haworth was an eccentric man, but
+the full measure of his eccentricity and waywardness has never yet
+been revealed to the world. He was an Irishman by birth, but when
+still a young man he had gone to Yorkshire as a curate, and in
+Yorkshire he remained to the end of his days. His real name was not
+Bronte--regarding the origin of which word there was so much
+unnecessary mystery when his daughter became famous--but Prunty. Born
+of humble parentage in the parish of Ahaderg, County Down, he was one
+of a large family, all of whom were said to be remarkable for their
+physical strength and personal beauty. Patrick Prunty was the most
+remarkable member of the family, and his talents were early recognised
+by Mr. Tighe, the rector of Drumgooland. This gentleman undertook part
+at least of the cost of his education, which was completed at St.
+John's College, Cambridge. As to the change of name from Prunty to
+Bronte, many fantastic stories have been told. Amongst them is one
+which represents the Brontes as having derived their name from that of
+the Bronterres, an ancient Irish family with which they were
+connected. The connection may possibly have existed, but there is no
+doubt upon one point. The incumbent of Haworth in early life bore the
+name of Prunty, and it was not until very shortly, before he left
+Ireland for England that he changed it, at the request of his patron,
+Mr. Tighe, for the more euphonious appellation of Bronte. He appears
+to have been a strange compound of good and evil. That he was not
+without some good is acknowledged by all who knew him. He had kindly
+feelings towards most people, and he delighted in the stern rectitude
+which distinguished many of his Yorkshire flock. When his daughter
+became famous, no one was better pleased at the circumstance than he
+was. He cut out of every newspaper every scrap which referred to her;
+he was proud of her achievements, proud of her intellect, and jealous
+for her reputation. But throughout his whole life there was but one
+person with whom he had any real sympathy, and that person was
+himself. Passionate, self-willed, vain, habitually cold and distant
+in his demeanour towards those of his own household, he exhibited in a
+marked degree many of the characteristics which Charlotte Bronte
+afterwards sketched in the portrait of the Mr. Helston of "Shirley."
+The stranger who encountered him found a scrupulously polite gentleman
+of the old school, who was garrulous about his past life, and who
+needed nothing more than the stimulus of a glass of wine to become
+talkative on the subject of his conquests over the hearts of the
+ladies of his acquaintance. As you listened to the quaintly-attired
+old man who chatted on with inexhaustible volubility, you possibly
+conceived the idea that he was a mere fribble, gay, conceited,
+harmless; but at odd times a searching glance from the keen, deep-sunk
+eyes warned you that you also were being weighed in the balance by
+your companion, and that this assumption of light-hearted vanity was
+far from revealing the real man to you. Only those who dwelt under the
+same roof knew him as he really was. Among the many stories told of
+him by his children, there is one relating to the meek and gentle
+woman who was his wife, and whose lot it was to submit to persistent
+coldness and neglect. Somebody had given Mrs. Bronte a very pretty
+dress, and her husband, who was as proud as he was self-willed, had
+taken offence at the gift. A word to his wife, who lived in habitual
+dread of her lordly master, would have secured all he wanted; but in
+his passionate determination that she should not wear the obnoxious
+garment, he deliberately cut it to pieces, and presented her with the
+tattered fragments. Even during his wife's lifetime he formed the
+habit of taking his meals alone; he constantly carried loaded pistols
+in his pockets, and when excited he would fire these at the doors of
+the outhouses, so that the villagers were quite accustomed to the
+sound of pistol-shots at any hour of the day in their pastor's house.
+It would be a mistake to suppose that violence was one of the weapons
+to which Mr. Bronte habitually resorted. However stern and peremptory
+might be his dealings with his wife (who soon left him to spend the
+remainder of his life in a dreary widowhood), his general policy was
+to secure his end by craft rather than by force. A profound belief in
+his own superior wisdom was conspicuous among his characteristics, and
+he felt convinced that no one was too clever to be outwitted by his
+diplomacy. He had also an amazing persistency, which led him to pursue
+any course on which he had embarked with dogged determination. It
+happened in later years, when his strength was failing, and when at
+last he began to see his daughter in her true light, that he
+quarrelled with her regarding the character of one of their friends.
+The daughter, always dutiful and respectful, found that any effort to
+stem the torrent of his bitter and unjust wrath when he spoke of the
+friend who had offended him, was attended by consequences which were
+positively dangerous. The veins of his forehead swelled, his eyes
+glared, his voice shook, and she was fain to submit lest her father's
+passion should prove fatal to him. But when, wounded beyond endurance
+by his violence and injustice, she withdrew for a few days from her
+home, and told her father that she would receive no letters from him
+in which this friend's name was mentioned, the old man's cunning took
+the place of passion. He wrote long and affectionate letters to her on
+general subjects; but accompanying each letter was a little slip of
+paper, which professed to be a note from Charlotte's dog Flossy to his
+"much-respected and beloved mistress," in which the dog, declaring
+that he saw "a good deal of human nature that was hid from those who
+had the gift of language," was made to repeat the attacks upon the
+obnoxious person which Mr. Bronte dared no longer make in his own
+character.
+
+It was to the care of such a father as this, in the midst of the rude
+and uncongenial society of the lonely manufacturing village, that six
+motherless children, five daughters and one son, were left in the year
+1821. The parson's children were not allowed to associate with their
+little neighbours in the hamlet; their aunt, who came to the parsonage
+after their mother's death, had scarcely more sympathy with them than
+their father himself; their only friend was the rough but kindly
+servant Tabby, who pitied the bairns without understanding them, and
+whose acts of graciousness were too often of such a character as to
+give them more pain than pleasure. So they grew up strange, lonely,
+old-fashioned children, with absolutely no knowledge of the world
+outside; so quiet and demure in their habits that, years afterwards,
+when they invited some of their Sunday scholars up to the parsonage,
+and wished to amuse them, they found that they had to ask the scholars
+to teach them how to play--they had never learned. Carefully secluded
+from the rest of the world, the little Bronte children found out
+fashions of their own in the way of amusement, and curious fashions
+they were. Whilst they were still in the nursery, when the oldest of
+the family, Maria, was barely nine years old, and Charlotte, the
+third, was just six, they had begun to take a quaint interest in
+literature and politics. Heaven knows who it was who first told these
+wonderful pigmies of the great deeds of a Wellington or the crimes of
+a Bonaparte; but at an age when other children are generally busy with
+their bricks or their dolls, and when all life's interests are
+confined for them within the walls of a nursery, these marvellous
+Brontes were discussing the life of the Great Duke, and maintaining
+the Tory cause as ardently as the oldest and sturdiest of the village
+politicians in the neighbouring inn.
+
+There is a touching story of Charlotte at six years old, which gives
+us some notion of the ideal life led by the forlorn little girl at
+this time, when, her two elder sisters having been sent to school, she
+found herself living at home, the eldest of the motherless brood. She
+had read "The Pilgrim's Progress," and had been fascinated, young as
+she was, by that wondrous allegory. Everything in it was to her true
+and real; her little heart had gone forth with Christian on his
+pilgrimage to the Golden City, her bright young mind had been fired by
+the Bedford tinker's description of the glories of the Celestial
+Place; and she made up her mind that she too would escape from the
+City of Destruction, and gain the haven towards which the weary
+spirits of every age have turned with eager longing. But where was
+this glittering city, with its streets of gold, its gates of pearl,
+its walls of precious stones, its streams of life and throne of light?
+Poor little girl! The only place which seemed to her to answer
+Bunyan's description of the celestial town was one which she had heard
+the servants discussing with enthusiasm in the kitchen, and its name
+was Bradford! So to Bradford little Charlotte Bronte, escaping from
+that Haworth Parsonage which she believed to be a doomed spot, set off
+one day in 1822. Ingenious persons may speculate if they please upon
+the sore disappointment which awaited her when, like older people,
+reaching the place which she had imagined to be Heaven, she found that
+it was only Bradford. But she never even reached her imaginary Golden
+City. When her tender feet had carried her a mile along the road, she
+came to a spot where overhanging trees made the highway dark and
+gloomy; she imagined that she had come to the Valley of the Shadow of
+Death, and, fearing to go forward, was presently discovered by her
+nurse cowering by the roadside.
+
+Of the school-days of the Brontes nothing need be said here. Every
+reader of "Jane Eyre" knows what Charlotte Bronte herself thought of
+that charitable institution to which she has given so unenviable a
+notoriety. There she lost her oldest sister, whose fate is described
+in the tragic tale of Helen Burns; and it was whilst she was at this
+place that her second sister, Elizabeth, also died. Only one thing
+need be added to this dismal record of the stay at Cowan Bridge.
+During the whole time of their sojourn there, the young Brontes
+scarcely ever knew what it was to be free from the pangs of hunger.
+
+Charlotte was now the head of the little family; the remaining members
+of which were her brother Branwell and her sisters Emily and Anne.
+Mrs. Gaskell has given the world a vivid picture of the life which
+these four survivors from the hardships of Cowan Bridge led between
+the years 1825 and 1831. They spent those years at Haworth, almost
+without care or sympathy. Their father saw little in their lot to
+interest him, nothing to drag him out of his selfish absorption in his
+own pursuits; their aunt, a permanent invalid, conceived that her duty
+was accomplished when she had taught them a few lessons and insisted
+on their doing a certain amount of needlework every day. For the rest
+they were left to themselves, and thus early they showed the bent of
+their genius by spending their time in writing novels.
+
+Mrs. Gaskell has given us some idea of the character of these juvenile
+performances in a series of extracts which sufficiently indicate their
+rare merit. She has, however, paid exclusive attention to Charlotte's
+productions. All readers of the Bronte story will remember the account
+of the play of "The Islanders," and other remarkable specimens,
+showing with what real vigour and originality Charlotte could handle
+her pen whilst she was still in the first year of her teens; but those
+few persons who have seen the whole of the juvenile library of the
+family bear testimony to the fact that Branwell and Emily were at
+least as industrious and successful as Charlotte herself. Indeed, even
+at this early age, the _bizarre_ character of Emily's genius was
+beginning to manifest itself, and her leaning towards weird and
+supernatural effects was exhibited whilst she composed her first fairy
+tales within the walls of her nursery. It may be well to bear in mind
+the frequency with which the critics have charged Charlotte Bronte
+with exaggerating the precocity of children. What we know of the early
+days of the Brontes proves that what would have been exaggeration in
+any other person was in the case of Charlotte nothing but a truthful
+reproduction of her own experiences.
+
+Only one specimen of these earliest writings of the Brontes can be
+quoted here: it is that to which I have already referred, the play of
+"The Islanders:"
+
+    June the 31st, 1829.
+
+    The play of "The Islanders" was formed in December, 1827, in the
+    following manner. One night, about the time when the cold sleet
+    and stormy fogs of November are succeeded by the snow-storms and
+    high piercing night-winds of confirmed winter, we were all sitting
+    round the warm blazing kitchen fire, having just concluded a
+    quarrel with Tabby concerning the propriety of lighting a candle,
+    from which she came off victorious, no candles having been
+    produced. A long pause succeeded, which was at length broken by
+    Branwell saying, in a lazy manner, "I don't know what to do." This
+    was echoed by Emily and Anne.
+
+    _Tabby._ Wha, ya may go t' bed.
+
+    _Branwell._ I'd rather do anything than that.
+
+    _Charlotte._ Why are you so glum to-night, Tabby? Oh! suppose
+    we had each an island of our own.
+
+    _Branwell._ If we had, I would choose the Island of Man.
+
+    _Charlotte._ And I would choose the Isle of Wight.
+
+    _Emily._ The Isle of Arran for me.
+
+    _Anne._ And mine shall be Guernsey.
+
+    We then chose who should be the chief men in our islands. Branwell
+    chose John Bull, Astley Cooper, and Leigh Hunt; Emily, Walter
+    Scott, Mr. Lockhart, Johnny Lockhart; Anne, Michael Sadler, Lord
+    Bentinck, Sir Henry Halford. I chose the Duke of Wellington and
+    two sons, Christopher North and Co., and Mr. Abernethy. Here our
+    conversation was interrupted by the, to us, dismal sound of the
+    clock striking seven, and we were summoned off to bed.
+
+
+
+
+IV.
+
+THE FAMILY AT HAWORTH.
+
+
+The years have slipped away, and the Brontes are no longer children.
+They have passed out of that strange condition of premature activity
+in which their brains were so busy, their lives so much at variance
+with the lives of others of their age; they have even "finished" their
+education, according to the foolish phrase of the world, and, having
+made some acquaintances and a couple of friends at good Miss Wooler's
+school at Roehead, Charlotte is again at home, young, hopeful, and in
+her own way merry, waiting with her brother and her sisters till that
+mystery of life which seems filled with hidden charms to those who
+still have it all before them shall be revealed.
+
+One bright June morning in 1833, a handsome carriage and pair is
+standing opposite the Devonshire Arms at Bolton Bridge, the spot loved
+by all anglers and artists who know anything of the scenery of the
+Wharfe. In the carriage with some companions is a young girl, whose
+face, figure, and manner may be conjured up by all who have read
+"Shirley," for this pleasant, comely Yorkshire maiden, as we see her
+on this particular morning, is identical with the Caroline Helston who
+figures in the pages of that novel. Miss N---- is waiting for her
+quondam schoolfellow and present bosom friend, Charlotte Bronte, who
+is coming with her brother and sisters to join in an excursion to the
+enchanted site of Bolton Abbey hard by. Presently, on the steep road
+which stretches across the moors to Keighley, the sound of wheels is
+heard, mingled with the merry speech and merrier laughter of fresh
+young voices. Shall we go forward unseen, and study the approaching
+travellers whilst they are still upon the road? Their conveyance is no
+handsome carriage, but a rickety dogcart, unmistakably betraying its
+neighbourship to the carts and ploughs of some rural farmyard. The
+horse, freshly taken from the fields, is driven by a youth who, in
+spite of his countrified dress, is no mere bumpkin. His shock of red
+hair hangs down in somewhat ragged locks behind his ears, for Branwell
+Bronte esteems himself a genius and a poet, and, following the fashion
+of the times, has that abhorrence of the barber's shears which genius
+is supposed to affect. But the lad's face is a handsome and a striking
+one, full of Celtic fire and humour, untouched by the slightest shade
+of care, giving one the impression of somebody altogether hopeful,
+promising, even brilliant. How gaily he jokes with his three sisters;
+with what inexhaustible volubility he pours out quotations from his
+favourite poets, applying them to the lovely scene around him; and
+with what a mischievous delight, in his superior nerve and mettle, he
+attempts feats of charioteering which fill the timid heart of the
+youngest of the party with sudden terrors! Beside him, in a dress of
+marvellous plainness and ugliness, stamped with the brand "home-made"
+in characters which none can mistake, is the eldest of the sisters.
+Charlotte is talking too; there are bright smiles upon her face; she
+is enjoying everything around her, the splendid morning, the charms of
+leafy trees and budding roses, and the ever-musical stream; most of
+all, perhaps, the charm of her brother's society, and the expectation
+of that coming meeting with her friend, which is so near at hand.
+Behind sit a pretty little girl, with fine complexion and delicate
+regular features, whom the stranger would at once pick out as the
+beauty of the company, and a tall, rather angular figure, clad in a
+dress exactly resembling Charlotte's. Emily Bronte does not talk so
+much as the rest of the party, but her wonderful eyes, brilliant and
+unfathomable as the pool at the foot of a waterfall, but radiant also
+with a wealth of tenderness and warmth, show how her soul is expanding
+under the influences of the scene; how quick she is to note the least
+prominent of the beauties around her, how intense is her enjoyment of
+the songs of the birds, the brilliancy of the sunshine, the rich scent
+of the flower-bespangled hedgerows. If she does not, like Charlotte
+and Anne, meet her brother's ceaseless flood of sparkling words with
+opposing currents of speech, she utters at times a strange, deep
+guttural sound which those who know her best interpret as the language
+of a joy too deep for articulate expression. Gaze at them as they pass
+you in the quiet road, and acknowledge that, in spite of their rough
+and even uncouth exteriors, a happier four could hardly be met with in
+this favourite haunt of pleasure-seekers during a long summer's day.
+
+Suddenly the dogcart rattles noisily into the open space in front of
+the Devonshire Arms, and the Brontes see the carriage and its
+occupants. In an instant there is silence; Branwell contrasts his
+humble equipage with that which already stands at the inn door, and a
+flush of mortified pride colours his face; the sisters scarcely note
+this contrast, but to their dismay they see that their friend is not
+alone, and each draws a long deep breath, and prepares for that
+fiercest of all the ordeals they know, a meeting with entire
+strangers. The laughter is stilled; even Branwell's volubility is at
+an end; the glad light dies out of their eyes, and when they alight
+and submit to the process of being introduced to Miss N----'s
+companions, their faces are as dull and commonplace as their dresses.
+It is no imaginary scene we have been watching. Miss N---- still
+recalls that painful moment when the merry talk and laughter of her
+friends were quenched at sight of the company awaiting them, and when
+throughout a day to which all had looked forward with anticipations of
+delight, the three Brontes clung to each other or to their friend,
+scarcely venturing to speak above a whisper, and betraying in every
+look and word the positive agony which filled their hearts when a
+stranger approached them. It was this excessive shyness in the company
+of those who were unfamiliar to them which was the most marked
+characteristic of the sisters. The weakness was as much physical as
+moral; and those who suppose that it was accompanied by any morbid
+depression of spirits, or any lack of vigour and liveliness when the
+incubus of a stranger's presence was removed, entirely mistake their
+true character. Unhappily, first impressions are always strongest, and
+running through the whole of Mrs. Gaskell's story, may be seen the
+impression produced at her first meeting with Charlotte Bronte by her
+nervous shrinking and awkwardness in the midst of unknown faces.
+
+It was not thus with those who, brought into the closest of all
+fellowship with her, the fellowship of school society, knew the
+secrets of her heart far better than did any who became acquainted
+with her in after life. To such the real Charlotte Bronte, who knew no
+timidity in their presence, was a bold, clever, outspoken and
+impulsive girl; ready to laugh with the merriest, and not even
+indisposed to join in practical jokes with the rest of her
+schoolfellows. The picture we get in the "Life" is that of a victim to
+secret terrors and superstitious fancies. The real Charlotte Bronte,
+when stories were current as to the presence of a ghost in the upper
+chambers of the old school-house at Roehead, did not hesitate to go up
+to these rooms alone and in the darkness of a winter's night, leaving
+her companions shivering in terror round the fire downstairs. When she
+had left school, and began that correspondence with Miss N---- which
+is the great source of our knowledge, not merely of the course of her
+life, but of the secrets of her heart, it must not be supposed that
+she wrote always in that serious spirit which pervades most of the
+letters quoted by Mrs. Gaskell. On the contrary, those who have access
+to the letters will find that even some of the passages given in the
+"Life" are allied to sentences showing that the frame of mind in which
+they were written was very different from that which it appears to
+have been. The following letter, written from Haworth in the beginning
+of 1835, is an example:
+
+    Well, here I am as completely separated from you as if a hundred,
+    instead of seventeen, miles intervened between us. I can neither
+    hear you nor see you nor feel you. You are become a mere thought,
+    an unsubstantial impression on the memory, which, however, is
+    happily incapable of erasure. My journey home was rather
+    melancholy, and would have been very much so but for the presence
+    and conversation of my worthy companion. I found him a very
+    intelligent man. He told me the adventures of his sailor's life,
+    his shipwreck and the hurricane he had witnessed in the West
+    Indies, with a much better flow of language than many of far
+    greater pretensions are masters of. I thought he appeared a little
+    dismayed by the wildness of the country round Haworth, and I
+    imagine he has carried back a pretty report of it.
+
+    What do you think of the course politics are taking? I make this
+    inquiry because I now think you have a wholesome interest in the
+    matter; formerly you did not care greatly about it. B----, you see,
+    is triumphant. Wretch! I am a hearty hater, and if there is any one
+    I thoroughly abhor it is that man. But the Opposition is divided.
+    Red-hots and lukewarms; and the Duke (_par excellence the_ Duke)
+    and Sir Robert Peel show no signs of insecurity, although they have
+    been twice beat. So "_courage, mon amie!_" Heaven defend the right!
+    as the old Cavaliers used to say before they joined battle. Now,
+    Ellen, laugh heartily at all that rodomontade. But you have brought
+    it on yourself. Don't you remember telling me to write such letters
+    to you as I wrote to Mary? There's a specimen! Hereafter should
+    follow a long disquisition on books; but I'll spare you that.
+
+Those who turn to Mrs. Gaskell's "Life" will find one of the sentences
+in this letter quoted, but without the burst of laughter over "all
+that rodomontade" at the end which shows that Charlotte's interest in
+politics was not unmingled with the happy levity of youth. Still more
+striking as an illustration of her true character, with its infinite
+variety of moods, its sudden transitions from grave to gay, is the
+letter I now quote:
+
+    Last Saturday afternoon, being in one of my sentimental humours, I
+    sat down and wrote to you such a note as I ought to have written
+    to none but M----, who is nearly as mad as myself; to-day, when I
+    glanced it over, it occurred to me that Ellen's calm eye would
+    look at this with scorn, so I determined to concoct some
+    production more fit for the inspection of common sense. I will not
+    tell you all I think and feel about you, Ellen. I will preserve
+    unbroken that reserve which alone enables me to maintain a decent
+    character for judgment; but for that I should long ago have been
+    set down by all who know me as a Frenchified fool. You have been
+    very kind to me of late, and gentle; and you have spared me those
+    little sallies of ridicule which, owing to my miserable and
+    wretched touchiness of character, used formerly to make me wince
+    as if I had been touched with a hot iron; things that nobody else
+    cares for enter into my mind and rankle there like venom. I know
+    these feelings are absurd, and therefore I try to hide them; but
+    they only sting the deeper for concealment, and I'm an idiot.
+    Ellen, I wish I could live with you always, I begin to cling to
+    you more fondly than ever I did. If we had but a cottage and a
+    competency of our own, I do think we might live and love on till
+    death, without being dependent on any third person for happiness.
+
+Mrs. Gaskell has made a very partial and imperfect use of this letter,
+by quoting merely from the words "You have been very kind to me of
+late," down to "they only sting the deeper for concealment." Thus it
+will be seen that an importance is given to an evanescent mood which
+it was far from meriting, and that lighter side to Charlotte's
+character which was prominent enough to her nearest and dearest
+friends is entirely concealed from the outer world. Again, I say, we
+must not blame Mrs. Gaskell. Such sentences as those which she omitted
+from the letter I have just given are not only entirely inconsistent
+with that ideal portrait of "Currer Bell" which the world had formed
+for itself out of the bare materials in existence during the author's
+lifetime, but are also utterly at variance with Mrs. Gaskell's
+personal conception of Charlotte Bronte's character, founded upon her
+brief acquaintance with her during her years of loneliness and fame.
+
+The quick transitions which marked her moods in converse with her
+friends may be traced all through her letters to Miss N----. The
+quotations I have already made show how suddenly on the same page she
+passes from gaiety to sadness; and so her letters, dealing as they do
+with an endless variety of topics, reflect only the mood of the writer
+at the moment that she penned them, and it is only by reading and
+studying the whole, not by selecting those which reflect a particular
+phase of her character, that we can complete the portrait we would
+fain produce.
+
+Here are some extracts from letters which are not to be found in the
+"Life," and which illustrate what I have said. They were all written
+between the beginning of 1832 and the end of 1835:
+
+    Tell M---- I hope she will derive benefit from the perusal of
+    Cobbett's lucubrations; but I beg she will on no account burden
+    her memory with passages to be repeated for my edification, lest I
+    should not fully appreciate either her kindness or their merit,
+    since that worthy personage and his principles, whether private or
+    political, are no great favourites of mine.
+
+    I am really very much obliged to you--she writes in September,
+    1832--for your well-filled and _very_ interesting letter. It
+    forms a striking contrast to my brief meagre epistles; but I know
+    you will excuse the utter dearth of news visible in them when you
+    consider the situation in which I am placed, quite out of the
+    reach of all intelligence except what I obtain through the medium
+    of the newspapers, and I believe you would not find much to
+    interest you in a political discussion, or a summary of the
+    accidents of the week.... I am sorry, very sorry, that Miss ----
+    has turned out to be so different from what you thought her; but,
+    my dearest Ellen, you must never expect perfection in this world;
+    and I know your naturally confiding and affectionate disposition
+    has led you to imagine that Miss ---- was almost faultless.... I
+    think, dearest Ellen, our friendship is destined to form an
+    exception to the general rule regarding school friendships. At
+    least I know that absence has not in the least abated the sisterly
+    affection which I feel towards you.
+
+
+    Your last letter revealed a state of mind which promised much. As I
+    read it, I could not help wishing that my own feelings more nearly
+    resembled yours; but unhappily all the good thoughts that enter
+    _my_ mind evaporate almost before I have had time to ascertain
+    their existence. Every right resolution which I form is so
+    transient, so fragile, and so easily broken, that I sometimes fear
+    I shall never be what I ought.
+
+
+    I write a hasty line to assure you we shall be happy to see you on
+    the day you mention. As you are now acquainted with the
+    neighbourhood and its total want of society, and with our plain,
+    monotonous mode of life, I do not fear so much as I used to do,
+    that you will be disappointed with the dulness and sameness of
+    your visit. One thing, however, will make the daily routine more
+    unvaried than ever. Branwell, who used to enliven us, is to leave
+    us in a few days, and enter the situation of a private tutor in
+    the neighbourhood of U----. How he will like to settle remains yet
+    to be seen. At present he is full of hope and resolution. I, who
+    know his variable nature and his strong turn for active life, dare
+    not be too sanguine. We are as busy as possible in preparing for
+    his departure, and shirt-making and collar-stitching fully occupy
+    our time.
+
+
+    April, 1835.
+
+    The election! the election! that cry has rung even among our
+    lonely hills like the blast of a trumpet. How has it been round
+    the populous neighbourhood of B----? Under what banner have your
+    brothers ranged themselves? the Blue or the Yellow? Use your
+    influence with them; entreat them, if it be necessary on your
+    knees, to stand by their country and religion in this day of
+    danger!... Stuart Wortley, the son of the most patriotic patrician
+    Yorkshire owns, must be elected the representative of his native
+    province. Lord Morpeth was at Haworth last week, and I saw him. My
+    opinion of his lordship is recorded in a letter I wrote yesterday
+    to Mary. It is not worth writing over again, so I will not trouble
+    you with it here.
+
+Even these brief extracts will show that Charlotte Bronte's life at
+this time was not a morbid one. These years between 1832 and 1835 must
+be counted among the happiest of her life--of all the lives of the
+little household at Haworth, in fact. The young people were accustomed
+to their father's coldness and eccentricity, and to their aunt's
+dainty distaste for all Northern customs and Northern people,
+themselves included. Shy they were and peculiar, alike in their modes
+of life and their modes of thought; but there was a wholesome, healthy
+happiness about all of them that gave promise of peaceful lives
+hereafter. Some literary efforts of a humble kind brightened their
+hopes at this time. Charlotte had written some juvenile poems (not now
+worth reprinting), and she sought the opinion of Southey upon them.
+The poet laureate gave her a kindly and considerate answer, which did
+not encourage her to persevere in these efforts; nor was an attempt by
+Branwell to secure the patronage of Wordsworth for some productions of
+his own more successful. Had anybody ventured into the wilds of
+Haworth parish at this new year of 1835, and made acquaintance with
+the parson's family, it is easy to say upon whom the attention of the
+stranger would have been riveted. Branwell Bronte, of whom casual
+mention is made in one of the foregoing letters, was the hope and
+pride of the little household. All who knew him at this time bear
+testimony to his remarkable talents, his striking graces. Small in
+stature like Charlotte herself, he was endowed with a rare personal
+beauty. But it was in his intellectual gifts that his chief charm was
+found. Even his father's dull parishioners recognised the fire of
+genius in the lad; and any one who cares to go to Haworth now and
+inquire into the story of the Brontes, will find that the most vivid
+reminiscences, the fondest memories of the older people in the
+village, centre in this hapless youth. Ambitious and clever, he seemed
+destined to play a considerable part in the world. His conversational
+powers were remarkable; he gave promise of more than ordinary ability
+as an artist, and he had even as a boy written verses of no common
+power. Among other accomplishments, more curious than useful, of which
+he could boast, was the ability to write two letters simultaneously.
+It is but a small trait in the history of this remarkable family, yet
+it deserves to be noticed, that its least successful member excelled
+Napoleon himself in one respect. The great conqueror could dictate
+half-a-dozen letters concurrently to his secretaries. Branwell Bronte
+could do more than this. With a pen in each hand, he could write two
+different letters at the same moment.
+
+Charlotte was Branwell's senior by one year. In 1835, when in her
+nineteenth year, she was by no means the unattractive person she has
+been represented as being. There is a little caricature sketched by
+herself lying before me as I write. In it all the more awkward of her
+physical points are ingeniously exaggerated. The prominent forehead
+bulges out in an aggressive manner, suggestive of hydrocephalus, the
+nose, "tip-tilted like the petal of a flower," and the mouth are made
+unnecessarily large; whilst the little figure is clumsy and ungainly.
+But though she could never pretend to beauty, she had redeeming
+features, her eyes, hair, and massive forehead all being attractive
+points. Emily, who was two years her junior, had, like Charlotte, a
+bad complexion; but she was tall and well-formed, whilst her eyes were
+of remarkable beauty. All through her life her temperament was more
+than merely peculiar. She inherited not a little of her father's
+eccentricity, untempered by her father's _savoir faire_. Her aversion
+to strangers has been already mentioned. When the curates, who formed
+the only society of Haworth, found their way to the parsonage, she
+avoided them as though they had brought the pestilence in their train.
+On the rare occasions when she went out into the world, she would sit
+absolutely silent in the company of those who were unfamiliar to her.
+So intense was this reserve that even in her own family, where alone
+she was at ease, something like dread was mingled with the affection
+felt towards her. On one occasion, whilst Charlotte's friend was
+visiting the parsonage, Charlotte herself was unable through illness to
+take any walks with her. To the amazement of the household, Emily
+volunteered to accompany Miss N---- on a ramble over the moors. They
+set off together, and the girl threw aside her reserve, and talked with
+a freedom and vigour which gave evidence of the real strength of her
+character. Her companion was charmed with her intelligence and
+geniality. But on returning to the parsonage Charlotte was found
+awaiting them, and, as soon as she had a chance of doing so, she
+anxiously put to Miss N---- the question, "How did Emily behave
+herself?" It was the first time she had ever been known to invite the
+company of any one outside the narrow limits of the family circle. Her
+chief delight was to roam on the moors, followed by her dogs, to whom
+she would whistle in masculine fashion. Her heart, indeed, was given to
+these dumb creatures of the earth. She never forgave those who
+ill-treated them, nor trusted those whom they disliked. One is reminded
+of Shelley's "Sensitive Plant" by some traits of Emily Bronte:
+
+    If the flowers had been her own infants, she
+    Could never have nursed them more tenderly;
+
+and, like the lady of the poem, her tenderness and charity could reach
+even
+
+    ----the poor banished insects, whose intent,
+    Although they did ill, was innocent.
+
+One instance of her remarkable personal courage is related in
+"Shirley," where she herself is sketched under the character of the
+heroine. It is her adventure with the mad dog which bit her at the
+door of the parsonage kitchen whilst she was offering it water. The
+brave girl took an iron from the fire, where it chanced to be heating,
+and immediately cauterised the wound on her arm, making a broad, deep
+scar, which was there until the day of her death. Not until many weeks
+after did she tell her sisters what had happened. Passionately fond of
+her home among the hills, and of the rough Yorkshire people among whom
+she had been reared, she sickened and pined away when absent from
+Haworth. A strange untamed and untamable character was hers; and none
+but her two sisters ever seem to have appreciated her remarkable
+merits, or to have recognised the fine though immature genius which
+shows itself in every line of the weird story of "Wuthering Heights."
+
+Anne, the youngest of the family, had beauty in addition to her other
+gifts. Intellectually she was greatly inferior to her sisters; but her
+mildness and sweetness of temperament won the affections of many who
+were repelled by the harsher exteriors of Charlotte and Emily.
+
+This was the family which lived happily and quietly among the hills
+during those years when life with its vicissitudes still lay in the
+distance. Gay their existence could not be called; but their letters
+show that it was unquestionably peaceful, happy, and wholesome.
+
+[Illustration: THE HOUSE THAT CHARLOTTE VISITED.]
+
+
+
+
+V.
+
+LIFE AS A GOVERNESS.
+
+
+Moved by the hope of lightening the family expenses and enabling
+Branwell to get a thorough artistic training at the Royal Academy,
+Charlotte resolved to go out as a governess. Her first "place" was at
+her old school at Roehead, where she was with her friend, Miss Wooler,
+and where she was also very near the home of her confidante, Miss
+N----. Emily went with her for a time, but she soon sickened and pined
+for the moors, and after a trial of but a few months she returned to
+Haworth. A great deal of sympathy has been bestowed upon the Brontes
+in connection with their lives as governesses; nor am I prepared to
+say that this sympathy is wholly misplaced. Their reserve, their
+affection for each other, their ignorance of the world, combined
+to make "the cup of life as it is mixed for the class termed
+governesses"--to use Charlotte's own phrase--particularly distasteful
+to them. But it is a mistake to suppose that they were treated with
+harshness during their governess life, or that Charlotte, at least,
+felt her trials to be at all unbearable. It was decidedly unpleasant
+to sacrifice the independence and the family companionship of Haworth
+for drudgery and loneliness in the household of a stranger; but it was
+a duty, and as such it was accepted without repining by two, at least,
+of the sisters. Emily's peculiar temperament made her quite unfitted
+for life among strangers; she made many attempts to overcome her
+reserve, but all were unavailing; and after a brief experience in one
+or two families in different parts of Yorkshire, she returned to
+Haworth to reside there permanently as her father's housekeeper. There
+is no need to dwell upon this episode in the lives of the Brontes.
+They were living among unfamiliar faces, and had little temptation to
+display themselves in their true characters, but extracts from a few
+of Charlotte's letters to her friends will show something of the
+course of her thought at this time. With the exception of a detached
+sentence or two these letters will be quite new to the readers of Mrs.
+Gaskell's "Life:"
+
+    I have been waiting for an opportunity of sending a letter to you
+    as you wished; but as no such opportunity offers itself, I have at
+    length determined to write to you by post, fearing that if I
+    delayed any longer you would attribute my tardiness to
+    indifference. I can scarcely realise the distance that lies between
+    us, or the length of time which may elapse before we meet again.
+    Now, Ellen, I have no news to tell you, no changes to communicate.
+    My life since I saw you last has passed away as monotonously and
+    unvaryingly as ever--nothing but teach, teach, teach, from morning
+    till night. The greatest variety I ever have is afforded by a
+    letter from you, a call from the T----s, or by meeting with a
+    pleasant new book. The "Life of Oberlin," and Legh Richmond's
+    "Domestic Portraiture," are the last of this description I have
+    perused. The latter work strongly attracted and strangely
+    fascinated my attention. Beg, borrow, or steal it without delay,
+    and read the "Memoir of Richmond." That short record of a brief and
+    uneventful life I shall never forget. It is beautiful, not on
+    account of the language in which it is written, not on account of
+    the incidents it details, but because of the simple narration it
+    gives of the life and death of a young, talented, sincere
+    Christian. Get the book, Ellen (I wish I had it to give you), read
+    it, and tell me what you think of it. Yesterday I heard that you
+    had been ill since you were in London. I hope you are better now.
+    Are you any happier than you were? Try to reconcile your mind to
+    circumstances, and exert the quiet fortitude of which I know you
+    are not destitute. Your absence leaves a sort of vacancy in my
+    feelings which nothing has as yet offered of sufficient interest to
+    supply. I do not forget ten o'clock. I remember it every night, and
+    if a sincere petition for your welfare will do you any good you
+    will be benefited. I know the Bible says: "The prayer of the
+    _righteous_ availeth much," and I am _not righteous_. Nevertheless
+    I believe God despises no application that is uttered in sincerity.
+    My own dear E----, good-bye. I can write no more, for I am called
+    to a less pleasant avocation.
+
+
+    Dewsbury Moor, Oct. 2, 1836.
+
+    I should have written to you a week ago, but my time has of late
+    been so wholly taken up that till now I have really not had an
+    opportunity of answering your last letter. I assure you I feel the
+    kindness of so early a reply to my tardy correspondence. It gave
+    me a sting of self-reproach.... My sister Emily is gone into a
+    situation as teacher in a large school of near forty pupils, near
+    Halifax. I have had one letter from her since her departure. It
+    gives an appalling account of her duties. Hard labour from six in
+    the morning till near eleven at night, with only one half-hour of
+    exercise between. This is slavery. I fear she will never stand it.
+    It gives me sincere pleasure, my dear Ellen, to learn that you
+    have at last found a few associates of congenial minds. I cannot
+    conceive a life more dreary than that passed amidst sights,
+    sounds, and companions all alien to the nature within us. From the
+    tenor of your letters it seems that your mind remains fixed as it
+    ever was, in no wise dazzled by novelty or warped by evil example.
+    I am thankful for it. I could not help smiling at the paragraphs
+    which related to ----. There was in them a touch of the genuine
+    unworldly simplicity which forms part of your character. Ellen,
+    depend upon it, all people have their dark side. Though some
+    possess the power of throwing a fair veil over the defects, close
+    acquaintance slowly removes the screen, and one by one the blots
+    appear; till at last we see the pattern of perfection all slurred
+    over with stains which even affection cannot efface.
+
+The affectionate commendations of her friend are constantly
+accompanied by references of a very different character to herself.
+
+    If I like people--she says in one of her letters--it is my nature
+    to tell them so, and I am not afraid of offering incense to your
+    vanity. It is from religion that you derive your chief charm, and
+    may its influence always preserve you as pure, as unassuming, and
+    as benevolent in thought and deed as you are now. What am I
+    compared to you? I feel my own utter worthlessness when I make the
+    comparison. I'm a very coarse, commonplace wretch! I have some
+    qualities that make me very miserable, some feelings that you can
+    have no participation in--that few, very few people in the world
+    can at all understand. I don't pride myself on these
+    peculiarities. I strive to conceal and suppress them as much as I
+    can, but they burst out sometimes, and then those who see the
+    explosion despise me, and I hate myself for days afterwards.
+
+    All my notes to you, Ellen, are written in a hurry. I am now
+    snatching an opportunity. Mr. J---- is here; by his means it will
+    be transmitted to Miss E----, by her means to X----, by his means
+    to you. I do not blame you for not coming to see me. I am sure you
+    have been prevented by sufficient reasons; but I do long to see
+    you, and I hope I shall be gratified momentarily, at least, ere
+    long. Next Friday, if all be well, I shall go to G----. On Sunday
+    I hope I shall at least catch a glimpse of you. Week after week I
+    have lived on the expectation of your coming. Week after week I
+    have been disappointed. I have not regretted what I said in my
+    last note to you. The confession was wrung from me by sympathy and
+    kindness, such as I can never be sufficiently thankful for. I feel
+    in a strange state of mind; still gloomy, but not despairing. I
+    keep trying to do right, checking wrong feelings; repressing wrong
+    thoughts--but still, every instant I find myself going astray. I
+    have a constant tendency to scorn people who are far better than I
+    am. A horror at the idea of becoming one of a certain set--a dread
+    lest if I made the slightest profession I should sink at once into
+    Phariseeism, merge wholly in the ranks of the self-righteous. In
+    writing at this moment I feel an irksome disgust at the idea of
+    using a single phrase that sounds like religious cant. I abhor
+    myself; I despise myself. If the doctrine of Calvin be true, I am
+    already an outcast. You cannot imagine how hard, rebellious, and
+    intractable all my feelings are. When I begin to study on the
+    subject I almost grow blasphemous, atheistical in my sentiments.
+    Don't desert me--don't be horrified at me. You know what I am. I
+    wish I could see you, my darling. I have lavished the warmest
+    affections of a very hot, tenacious heart upon you. If you grow
+    cold it is over.
+
+    You will excuse a very brief and meagre answer to your kind note
+    when I tell you that at the moment it reached me, and that just now
+    whilst I am scribbling a reply, the whole house is in the bustle of
+    packing and preparation, for on this day we all _go home_. Your
+    palliation of my defects is kind and charitable, but I dare not
+    trust its truth. Few would regard them with so lenient an eye as
+    you do. Your consolatory admonitions are kind, Ellen; and when I
+    can read them over in quietness and alone, I trust I shall derive
+    comfort from them. But just now, in the unsettled, excited state of
+    mind which I now feel, I cannot enter into the pure scriptural
+    spirit which they breathe. It would be wrong of me to continue the
+    subject. My thoughts are distracted and absorbed by other ideas.
+    You do not mention your visit to Haworth. Have you spoken of it to
+    the family? Have they agreed to let you come? But I will write when
+    I get home. Ever since last Friday I have been as busy as I could
+    be in finishing up the half-year's lessons, which concluded with a
+    terrible fog in geographical problems (think of explaining that to
+    Misses ---- and ----!), and subsequently in mending Miss ----'s
+    clothes. Miss ---- is calling me: something about my _protegee's_
+    nightcap. Good-bye. We shall meet again ere many days, I trust.
+
+Here it will be seen that the religious struggle was renewed. The
+woman who was afterwards to be accused of "heathenism" was going
+through tortures such as Cowper knew in his darkest hours, and, like
+him, was acquiring faith, humility, and resignation in the midst of
+the conflict. But such letters as this are only episodical; in general
+she writes cheerfully, sometimes even merrily.
+
+[Illustration: THE ROE HEAD SCHOOL.]
+
+What would the _Quarterly_ reviewer and the other charitable people,
+who openly declared their conviction that the author of "Jane Eyre" was
+an improper person, who had written an improper book, have said had
+they been told that she had written the following letter on the subject
+of her first offer of marriage--written it, too, at the time when she
+was a governess, and in spite of the fact that the offer opened up to
+her a way of escape from all anxiety as to her future life?
+
+    You ask me whether I have received a letter from T----. I have
+    about a week since. The contents I confess did a little surprise
+    me; but I kept them to myself, and unless you had questioned me on
+    the subject I would never have adverted to it. T---- says he is
+    comfortably settled at ----, and that his health is much improved.
+    He then intimates that in due time he will want a wife, and
+    frankly asks me to be that wife. Altogether the letter is written
+    without cant or flattery, and in common-sense style which does
+    credit to his judgment. Now there were in this proposal some
+    things that might have proved a strong temptation. I thought if I
+    were to marry so ---- could live with me, and how happy I should
+    be. But again I asked myself two questions: Do I love T---- as
+    much as a woman ought to love her husband? Am I the person best
+    qualified to make him happy? Alas! my conscience answered "No" to
+    both these questions. I felt that though I esteemed T----, though
+    I had a kindly leaning towards him, because he is an amiable,
+    well-disposed man, yet I had not and never could have that intense
+    attachment which would make me willing to die for him--and if ever
+    I marry it must be in that light of adoration that I will regard
+    my husband. Ten to one I shall never have the chance again; but
+    _n'importe_. Moreover, I was aware he knew so little of me he could
+    hardly be conscious to whom he was writing. Why, it would startle
+    him to see me in my natural home character. He would think I was a
+    wild, romantic enthusiast indeed. I could not sit all day long
+    making a grave face before my husband. I would laugh and satirise,
+    and say whatever came into my head first; and if he were a clever
+    man and loved me, the whole world weighed in the balance against
+    his smallest wish would be light as air. Could I, knowing my mind
+    to be such as that, conscientiously say that I would take a grave,
+    quiet young man like T----? No; it would have been deceiving him,
+    and deception of that sort is beneath me. So I wrote a long letter
+    back in which I expressed my refusal as gently as I could, and also
+    candidly avowed my reasons for that refusal. I described to him,
+    too, the sort of character I thought would suit him for a wife.
+
+The girl who could thus calmly decline a more than merely "eligible"
+offer, and thus honestly state her reasons for doing so to the friend
+she trusted, was strangely different from the author of "Jane Eyre"
+pictured by the critics and the public. Perhaps the full cost of the
+refusal related in the foregoing letter is only made clear when it is
+brought into contrast with such a confession as the following, made
+very soon afterwards:
+
+    I am miserable when I allow myself to dwell on the necessity of
+    spending my life as a governess. The chief requisite for that
+    station seems to me to be the power of taking things easily when
+    they come, and of making oneself comfortable and at home wherever
+    one may chance to be--qualities in which all our family are
+    singularly deficient. I know I cannot live with a person like Mrs.
+    ----; but I hope all women are not like her, and my motto is "Try
+    again."
+
+How thoroughly at all times she could sympathise alike with the joys
+and sorrows of others, is proved by many letters extending over the
+whole period of her life. The following is neither the earliest nor
+the most characteristic of those utterances of a tender and heartfelt
+sympathy with her special friend, which are to be found in her
+correspondence, but as Mrs. Gaskell has not made use of it, I may
+quote it here:
+
+    1838.
+
+    We were at breakfast when your note reached me, and I consequently
+    write in great hurry. Your trials seem to thicken. I trust God
+    will either remove them or give you strength to bear them. If I
+    could but come to you and offer you all the little assistance
+    either my head or hands could afford! But that is impossible. I
+    scarcely dare offer to comfort you about ---- lest my consolation
+    should seem like mockery. I know that in cases of sickness
+    strangers cannot measure what relations feel. One thing, however, I
+    need not remind _you_ of. You will have repeated it over and over
+    to yourself before now: God does all for the best; and even should
+    the worst happen, and Death seem finally to destroy hope, remember
+    that this will be but a practical test of the strong faith and calm
+    devotion which have marked you a Christian so long. I would hope,
+    however, that the time for this test is not yet come, that your
+    brother may recover, and all be well. It grieves me to hear that
+    your own health is so indifferent. Once more I wish I were with
+    you to lighten at least by sympathy the burden that seems so
+    unsparingly laid upon you. Let me thank you for remembering me in
+    the midst of such hurry and affliction. We are all apt to grow
+    selfish in distress. This, so far as I have found, is not your
+    case. _When_ shall I see you again? The uncertainty in which the
+    answer to that question must be involved gives me a bitter feeling.
+    Through all changes, through all chances, I trust I shall love you
+    as I do now. We can pray for each other and think of each other.
+    Distance is no bar to recollection. You have promised to write to
+    me, and I do not doubt that you will keep your word. Give my love
+    to M---- and your mother. Take with you my blessing and affection,
+    and all the warmest wishes of a warm heart for your welfare.
+
+From one of her situations as governess in a private family (she had
+long since left the kind shelter of Miss Wooler's house) she writes in
+1841 a series of letters showing how little she relished the "cup of
+life as it is mixed for the class termed governesses."
+
+    It is twelve o'clock at night; but I must just write you a word
+    before I go to bed. If you think I'm going to refuse your
+    invitation, or if you sent it me with that idea, you're mistaken.
+    As soon as I had read your shabby little note, I gathered up my
+    spirits directly, walked on the impulse of the moment into Mrs.
+    ----'s presence, popped the question, and for two minutes received
+    no answer. "Will she refuse me when I work so hard for her?"
+    thought I. "Ye--e--es," drawled madam in a reluctant, cold tone.
+    "Thank you, madam!" said I with extreme cordiality, and was
+    marching from the room when she recalled me with "You'd better go
+    on Saturday afternoon, then, when the children have holiday, and
+    if you return in time for them to have all their lessons on Monday
+    morning, I don't see that much will be lost." You _are_ a
+    genuine Turk, thought I; but again I assented, and so the bargain
+    was struck. Saturday after next, then, is the day appointed. I'll
+    come, God knows, with a thankful and joyful heart, glad of a day's
+    reprieve from labour. If you don't send the gig I'll walk. I am
+    coming to taste the pleasure of liberty; a bit of pleasant
+    congenial talk, and a sight of two or three faces I like. God
+    bless you! I want to see you again. Huzza for Saturday afternoon
+    after next! Good-night, my lass!
+
+
+    During the last three weeks that hideous operation called "a
+    thorough clean" has been going on in the house. It is now nearly
+    completed, for which I thank my stars, as during its progress I
+    have fulfilled the double character of nurse and governess, while
+    the nurse has been transmuted into cook and housemaid. That nurse,
+    by-the-bye, is the prettiest lass you ever saw.... I was beginning
+    to think Mrs. ---- a good sort of body in spite of her bouncing
+    and toasting, her bad grammar and worse orthography; but I have
+    had experience of one little trait in her character which condemns
+    her a long way with me. After treating a person on the most
+    familiar terms of equality for a long time, if any little thing
+    goes wrong, she does not scruple to give way to anger in a very
+    coarse, unladylike manner, though in justice no blame could be
+    attached where she ascribed it all. I think passion is the true
+    test of vulgarity or refinement. This place looks exquisitely
+    beautiful just now. The grounds are certainly lovely, and all as
+    green as an emerald. I wish you would just come and look at it.
+
+
+
+
+VI.
+
+THE TURNING-POINT.
+
+
+The "storm and stress" period of Charlotte Bronte's life was not what
+the world believes it to have been. Like the rest of our race, she had
+to fight her own battle in the wilderness, not with one devil, but
+with many; and it was this sharp contest with the temptations which
+crowd the threshold of an opening life which made her what she was.
+The world believes that it was under the parsonage roof that the
+author of "Jane Eyre" gathered up the precious experiences which were
+afterwards turned to such good account. Mrs. Gaskell, who was carried
+away by her honest womanly horror of hardened vice, gives us to
+understand that the tragic turning-point in the history of the sisters
+was connected with the disgrace and ruin of their brother. We are even
+asked to believe that but for the folly of a single woman, whom it is
+probable that Charlotte never saw, "Currer Bell" would never have
+taken up her pen, and no halo of glory would have settled on the
+scarred and rugged brows of prosaic Haworth.
+
+It is not so. There may be disappointment among those who have been
+nurtured on the traditions of the Bronte romance when they find that
+the reality is different from what they supposed it to be; some
+shallow judges may even assume that Charlotte herself loses in moral
+stature when it is shown that it was not her horror at her brother's
+fall which drove her to find relief in literary speech. But the truth
+must be told; and for my part I see nothing in that truth which
+affects, even in an infinitesimal degree, the fame and the honour of
+the woman of whom I write.
+
+It was Charlotte's visit to Brussels, then, first as pupil and
+afterwards as teacher in the school of Madame Heger, which was the
+turning-point in her life, which changed its currents, and gave to it
+a new purpose and a new meaning. Up to the moment of that visit she
+had been the simple, kindly, truthful Yorkshire girl, endowed with
+strange faculties, carried away at times by burning impulses, moved
+often by emotions the nature of which she could not fathom, but always
+hemmed in by her narrow experiences, her limited knowledge of life and
+the world. Until she went to Belgium, her sorest troubles had been
+associated with her dislike to the society of strangers, her heaviest
+burden had been the necessity under which she lay of tasting that "cup
+of life as it is mixed for governesses" which she detested so
+heartily. Under the belief that they could qualify themselves to keep
+a school of their own if they had once mastered the delicacies of the
+French and German languages, she and Emily set off for this sojourn in
+Brussels.
+
+One may be forgiven for speculating as to her future lot had she
+accepted the offer of marriage she received in her early governess
+days, and settled down as the faithful wife of a sober English
+gentleman. In that case "Shirley" perhaps might have been written, but
+"Jane Eyre" and "Villette" never. She learnt much during her two
+years' sojourn in the Belgian capital; but the greatest of all the
+lessons she mastered whilst there was that self-knowledge the taste of
+which is so bitter to the mouth, though so wholesome to the life. Mrs.
+Gaskell has made such ample use of the letters she penned during the
+long months which she spent as an exile from England, that there is
+comparatively little left to cull from them. Everybody knows the
+outward circumstances of her story at this time. For a brief period
+she had the company of Emily; and the two sisters, working together
+with the unremitting zeal of those who have learned that time is
+money, were happy and hopeful, enjoying the novel sights of the gay
+foreign capital, gathering fresh experiences every day, and looking
+forward to the moment when they would return to familiar Haworth, and
+realise the dream of their lives by opening a school of their own
+within the walls of the parsonage. But then Emily left, and Charlotte,
+after a brief holiday at home, returned alone. Years after, writing to
+her friend, she speaks of her return in these words: "I returned to
+Brussels after aunt's death against my conscience, prompted by what
+then seemed an irresistible impulse. I was punished for my selfish
+folly by a total withdrawal for more than two years of happiness and
+peace of mind." Why did she thus go back "against her conscience?" Her
+friends declared that her future husband dwelt somewhere within sound
+of the chimes of St. Gudule, and that she insisted upon returning to
+Brussels because she was about to be married there. We know now how
+different was the reality. The husband who awaited her was even then
+about to begin his long apprenticeship of love at Haworth. Yet none
+the less had her spirit, if not her heart, been captured and held
+captive in the Belgian city. It is not in her letters that we find the
+truth regarding her life at this time. The truth indeed is there, but
+not all the truth. "In catalepsy and dread trance," says Lucy Snowe,
+"I studiously held the quick of my nature.... It is on the surface
+only the common gaze will fall." The secrets of her inner life could
+not be trusted to paper, even though the lines were intended for no
+eyes but those of her friend and confidante. There are some things, as
+we know well, that the heart hides as by instinct, and which even
+frank and open natures only reveal under compulsion. Writing to her
+friend from Brussels in October, 1843, she says: "I have much to say,
+Ellen; many little odd things, queer and puzzling enough, which I do
+not like to trust to a letter, but which one day, perhaps, or rather
+one evening, if ever we should find ourselves again by the fireside at
+Haworth, or at B----, with our feet on the fender, curling our hair, I
+may communicate to you." One of the hardest features of the last year
+she spent at Brussels was the necessity she was under of locking all
+the deepest emotions of her life within her own breast, of preserving
+the calm and even cold exterior, which should tell nothing to the
+common gaze, above the troubled, fevered heart that beat within.
+
+    When do you think I shall see you?--she cries to her friend within
+    a few days of her final return to Haworth--I have, of course, much
+    to tell you, and I dare say you have much also to tell me--things
+    which we should neither of us wish to commit to paper.... I do not
+    know whether you feel as I do, but there are times now when it
+    appears to me as if all my ideas and feelings, except a few
+    friendships and affections, are changed from what they used to be.
+    Something in me which used to be enthusiasm is tamed down and
+    broken. I have fewer illusions. What I wish for now is active
+    exertion--a stake in life. Haworth seems such a lonely, quiet
+    spot, buried away from the world. I no longer regard myself as
+    young; indeed, I shall soon be twenty-eight, and it seems as if I
+    ought to be working and braving the rough realities of the world,
+    as other people do. It is, however, my duty to restrain this
+    feeling at present, and I will endeavour to do so.
+
+Yes; she was "disillusioned" now, and she had brought back from
+Brussels a heart which could never be quite so light, a spirit which
+could never again soar so buoyantly, as in those earlier years when
+the tree of knowledge was still untasted, and the mystery of life
+still unrevealed. This stay in Belgium was, as I have said, the
+turning-point in Charlotte Bronte's career, and its true history and
+meaning is to be found, not in her "Life" and letters, but in
+"Villette," the master-work of her mind, and the revelation of the
+most vivid passages in her own heart's history. "I said I disliked
+Lucy Snowe," is a remark which Mrs. Gaskell innocently repeats in her
+memoir of Charlotte Bronte. One need not be surprised at it. Lucy
+Snowe was never meant to be liked--by everybody; but none the less is
+Lucy Snowe the truest picture we possess of the real Charlotte Bronte;
+whilst not a few of the fortunes which befell this strange heroine are
+literal transcripts from the life of her creator. One little incident
+in "Villette"--Lucy's impulsive visit to a Roman Catholic
+confessor--is taken direct from Charlotte's own experience. During one
+of the long lonely holidays in the foreign school, when her mind was
+restless and disturbed, her heart heavy, her nerves jarred and
+jangled, she fled from the great empty schoolrooms to seek peace in
+the street; and she found, not peace perhaps, but sympathy at least,
+in the counsels of a priest, seated at the Confessional in a church
+into which she wandered, who took pity on the little heretic, and
+soothed her troubled spirit without attempting to enmesh it in the
+folds of Romanism. It was from experiences such as these, with a
+chastened heart and a nature tamed down, though by no means broken,
+that she returned to familiar Haworth, to face "the rough realities of
+the world."
+
+Rough, indeed, those realities were in her case. Her brother, once the
+hope of the family, had now become its burden and its curse; and from
+that moment he was to be the prodigal for whom no fatted calf would
+ever be killed. Her father was fast losing his eyesight; she and her
+sisters were getting on in life, and "something must be done."
+Charlotte had returned home, but her heart was still in Brussels, and
+the wings of her spirit began to beat impatiently against the cage in
+which she found herself imprisoned. It was only the old story. She had
+gone out into the world, had tasted strange joys, and drunk deep of
+waters the very bitterness of which seemed to endear them to her.
+Returning to Haworth she went back a new woman, with tastes and hopes
+which it was hard to reconcile with the monotony of life in the
+parsonage which had once satisfied her completely.
+
+"If I _could_ leave home I should not be at Haworth," she says soon
+after her return. "I know life is passing away, and I am doing nothing,
+earning nothing; a very bitter knowledge it is at moments, but I see no
+way out of the mist." And then, almost for the first time in her life,
+something like a cry of despair goes up from her lips: "Probably, when
+I am free to leave home, I shall neither be able to find place nor
+employment. Perhaps, too, I shall be quite past the prime of life, my
+faculties will be wasted, and my few acquirements in a great measure
+forgotten. These ideas sting me keenly sometimes; but whenever I
+consult my conscience, it affirms that I am doing right in staying at
+home, and bitter are its upbraidings when I yield to an eager desire
+for release."
+
+But this outburst of personal feeling was exceptional, and was uttered
+in one ear only. Within the walls of her home Charlotte again became
+the house-mother, busying herself with homely cares, and ever watching
+for some opportunity of carrying her plan of school-keeping into
+execution. Nor did she allow either the troubles at home, or that
+weight at her own heart which she bore in secrecy, to render her
+spirit morbid and melancholy. Not a few who have read Mrs. Gaskell's
+work labour under the belief that this was the effect that Charlotte
+Bronte's trials had upon her. As a matter of fact, however, she was
+far too strong, brave, cheerful--one had almost said manly--to give
+way to any such selfish repinings. She never was one of those sickly
+souls who go about "glooming over the woes of existence, and how
+unworthy God's universe is to have so distinguished a resident." Even
+when her own sorrows were deepest, and her lot seemed hardest, she
+found a lively pleasure in discussing the characters and lots of
+others, and expended as much pains and time in analysing the inner
+lives of her friends as our sham Byrons are wont to expend upon the
+study of their own feelings and emotions. Indeed, of that self-pity
+which is so common a characteristic of the young, no trace is to be
+found in her correspondence. Let the following letter, hitherto
+unpublished, written at the very time when the household clouds were
+blackest, speak for her freedom from morbid self-consciousness, as
+well as for her hearty interest in the well-being of those around her:
+
+    You are a very good girl indeed to send me such a long and
+    interesting letter. In all that account of the young lady and
+    gentleman in the railway carriage I recognise your faculty for
+    observation, which is a rarer gift than you imagine. You ought to
+    be thankful for it. I never yet met with an individual devoid of
+    observation whose conversation was interesting, nor with one
+    possessed of that power in whose society I could not manage to
+    pass a pleasant hour. I was amused with your allusions to
+    individuals at ----. I have little doubt of the truth of the
+    report you mention about Mr. Z---- paying assiduous attention to
+    ----. Whether it will ever come to a match is another thing.
+    _Money_ would decide that point, as it does most others of a
+    similar nature. You are perfectly right in saying that Mr. Z----
+    is more influenced by opinion than he himself suspects. I saw his
+    lordship in a new light last time I was at ----. Sometimes I could
+    scarcely believe my ears when I heard the stress he laid on
+    wealth, appearance, family, and all those advantages which are the
+    idols of the world. His conversation on marriage (and he talked
+    much about it) differed in no degree from that of any hackneyed
+    fortune-hunter, except that with his own peculiar and native
+    audacity he avowed views and principles which more timid
+    individuals conceal. Of course I raised no argument against
+    anything he said. I listened, and laughed inwardly to think how
+    indignant I should have been eight years since if anyone had
+    accused Z---- of being a worshipper of Mammon and of Interest.
+    Indeed, I still believe that the Z---- of ten years ago is not the
+    Z---- of to-day. The world, with its hardness and selfishness, has
+    utterly changed him. He thinks himself grown wiser than the
+    wisest. In a worldly sense he is wise. His feelings have gone
+    through a process of petrifaction which will prevent them from
+    ever warring against his interest; but Ichabod! all glory of
+    principle, and much elevation of character are gone! I learnt
+    another thing. Fear the smooth side of Z----'s tongue more than
+    the rough side. He has the art of paying peppery little
+    compliments, which he seems to bring out with a sort of
+    difficulty, as if he were not used to that kind of thing, and did
+    it rather against his will than otherwise. These compliments you
+    feel disposed to value on account of their seeming rarity. Fudge!
+    They are at any one's disposal, and are confessedly hollow
+    blarney.
+
+Still more significant, however, is the following letter, showing so
+kindly and careful an interest in the welfare of the friend to whom it
+is addressed, even whilst it bears the bitter tidings of a great
+household sorrow:
+
+    July 31, 1845.
+
+    I was glad to get your little packet. It was quite a treasure of
+    interest to me. I think the intelligence about G---- is cheering.
+    I have read the lines to Miss ----. They are expressive of the
+    affectionate feelings of his nature, and are poetical, insomuch as
+    they are true. Faults in expression, rhythm, metre, were of course
+    to be expected. All you say about Mr. ---- amused me much. Still,
+    I cannot put out of my mind one fear, viz. that you should think
+    too much about him. Faulty as he is, and as you know him to be, he
+    has still certain qualities which might create an interest in your
+    mind before you were aware. He has the art of impressing ladies by
+    something involuntary in his look and manner, exciting in them the
+    notion that he cares for them, while his words and actions are all
+    careless, inattentive, and quite uncompromising for himself. It is
+    only men who have seen much of life and of the world, and who are
+    become in a measure indifferent to female attractions, that
+    possess this art. So be on your guard. These are not pleasant or
+    flattering words, but they are the words of one who has known you
+    long enough to be indifferent about being temporarily disagreeable,
+    provided she can be permanently useful.
+
+    I got home very well. There was a gentleman in the railroad
+    carriage whom I recognised by his features immediately as a
+    foreigner and a Frenchman. So sure was I of it that I ventured to
+    say to him, "_Monsieur est francais, n'est-ce pas_?" He gave a
+    start of surprise, and answered immediately in his own tongue. He
+    appeared still more astonished and even puzzled when, after a few
+    minutes' further conversation, I inquired if he had not passed the
+    greater part of his life in Germany. He said the surmise was
+    correct. I guessed it from his speaking French with the German
+    accent.
+
+    It was ten o'clock at night when I got home. I found Branwell ill.
+    He is so very often, owing to his own fault. I was not therefore
+    shocked at first. But when Anne informed me of the immediate cause
+    of his present illness I was very greatly shocked. He had last
+    Thursday received a note from Mr. ---- sternly dismissing him....
+     We have had sad work with him since. He thought of nothing but
+    stunning or drowning his distressed mind. No one in the house
+    could have rest, and at last we have been obliged to send him from
+    home for a week with someone to look after him. He has written to
+    me this morning, and expresses some sense of contrition for his
+    frantic folly. He promises amendment on his return, but so long
+    as he remains at home I scarce dare hope for peace in the house.
+    We must all, I fear, prepare for a season of distress and
+    disquietude. I cannot now ask Miss ---- or anyone else.
+
+The gloom in the household deepened; but Charlotte was still strong
+enough and brave enough to meet the world, to retain her accustomed
+interest in her friends, and to discuss as of yore the characters and
+lives of those around her. Curious are the glimpses one gets of her
+circle of acquaintances at this time. Little did many of those with
+whom she was brought in contact think of the keen eyes which were
+gazing out at them from under the prominent forehead of the parson's
+daughter. Yet not the least interesting feature of her correspondence
+is the evidence it affords that she was gradually gaining that
+knowledge of character which was afterwards to be lavished upon her
+books. A string of extracts from letters hitherto unpublished will
+suffice to show how the current of her life and thoughts ran in those
+days of domestic darkness, whilst the dawn of her fame was still
+hidden in the blackest hour of the night:
+
+    I have just read M----'s letters. They are very interesting, and
+    show the original and vigorous cast of her mind. There is but one
+    thing I could wish otherwise in them, and that is a certain
+    tendency to flightiness. It is not safe, it is not wise; and will
+    often cause her to be misconstrued. Perhaps _flightiness_ is
+    not the right word; but it is a devil-may-care tone, which I do
+    not like when it proceeds from under a hat, and still less from
+    under a bonnet.
+
+    I return you Miss ----'s notes with thanks. I always like to read
+    them. They appear to me so true an index of an amiable mind, and
+    one not too conscious of its own worth. Beware of awakening in
+    her this consciousness by undue praise. It is a privilege of
+    simple-hearted, sensible, but not brilliant people that they can
+    _be_ and _do_ good without comparing their own thoughts and
+    actions too closely with those of other people, and thence drawing
+    strong food for self-appreciation. Talented people almost always
+    know full well the excellence that is in them.... You ask me if we
+    are more comfortable. I wish I could say anything favourable; but
+    how can we be more comfortable so long as Branwell stays at home
+    and degenerates instead of improving? It has been lately intimated
+    to him that he would be received again on the same railroad where
+    he was formerly stationed if he would behave more steadily, but he
+    refuses to make an effort. He will not work, and at home he is a
+    drain on every resource, an impediment to all happiness. But
+    there's no use in complaining.
+
+    I thank you again for your last letter, which I found as full or
+    fuller of interest than either of the preceding ones--it is just
+    written as I wish you to write to me--not a detail too much. A
+    correspondence of that sort is the next best thing to actual
+    conversation, though it must be allowed that between the two there
+    is a wide gulf still. I imagine your face, voice, presence very
+    plainly when I read your letters. Still imagination is not
+    reality, and when I return them to their envelope and put them by
+    in my desk I feel the difference sensibly enough. My curiosity is
+    a little piqued about that countess you mention. What is her name?
+    you have not yet given it. I cannot decide from what you say
+    whether she is really clever or only eccentric. The two sometimes
+    go together, but are often seen apart. I generally feel inclined
+    to fight very shy of eccentricity, and have no small horror of
+    being thought eccentric myself, by which observation I don't mean
+    to insinuate that I class myself under the head clever. God knows
+    a more consummate ass in sundry important points has seldom
+    browsed the green herb of His bounties than I. O Lord, Nell, I'm
+    in danger sometimes of falling into self-weariness. I used to say
+    and to think in former times that X---- would certainly be
+    married. I am not so sanguine on that point now. It will never
+    suit her to accept a husband she cannot love, or at least respect,
+    and it appears there are many chances against her meeting with
+    such a one under favourable circumstances; besides, from all I can
+    hear and see, money seems to be regarded as almost the Alpha and
+    Omega of requisites in a wife. Well, if she is destined to be an
+    old maid I don't think she will be a repining one. I think she
+    will find resources in her own mind and disposition which will
+    help her to get on. As to society, I don't understand much about
+    it, but from the few glimpses I have had of its machinery it seems
+    to me to be a very strange, complicated affair indeed, wherein
+    nature is turned upside down. Your well-bred people appear to me,
+    figuratively speaking, to walk on their heads, to see everything
+    the wrong way up--a lie is with them truth, truth a lie, eternal
+    and tedious botheration is their notion of happiness, sensible
+    pursuits their _ennui_. But this may be only the view ignorance
+    takes of what it cannot understand. I refrain from judging them,
+    therefore, but if I were called upon to _swop_--you know the word,
+    I suppose--to swop tastes and ideas and feelings with ----, for
+    instance, I should prefer walking into a good Yorkshire kitchen
+    fire and concluding the bargain at once by an act of voluntary
+    combustion.
+
+    I shall scribble you a short note about nothing, just to have a
+    pretext for screwing a letter out of you in return. I was sorry
+    you did not go to W----, firstly, because you lost the pleasure of
+    observation and enjoyment; and secondly, because I lost the
+    second-hand indulgence of hearing your account of what you had
+    seen. I laughed at the candour with which you give your reason for
+    wishing to be there. Thou hast an honest soul as ever animated
+    human carcase, and a clean one, for it is not ashamed of showing
+    its inmost recesses: only be careful with whom you are frank. Some
+    would not rightly appreciate the value of your frankness, and
+    never cast pearls before swine. You are quite right in wishing to
+    look well in the eyes of those whom you desire to please. It is
+    natural to desire to appear to advantage (_honest_ not _false_
+    advantage of course) before people we respect. Long may the power
+    and the inclination to do so be spared you; long may you look
+    young and handsome enough to dress in white; and long may you have
+    a right to feel the consciousness that you look agreeable. I know
+    you have too much judgment to let an over-dose of vanity spoil the
+    blessing and turn it into a misfortune. After all though, age will
+    come on, and it is well you have something better than a nice
+    face for friends to turn to when that is changed. I hope this
+    excessively cold weather has not harmed you or _yours_ much. It
+    has nipped me severely--taken away my appetite for a while, and
+    given me toothache; in short put me in the ailing condition in
+    which I have more than once had the honour of making myself such a
+    nuisance both at B---- and ----. The consequence is that at this
+    present speaking I look almost old enough to be your mother--gray,
+    sunk, and withered. To-day, however, it is milder, and I hope soon
+    to feel better; indeed, I am not _ill_ now, and my toothache is
+    quite subsided; but I experience a loss of strength and a
+    deficiency of spirit which would make me a sorry companion to you
+    or anyone else. I would not be on a visit now for a large sum of
+    money.
+
+
+    June, 1846.
+
+    I hope all the mournful contingencies of death are by this time
+    removed from ----, and that some little sense of relief is
+    beginning to be experienced by its wearied inmates. ---- suffered
+    greatly, I make no doubt; and I trust, and even believe, that his
+    long sufferings on earth will be taken as sufficient expiation for
+    his errors. One shudders for him, but it is his relations--his
+    mother and sisters--whom I truly and permanently pity.
+
+
+    July 10th, 1846.
+
+    DEAR ELLEN,--Who gravely asked you whether Miss Bronte was not
+    going to be married to ----? I scarcely need say that there never
+    was rumour more unfounded. It puzzles me to think how it could
+    possibly have originated. A cold, far-away sort of civility, are
+    the only terms on which I have ever been with Mr. ----. I could
+    by no means think of mentioning such a rumour to him, even as a
+    joke. It would make me the laughing-stock of himself and his
+    fellow-curates, for half a year to come. They regard me as an old
+    maid; and I regard them, one and all, as highly uninteresting,
+    narrow, and unattractive specimens of the "coarser sex."
+
+
+
+
+VII.
+
+AUTHORSHIP AND BEREAVEMENT.
+
+
+The reader has seen that it was not the degradation of Branwell Bronte
+which formed the turning-point in Charlotte's life. Mrs. Gaskell,
+anxious to support her own conception of what _should have been_
+Charlotte's feelings with regard to her brother's ruin, has scarcely
+done justice either to herself or to her heroine. Thus she makes use
+of a passage in one of the letters quoted in the foregoing chapter,
+but in doing so omits what are perhaps the most characteristic words
+in it. "He" (Branwell) "has written this morning expressing some sense
+of contrition; ... but as long as he remains at home I scarce dare
+hope for peace in the house." This is the form in which the passage
+appears in the "Biography," whereas Charlotte had written of her
+brother's having expressed "contrition for his frantic folly," and of
+his having "promised amendment on his return." Mrs. Gaskell could not
+bring herself to speak of such flagrant sins as those of which young
+Bronte had been guilty under the name of "folly," nor could she
+conceive that there was any possibility of amendment on the part of
+one who had fallen so low in vice. Moreover, one of her objects was to
+punish those who had shared the lad's misconduct, and to whom she
+openly attributed not only his ruin but the premature deaths of his
+sisters. Thus she felt compelled to take throughout her book a far
+deeper and more tragic view of this miserable episode in the Bronte
+story than Charlotte herself took. Having read all her letters written
+at this period of her life to her two most confidential friends, I am
+justified in saying that the impression produced on Charlotte by
+Branwell's degrading fall was not so deep as that which was produced
+on Mrs. Gaskell, who never saw young Bronte, by the mere recital of
+the story. Yet Charlotte, though too brave, healthy, and reasonable in
+all things to be utterly weighed down by the fact that her brother had
+fallen a victim to loathsome vice, was far from being insensible to
+the sadness and shamefulness of his condition. What she thought of it
+she has herself told the world in the story of "The Professor" (p.
+198):
+
+    Limited as had yet been my experience of life, I had once had the
+    opportunity of contemplating near at hand an example of the
+    results produced by a course of interesting and romantic domestic
+    treachery. No golden halo of fiction was about this example; I saw
+    it bare and real, and it was very loathsome. I saw a mind degraded
+    by the practice of mean subterfuge, by the habit of perfidious
+    deception, and a body depraved by the infectious influence of the
+    vice-polluted soul. I had suffered much from the forced and
+    prolonged view of this spectacle; those sufferings I did not now
+    regret, for their simple recollection acted as a most wholesome
+    antidote to temptation. They had inscribed on my reason the
+    conviction that unlawful pleasure, trenching on another's rights,
+    is delusive and envenomed pleasure--its hollowness disappoints at
+    the time, its poison cruelly tortures afterwards, its effects
+    deprave for ever.
+
+Upon the gentle and sensitive mind of Anne Bronte the effect of
+Branwell's fall was such as Mrs. Gaskell depicts. She was literally
+broken down by the grief she suffered in seeing her brother's ruin;
+but Charlotte and Emily were of stronger fibre than their sister, and
+their predominant feeling, as expressed in their letters, is one of
+sheer disgust at their brother's weakness, and of indignation against
+all who had in any way assisted in his downfall. This may not be
+consistent with the popular conception of Charlotte's character, but
+it is strictly true.
+
+We must then dismiss from our minds the notion that the brother's fate
+exercised that paramount influence over the sisters' lives which seems
+to be believed. Yet, as we have seen, there was a very strong though
+hidden influence working in Charlotte during those years in which
+their home was darkened by Branwell's presence. Her yearning for
+Brussels and the life that now seemed like a vanished dream, continued
+almost as strong as ever. At Haworth everything was dull, commonplace,
+monotonous. The school-keeping scheme had failed; poverty and
+obscurity seemed henceforth to be the appointed lot of all the
+sisters. Even the source of intercourse with friends was almost
+entirely cut off; for Charlotte could not bear the shame of exposing
+the prodigal of the family to the gaze of strangers. It was at this
+time, and in the mood described in the letters quoted in the preceding
+chapter, that she took up her pen, and sought to escape from the
+narrow and sordid cares which environed her by a flight into the
+region of poetry. She had been accustomed from childhood to write
+verses, few of which as yet had passed the limits of mediocrity. Now,
+with all that heart-history through which she had passed at Brussels
+weighing upon her, she began to write again, moved by a stronger
+impulse, stirred by deeper thoughts than any she had known before. In
+this secret exercise of her faculties she found relief and enjoyment;
+her letters to her friend showed that her mind was regaining its tone,
+and the dreary out-look from "the hills of Judaea" at Haworth began to
+brighten. It was a great day in the lives of all the sisters when
+Charlotte accidentally discovered that Emily also had dared to "commit
+her soul to paper." The younger sister was keenly troubled when
+Charlotte made the discovery, for her poems had been written in
+absolute secrecy. But mutual confessions hastened her reconcilement.
+Charlotte produced her own poems, and then Anne also, blushing as was
+her wont, poured some hidden treasures of the same kind into the
+eldest sister's lap. So it came to pass that in 1846, unknown to their
+nearest friends, they presented to the world--at their own cost and
+risk, poor souls!--that thin volume of poetry "by Currer, Ellis, and
+Acton Bell," now almost forgotten, the merits of which few readers
+have recognised and few critics proclaimed.
+
+Strong, calm, sincere, most of these poems are; not the spasmodic or
+frothy outpourings of Byron-stricken girls; not even mere echoes,
+however skilful, of the grand music of the masters. When we dip into
+the pages of the book, we see that these women write because they
+feel. They write because they have something to say; they write not
+for the world, but for themselves, each sister wrapping her own secret
+within her own soul. Strangely enough, it is not Charlotte who carries
+off the palm in these poems. Verse seems to have been too narrow for
+the limits of her genius; she could not soar as she desired to do
+within the self-imposed restraints of rhythm, rhyme, and metre. Here
+and there, it is true, we come upon lines which flash upon us with the
+brilliant light of genius; but, upon the whole, we need not wonder
+that Currer Bell achieved no reputation as a poet. Nor is Anne to be
+counted among great singers. Sweet, indeed her verses are, radiant
+with the tenderness, resignation, and gentle humility which were the
+prominent features of her character. One or two of her little poems
+are now included in popular collections of hymns used in Yorkshire
+churches; but, as a rule, her compositions lack the vigorous life
+which belongs to those of her sisters. It is Emily who takes the first
+place in this volume. Some of her poems have a lyrical beauty which
+haunts the mind ever after it has become acquainted with them; others
+have a passionate emphasis, a depth of meaning, an intensity and
+gravity which are startling when we know who the singer is, and which
+furnish a key to many passages in "Wuthering Heights" which the world
+shudders at and hastily passes by. Such lines as these ought to make
+the name of Emily Bronte far more familiar than it is to the students
+of our modern English literature:
+
+    Death! that struck when I was most confiding
+      In my certain faith of joy to be--
+    Strike again, Time's withered branch dividing
+      From the fresh root of Eternity!
+
+    Leaves upon Time's branch were growing brightly,
+      Full of sap and full of silver dew;
+    Birds beneath its shelter gathered nightly;
+      Daily round its flowers the wild bees flew.
+
+    Sorrow passed, and plucked the golden blossom;
+      Guilt stripped off the foliage in its pride;
+    But within its parent's kindly bosom
+      Flowed for ever Life's restoring tide.
+
+    Little mourned I for the parted gladness,
+      For the vacant nest and silent song--
+    Hope was there, and laughed me out of sadness,
+      Whispering, "Winter will not linger long!"
+
+    And behold! with tenfold increase blessing,
+      Spring adorned the beauty-burdened spray;
+    Wind and rain and fervent heat, caressing,
+      Lavished glory on that second May!
+
+    High it rose--no winged grief could sweep it;
+      Sin was scared to distance by its shine;
+    Love, and its own life, had power to keep it
+      From all wrong--from every blight but thine,
+
+    Cruel Death! The young leaves droop and languish;
+      Evening's gentle air may still restore--
+    No! the morning sunshine mocks my anguish--
+      Time, for me, must never blossom more!
+
+    Strike it down, that other boughs may flourish
+      Where that perished sapling used to be;
+    Thus at least its mouldering corpse will nourish
+      That from which it sprung--Eternity.
+
+The little book was a failure. This first flight ended only in
+discomfiture; and Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell were once more left to
+face the realities of life in Haworth parsonage, uncheered by literary
+success. This was in the summer and autumn of 1846; about which time
+they were compelled to think of cares which came even nearer home than
+the failure of their volume of poems. Their father's eyesight was now
+almost gone, and all their thoughts were centred upon the operation
+which was to restore it. It was to Manchester that Mr. Bronte was
+taken by his daughters to undergo this operation. Many of the letters
+which were written by Charlotte at this period have already been
+published; but the two which I now quote are new, and they serve to
+show what were the narrow cares and anxieties which nipped the sisters
+at this eventful crisis in their lives:
+
+    September 22nd, 1846.
+
+    DEAR ELLEN,--I have nothing new to tell you, except that papa
+    continues to do well, though the process of recovery appears to me
+    very tedious. I daresay it will yet be many weeks before his sight
+    is completely restored; yet every time Mr. Wilson comes, he
+    expresses his satisfaction at the perfect success of the operation,
+    and assures me papa will, ere long, be able both to read and write.
+    He is still a prisoner in his darkened room, into which, however,
+    a little more light is admitted than formerly. The nurse goes
+    to-day--her departure will certainly be a relief, though she is, I
+    daresay, not the worst of her class.
+
+
+    September 29th, 1846.
+
+    DEAR ELLEN,--When I wrote to you last, our return was uncertain
+    indeed, but Mr. Wilson was called away to Scotland; his absence set
+    us at liberty. I hastened our departure, and now we are at home.
+    Papa is daily gaining strength. He cannot yet exercise his sight
+    much, but it improves, and I have no doubt will continue to do so.
+    I feel truly thankful for the good insured and the evil exempted
+    during our absence. What you say about ---- grieves me much, and
+    surprises me too. I know well the malaria of ----, it is an
+    abominable smell of gas. I was sick from it ten times a day while I
+    stayed there. That they should hesitate to leave from scruples
+    about furnishing new houses, provokes and amazes me. Is not the
+    furniture they have very decent? The inconsistency of human beings
+    passes belief. I wonder what their sister would say to them, if
+    they told her that tale? She sits on a wooden stool without a back,
+    in a log-house without a carpet, and neither is degraded nor thinks
+    herself degraded by such poor accommodation.
+
+[Illustration: HAWORTH PARSONAGE AND GRAVEYARD.]
+
+It was about the time when this journey to Manchester was first
+projected, and very shortly after they had become convinced that their
+poems were a failure, that the sisters embarked upon another and more
+important literary venture. The pen once taken up could not be laid
+down. By poetry they had only lost money; but the idea had occurred to
+them that by prose-writing money was to be made. At any rate, in
+telling the stories of imaginary people, in opening their hearts
+freely upon all those subjects on which they had thought deeply in
+their secluded lives, they would find relief from the solitude of
+Haworth. Each of the three accordingly began to write a novel. The
+stories were commenced simultaneously, after a long consultation, in
+which the outlines of the plots, and even the names of the different
+characters, were settled. How one must wish that some record of that
+strange literary council had been preserved! Charlotte, in after life,
+spoke always tenderly, lovingly, almost reverentially, of the days in
+which she and her well-beloved sisters were engaged in settling the
+plan and style of their respective romances. That time seemed sacred
+to her, and though she learnt to smile at the illusions under which
+the work was begun, and could see clearly enough the errors and
+crudities of thought and method which all three displayed, she never
+allowed any one in her presence to question the genius of Emily and
+Anne, or to ridicule the prosaic and business-like fashion in which
+the novel-writing was undertaken by the three sisters. Returning to
+the old customs of their childhood, they sat round the table of their
+sitting-room in the parsonage, each busy with her pen. No trace of
+their occupation at this time is to be found in their letters; and on
+the rare occasions on which the father or the brother came into their
+room, nothing was said as to the work that was going on. The
+novel-writing, like the writing and publishing of the poems, was still
+kept profoundly secret. "There is no gentleman of the name in this
+parish," said Mr. Bronte to the village postman, when the latter
+ventured to ask who the Mr. Currer Bell could be for whom letters came
+so frequently from London. But every night the three sisters, as they
+paced the barely-furnished room, or strained their eyes across the
+tombstones, to the spot where the weather-stained church-tower rose
+from a bank of nettles, told each other what the work of the day had
+been, and criticised each other's labours with the freedom of that
+perfect love which casts out all fear of misconception. And here I may
+interpolate two letters written whilst the novel-writing was in
+progress, which are in some respects not altogether insignificant:
+
+    DEAR NELL,--Your last letter both amused and edified me
+    exceedingly. I could not but laugh at your account of the fall in
+    B----, yet I should by no means have liked to have made a third
+    party in that exhibition. I have endured one fall in your company,
+    and undergone one of your ill-timed laughs, and don't wish to
+    repeat my experience. Allow me to compliment you on the skill with
+    which you can seem to give an explanation, without enlightening one
+    one whit on the question asked. I know no more about Miss R.'s
+    superstition now, than I did before. What is the superstition?--about
+    a dead body? And what is the inference drawn? Do you remember my
+    telling you--or did I ever tell you--about that wretched and most
+    criminal Mr. J. S.? After running an infamous career of vice, both
+    in England and France, abandoning his wife to disease and total
+    destitution in Manchester, with two children and without a
+    farthing, in a strange lodging-house? Yesterday evening Martha
+    came upstairs to say that a woman--"rather lady-like," as she
+    said--wished to speak to me in the kitchen. I went down. There
+    stood Mrs. S., pale and worn, but still interesting-looking, and
+    cleanly and neatly dressed, as was her little girl who was with
+    her. I kissed her heartily. I could almost have cried to see her,
+    for I had pitied her with my whole soul when I heard of her
+    undeserved sufferings, agonies, and physical degradation. She took
+    tea with us, stayed about two hours, and frankly entered into the
+    narrative of her appalling distresses. Her constitution has
+    triumphed over her illness; and her excellent sense, her activity,
+    and perseverance have enabled her to regain a decent position in
+    society, and to procure a respectable maintenance for herself and
+    her children. She keeps a lodging-house in a very eligible part of
+    the suburbs of ---- (which I know), and is doing very well. She
+    does not know where Mr. S. is, and of course can never more endure
+    to see him. She is now staying a few days at E----, with the ----s,
+    who I believe have been all along very kind to her, and the
+    circumstance is greatly to their credit.
+
+    I wish to know whether about Whitsuntide would suit you for coming
+    to Haworth. We often have fine weather just then. At least I
+    remember last year it was very beautiful at that season. Winter
+    seems to have returned with severity on us at present, consequently
+    we are all in the full enjoyment of a cold. Much blowing of noses
+    is heard, and much making of gruel goes on in the house. How are
+    you all?
+
+
+    May 12th, 1847.
+
+    DEAR ELLEN,--We shall all be glad to see you on the Thursday or
+    Friday of next week, whichever day will suit you best. About what
+    time will you be likely to get here, and how will you come--by
+    coach to Keighley, or by a gig all the way to Haworth? There must
+    be no impediments now. I could not do with them; I want very much
+    to see you. I hope you will be decently comfortable while you stay.
+    Branwell is quieter now, and for a good reason. He has got to the
+    end of a considerable sum of money, of which he became possessed in
+    the spring, and consequently is obliged to restrict himself in some
+    degree. You must expect to find him weaker in mind, and the
+    complete rake in appearance. I have no apprehension of his being at
+    all uncivil to you, on the contrary he will be as smooth as oil.
+
+    I pray for fine weather, that we may be able to get out while you
+    stay. Good-bye for the present. Prepare for much dulness and
+    monotony. Give my love to all at B----.
+
+Is it needful to tell how the three stories--"The Professor,"
+"Wuthering Heights," and "Agnes Grey"--are sent forth at last from the
+little station at Keighley, to fare as best they may in that unknown
+London which is still an ideal city to the sisters, peopled not with
+ordinary human beings, but with creatures of some strangely-different
+order? Can any one be ignorant of the weary months which passed whilst
+"The Professor" was going from hand to hand, and the stories written
+by Emily and Anne were waiting in a publisher's desk until they could
+be given to the world on the publisher's own terms? Charlotte had
+failed, but the brave heart was not to be baffled. No sooner had the
+last page of "The Professor" been finished than the first page of
+"Jane Eyre" was begun. The whole of that wondrous story passed through
+the author's busy brain whilst the life around her was clad in these
+sombre hues, and disappointment, affliction, and gloomy forebodings
+were her daily companions. The decisive rejection of her first tale by
+Messrs. Smith, Elder, and Co. had been accompanied by some kindly
+words of advice; so it is to that firm that she now entrusts the
+completed manuscript of "Jane Eyre." The result has already been told.
+On August 24, 1847, the story is sent from Leeds to London; and before
+the year is out, all England is ringing with the praises of the novel
+and its author.
+
+Need I defend the sisters from the charge sometimes brought against
+them that they were unfaithful to their friends in not taking them
+into their confidence? Surely not. They had pledged themselves to each
+other that the secret should be sternly guarded as something sacred,
+kept even from those of their own household. They were not working for
+fame; for again and again they give proof that personal fame is the
+last thing to which they aspire. But they had found their true
+vocation; the call to work was irresistible; they had obeyed it, and
+all that they sought now was to leave their work to speak for itself,
+dissevered absolutely from the humble personality of the authors.
+
+In a letter from Anne Bronte, written in January, 1848, at which time
+the literary quidnuncs both of England and America were eagerly
+discussing contradictory theories as to the authorship of "Jane Eyre,"
+and of the two other stories which had appeared from the pens of Ellis
+and Acton Bell, I find the following passage: "I have no news to tell
+you, for we have been nowhere, seen no one, and done nothing (to
+_speak_ of) since you were here, and yet we contrive to be busy
+from morning till night." The gentle and scrupulously conscientious
+girl, whilst hiding the secret from her friend, cannot violate the
+truth even by a hairbreadth. The italics are her own. Nothing _that
+can be spoken of_ has been done. The friend had her own suspicions.
+Staying in a southern house for the winter, the new novel about which
+everybody was talking was produced, fresh from town. One of the guests
+was deputed to read it aloud, and before she had proceeded far
+Charlotte Bronte's schoolfellow had pierced the secret of the
+authorship. Three months before, Charlotte had been spending a few
+days at Miss N----'s house, and had openly corrected the proof-sheets
+of the story in the presence of her hostess; but she had given the
+latter no encouragement to speak to her on the subject, and nothing
+had been said. Now, however, in the surprise of the moment, Miss N----
+told the company that this must have been written by Miss Bronte; and
+astute friends at once advised her not to mention the fact that she
+knew the author of "Jane Eyre" to any one, as her acquaintance with
+such a person would be regarded as a reflection on her own character!
+When Charlotte was challenged by her friend, she uttered stormy
+denials in general terms, which carried a complete confirmation of the
+truth; and when, in the spring of 1848, Miss N---- visited Haworth,
+full confession was made, and the poems brought forth and shown to
+her, in addition to the stories.
+
+Those who read Charlotte Bronte's letters will see that even before
+this avowal of her flight in authorship there is a distinct change in
+their tone. Not that she is less affectionate towards her early
+friend, or that she shows the smallest abatement of her interest in
+the fortunes of her old companions. On the contrary, it would almost
+seem as though the great event, which had altered the current of her
+life, had only served to bind her more closely than before to those
+whom she had known and loved in her obscurity. But there is a
+perceptible growth of power and independence in her mode of handling
+the topics, often trivial enough in themselves, which arise in any
+prolonged correspondence, which shows how much her mind had grown, how
+greatly her views had been enlarged, by the intellectual labours
+through which she had passed. The following was the last letter
+written by her to her schoolfellow whilst the authorship of "Jane
+Eyre" was still a secret, and it will, I think, bear out what I have
+said:
+
+    April 25th, 1848.
+
+    I was not at all surprised at the contents of your note. Indeed,
+    what part of it was new to us? V---- has his good and bad side,
+    like most others. There is his own original nature, and there are
+    the alterations the world has made in him. Meantime, why do B----
+    and G---- trouble themselves with matching him? Let him, in God's
+    name, court half the country-side and marry the other half, if
+    such procedure seem good in his eyes, and let him do it all in
+    quietness. He has his own botherations, no doubt; it does not seem
+    to be such very easy work getting married, even for a man, since
+    it is necessary to make up to so many ladies. More tranquil are
+    those who have settled their bargain with celibacy. I like Q----'s
+    letters more and more. Her goodness is indeed better than mere
+    talent. I fancy she will never be married, but the amiability of
+    her character will give her comfort. To be sure, one has only her
+    letters to judge from, and letters often deceive; but hers seem so
+    artless and unaffected. Still, were I in your place I should feel
+    uneasy in the midst of this correspondence. Does a doubt of mutual
+    satisfaction in case you should one day meet never torment you?...
+    Anne says it pleases her to think that you have kept her little
+    drawing. She would rather have done it for you than for a
+    stranger.
+
+Very quietly and sedately did "Currer Bell" take her sudden change of
+fortune. She corresponded freely with her publishers, and with the
+critics who had written to her concerning her book; she told her father
+the secret of her authorship, and exhibited to him the draft which was
+the substantial recompense of her labours; but in her letters to her
+friend no difference of tone is to be detected. Success was very sweet
+to her, as we know; but she bore her honours meekly, betraying nothing
+of the gratified ambition which must have filled her soul. She had not
+even revealed her identity to the publisher till, by an accident, she
+became aware of the rumour that the writer had satirised Mr. Thackeray
+under the character of Rochester, and had even obtruded on the sorrows
+of his private life. Shocked at this supposition, she went to London by
+the night train, accompanied by Anne, and having breakfasted at the
+station, walked to the establishment in Cornhill, where she had much
+difficulty in penetrating to the head of the house, having stated that
+he would not know her by her name. At last he came into the shop,
+saying, with some annoyance: "Young woman, what can you want with me?"
+"Sir, we have come up from Yorkshire. I wish to speak to you privately.
+I wrote 'Jane Eyre.'" "_You_ wrote 'Jane Eyre!'" cried the delighted
+publisher; and taking them into his office, insisted on their coming to
+the house of his mother, who would take every care of them. Charlotte
+related afterwards the strange contrast between the desolate waiting at
+the station in the early morning, and their loneliness in the crowd of
+the great city, and finding themselves in the evening seated among the
+brilliant company at the Opera House, listening to the performance of
+Jenny Lind.
+
+But her thoughts were soon turned from her literary triumphs. Branwell,
+who had been so long the dark shadow in their "humble home," was taken
+from them without any lengthened preliminary warning. Sharing to the
+full the eccentricity of the family, he resolved to die as nobody else
+had ever died before; and when the last agony came on he rose to his
+feet, as though proudly defying death itself to do its worst, and
+expired standing. In the following letter, hitherto unpublished, to one
+of her friends--not to her old schoolfellow--Charlotte thus speaks of
+the last act in the tragedy of her brother's life:
+
+    Haworth, October 14th, 1848.
+
+    The event to which you allude came upon us indeed with startling
+    suddenness, and was a severe shock to us all. My poor brother has
+    long had a shaken constitution, and during the summer his appetite
+    had been diminished and he had seemed weaker; but neither we, nor
+    himself, nor any medical man who was consulted on his case,
+    thought it one of immediate danger: he was out of doors two days
+    before his death, and was only confined to bed one single day. I
+    thank you for your kind sympathy. Many, under the circumstances,
+    would think our loss rather a relief than otherwise; in truth, we
+    must acknowledge, in all humility and gratitude, that God has
+    greatly tempered judgment with mercy; but yet, as you doubtless
+    know from experience, the last earthly separation cannot take
+    place between near relations without the keenest pangs on the part
+    of the survivors. Every wrong and sin is forgotten then; pity and
+    grief share the heart and the memory between them. Yet we are not
+    without comfort in our affliction. A most propitious change marked
+    the few last days of poor Branwell's life; his demeanour, his
+    language, his sentiments, were all singularly altered and
+    softened, and this change could not be owing to the fear of death,
+    for within half an hour of his decease he seemed unconscious of
+    danger. In God's hands we leave him! He sees not as man sees.
+    Papa, I am thankful to say, has borne the event pretty well. His
+    distress was great at first. To lose an only son is no ordinary
+    trial. But his physical strength has not hitherto failed him, and
+    he has now in a great measure recovered his mental composure; my
+    dear sisters are pretty well also. Unfortunately illness attacked
+    me at the crisis, when strength was most needed; I bore up for a
+    day or two, hoping to be better, but got worse; fever, sickness,
+    total loss of appetite and internal pain were the symptoms. The
+    doctor pronounced it to be bilious fever--but I think it must have
+    been in a mitigated form; it yielded to medicine and care in a few
+    days; I was only confined to my bed a week, and am, I trust,
+    nearly well now. I felt it a grievous thing to be incapacitated
+    from action and effort at a time when action and effort were most
+    called for. The past month seems an overclouded period in my life.
+
+Alas! the brave woman who felt it to be "a grievous thing" that she
+could not bear her full share of the family burden, little knew how
+terribly that burden was to be increased, how much heavier and blacker
+were the clouds which awaited her than any through which she had yet
+passed. The storm which even then was gathering upon her path was one
+which no sunshine of fame or prosperity could dissipate. The one to
+whom Charlotte's heart had always clung most fondly, the sister who
+had been nearest to her in age and nearest to her in affection, Emily,
+the brilliant but ill-fated child of genius, began to fade. "She had
+never," says Charlotte, speaking in the solitude of her fame,
+"lingered over any task in her life, and she did not linger now." Yet
+the quick decline of Emily Bronte is one of the saddest of all the sad
+features of the story. I have spoken of her reserve. So intense was it
+that when dying she refused to admit even to her own sisters that she
+was ill. They saw her fading before their eyes; they knew that the
+grave was yawning at her feet; and yet they dared not offer her any
+attention such as an invalid needed, and such as they were longing to
+bestow upon her. It was the cruellest torture of Charlotte's life.
+During the brief period of Emily's illness, her sister writes as
+follows to her friend:
+
+    I mentioned your coming to Emily as a mere suggestion, with the
+    faint hope that the prospect might cheer her, as she really
+    esteems you perhaps more than any other person out of this house.
+    I found, however, it would not do; any, the slightest excitement
+    or putting out of the way, is not to be thought of, and indeed I
+    do not think the journey in this unsettled weather, with the walk
+    from Keighley and back, at all advisable for yourself. Yet I
+    should have liked to see you, and so would Anne. Emily continues
+    much the same: yesterday I thought her a little better, but to-day
+    she is not so well. I hope still, for I _must_ hope; she is as dear
+    to me as life. If I let the faintness of despair reach my heart I
+    shall become worthless. The attack was, I believe, in the first
+    place, inflammation of the lungs; it ought to have been met
+    promptly in time; but she would take no care, use no means, she
+    is too intractable. I _our_ wish I knew her state and feelings
+    more clearly. The fever is not so high as it was, but the pain in
+    the side, the cough, the emaciation are there still.
+
+The days went by in the parsonage, slowly, solemnly, each bringing
+some fresh burden of sorrow to the broken hearts of Charlotte and
+Anne. Emily's resolute spirit was unbending to the last. Day after day
+she refused to own that she was ill, refused to take rest or medicine
+or stimulants; compelled her trembling hands to labour as of old. And
+so came the bitter morning in December, the story of which has been
+told by Mrs. Gaskell with simple pathos, when she "arose and dressed
+herself as usual, making many a pause, but doing everything for
+herself," even going on with her sewing as at any time during the
+years past; until suddenly she laid the unfinished work aside,
+whispered faintly to her sister: "If you send for a doctor I will see
+him now," and in two hours passed quietly away.
+
+The broken father, supported on either side by his surviving
+daughters, followed Emily to her grave in the old church. There was
+one other mourner--the fierce old dog whom she had loved better almost
+than any human being.
+
+    Yes--says Charlotte, writing to her friend--there is no Emily in
+    time or on earth now. Yesterday we put her poor wasted mortal
+    frame quietly under the church pavement. We are very calm at
+    present. Why should we be otherwise? The anguish of seeing her
+    suffer is over. We feel she is at peace. No need now to tremble
+    for the hard frost and the keen wind. Emily does not feel them.
+    She died in a time of promise. We saw her taken from life in its
+    prime. But it is God's will, and the place where she is gone is
+    better than that she has left.
+
+It was in the very month of December, 1848, when Charlotte passed
+through this fierce ordeal, and wrote these tender words of love and
+resignation, that the _Quarterly Review_ denounced her as an improper
+woman, who "for some sufficient reason" had forfeited the society of
+her sex!
+
+Terrible was the storm of death which in three short months swept off
+two of the little household at Haworth; but it had not even yet
+exhausted all its fury. Scarcely had Emily been laid in the grave than
+Anne, the youngest and gentlest of the three sisters, began to fade.
+Very slowly did she droop. The winter passed away, and the spring came
+with a glimmer of hope; but the following unpublished letter, written
+on the 16th of May, shows with what fears Charlotte set forth on that
+visit to Scarborough which her sister insisted upon undertaking as a
+last resource:
+
+    Next Wednesday is the day fixed for our departure; Ellen
+    accompanies us at her own kind and friendly wish. I would not
+    refuse her society, but dared not urge her to go, for I have
+    little hope that the excursion will be one of pleasure or benefit
+    to those engaged in it. Anne is extremely weak. She herself has a
+    fixed impression that the sea-air will give her a chance of
+    regaining strength. That chance therefore she must have. Having
+    resolved to try the experiment, misgivings are useless, and yet
+    when I look at her misgivings will rise. She is more emaciated
+    than Emily was at the very last, her breath scarcely serves her to
+    mount the stairs, however slowly. She sleeps very little at night,
+    and often passes most of the forenoon in a semi-lethargic state.
+    Still she is up all day, and even goes out a little when it is
+    fine. Fresh air usually acts as a temporary stimulus, but its
+    reviving power diminishes.
+
+I am indebted to the faithful friend and companion to whom allusion is
+made above, for the following account of the sad journey to
+Scarborough, and of its tragic end:
+
+    On our way to Scarborough we stopped at York, and after a rest at
+    the George Hotel, and partaking of dinner, which she enjoyed, Anne
+    went out in a bath-chair, and made purchases, along with
+    Charlotte, of bonnets and dresses, besides visiting the minister.
+    The morning after her arrival at Scarborough, she insisted on
+    going to the baths, and would be left there with only the
+    attendant in charge. She walked back alone to her lodgings, but
+    fell exhausted as she reached the garden-gate. She never named
+    this, but it was discovered afterwards. The same day she had a
+    drive in a donkey carriage, and talked with the boy-driver on
+    kindness to animals. On Sunday she wanted again to be left alone,
+    and for us to go to church. Finding we would not leave her, she
+    begged that she might go out, and we walked down towards the
+    saloon, she resting half way, and sending us on with the excuse
+    that she wanted us to see the place, this being _our_ first
+    visit, though not hers. In the evening, after again asking us to
+    go to church, she sat by the sitting-room window, enjoying a very
+    glorious sunset. Next morning (the day she died) she rose by seven
+    o'clock and dressed herself, refusing all assistance. She was the
+    first of the little party to be ready to go downstairs; but when
+    she reached the head of the stairs, she felt fearful of
+    descending. Charlotte went to her and discovered this. I fancying
+    there was some difficulty, left my room to see what it was, when
+    Anne smilingly told me she felt afraid of the steps downward. I
+    immediately said: "Let me try to carry you;" she looked pleased,
+    but feared for me. Charlotte was angry at the idea, and greatly
+    distressed, I could see, at this new evidence of Anne's weakness.
+    Charlotte was at last persuaded to go to her room and leave us. I
+    then went a step or two below Anne, and begged her to put her arms
+    round my neck, and I said: "I will carry you like a baby." She
+    still feared, but on my promising to put her down if I could not
+    do it, she consented to trust herself to me. Strength seemed to be
+    given for the effort, but on reaching the foot of the stairs, poor
+    Anne's head fell like a leaden weight upon the top of mine. The
+    shock was terrible, for I felt it could only be death that was
+    coming. I just managed to bear her to the front of her easy-chair
+    and drop her into it, falling myself on my knees before her, very
+    miserable at the fact, and letting her fall at last, though it
+    was into her chair. She was shaken, but she put out her arms to
+    comfort me, and said: "You know it could not be helped, you did
+    your best." After this she sat at the breakfast-table and partook
+    of a basin of boiled milk prepared for her. As 11 A.M. approached,
+    she wondered if she could be conveyed home in time to die there. At
+    2 P.M. death had come, and left only her beautiful form in the
+    sweetest peace.
+
+    She rendered up her soul with that sweetness and resignation of
+    spirit which had adorned her throughout her brief life, even in
+    the last hour crying: "Take courage, Charlotte, take courage!" as
+    she bade farewell to the sister who was left.
+
+    Before me lie the few letters which remain of Emily and Anne.
+    There is little in them worth preserving. Both make reference to
+    the fact that Charlotte is the great correspondent of the family,
+    and that their brief and uninteresting epistles can have no charm
+    for one who is constantly receiving letters from her. Yet that
+    modest reserve which distinguished the greatest of the three is
+    plainly visible in what little remains of the correspondence of
+    the others. They had discovered before their death the real power
+    that lay within them; they had just experienced the joy which
+    comes from the exercise of this power; they had looked forward to
+    a future which should be sunny and prosperous, as no other part of
+    their lives of toil and patient endurance had been. Suddenly death
+    had confronted them, and they recognised the fact that they must
+    leave their work undone. Each faced the dread enemy in her own
+    way, but neither shrank even from that blow. Emily's proud spirit
+    refused to be conquered, and, as we have seen, up to the last
+    agony she carried herself as one sternly indifferent to the
+    weaknesses of the flesh, including that final weakness which must
+    conquer all of us in the end. Anne found consolation, pure and
+    deep, in her religious faith, and she died cheerfully in the firm
+    belief that she was but entering upon that fuller life which lay
+    beyond the grave. The one was defiant, the other resigned; but
+    courage and fortitude were shown by each in accordance with her
+    own special idiosyncrasy.
+
+
+
+
+VIII.
+
+"SHIRLEY."
+
+
+Charlotte went back from Scarborough to Haworth alone. Her father met
+her with unwonted demonstrations of affection, and she "tried to be
+glad" that she was once more under the familiar roof. "But this time
+joy was not to be the sensation." Yet the courage which had held her
+sisters to the end supported her amid the pangs of loneliness and
+bereavement. Even now there was no bitterness, no morbid gloom in the
+heart which had suffered so keenly. Quietly but resolutely setting
+aside her own sorrow, refusing all the invitations of her friend to
+seek temporary relief in change of scene, she sat down to complete the
+story which was intended to tell the world what the lost Emily had
+seemed to be in the eyes of her fond sister. By herself, in the room
+in which a short year ago three happy sisters had worked together,
+within the walls which could never again echo with the old voices, or
+walking on the moors, which would never more be trodden by the firm,
+elastic step of Emily, she composed the brilliant story of
+"Shirley"--the brightest and healthiest of her works. As she writes
+she sometimes sends forth messages to those who love her, which tell
+us of the spirit of the hero or the martyr burning within the frail
+frame of the solitary woman. "Submission, courage, exertion when
+practicable--these seem to be the weapons with which we must fight
+life's long battle;" and that these are no mere words she proves with
+all her accustomed honesty and sincerity, by acting up to them to the
+very letter. But at times the burden presses upon her till it is
+almost past endurance. Strangely enough, it is a comparative trifle,
+as the world counts it, the illness of a servant, that occasions her
+fiercest outburst of open grief:
+
+    You have to fight your way through labour and difficulty at home,
+    it appears, but I am truly glad now you did not come to Haworth.
+    As matters have turned out you would have found only discomfort
+    and gloom. Both Tabby and Martha are at this moment ill in bed.
+    Martha's illness has been most serious. She was seized with
+    internal inflammation ten days ago; Tabby's lame leg has broken
+    out, she cannot stand or walk. I have one of Martha's sisters to
+    help me, and her mother comes up sometimes. There was one day last
+    week when I fairly broke down for ten minutes, and sat down and
+    cried like a fool. Martha's illness was at its height; a cry from
+    Tabby had called me into the kitchen, and I had found her laid on
+    the floor, her head under the kitchen-grate. She had fallen from
+    her chair in attempting to rise. Papa had just been declaring that
+    Martha was in imminent danger; I was myself depressed with
+    headache and sickness that day; I hardly knew what to do or where
+    to turn. Thank God, Martha is now convalescent; Tabby, I trust,
+    will be better soon. Papa is pretty well. I have the satisfaction
+    of knowing that my publishers are delighted with what I sent
+    them--this supports me, but life is a battle. May we _all_ be
+    enabled to fight it well.
+
+This letter is dated September 24, 1849, at which time "Shirley" is
+written, and in the hands of her publishers. She has painted the
+character of Emily in that of Shirley herself; and her friend Ellen is
+shadowed forth to the world in the person of Caroline Helston. When
+the book, with its vivid pictures of Yorkshire life at the beginning
+of the century, and its masterly sketches of characters as real as
+those which Shakespeare brings upon the stage, is published, there is
+but one outcry of praise, even from the critics who were so eager to
+condemn "Jane Eyre." Up to this point she had preserved her anonymity,
+but now she is discovered, and her admirers in London persuade her at
+last to visit them, and make acquaintance with her peers in the
+Republic of Letters, the men and women whose names were household
+words in Haworth Parsonage long before "Currer Bell" had made her
+first modest appeal to the world.
+
+[Illustration: THE "FIELD HEAD" OF SHIRLEY.]
+
+A passage from one of the following letters, written during this first
+sojourn in London, has already been published; but it will well bear
+reprinting:
+
+    December, 1849.
+
+    I have just remembered that as you do not know my address you
+    cannot write to me till you get it. I came to this big Babylon
+    last Thursday, and have been in what seems to me a sort of whirl
+    ever since; for changes, scenes, and stimulus, which would be a
+    trifle to others, are much to me. I found when I mentioned to Mr.
+    ---- my plan of going to Dr. ----'s it would not do at all. He
+    would have been seriously hurt: he made his mother write to me,
+    and thus I was persuaded to make my principal stay at his house.
+    So far I have found no reason to regret this decision. Mrs. ----
+    received me at first like one who has had the strictest orders to
+    be scrupulously attentive. I had fire in my bedroom evening and
+    morning, two wax candles, &c., and Mrs. ---- and her daughters
+    seemed to look on me with a mixture of respect and alarm. But all
+    this is changed; that is to say, the attention and politeness
+    continue as great as ever, but the alarm and estrangement are
+    quite gone; she treats me as if she liked me, and I begin to like
+    her much. Kindness is a potent heart-winner. I had not judged too
+    favourably of ---- on a first impression--he pleases me much: I
+    like him better as a son and brother than as a man of business.
+    Mr. W---- too is really most gentlemanly and well-informed; his
+    weak points he certainly has, but these are not seen in society.
+    Mr. X---- (the little man) has again shown his parts. Of him I
+    have not yet come to a clear decision. Abilities he has, for he
+    rules his firm and keeps forty young men under strict control by
+    his iron will. His young superior likes him, which, to speak the
+    truth, is more than I do at present. In fact, I suspect that he is
+    of the Helston order of men--rigid, despotic, and self-willed. He
+    tries to be very kind, and even to express sympathy sometimes, and
+    he does not manage it. He has a determined, dreadful nose in the
+    middle of his face, which, when poked into my countenance, cuts
+    into my soul like iron. Still he is horribly intelligent, quick,
+    searching, sagacious, and with a memory of relentless tenacity: to
+    turn to--after him is to turn from granite to easy down or warm
+    fur. I have seen Thackeray.
+
+    As to being happy, I am under scenes and circumstances of
+    excitement, but I suffer acute pain sometimes--mental pain, I
+    mean. At the moment Mr. Thackeray presented himself I was
+    thoroughly faint from inanition, having eaten nothing since a very
+    slight breakfast, and it was then seven o'clock in the evening.
+    Excitement and exhaustion together made savage work of me that
+    evening. What he thought of me I cannot tell. This evening I am
+    going to meet Miss Martineau; she has written to me most kindly;
+    she knows me only as Currer Bell; I am going alone; how I shall
+    get on I do not know. If Mrs. ---- were not kind, I should
+    sometimes be miserable; but she treats me almost affectionately,
+    her attentions never flag. I have seen many things; I hope some
+    day to tell you what. Yesterday I went over the new Houses of
+    Parliament with Mr. ----. An attack of rheumatic fever has kept
+    poor Mr. X---- out of the way since I wrote last. I am sorry for
+    _his_ sake. It grows quite dark. I must stop. I shall not stay in
+    London a day longer than I first intended. On those points I form
+    my resolutions, and will not be shaken. The thundering _Times_ has
+    attacked me savagely.
+
+The following letters (with one exception not previously published)
+belong to the spring of 1850, when Charlotte was at home again,
+engaged in attending to her father and to the household cares which
+shared her attention with literary work and anxieties. The first,
+which refers exclusively to her visit to London, was addressed to one
+of her old friends in Yorkshire:
+
+    Ellen it seems told you that I spent a fortnight in London last
+    December. They wished me very much to stay a month, alleging that
+    I should in that time be able to secure a complete circle of
+    acquaintance, but I found a fortnight of such excitement quite
+    enough. The whole day was usually devoted to sight-seeing, and
+    often the evening was spent in society; it was more than I could
+    bear for any length of time. On one occasion I met a party of my
+    critics--seven of them. Some of them had been my bitter foes in
+    print, but they were prodigiously civil face to face. These
+    gentlemen seemed infinitely grander, more pompous, dashing, showy,
+    than the few authors I saw. Mr. Thackeray, for example, is a man
+    of very quiet, simple demeanour; he is, however, looked upon with
+    some awe and even distrust. His conversation is very peculiar, too
+    perverse to be pleasant. It was proposed to me to see Charles
+    Dickens, Lady Morgan, Mesdames Trollope, Gore, and some others;
+    but I was aware these introductions would bring a degree of
+    notoriety I was not disposed to encounter; I declined therefore
+    with thanks. Nothing charmed me more during my stay in town than
+    the pictures I saw; one or two private collections of Turner's
+    best water-colours were indeed a treat. His later oil paintings
+    are strange things--things that baffle description. I have twice
+    seen Macready act; once in "Macbeth," and once in "Othello." I
+    astounded a dinner-party by honestly saying I did not like him. It
+    is the fashion to rave about his splendid acting; anything more
+    false and artificial, less genuinely impressive than his whole
+    style, I could scarcely have imagined. The fact is, the stage
+    system altogether is hollow nonsense. They act farces well enough;
+    the actors comprehend their parts and do them justice. They
+    comprehend nothing about tragedy or Shakespeare, and it is a
+    failure. I said so, and by so saying produced a blank silence, a
+    mute consternation. I was indeed obliged to dissent on many
+    occasions, and to offend by dissenting. It seems now very much the
+    custom to admire a certain wordy, intricate, obscure style of
+    poetry, such as Elizabeth Barrett Browning writes. Some pieces
+    were referred to, about which Currer Bell was expected to be very
+    rapturous, and failing in this he disappointed. London people
+    strike a provincial as being very much taken up with little
+    matters, about which no one out of particular town circles cares
+    much. They talk too of persons, literary men and women, whose
+    names are scarcely heard in the country, and in whom you cannot
+    get up an interest. I think I should scarcely like to live in
+    London, and were I obliged to live there I should certainly go
+    little into company--especially I should eschew the literary
+    critics.
+
+
+    I have, since you went, had a remarkable epistle from Thackeray,
+    long, interesting, characteristic; but it unfortunately concludes
+    with the strict injunction, _Show this letter to no one_; adding
+    that if he thought his letters were seen by others, he would either
+    cease to write, or write only what was conventional. But for this
+    circumstance I should have sent it with the others. I answered it
+    at length. Whether my reply will give satisfaction or displeasure
+    remains yet to be ascertained. Thackeray's feelings are not such as
+    can be gauged by ordinary calculation: variable weather is what I
+    should ever expect from that quarter. Yet in correspondence, as in
+    verbal intercourse, this would torment me.
+
+[Illustration: THE "BRIARFIELD" CHURCH OF SHIRLEY.]
+
+    I believe I should have written to you before, but I don't know
+    what heaviness of spirit has beset me of late, made my faculties
+    dull, made rest weariness, and occupation burdensome. Now and then
+    the silence of the house, the solitude of the room has pressed on
+    me with a weight I found it difficult to bear, and recollection
+    has not failed to be as alert, poignant, obtrusive, as other
+    feelings were languid. I attribute this state of things partly to
+    the weather. Quicksilver invariably falls low in storms and high
+    winds, and I have ere this been warned of approaching disturbance
+    in the atmosphere by a sense of bodily weakness, and deep, heavy
+    mental sadness, which some would call _presentiment_. Presentiment
+    indeed it is, but not at all supernatural. The Haworth people have
+    been making great fools of themselves about "Shirley;" they take it
+    in the enthusiastic light. When they got the volumes at the
+    Mechanics' Institution, all the members wanted them; they cast lots
+    for the whole three, and whoever got a volume was only allowed to
+    keep it two days, and to be fined a shilling _per diem_ for longer
+    detention. It would be mere nonsense and vanity to tell you what
+    they say. I have had no letters from London for a long time, and am
+    very much ashamed of myself to find, now that that stimulus is
+    withdrawn, how dependent upon it I had become. I cannot help
+    feeling something of the excitement of expectation till post-hour
+    comes, and when day after day it brings nothing I get low. This is
+    a stupid, disgraceful, unmeaning state of things. I feel bitterly
+    enraged at my own dependence and folly. It is so bad for the mind
+    to be quite alone, to have none with whom to talk over little
+    crosses and disappointments, and laugh them away. If I could write
+    I daresay I should be better, but I cannot write a line. However
+    (D. V.), I shall contend against the idiocy. I had rather a foolish
+    letter from Miss ---- the other day. Some things in it nettled me,
+    especially an unnecessarily earnest assurance that in spite of all
+    I had gone and done in the writing line I still retained a place in
+    her esteem. My answer took strong and high ground at once. I said I
+    had been troubled by no doubts on the subject, that I neither did
+    myself nor her the injustice to suppose there was anything in what
+    I had written to incur the just forfeiture of esteem. I was aware,
+    I intimated, that some persons thought proper to take exceptions at
+    "Jane Eyre," and that for their own sakes I was sorry, as I
+    invariably found them individuals in whom the animal largely
+    predominated over the intellectual, persons by nature coarse, by
+    inclination sensual, whatever they might be by education and
+    principle.
+
+
+    I enclose a slip of newspaper for your amusement. Me it both
+    amused and touched, for it alludes to some who are in this world
+    no longer. It is an extract from an American paper, and is written
+    by an emigrant from Haworth. You will find it a curious mixture of
+    truth and inaccuracy. Return it when you write again. I also send
+    you for perusal an opinion of "Jane Eyre," written by a _working
+    man_ in this village; rather, I should say, a record of the
+    feelings the book excited in the poor fellow's mind; it was not
+    written for my inspection, nor does the writer now know that his
+    little document has by intricate ways come into my possession, and
+    I have forced those who gave it to promise that they will never
+    inform him of this circumstance. He is a modest, thoughtful,
+    feeling, reading being, to whom I have spoken perhaps about three
+    times in the course of my life; his delicate health renders him
+    incapable of hard or close labour; he and his family are often
+    under the pressure of want. He feared that if Miss Bronte saw what
+    he had written she would laugh it to scorn. But Miss Bronte
+    considers it one of the highest, because one of the most truthful
+    and artless tributes her work has yet received. You must return
+    this likewise. I do you great honour in showing it to you.
+
+Once more we can see that the healthy, happy interest she takes in the
+welfare of others is beginning to assert itself. For a time, under the
+keen smart of the wounds death had inflicted on her, she had found
+little heart to discuss the affairs of her circle of friends in her
+correspondence; but now the outer world vindicates its claim to her
+renewed attention, and she again begins to discuss and analyse the
+characters of her acquaintances with a skill and minuteness which make
+them as interesting even to strangers as any of the most
+closely-studied characters of fiction can be.
+
+    I return Q----'s letter. The business is a most unpleasant one to
+    be concerned in. It seems to me _now_ altogether unworthy in its
+    beginning, progress, and ending. Q---- is the only pure thing about
+    it; she stands between her coarse father and cold, unloving suitor,
+    like innocence between a pair of world-hardened knaves. The
+    comparison seems rather hard to be applied to V----, but as I see
+    him now he merits it. If V---- has no means of keeping a wife, if
+    he does not possess a sixpence he is sure of, how can he think of
+    marrying a woman from whom he cannot expect she should work to keep
+    herself? V----'s want of candour, the twice-falsified account he
+    gave of the matter, tells painfully and deeply against him. It
+    shows a glimpse of his hidden motives such as I refrain from
+    describing in words. After all he is perhaps only like the majority
+    of men. Certainly those men who lead a gay life in their youth, and
+    arrive at middle life with feelings blunted and passions exhausted,
+    can have but one aim in marriage--the selfish advancement of their
+    interest. And to think that such men take as wives--as second
+    selves--women young, modest, sincere, pure in heart and life, with
+    feelings all fresh and emotions all unworn, and bind such virtue
+    and vitality to their own withered existence, such sincerity to
+    their own hollowness, such disinterestedness to their own haggard
+    avarice! to think this, troubles the soul to its inmost depths.
+    Nature and justice forbid the banns of such wedlock. This note is
+    written under excitement. Q----'s letter seems to have lifted so
+    fraudulent a veil, and to show both father and suitor lurking
+    behind in shadow so dark, acting from motives so poor and low, so
+    conscious of each other's littleness, and consequently so destitute
+    of mutual respect! These things incense me, but I shall cool down.
+
+
+    I cannot find your last letter to refer to, and therefore this
+    will be no answer to it. You must write again by return of post if
+    possible, and let me know how you are progressing. What you said
+    in your last confirmed my opinion that your late attack had been
+    coming on for a long time. Your wish for a cold-water bath, &c,
+    is, I should think, the result of fever. Almost everyone has
+    complained lately of some tendency to slow fever. I have felt it
+    in frequent thirst and in frequent appetite. Papa too, and even
+    Martha, have complained. I fear this damp weather will scarcely
+    suit you; but write and say all. Of late I have had many letters
+    to answer; and some very bothering ones from people who want
+    opinions about their books, who seek acquaintance, and who flatter
+    to get it; people who utterly mistake all about me. They are most
+    difficult to answer, put off, and appease, without offending; for
+    such characters are excessively touchy, and when affronted turn
+    malignant. Their books are too often deplorable.
+
+In June, 1850, she is induced to pay another visit to London, going
+upon this occasion whilst the season is at its height, though she has
+stipulated before going that she is "not to be lionised."
+
+    I came to London last Thursday. I am staying at ----. Here I feel
+    very comfortable. Mrs. ---- treats me with a serene, equable
+    kindness which just suits me. Her son is as before--genial and
+    friendly. I have seen very few persons, and am not likely to see
+    many, as the agreement was that I was to be very quiet. We have
+    been to the exhibition of the Royal Academy, to the opera, and the
+    Zoological Gardens. The weather is splendid. I shall not stay
+    longer than a fortnight in London; the feverishness and exhaustion
+    beset me somewhat, but I think not quite so badly as before--as
+    indeed I have not yet been so much tired.
+
+
+    I am leaving London if all be well on Tuesday, and shall be very
+    glad to come to you for a few days if that arrangement still
+    remains convenient to you. My London visit has much surpassed my
+    expectations this time. I have suffered less, and enjoyed more
+    than before; rather a trying termination yet remains to me. Mrs.
+    ----'s youngest son is at school in Scotland, and her eldest is
+    going to fetch him home for the vacation. The other evening he
+    announced his intention of taking one of his sisters with him, and
+    the evening after he further proposed that Miss Bronte should go
+    down to Edinburgh and join them there, and see that city and its
+    suburbs. I concluded he was joking, laughed and declined. However,
+    it seems he was in earnest, and being always accustomed to have
+    his will, he brooks opposition ill. The thing appearing to me
+    perfectly out of the question, I still refused. Mrs. ---- did not
+    at all favour it, but her worthy son only waxed more determined.
+    This morning she came and entreated me to go; G---- wished it so
+    much, he had begged her to use her influence, &c. &c. Now, I
+    believe that he and I understand each other very well, and respect
+    each other very sincerely. We both know the wide breach time has
+    made between us. We do not embarrass each other, or very rarely.
+    My six or eight years of seniority, to say nothing of lack of all
+    pretensions to beauty, &c, are a perfect safeguard. I should not
+    in the least fear to go with him to China. I like to see him
+    pleased. I greatly _dis_like to ruffle and disappoint him; so
+    he shall have his mind, and if all be well I mean to join him in
+    Edinburgh, after I have spent a few days with you. With his
+    buoyant animal spirits and youthful vigour he will make severe
+    demands on my muscles and nerves; but I daresay I shall get
+    through somehow.
+
+
+
+
+IX.
+
+LONELINESS AND FAME.
+
+
+Charlotte Bronte's letters during 1850 and 1851 are among the most
+valuable illustrations of the true character of the woman which we
+possess. Stricken as she had been by successive bereavements, which
+had robbed her of her dearest friends and companions, and left her the
+sole prop of the dull house on the moors and of its aged head, she had
+yet recovered much of her peace of mind and even of her vitality and
+cheerfulness. She had now, also, begun to see something of life as it
+is presented, not to despised governesses, but to successful
+authoresses. Her visits to London had brought her into contact with
+some of the leaders of the literary world. Who can have forgotten her
+interview with Thackeray, when she was "moved to speak to the giant of
+some of his shortcomings?" Haworth itself had become a point of
+attraction to curious persons, and not a few visitors found their way
+under one pretence or another to the old parsonage, to be received
+with effusive courtesy by Mr. Bronte, and with shy indifference by his
+daughter. Her correspondence, too, became widely-spread among men and
+women of distinction in the world and in Society. Altogether it was a
+different life upon which she now looked out from her remote eyrie
+among the hills--a life with many new interests in it, with much that
+was calculated to awaken chords in her heart hitherto untouched, and
+to bring to light new characteristics of her temper and genius. One
+would fain speculate upon what might have been, but for the desolation
+wrought in her home and heart by that tempest of death which raged
+during the autumn of 1848 and the spring of 1849. As it was, no
+novelty could make her forget what had been; no new faces, however
+welcome, could dim the tender visions of the faces that were seen no
+more, or could weaken in any degree the affection with which she still
+clung to the friend of her school-days. Simplicity and sincerity are
+the prevailing features of her letters, during this critical time in
+her life, as during all the years which had preceded it. They reflect
+her mind in many moods; they show her in many different situations;
+but they never fail to give the impression of one whose allegiance to
+her own conscience and whose reverence for truth and purity remain now
+what they had been in her days of happy and unworldly obscurity. The
+letters I now quote are quite new to the public.
+
+    July 18th, 1850.
+
+    You must cheer up, for your letter proves to me that you are
+    low-spirited. As for me, what I said is to be taken in this sense:
+    that, under the circumstances, it would be presumptuous in me to
+    calculate on a long life--a truth obvious enough. For the rest, we
+    are all in the hands of Him who apportions His gifts, health or
+    sickness, length or brevity of days, as is best for the receiver:
+    to him who has work to do time will be given in which to do it;
+    for him to whom no task is assigned the season of rest will come
+    earlier. As to the suffering preceding our last sleep, the
+    sickness, decay, the struggle of flesh and spirit, it _must_
+    come sooner or later to all. If, in one point of view, it is sad
+    to have few ties in the world, in another point of view it is
+    soothing; women who have husbands and children must look forward
+    to death with more pain, more fear, than those who have none. To
+    dismiss the subject, I wish (without cant, and not in any
+    hackneyed sense) that both you and I could always say in this
+    matter, the will of God be done. I am beginning to get settled at
+    home, but the solitude seems heavy as yet. It is a great change,
+    but in looking forward I try to hope for the best. So little faith
+    have I in the power of any temporary excitement to do real good
+    that I put off day by day writing to London to tell them I have
+    come home; and till then it was agreed I should not hear from
+    them. It is painful to be dependent on the small stimulus letters
+    give. I sometimes think I will renounce it altogether, close all
+    correspondence on some quiet pretext, and cease to look forward at
+    post-time for any letters but yours.
+
+
+    August 1st, 1850.
+
+    MY DEAR E.,--I have certainly felt the late wet weather a good
+    deal, and been somewhat bothered with frequently-returning colds,
+    and so has Papa. About him I have been far from happy: every cold
+    seems to make and leave him so weak. It is easy to say this world
+    is only a scene of probation, but it is a hard thing to feel. Your
+    friends the ----s seem to be happy just now, and long may they
+    continue to be so! Give C. Bronte's sincere love to R---- and tell
+    her she hopes Mr. ---- will make her a good husband. If he does
+    not, woe be to him! I wish a similar wish for Q----; and then I do
+    really think there will be a kind of happiness. That proposition
+    about remaining at H---- sounds like beginning life sensibly, with
+    no showy dash--I like it. Are you comfortable amongst all these
+    turtle-doves? I could not maintain your present position for a day;
+    I should feel _de trop_, as the French say; that is in the way. But
+    you are different to me. My portrait is come from London, and the
+    Duke of Wellington's, and kind letters enough. Papa thinks the
+    portrait looks older than I do. He says the features are far from
+    flattered, but acknowledges that the expression is wonderfully good
+    and life-like. I left the book called "Social Aspects" at B----;
+    accept it from me. I may well give it you, for the author has
+    kindly sent me another copy.... You ask for some promise: who that
+    does not know the future can make promises? Not I.
+
+
+    September 2nd, 1850.
+
+    Poor Mrs. A---- it seems is gone; I saw her death in the papers.
+    It is another lesson on the nature of life, on its strange
+    brevity, and in many instances apparent futility.... V---- came
+    here on Saturday last; T----, who was to have accompanied him, was
+    prevented from executing his intention. I regretted his absence,
+    for I by no means coveted the long _tete-a-tete_ with V----.
+    However, it passed off pretty well. He is satisfied now with his
+    own prospects, and this makes him--on the surface--satisfied with
+    other things. He spoke of Q---- with content and approbation. He
+    looks forward to marriage as a sort of harbour where he is to lay
+    up his now somewhat battered vessel in quiet moorings. He has seen
+    all he wants to see of life; now he is prepared to settle. I
+    listened to all with equanimity and cheerfulness--not assumed but
+    real--for Papa is now somewhat better; his appetite and spirits
+    are improved, and that eases my mind of cankering anxiety. My own
+    health, too, is, I think, really benefited by the late changes of
+    air and scene; I fancy, at any rate, that I feel stronger. Still I
+    mused in my own way on V----'s character--its depth and scope, I
+    believe, are ascertained.
+
+    I saw the governess at ----; she looked a little better and more
+    cheerful. She was almost as pleased to see me as if we had been
+    related; and when I bid her good-bye expressed an earnest hope
+    that I would soon come again. The children seem fond of her, and
+    on the whole obedient--two great alleviations of the inevitable
+    evils of her position.
+
+    Cheer up, dear Nell, and try not to stagnate; or, when you cannot
+    help it, and when your heart is constricted and oppressed,
+    remember what life is and must be to all: some moments of sunshine
+    alternating with many of overclouded and often tempestuous
+    darkness. Humanity cannot escape its fate, which is to drink a
+    mixed cup. Let us believe that the gall and the vinegar are
+    salutary.
+
+
+    Sept. 14th, 1850.
+
+    I wish, dear Ellen, you would tell me what is the "twaddle" about
+    my marrying, which you hear. If I knew the details I should have a
+    better chance of guessing the quarter from which such gossip
+    comes. As it is I am quite at a loss. Whom am I to marry? I think
+    I have scarcely seen a single man with whom such a union would be
+    possible since I left London. Doubtless there are men whom, if I
+    chose to encourage, I might marry. But no matrimonial lot is even
+    remotely offered me which seems to me truly desirable. And even if
+    that were the case there would be many obstacles. The least
+    allusion to such a thing is most offensive to Papa. An article
+    entitled "Currer Bell" has lately appeared in _The Palladium_,
+    a new periodical published in Edinburgh. It is an eloquent
+    production, and one of such warm sympathy and high appreciation as
+    I had never expected to see. It makes mistakes about authorship,
+    &c, but those I hope one day to set right. Mr. X---- (the little
+    man) first informed me of this article. I was somewhat surprised to
+    receive his letter, having concluded nine months ago that there
+    would be no more correspondence from that quarter. I enclose a note
+    from him received subsequently, in answer to my acknowledgment.
+    Read it, and tell me exactly how it impresses you regarding the
+    writer's character, &c. He is deficient neither in spirit nor
+    sense.
+
+
+    October 14th, 1850.
+
+    I return Q----'s letter. She seems quite happy and fully satisfied
+    of her husband's affection. Is this the usual way of spending the
+    honeymoon? To me it seems as if they overdo it. That travelling,
+    and tugging, and fagging about, and getting drenched and muddled,
+    by no means harmonises with my notions of happiness. Besides, the
+    two meals a day, &c, would do one up. It all reminds me too
+    sharply of the few days I spent with V---- in London nearly ten
+    years since, when I was many a time fit to drop with the fever and
+    the faintness resulting from long fasting and excessive fatigue.
+    However, no doubt a bride can bear such things better than others.
+    I smiled to myself at some passages. She has wondrous faith in her
+    husband's intellectual powers and acquirements. V----'s illusions
+    will soon be over, but Q----'s will not--and therein she is
+    happier than he.... I suppose ---- will probably discover that
+    he, too, wants a wife. But I will say no more. You know I
+    disapprove of jesting and teasing on these matters. Idle words
+    sometimes do unintentional harm.
+
+
+    December, 1850.
+
+    I got home all right yesterday soon after two o'clock, and found
+    Papa, thank God, well and free from cold. To-day some amount of
+    sickliness and headache is bothering me, but nothing to
+    signify.... The Christmas books waiting for me were, as I
+    expected, from Thackeray, Mrs. Gaskell, and Mr. Ruskin. No letter
+    from Mr. W----. It is six weeks since I heard from him. I feel
+    uneasy, but do not like to write. _The Examiner_ is very sore
+    about my Preface, because I did not make it a special exception in
+    speaking of the mass of critics. The soreness is unfortunate and
+    gratuitous, for in my mind I certainly excepted it. Another paper
+    shows painful sensitiveness on the same account; but it does not
+    matter, these things are all transitory.
+
+The "Preface" to which she alludes in the foregoing letter, was that
+to her collected edition of Emily and Anne Bronte's works, in which
+she makes allusion to the fact that the "critics failed to do justice"
+to "Wuthering Heights" and "Agnes Grey" when they were published.
+
+    Jan. 20th, 1851.
+
+    Thank you heartily for the two letters I owe you. You seem very
+    gay at present, and provided you only take care not to catch cold
+    with coming home at night, I am not sorry to hear it; a little
+    movement, cheerfulness, stimulus, is not only beneficial, but
+    necessary. Your last letter but one made me smile. I think you
+    draw great conclusions from small inferences. I think those "fixed
+    intentions" you fancy are imaginary. I think the "under-current"
+    amounts simply to this, a kind of natural liking and sense of
+    something congenial. Were there no vast barrier of age, fortune,
+    &c, there is perhaps enough personal regard to make things
+    possible which now are impossible. If men and women married
+    because they like each other's temper, look, conversation, nature,
+    and so on--and if, besides, years were more nearly equal--the
+    chance you allude to might be admitted as a chance; but other
+    reasons regulate matrimony--reasons of convenience, of connection,
+    of money. Meantime I am content to know him as a friend, and pray
+    God to continue to me the common sense to look on one so young, so
+    rising, and so hopeful in no other light. The hint about the Rhine
+    disturbs me; I am not made of stone and what is mere excitement to
+    others is fever to me. However it is a matter for the future, and
+    long to look forward to. As I see it now, the journey is out of
+    the question--for many reasons--I rather wonder he should think of
+    it. Good-bye. Heaven grant us both some quiet wisdom and strength,
+    not merely to bear the trial of pain, but to resist the lure of
+    pleasure when it comes in such a shape as our better judgment
+    disapproves.
+
+
+    Feb. 26th, 1851.
+
+    You ought always to conclude that when I don't write it is simply
+    because I have nothing particular to say. Be sure that ill news
+    will travel fast enough, and good news too when such commodity
+    comes. If I could often _be_ or _seem_ in brisk spirits, I might
+    write oftener, knowing that my letters would amuse. But as times
+    go, a glimpse of sunshine now and then is as much as one has a
+    right to expect. However, I get on very decently. I am now and then
+    tempted to break through my resolution of not having you to come
+    before summer, and to ask you to come to this Patmos in a week or
+    two. But it would be dull--very dull--for you.... What would you
+    say to coming here the week after next to stay only just so long as
+    you could comfortably bear the monotony? If the weather were dry,
+    and the moors fine, I should not mind it so much--we could walk for
+    change.
+
+About this time it is clear that Miss Bronte was suffering from one of
+her periodical attacks of nervous exhaustion. She makes repeated
+references in her letters to her ailments, attributing them generally
+to her liver, and she also mentions frequently an occurrence which had
+given her not a little anxiety and concern. This was an offer of
+marriage from a business man in a good position, whom she had already
+met in London. The following letters, which are inserted here without
+regard to the precise date, and of which Mrs. Gaskell has merely used
+half-a-dozen lines, relate to this subject:
+
+    You are to say no more about "Jupiter" and "Venus." What do you
+    mean by such heathen trash? The fact is no fallacy can be wilder,
+    and I won't have it hinted at, even in jest because my common
+    sense laughs it to scorn. The idea of X---- shocks me less; it
+    would be a more likely match, if "matches" were at all in
+    question, _which they are not_. He still sends his little
+    newspaper, and the other day there came a letter of a bulk,
+    volume, pith, judgment, and knowledge, worthy to have been the
+    product of a giant.
+
+
+    X---- has been, and is gone; things are just as they were. I only
+    know, in addition to the slight information I possessed before,
+    that this Australian undertaking is necessary to the continued
+    prosperity of his firm, that he alone was pronounced to possess
+    the power and means to carry it out successfully, that mercantile
+    honour, combined with his own sense of duty, obliged him to accept
+    the post of honour and of danger to which he has been appointed,
+    that he goes with great personal reluctance, and that he
+    contemplates an absence of five years. He looked much thinner and
+    older. I saw him very near, and once through my glass. The
+    resemblance to Branwell struck me forcibly; it is marked. He is
+    not ugly, but very peculiar. The lines in his face show an
+    inflexibility, and, I must add, a hardness of character, which
+    does not attract. As he stood near me, as he looked at me in his
+    keen way, it was all I could do to stand my ground tranquilly and
+    steadily, and not to recoil as before. It is no use saying
+    anything if I am not candid. I avow then that on this occasion,
+    predisposed as I was to regard him very favourably, his manners
+    and his personal appearance scarcely pleased me more than at the
+    first interview. He gave me a book at parting, requesting in his
+    brief way that I would keep it for his sake, and adding hastily:
+    "I shall hope to hear from you in Australia; your letters _have_
+    been and _will_ be a greater refreshment than you can think or I
+    can tell." And so he is gone, and stern and abrupt little man as
+    he is, too often jarring as are his manners, his absence and the
+    exclusion of his idea from my mind, leave me certainly with less
+    support and in deeper solitude than before. You see, dear Nell, we
+    are still precisely on the same level. _You_ are not isolated. I
+    feel that there is a certain mystery about this transaction yet,
+    and whether it will ever be cleared up to me, I do not know.
+    However, my plain duty is to wean my mind from the subject, and if
+    possible to avoid pondering over it.... I feel that in his way he
+    has a regard for me; a regard which I cannot bring myself entirely
+    to reciprocate in kind, and yet its withdrawal leaves a painful
+    blank. I have just got your note. Above, you have all the account
+    of my visitor. I dare not aver that your kind wish that the visit
+    would yield me more pleasure than pain has been fulfilled.
+    Something at my heart aches and gnaws drearily. But I must
+    cultivate fortitude.
+
+
+    Thank you for your kind note. It was kind of you to write it,
+    though it _was_ your school-day. I never knew you to let a
+    slight impediment stand in your way when doing a friendly action.
+    Certainly I shall not soon forget last Friday, and never, I think,
+    the evening and night succeeding that morning and afternoon. Evils
+    seldom come singly, and soon after X---- was gone Papa grew much
+    worse. He went to bed early. Was sick and ill for an hour, and
+    when at last he began to doze and I left him, I came down to the
+    dining-room with a sense of weight, fear, and desolation hard to
+    express and harder to endure. A wish that you were with me did
+    cross my mind; but I repelled it as a most selfish wish. Indeed it
+    was only short-lived; my natural tendency in moments of this sort
+    is to get through the struggle alone; to think that one is
+    burdening others makes all worse. You speak to me in soft,
+    consolatory accents; but I hold far sterner language to myself,
+    dear Nell. An absence of five years; a dividing expanse of three
+    oceans; the wide difference between a man's active career and a
+    woman's passive existence. These things are almost equivalent to a
+    life-long separation. But there is another thing which forms a
+    barrier more difficult to pass than any of these. Would X---- and
+    I ever suit? Could I ever feel for him enough love to accept of
+    him as a husband? Friendship, gratitude, esteem, I have; but each
+    moment that he came near me, and that I could see his eyes
+    fastened upon me, my veins ran ice. Now that he is away I feel far
+    more gently towards him; it is only close by that I grow rigid. I
+    did not want to be proud nor intend to be proud, but I was forced
+    to be so. Most true is it that we are overruled by One above us,
+    that in His hands our very will is as clay in the hands of the
+    potter.
+
+
+    I trust Papa is not worse; but he varies. He has never been down
+    to breakfast but once since you left. The circumstance of having
+    him to think about just now is good for me in one way; it keeps my
+    thoughts off other matters which have been complete bitterness and
+    ashes; for I do assure you a more entire crumbling away of a
+    seeming foundation of support and prospect of hope than that which
+    I allude to can scarcely be realised.
+
+
+    I have heard from X---- to-day, a quiet little note. He returned
+    to London a week since on Saturday. He leaves England next month.
+    His note concludes with asking whether he has any chance of seeing
+    me in London before that time. I must tell him that I have already
+    fixed June for my visit, and, therefore, in all human probability
+    we shall see each other no more. There is still a want of plain
+    mutual understanding in this business, and there is sadness and
+    pain in more ways than one. My conscience, I can truly say, does
+    not _now_ accuse me of having treated X---- with injustice or
+    unkindness. What I once did wrong in this way I have endeavoured
+    to remedy both to himself and in speaking of him to others. I am
+    sure he has estimable and sterling qualities; but with every
+    disposition--with every wish--with every intention even to look on
+    him in the most favourable point of view at his last visit, it was
+    impossible for me in my inmost heart to think of him as one that
+    might one day be acceptable as a husband.... No, if X---- be the
+    only husband fate offers to me, single I must always remain. But
+    yet at times I grieve for him; and perhaps it is superfluous, for
+    I cannot think he will suffer much--a hard nature, occupation,
+    change of scene will befriend him.
+
+
+    I have had a long, kind letter from Miss Martineau lately. She
+    says she is well and happy. Also I have had a very long letter
+    from Mr. ----, the first for many weeks. He speaks of X---- with
+    much respect and regret, and says he will be greatly missed by
+    many friends. I discover with some surprise that Papa has taken a
+    decided liking to X----. The marked kindness of his manner to him
+    when he bade him good-bye, exhorting him to be "true to himself,
+    his country, and his God," and wishing him all good wishes, struck
+    me with some astonishment at the time; and whenever he has alluded
+    to him since, it has been with significant eulogy.... You say Papa
+    has penetration. On this subject I believe he has indeed. I have
+    told him nothing, yet he seems to be _au fait_ to the whole
+    business. I could think at some moments his guesses go further
+    than mine. I believe he thinks a prospective union, deferred for
+    five years, with such a decorous, reliable personage, would be a
+    very proper and advisable affair. However I ask no questions, and
+    he asks me none; and if he did I should have nothing to tell him.
+
+The summer following this affair of the heart witnessed another visit
+to London, where she heard Mr. Thackeray's lectures on the humourists.
+How she enjoyed listening to her idol, in one of his best moods, need
+not be told. Some there are still living who remember that first
+lecture, when all London had assembled to listen to the author of
+"Vanity Fair," and the rumour suddenly ran round the room that the
+author of "Jane Eyre" was among the audience. Men and women were at
+fault at first, in their efforts to distinguish "Currer Bell" in that
+brilliant company of literary and social notabilities; but at last she
+was discovered hiding under the motherly wing of a chaperon, timid,
+blushing, but excited and pleased--_not_ at the attention she herself
+attracted, but at the treat she had in prospect. One or two gentlemen
+sought and obtained introductions to her--amongst them Lord Carlisle
+and Mr. Monckton Milnes. They were not particularly impressed by the
+appearance or the speech of the parson's daughter. Her person was
+insignificant, her dress somewhat rustic, her language quaintly
+precise and formal, her manner odd and constrained. Altogether this
+was a woman whom even London could not lionise; somebody outwardly
+altogether too plain, simple, unpretending, to admit of hero-worship.
+Within there was, as we know, something entirely exceptional and
+extraordinary; but, like Lucy Snowe, she still kept her real self
+hidden under a veil which no casual friend or chance acquaintance was
+allowed to lift. It was but a brief visit to the "Big Babylon," and
+then back to Haworth, to loneliness and duty! In July, 1851, she
+writes from the parsonage to one of her friends as follows:
+
+    My first feeling on receiving your note was one of disappointment,
+    but a little consideration sufficed to show me that "all was for
+    the best." In truth it was a great piece of extravagance on my
+    part to ask you and Ellen together; it is much better to divide
+    such good things. To have your visit in prospect will console me
+    when hers is in retrospect. Not that I mean to yield to the
+    weakness of clinging dependently to the society of friends,
+    however dear; but still as an occasional treat I must value and
+    even seek such society as a necessary of life. Let me know then
+    whenever it suits your convenience to come to Haworth, and, unless
+    some change I cannot now foresee occurs, a ready and warm welcome
+    will await you. Should there be any cause rendering it desirable
+    to defer the visit, I will tell you frankly. The pleasures of
+    society I cannot offer you; nor those of fine scenery. But I place
+    very much at your command--the moors, some books, a series of
+    quiet "curling-hair-times," and an old pupil into the bargain.
+    Ellen may have told you that I spent a month in London this
+    summer. When you come you shall ask what questions you like on
+    that point, and I will answer to the best of my stammering
+    ability. Do not press me much on the subject of the Crystal
+    Palace. I went there five times, and certainly saw some
+    interesting things, and the _coup d'oeil_ is striking and
+    bewildering enough. But I never was able to get up any raptures on
+    the subject, and each renewed visit was made under coercion rather
+    than my own free will. It is an excessively bustling place; and
+    after all, its wonders appeal too exclusively to the eye, and
+    rarely touch the heart or head. I make an exception to the last
+    assertion in favour of those who possess a large range of
+    scientific knowledge. Once I went with Sir David Brewster, and
+    perceived that he looked on objects with other eyes than mine.
+
+
+
+
+X.
+
+"VILLETTE."
+
+
+With the autumn of 1851 another epoch in the life of Charlotte Bronte
+was ushered in. She began to write "Villette." Something has already
+been said of the true character of that marvellous book, in which her
+own deepest experiences and ripest wisdom are given to the world. Of
+the manner in which it was written her readers know nothing. Yet this,
+the best-beloved child of her genius, was brought forth with a travail
+so bitter that more than once she was tempted to lay aside her pen and
+hush her voice for ever. Every sentence was wrung from her as though
+it had been a drop of blood, and the book was built up bit by bit,
+amid paroxysms of positive anguish, occasioned in part by her own
+physical weakness and suffering, but still more by the torture through
+which her mind passed as she depicted scene after scene from the
+darkest chapter in her own life, for the benefit of those for whom she
+wrote. It is from her letters that at this time also we get the best
+indications of what she was passing through. Few, perhaps, reading
+these letters would suppose that their writer was at that very time
+engaged in the production of a great masterpiece, destined to hold its
+own among the ripest and finest fruits of English genius. But no one
+can read them without seeing how true the woman's soul was, how deep
+her sympathy with those she loved, how keen her criticisms of even the
+dull and commonplace characters around her, how vivid and sincere her
+interest in everything which was passing either in the great world
+which lay afar off, or in the little world the drama of which was
+being enacted under her own eyes. Even the ordinary incidents
+mentioned in her letters, the chance expressions which drop from her
+pen, have an interest when we remember who it is that speaks, and at
+what hour in her life this speech falls from her.
+
+    September, 1851.
+
+    I have mislaid your last letter, and so cannot look it over to see
+    what there is in it to answer; but it is time it was answered in
+    some fashion, whether I have anything to say or not. Miss ----'s
+    note is very like her. All that talk about "friendship," "mutual
+    friends," "auld lang syne," &c., sounds very like palaver. Mrs.
+    ---- wrote to me a week or a fortnight since--a well-meaning,
+    amiable note, dwelling a good deal, excusably perhaps, on the good
+    time that is coming. I mean, to speak plain English, on her
+    expectation of soon becoming a mother. No doubt it is very natural
+    in her to feel as if no woman had ever been a mother before; but I
+    could not help inditing an answer calculated to shake her up a
+    bit. A day or two since I had another note from her, quite as good
+    as usual, but I think a trifle nonplussed by the rather
+    unceremonious fashion in which her terrors and the expected
+    personage were handled.... It is useless to tell you how I live. I
+    endure life; but whether I enjoy it or not is another question.
+    However, I get on. The weather, I think, has not been very good
+    lately; or else the beneficial effects of change of air and scene
+    are evaporating. In spite of regular exercise the old headaches
+    and starting, wakeful nights are coming upon me again. But I
+    _do_ get on, and have neither wish nor right to complain.
+
+
+    October, 1851.
+
+    I am not at all intending to go from home at present. I have just
+    refused successively, Miss Martineau, Mrs. Gaskell, and Mrs.
+    Forster. I could not go if I would. One person after another in
+    the house has been ailing for the last month and more. First Tabby
+    had the influenza, then Martha took it and is ill in bed now, and
+    I grieve to say Papa too has taken cold. So far I keep pretty
+    well, and am thankful for it, for who else would nurse them all?
+    Some painful mental worry I have gone through this autumn; but
+    there is no use in dwelling on all that. At present I seem to have
+    some respite. I feel more disinclined than ever for
+    letter-writing.... Life is a struggle.
+
+
+    November, 1851.
+
+    Papa, Tabby, and Martha are at present all better, but yet none of
+    them well. Martha especially looks feeble. I wish she had a better
+    constitution. As it is, one is always afraid of giving her too
+    much to do; and yet there are many things I cannot undertake
+    myself; and we do not like to change when we have had her so long.
+    The other day I received the enclosed letter from Australia. I had
+    had one before from the same quarter, which is still unanswered. I
+    told you I did not expect to hear thence--nor did I. The letter is
+    long, but it will be worth your while to read it. In its way it
+    has merit--that cannot be denied--abundance of information, talent
+    of a certain kind, alloyed (I think) here and there with errors of
+    taste. This little man with all his long letters remains as much a
+    conundrum to me as ever. Your account of the H---- "domestic joys"
+    amused me much. The good folks seem very happy; long may they
+    continue so! It somewhat cheers me to know that such happiness
+    _does_ exist on earth.
+
+
+    November, 1851.
+
+    All here is pretty much as usual.... The only events of my life
+    consist in that little change occasional letters bring. I have had
+    two from Miss W---- since she left Haworth, which touched me much.
+    She seems to think so much of a little congenial company, a little
+    attention and kindness. She says she has not for many days known
+    such enjoyment as she experienced during the ten days she stayed
+    here. Yet you know what Haworth is--dull enough. Before answering
+    X----'s letter from Australia I got up my courage to write to ----
+    and beg him to give me an impartial account of X----'s character
+    and disposition, owning that I was very much in the dark on these
+    points and did not like to continue correspondence without further
+    information. I got the answer which I enclose. Since receiving it
+    I have replied to X---- in a calm, civil manner. At the earliest I
+    cannot hear from him again before the spring.
+
+
+    December, 1851.
+
+    I hope you have got on this last week well. It has been very
+    trying here. Papa so far has borne it unhurt; but these winds and
+    changes have given me a bad cold; however, I am better now than I
+    was. Poor old Keeper (Emily's dog) died last Monday morning, after
+    being ill one night. He went gently to sleep; we laid his old
+    faithful head in the garden. Flossy is dull, and misses him.
+    There was something very sad in losing the old dog; yet I am glad
+    he met a natural fate. People kept hinting that he ought to be put
+    away, which neither Papa nor I liked to think of. If I were near a
+    town, and could get cod-liver oil fresh and sweet, I really would
+    most gladly take your advice and try it; but how I could possibly
+    procure it at Haworth I do not see.... You ask about "The Lily and
+    the Bee." If you have read it, you have effected an exploit beyond
+    me. I glanced at a few pages, and laid it down hopeless, nor can I
+    now find courage to resume it. But then, I never liked Warren's
+    writings. "Margaret Maitland" is a good book, I doubt not.
+
+At this point the illness of which she makes light in these letters
+increased to such an extent as to alarm her father, and at last she
+consented to lay aside her work and allow herself the pleasure and
+comfort of a visit from her friend. The visit was a source of
+happiness whilst it lasted; but when it was over the depression
+returned, and there was a serious relapse. Something of her sufferings
+at this time--whilst "Villette" was still upon the stocks--will be
+gathered from the following letter, dated January 1852:
+
+    I wish you could have seen the coolness with which I captured your
+    letter on its way to Papa, and at once conjecturing its tenor,
+    made the contents my own. Be quiet. Be tranquil. It is, dear Nell,
+    my decided intention to come to B---- for a few days when I
+    _can_ come; but of this last I must positively judge for myself,
+    and I must take my time. I am better to-day--much better; but you
+    can have little idea of the sort of condition into which mercury
+    throws people to ask me to go from home anywhere in close or open
+    carriage. And as to talking--four days ago I could not well have
+    articulated three sentences. Yet I did not need nursing, and I
+    kept out of bed. It was enough to burden myself; it would have
+    been misery to me to have annoyed another.
+
+
+    March, 1852.
+
+    The news of E. T.'s death came to me last week in a letter from
+    M----, a long letter, which wrung my heart so in its simple,
+    strong, truthful emotion, I have only ventured to read it once. It
+    ripped up half-scarred wounds with terrible force--the death-bed
+    was just the same--breath failing, &c. She fears she will now in
+    her dreary solitude become "a stern, harsh, selfish woman." This
+    fear struck home. Again and again I have felt it for myself; and
+    what is _my_ position to M----'s? I should break out in energetic
+    wishes that she would return to England, if reason would permit me
+    to believe that prosperity and happiness would there await her.
+    But I see no such prospect. May God help her as God only can help!
+
+To another friend she writes as follows, in reply to an invitation to
+leave Haworth for a short visit:
+
+    March 12th, 1852.
+
+    Your kind note holds out a strong temptation, but one that _must
+    be resisted_. From home I must not go unless health or some cause
+    equally imperative render a change necessary. For nearly four
+    months now (_i.e._ since I first became ill) I have not put pen to
+    paper; my work has been lying untouched, and my faculties have
+    been rusting for want of exercise; further relaxation is out of
+    the question, and _I will not permit myself to think of it_. My
+    publisher groans over my long delays; I am sometimes provoked to
+    check the expression of his impatience with short and crusty
+    answers. Yet the pleasure I now deny myself I would fain regard as
+    only deferred. I heard something about your purposing to visit
+    Scarborough in the course of the summer; and could I by the close
+    of July or August bring my task to a certain point, how glad
+    should I be to join you there for a while!... However, I dare not
+    lay plans at this distance of time; for me so much must depend,
+    first, on Papa's health (which throughout the winter has been, I
+    am thankful to say, really excellent), and, second, on the
+    progress of work--a matter not wholly contingent on wish or will,
+    but lying in a great measure beyond the reach of effort, or out of
+    the pale of calculation.
+
+As the summer advanced her sufferings were scarcely abated, and at
+last, in search of some relief, she made a sudden visit by herself to
+Filey, inspired in part by her desire to see the memorial-stone
+erected above her sister's grave at Scarborough.
+
+    Filey Bay, June, 1852.
+
+    MY DEAR MISS ----,--Your kind and welcome note reached me at this
+    place, where I have been staying three weeks _quite alone_. Change
+    and sea-air had become necessary. Distance and other considerations
+    forbade my accompanying Ellen to the South, much as I should have
+    liked it had I felt quite free and unfettered. Ellen told me some
+    time ago that you were not likely to visit Scarborough till the
+    autumn, so I forthwith packed my trunk and betook myself here. The
+    first week or ten days I greatly feared the seaside would not suit
+    me, for I suffered almost incessantly from headache and other
+    harassing ailments; the weather, too, was dark, stormy, and
+    excessively--_bitterly_--cold. My solitude under such circumstances
+    partook of the character of desolation; I had some dreary evening
+    hours and night vigils. However, that passed. I think I am now
+    better and stronger for the change, and in a day or two hope to
+    return home. Ellen told me that Mr. W---- said people with my
+    tendency to congestion of the liver should walk three or four hours
+    every day; accordingly, I have walked as much as I could since I
+    came here, and look almost as sunburnt and weather-beaten as a
+    fisherman or a bathing-woman, with being out in the open air. As to
+    my work, it has stood obstinately still for a long while; certainly
+    a torpid liver makes a torpid brain. No spirit moves me. If this
+    state of things does not entirely change, my chance of a holiday in
+    the autumn is not worth much; yet I should be very sorry not to
+    meet you for a little while at Scarborough. The duty to be
+    discharged at Scarborough was the chief motive that drew me to the
+    east coast. I have been there, visited the churchyard, and seen the
+    stone. There were five errors; consequently I had to give
+    directions for its being re-faced and re-lettered.
+
+The sea-air did her good; but she was still unable to carry her great
+work forward, in spite of the urgent pressure put upon her by those
+who in this respect merely expressed the impatience of the public.
+
+    Haworth, July, 1852.
+
+    I am again at home, where (thank God) I found all well. I
+    certainly feel much better than I did, and would fain trust that
+    the improvement may prove permanent.... The first fortnight I was
+    at Filey I had constantly recurring pain in the right side, and
+    sick headache into the bargain. My spirits at the same time were
+    cruelly depressed--prostrated sometimes. I feared the miseries and
+    the suffering of last winter were all returning; consequently I am
+    now indeed thankful to find myself so much better.... You ask
+    about Australia. Let us dismiss the subject in a few words, and
+    not recur to it. All is silent as the grave. Cornhill is silent
+    too; there has been bitter disappointment there at my having no
+    work ready for this season. Ellen, we must not rely upon our
+    fellow-creatures--only on ourselves, and on Him who is above both
+    us and them. My _labours_, as you call them, stand in abeyance,
+    and I cannot hurry them. I must take my own time, however long
+    that time may be.
+
+
+    August, 1852.
+
+    I am thankful to say that Papa's convalescence seems now to be
+    quite confirmed. There is scarcely any remainder of the
+    inflammation in his eyes, and his general health progresses
+    satisfactorily. He begins even to look forward to resuming his
+    duty ere long, but caution must be observed on that head. Martha
+    has been very willing and helpful during Papa's illness. Poor
+    Tabby is ill herself at present with English cholera, which
+    complaint, together with influenza, has lately been almost
+    universally prevalent in this district. Of the last I have myself
+    had a touch; but it went off very gently on the whole, affecting
+    my chest and liver less than any cold has done for the last three
+    years.... I write to you about yourself rather under constraint
+    and in the dark; for your letters, dear Nell, are most remarkably
+    oracular, dropping nothing but hints which tie my tongue a good
+    deal. What, for instance, can I say to your last postscript? It is
+    quite sibylline. I can hardly guess what checks you in writing to
+    me. Perhaps you think that as _I_ generally write with some
+    reserve, you ought to do the same. _My_ reserve, however, has its
+    origin not in design, but in necessity. I am silent because I have
+    literally _nothing to say_. I might, indeed, repeat over and over
+    again that my life is a pale blank, and often a very weary burden,
+    and that the future sometimes appals me; but what end could be
+    answered by such repetition, except to weary you and enervate
+    myself? The evils that now and then wring a groan from my heart
+    lie in my position--not that I am a _single_ woman and likely to
+    remain a _single_ woman, but because I am a lonely woman and
+    likely to be _lonely_. But it cannot be helped, and therefore
+    _imperatively must be borne_, and borne, too, with as few words
+    about it as may be. I write this just to prove to you that
+    whatever you would freely _say_ to me you may just as freely
+    write. Understand that I remain just as resolved as ever not to
+    allow myself the holiday of a visit from you till _I_ have done my
+    work. After labour, pleasure; but while work was lying at the wall
+    undone, I never yet could enjoy recreation.
+
+[Illustration: SIMILE LETTER OF CHARLOTTE BRONTE.]
+
+Slowly page after page of "Villette" was now being written. The reader
+sees from these letters that the book was composed in no happy mood.
+Writing to her publisher a few weeks after the date of the last letter
+printed above, she says: "I can hardly tell you how I hunger to hear
+some opinions beside my own, and how I have sometimes desponded and
+almost despaired, because there was no one to whom to read a line, or
+of whom to ask a counsel. 'Jane Eyre' was not written under such
+circumstances, nor were two-thirds of 'Shirley.' I got so miserable
+about it that I could bear no allusion to the book. It is not finished
+yet; but now I hope." But though her work pressed so incessantly upon
+her, and her feverish anxiety to have it done weighed so heavily upon
+her health and spirits, she could still find time to answer her
+friend's letters in a way which showed that her interest in the outer
+world was as keen as ever:
+
+    September, 1852.
+
+    Thank you for A----'s notes. I like to read them, they are so full
+    of news, but they are illegible. A great many words I really
+    cannot make out. It is pleasing to hear that M---- is doing so
+    well, and the tidings about ---- seem also good. I get a note from
+    ---- every now and then, but I fear my last reply has not given
+    much satisfaction. It contained a taste of that unpalatable
+    commodity called _advice_--such advice, too, as might be, and I
+    dare say was, construed into faint reproof. I can scarcely tell
+    what there is about ---- that, in spite of one's conviction of her
+    amiability, in spite of one's sincere wish for her welfare, palls
+    upon one, satiates, stirs impatience. She _will_ complacently put
+    forth opinions and tastes as her own which are _not_ her own, nor
+    in any sense natural to her. My patience can really hardly sustain
+    the test of such a jay in borrowed plumes. She prated so much
+    about the fine wilful spirit of her child, whom she describes as a
+    hard, brown little thing, who will do nothing but what pleases
+    himself, that I hit out at last--not very hard, but enough to make
+    her think herself ill-used, I doubt not. Can't help it. She often
+    says she is not "absorbed in self," but the fact is, I have seldom
+    seen anyone more unconsciously, thoroughly, and often weakly
+    egotistic. Then, too, she is inconsistent. In the same breath she
+    boasts her matrimonial happiness and whines for sympathy. Don't
+    understand it. With a paragon of a husband and child, why that
+    whining, craving note? Either her lot is not all she professes it
+    to be, or she is hard to content.
+
+In October the resolute determination to allow herself no relaxation
+until "Villette" was finished broke down. She was compelled to call
+for help, and to acknowledge herself beaten in her attempt to crush
+out the yearning for company:
+
+    October, 1852.
+
+    Papa expresses so strong a wish that I should ask you to come, and
+    I feel some little refreshment so absolutely necessary myself,
+    that I really must beg you to come to Haworth for one single week.
+    I thought I would persist in denying myself till I had done my
+    work, but I find it won't do. The matter refuses to progress, and
+    this excessive solitude presses too heavily. So let me see your
+    dear face, Nell, just for one reviving week. Could you come on
+    Wednesday? Write to-morrow, and let me know by what train you
+    would reach Keighley, that I may send for you.
+
+The visit was a pleasant one in spite of the weariness of body and
+mind which troubled Charlotte. She laid aside her task for that "one
+little week," went out upon the moors with her friend, talked as of
+old, and at last, when she was left alone once more, declared that the
+change had done her "inexpressible good." Writing to her friend
+immediately after the latter had left her, she says:
+
+    Your note came only this morning. I had expected it yesterday, and
+    was beginning actually to feel weary--like you. This won't do. I
+    am afraid of caring for you too much. You must have come upon ----
+    at an unfavourable moment, seen it under a cloud. Surely they are
+    not always or often thus, or else married life is indeed but a
+    slipshod paradise. I only send _The Examiner_, not having yet read
+    _The Leader_. I was spared the remorse I feared. On Saturday I
+    fell to business, and as the welcome mood is still decently
+    existent, and my eyes consequently excessively tired with
+    scribbling, you must excuse a mere scrawl. Papa was glad to hear
+    you had got home well--as well as we.... I do miss my dear
+    bed-fellow; no more of that calm sleep.
+
+Her pen now began to move more quickly, and the closing chapters of
+"Villette" were written with comparative ease, so that at last she
+writes thus, on November 22nd:
+
+    Monday morning.
+
+    Truly thankful am I to be able to tell you that I finished my long
+    task on Saturday, packed and sent off the parcel to Cornhill. I
+    said my prayers when I had done it. Whether it is well or ill done
+    I don't know. _D. V._, I will now try to wait the issue quietly.
+    The book, I think, will not be considered pretentious, nor is it
+    of a character to excite hostility. As Papa is pretty well, I may,
+    I trust, dear Nell, do as you wish me, and come for a few days to
+    B----. Miss Martineau has also urgently asked me to go and see
+    her. I promised, if all were well, to do so at the close of
+    November or the commencement of December, so that I could go on
+    from B---- to Westmoreland. Would Wednesday suit you? "Esmond"
+    shall come with me--_i.e._ Thackeray's novel.
+
+Every reader knows in what fashion "Villette" ends, and most persons
+also know from Mrs. Gaskell that the reason why the actual issue is
+left in some uncertainty was the author's filial desire to gratify her
+father. Charlotte herself was firmly resolved that she would _not_
+make Lucy Snowe the happy wife of Paul Emanuel. She never meant to
+"appoint her lot in pleasant places." Lucy was to bear the storm and
+stress of life in the same manner as that in which her creator had
+been compelled to bear it; and she was to be left in the end alone,
+robbed for ever of the hope of spending the happy afternoon of her
+existence in the sunshine of love and congenial society. But Mr.
+Bronte, altogether unconscious of that tragedy of heart-sickness and
+soul-weariness which was being enacted under his own roof, and which
+furnished so striking a parallel to the story which ran through
+"Villette," would not brook a gloomy ending to the tale, and by
+protestations and entreaties induced his daughter at least so far to
+alter her plan as to leave the issue in doubt.
+
+So "Villette" went its way, as "Jane Eyre" and "Shirley " had done
+before it, from the secluded parsonage at Haworth up to the busy
+publishing-house in Cornhill, and thence out into the world. There was
+some fear on Charlotte's part when the MS. had been despatched. She
+herself was gradually forming that which remained the fixed conviction
+of her life--the conviction that in "Villette" she had done her best,
+and that, for good or for ill, by it her reputation must stand or
+fall. But she was intensely anxious, as we have seen, to have the
+opinions of others upon the story. Nor was it only a general verdict
+on its merits for which she called. She was uneasy upon some minor
+points. According to her wont, she had taken most of her characters
+from life, and it was not during her stay at Brussels alone that she
+had studied the models which she employed when writing the book.
+Naturally, she was curious to know whether she had painted her
+portraits too literally. So "Villette" was allowed to pass, whilst
+still in MS., into the hands of the original of "Dr. John." When that
+gentleman had read the story, and criticised all the characters with
+the freedom of unconsciousness, her mind was set at rest, and she knew
+that she had not transgressed the bounds which divide the story-teller
+from the biographer.
+
+In the meantime, her work done, she hurried away from Haworth to spend
+a well-earned holiday at B---- with her friend. "Esmond" accompanied
+her, and the quiet afternoons were spent in reading it aloud. On
+December 9th she writes from Haworth, announcing her safe return to
+her own home:
+
+    I got home safely at five o'clock yesterday afternoon, and, I am
+    most thankful to say, found Papa and all the rest quite well. I
+    did my business satisfactorily in Leeds, getting the head-dress
+    rearranged as I wished. It is now a very different matter to the
+    bushy, tasteless thing it was before. On my arrival I found no
+    proof-sheets, but a letter from Mr. S----, which I would have
+    enclosed, but so many words are scarce legible you would have no
+    pleasure in reading it. He continues to make a mystery of his
+    "reason"; something in the third volume sticks confoundedly in his
+    throat; and as to the "female character" about which I asked, he
+    responds that "she is an odd, fascinating little puss," but
+    affirms that "he is not in love with her." He tells me also that
+    he will answer no more questions about "Villette." This morning I
+    have a brief note from Mr. Williams, intimating that he has not
+    yet been permitted to read the third volume. Also there is a note
+    from Mrs. ----, very kind. I almost wish I could still look on
+    that kindness just as I used to do: it was very pleasant to me
+    once. Write _immediately_, dear Nell, and tell me how your
+    mother is. Give my kindest regards to her and all others at B----.
+    Everybody seemed very good to me this last visit. I remember it
+    with corresponding pleasure.
+
+The private reception of "Villette" was not altogether that for which
+its author had hoped. Her publisher had objections to urge against
+certain features of the story, and those who saw the book in
+manuscript were not slow to express their own disapproval. It was
+evident that there was disappointment at Cornhill; and the proud
+spirit of Miss Bronte was keenly troubled. The letters in which she
+dwells on what was passing at that time need not be reproduced here,
+for their purport is sufficiently indicated by that which has just
+been given. But it is worth while to notice the scrupulous modesty
+with which she listened to all that was said by those who found fault,
+her careful anxiety to understand their objections, such as they were,
+and her perfect readiness to discuss every point raised with them. Of
+irritability under this criticism there is no trace, only a certain
+sadness and sorrow at the discovery that she had not succeeded in
+impressing others as she had hoped to do. Yet she is scarcely
+surprised that it is so. Had she not written years before, when
+"Shirley" was first produced, these words?--
+
+    No matter, whether known or unknown, misjudged or the contrary, I
+    am resolved not to write otherwise. I shall bend as my powers
+    tend. The two human beings who understood me, and whom I
+    understood, are gone. I have some that love me yet, and whom I
+    love without expecting, or having a right to expect, that they
+    shall perfectly understand me. I am satisfied, but I must have my
+    own way in the matter of writing.... I am thankful to God who gave
+    me the faculty; and it is for me a part of my religion to defend
+    this gift and to profit by its possession.
+
+So now she is not astonished at finding herself misunderstood. Nor is
+she angry. She is perfectly ready to explain her real meaning to those
+who have misjudged her, but she is resolute in abiding by what she has
+written. The work wrung from her during those two years of pain and
+sorrow is not work which can be altered at will to please another.
+Even to meet the entreaties of her father she had refused to do more
+than draw a veil over the catastrophe in which the plot ends; and she
+cannot introduce new incidents, or lay on new colours, because the
+little circle of critics sitting in judgment on her manuscript have
+pronounced it to be imperfect. "I fear they" (the readers) "must be
+satisfied with what is offered. My palette affords no brighter tints;
+were I to attempt to deepen the reds or burnish the yellows, I should
+but blotch." Yet she admits that those who judge the book only from
+the outside have some reason to complain that it is not as other
+novels are:
+
+    You say that Lucy Snowe may be thought morbid and weak, unless
+    the history of her life be more freely given. I consider that she
+    _is_ both morbid and weak at times; her character sets up no
+    pretensions to unmixed strength, and anybody living her life
+    would necessarily become morbid. It was no impetus of healthy
+    feeling which urged her to the confessional, for instance; it was
+    the semi-delirium of solitary grief and sickness. If, however,
+    the book does not express all this, there must be a great fault
+    somewhere. I might explain away a few other points, but it would
+    be too much like drawing a picture and then writing underneath
+    the name of the object intended to be represented.
+
+Happily, the heart of the great reading world is bigger and truer as a
+whole than any part of it is. What those who read the manuscript of
+"Villette" failed to see at the first glance was seen instantly by the
+public when the book was placed in its hands. From critics of every
+school and degree there came up a cry of wonder and admiration, as men
+saw out of what simple characters and commonplace incidents genius had
+evoked this striking work of literary art. Popular, perhaps, the book
+could scarcely hope to be, in the vulgar acceptation of the word. The
+author had carefully avoided the "flowery and inviting" course of
+romance, and had written in silent obedience to the stern dictates of
+an inspiration which, as we have seen, only came at intervals, leaving
+her between its visits cruelly depressed and pained, but which when it
+came held her spell-bound and docile. Yet out of the dull record of
+humble woes, marked by no startling episodes, adorned by few of the
+flowers of poetry, she had created such a heart-history as remains to
+this day without a rival in the school of English fiction to which it
+belongs.
+
+I bring together a batch of notes, not all addressed to the same
+person, which give her account of the reception and success of the
+book:
+
+    February 11th, 1853.
+
+    Excuse a very brief note, for I have time only to thank you for
+    your last kind and welcome letter, and to say that, in obedience
+    to your wishes, I send you by this day's post two reviews--_The
+    Examiner_ and _The Morning Advertiser_--which, perhaps, you will
+    kindly return at your leisure. Ellen has a third--_The Literary
+    Gazette_--which she will likewise send. The reception of the book
+    has been favourable thus far--for which I am thankful--less, I
+    trust, on my own account than for the sake of those few real
+    friends who take so sincere an interest in my welfare as to be
+    happy in my happiness.
+
+
+    February 15th.
+
+    I am very glad to hear that you got home all right, and that you
+    managed to execute your commissions in Leeds so satisfactorily.
+    You do not say whether you remembered to order the Bishop's
+    dessert; I shall know, however, by to-morrow morning. I got a
+    budget of no less than seven papers yesterday and to-day. The
+    import of all the notices is such as to make my heart swell with
+    thankfulness to Him who takes note both of suffering and work and
+    motives. Papa is pleased too. As to friends in general, I believe
+    I can love them still without expecting them to take any large
+    share in this sort of gratification. The longer I live, the more
+    plainly I see that gentle must be the strain on fragile human
+    nature. It will not bear much.
+
+    I have heard from Mrs. Gaskell. Very kind, panegyrical, and so on.
+    Mr. S---- tells me he has ascertained that Miss Martineau _did_
+    write the notice in _The Daily News_. J. T. offers to give me a
+    regular blowing-up and setting down for L5, but I tell him _The
+    Times_ will probably let me have the same gratis.
+
+
+    March 10th, 1853.
+
+    I only got _The Guardian_ newspaper yesterday morning, and have
+    not yet seen either _The Critic_ or _Sharpe's Magazine_. _The
+    Guardian_ does not wound me much. I see the motive, which, indeed,
+    there is no attempt to disguise. Still I think it a choice little
+    morsel for foes (Mr. ---- was the first to bring the news of the
+    review to Papa), and a still choicer morsel for "friends"
+    who--bless them!--while they would not perhaps positively do one
+    an injury, still take a dear delight in dashing with bitterness
+    the too sweet cup of success. Is _Sharpe's_ small article like a
+    bit of sugar-candy, too, Ellen? or has it the proper wholesome
+    wormwood flavour? Of course I guess it will be like _The
+    Guardian_. My "dear friends" will weary of waiting for _The
+    Times_. "O Sisera! why tarry the wheels of thy chariot so long?"
+
+
+    March 22nd.
+
+    Thank you for sending ----'s notes. Though I have not attended to
+    them lately, they always amuse me. I like to read them; one gets
+    from them a clear enough idea of her sort of life. ----'s attempts
+    to improve his good partner's mind make me smile. I think it all
+    right enough, and doubt not they are happy in their way; only the
+    direction he gives his efforts seems of rather problematic wisdom.
+    Algebra and optics! Why not enlarge her views by a little
+    well-chosen general reading? However, they do right to amuse
+    themselves in their own way. The rather dark view you seem to take
+    of the general opinion about "Villette" surprises me the less, as
+    only the more unfavourable reviews seem to have come in your way.
+    Some reports reach me of a different tendency; but no matter; time
+    will show. As to the character of Lucy Snowe, my intention from
+    the first was that she should not occupy the pedestal to which
+    "Jane Eyre" was raised by some injudicious admirers. She is where
+    I meant her to be, and where no charge of self-laudation can touch
+    her.
+
+
+
+
+XI.
+
+MARRIAGE AND DEATH.
+
+
+Every book, as we know, has its secret history, hidden from the world
+which reads only the printed pages, but legible enough to the author,
+who sees something more than the words he has set down for the public
+to read. Thackeray tells us how, reading again one of his smaller
+stories, written at a sad period of his own life, he brought back all
+the scene amid which the little tale was composed, and woke again to a
+consciousness of the pangs which tore his heart when his pen was busy
+with the imaginary fortunes of the puppets he had placed upon the
+mimic stage. Between the lines he read quite a different story from
+that which was laid before the reader. I have tried to show how
+largely this was the case with Charlotte Bronte's novels. Each was a
+double romance, having one meaning for the world, and another for the
+author. Yet she herself, when she wrote "Shirley" and "Villette," had
+no conception of the strange blending of the secret currents of the
+two books which was in store for her, or of the unexpected fate which
+was to befall the real heroine of her last work--to wit, herself.
+
+I have told how fixed was her belief that "Lucy Snowe's" fate was to
+be a tragic one--a life the closing years of which were to be spent in
+loneliness and anguish, and amid the bitterness of withered hopes.
+Very few readers can have forgotten the closing passage of "Villette,"
+in which the catastrophe, though veiled, can be readily discovered:
+
+    The sun passes the equinox; the days shorten, the leaves grow
+    sere; but--he is coming.
+
+    Frosts appear at night; November has sent his fogs in advance; the
+    wind takes its autumn moan; but--he is coming.
+
+    The skies hang full and dark--a rack sails from the west; the
+    clouds cast themselves into strange forms--arches and broad
+    radiations; there rise resplendent mornings--glorious, royal,
+    purple as a monarch in his state; the heavens are one flame; so
+    wild are they, they rival battle at its thickest--so bloody, they
+    shame Victory in her pride. I know some signs of the sky; I have
+    noted them ever since childhood. God, watch that sail! Oh! guard
+    it!
+
+    The wind shifts to the west. Peace, peace, Banshee--"keening" at
+    every window! It will rise--it will swell--it shrieks out long:
+    wander as I may through the house this night, I cannot lull the
+    blast. The advancing hours make it strong: by midnight, all
+    sleepless watchers hear and fear a wild south-west storm....
+
+    Peace, be still! Oh! a thousand weepers, praying in agony on
+    waiting shores, listened for that voice, but it was not
+    uttered--not uttered till, when the hush came, some could not feel
+    it; till, when the sun returned, his light was night to some!
+
+In darkness such as here is shadowed forth, Charlotte Bronte believed
+that her own life would close; all sunshine gone, all joys swept clean
+away by the bitter blast of death, all hopes withered or uprooted. But
+the end which she pictured was not to be. God was more merciful than
+her own imaginings; and at eventide there was light and peace upon her
+troubled path.
+
+Those who turn to the closing passage of "Shirley" will find there
+reference to "a true Christian gentleman," who had taken the place of
+the hypocrite Malone, one of the famous three curates of the story.
+This gentleman, a Mr. McCarthy, was, like the rest, no fictitious
+personage. His original was to be found in the person of Mr. Nicholls,
+who for several years had lived a simple, unobtrusive life at Haworth,
+as curate to Mr. Bronte, and whose name often occurs in Charlotte's
+letters to her friend. In none of these references to him is there the
+slightest indication that he was more than an honoured friend. Nor was
+it so. Whilst Mr. Nicholls, dwelling near Miss Bronte, and observing
+her far more closely than any other person could do, had formed a deep
+and abiding attachment for her, she herself was wholly unconscious of
+the fact. Its first revelation came upon her as something like a
+shock; as something also like a reproach. Whilst she had thought
+herself alone, doomed to a life of solitude and pain, a tender yet a
+manly love had all the while been growing round her.
+
+It is obvious that the letters which she addressed at this time
+(December, 1852) to her friend cannot be printed here. Yet no letters
+more honourable to the woman, the daughter, and the lover have ever
+been penned. There is no restraint now in the outpourings of her
+heart. Her friend is taken into her full confidence, and every hope
+and fear and joy is spoken out as only women who are pure and truthful
+and entirely noble can venture to speak out. Mrs. Gaskell has briefly
+but distinctly stated the broad features of this strange love story,
+giving such promise at the time, so happy and beautiful in its brief
+fruition, so soon to be quenched in the great darkness. Mr. Bronte
+resented the attentions of Mr. Nicholls to his daughter in a manner
+which brought to light all the sternness and bitterness of his
+character. There had been of late years a certain mellowing of his
+disposition, which Charlotte had dwelt upon with hopeful joy, as her
+one comfort in her lonely life at Haworth. How much he owed to her
+none knew but himself. When he was sinking under the burden of his
+son's death, she had rescued him; when, for one dark and bitter
+interval, he had sought refuge from grief and remorse in the coward's
+solace, her brave heart, her gentleness, her unyielding courage, had
+brought him back again from evil ways, and sustained and kept him in
+the path of honour; and now his own ambitions were more than satisfied
+by her success; he found himself shining in the reflected glory of his
+daughter's fame, and sunned himself, poor man, in the light and
+warmth. But all the old jealousy, the intense acerbity of his
+character, broke out when he saw another person step between himself
+and her, and that other no idol of the great world of London, but
+simply the honest man who had dwelt almost under his own roof-tree for
+years.
+
+When, having heard with surprise and emotion, the story of Mr.
+Nicholls's attachment, Charlotte communicated his offer to her father,
+"agitation and anger disproportionate to the occasion ensued. My blood
+boiled with a sense of injustice. But Papa worked himself into a state
+not to be trifled with. The veins on his forehead started up like
+whipcord, and his eyes became suddenly bloodshot. I made haste to
+promise that on the morrow Mr. Nicholls should have a distinct
+refusal." It so happened that very soon after this, that is to say
+when "Villette" was published, Miss Martineau caused deep pain to its
+writer by condemning the manner in which "all the female characters in
+all their thoughts and lives" were represented as "being full of one
+thing--love." The critic not unjustly pointed out that love was not
+the be-all and the end-all of a woman's life. Perhaps her pen would
+not have been so sharp in touching on this subject, had she known with
+what quiet self-sacrifice the author of "Villette" had but a few weeks
+before set aside her own preferences and inclinations, and submitted
+her lot to her father's angry will. This truly must be reckoned as
+another illustration of the extent to which the _Quarterly_ reviewer
+of 1848 had formed an accurate conception of the character of "Currer
+Bell."
+
+Not only was the struggle which followed sharp and painful, it was
+also stubborn and prolonged. Mr. Nicholls resigned the curacy he had
+held so many years, and prepared to leave Haworth. Mr. Bronte not only
+showed no signs of relenting, but openly exulted in his departure, and
+lost no opportunity of expressing in bitterly sarcastic language his
+opinion of his colleague's conduct. How deeply Charlotte suffered at
+this time is proved by the letters before me. Firmly convinced that
+her first duty was to the parent whose only remaining stay she was,
+she never wavered in her determination to sacrifice every wish of her
+own to his comfort. But her heart was racked with pity for the man who
+was suffering through his love for her, and her indignation was roused
+to fever-heat by the gross injustice of her father's conduct.
+
+    Compassion or relenting is no more to be looked for from Papa than
+    sap from firewood. I never saw a battle more sternly fought with
+    the feelings than Mr. N. fights with his, and when he yields
+    momentarily, you are almost sickened by the sense of the strain
+    upon him. However, he is to go, and I cannot speak to him or look
+    at him or comfort him a whit--and I must submit. Providence is
+    over all; that is the only consolation.
+
+    In all this--she says, after speaking again of the severity of
+    the struggle--it is not _I_ who am to be pitied at all, and of
+    course nobody pities me. They all think in Haworth that I have
+    disdainfully refused him. If pity would do him any good he ought
+    to have, and I believe has, it. They may abuse me if they will.
+    Whether they do or not I can't tell.
+
+
+    I thought of you on New Year's Day, and hope you got well over
+    your formidable tea-making. I am busy, too, in my little way,
+    preparing to go to London this week--a matter which necessitates
+    some little application to the needle. I find it quite necessary I
+    should go to superintend the press, as Mr. S---- seems quite
+    determined not to let the printing get on till I come. I have
+    actually only received three proof-sheets since I was at
+    Brookroyd. Papa wants me to go too, to be out of the way, I
+    suppose; but I am sorry for one other person whom nobody pities
+    but me.... They don't understand the nature of his feelings, but
+    I see now what they are. Mr. N---- is one of those who attach
+    themselves to very few, whose sensations are close and deep, like
+    an underground stream, running strong but in a narrow channel. He
+    continues restless and ill. He carefully performs the occasional
+    duty, but does not come near the church, procuring a substitute
+    every Sunday. A few days since he wrote to Papa requesting
+    permission to withdraw his resignation. Papa answered that he
+    should only do so on condition of giving his written promise never
+    again to broach the obnoxious subject either to him or to me. This
+    he has evaded doing, so the matter remains unsettled. I feel
+    persuaded the termination will be, his departure for Australia.
+    Dear Nell, without loving him, I don't like to think of him
+    suffering in solitude, and wish him anywhere so that he were
+    happier. He and Papa have never met or spoken yet.
+
+During this crisis in her life, when suffering had come to her in a
+new and sharp form, but when happily the black cloud was lit up on the
+other side by the rays of the sun, she went up to London to spend a
+few weeks. From the letters written during her visit I make these
+extracts:
+
+    January 11th, 1853.
+
+    I came here last Wednesday. I had a delightful day for my journey,
+    and was kindly received at the close. My time has passed
+    pleasantly enough since I came, yet I have not much to tell you;
+    nor is it likely I shall have. I do not mean to go out much or see
+    many people. Sir J. S---- wrote to me two or three times before I
+    left home, and made me promise to let him know when I should be
+    in town, but I reserve to myself the right of deferring the
+    communication till the latter part of my stay. All in this house
+    appear to be pretty much as usual, and yet I see some changes.
+    Mrs. ---- and her daughter look well enough; but on Mr. ---- hard
+    work is telling early. Both his complexion, his countenance, and
+    the very lines of his features are altered. It is rather the
+    remembrance of what he was than the fact of what he is which can
+    warrant the picture I have been accustomed to give of him. One
+    feels pained to see a physical alteration of this kind; yet I feel
+    glad and thankful that it is _merely_ physical. As far as I can
+    judge, mind and manners have undergone no deterioration--rather, I
+    think, the contrary.
+
+
+    January 19th, 1853.
+
+    I still continue to get on very comfortably and quietly in London,
+    in the way I like, seeing rather things than persons. Being
+    allowed to have my own choice of sights this time I selected the
+    _real_ rather than the _decorative_ side of life. I have been over
+    two prisons, ancient and modern, Newgate and Pentonville; also the
+    Bank, the Exchange, the Foundling Hospital; and to-day, if all be
+    well, I go with Dr. Forbes to see Bethlehem Hospital. Mrs. ----
+    and her daughters are, I believe, a little amazed at my gloomy
+    tastes; but I take no notice. Papa, I am glad to say, continues
+    well. I enclose portions of two notes of his which will show you
+    better than anything I can say how he treats a certain subject. My
+    book is to appear at the close of this month. Mrs. Gaskell wrote
+    to beg that it should not clash with "Ruth," and it was impossible
+    to refuse to defer the publication a week or two.
+
+The visit to London did good; but it could not remove the pain which
+she suffered during this period of conflict.
+
+    Haworth, May 19th, 1853.
+
+    It is almost a relief to hear that you only think of staying at
+    G---- a month; though of course one must not be selfish in wishing
+    you to come home soon.... I cannot help feeling satisfaction in
+    finding that the people here are getting up a subscription to
+    offer a testimonial of respect to Mr. N---- on his leaving the
+    place. Many are expressing both their commiseration and esteem for
+    him. The churchwardens recently put the question to him plainly:
+    Why was he going? Was it Mr. Bronte's fault or his own? His own,
+    he answered. Did he blame Mr. Bronte? No, he did not: if anybody
+    was wrong, it was himself. Was he willing to go? No; it gave him
+    great pain. Yet he is not always right. I must be just. Papa
+    addressed him at the school tea-drinking with _constrained_
+    civility, but still with _civility_. He did not reply civilly; he
+    cut short further words. This sort of treatment is what Papa never
+    will forget or forgive. It inspires him with a silent bitterness
+    not to be expressed.... It is a dismal state of things. The
+    weather is fine now, dear Nell. We will take these sunny days as a
+    good omen for your visit.
+
+
+    May 27th, 1853.
+
+    You will want to know about the leave-taking. The whole matter is
+    but a painful subject, but I must treat it briefly. The
+    testimonial was presented in a public meeting. Mr. F---- and Mr.
+    G---- were there. Papa was not very well, and I advised him to
+    stay away, which he did. As to the last Sunday, it was a cruel
+    struggle. Mr. N---- ought not to have had to take any duty. He
+    left Haworth this morning at six o'clock. Yesterday evening he
+    called to render into Papa's hands the deeds of the National
+    School, and to say good-bye. They were busy cleaning, washing the
+    paint, &c., so he did not find me there. I would not go into the
+    parlour to speak to him in Papa's presence. He went out, thinking
+    he was not to see me; and indeed till the very last moment I
+    thought it best not. But perceiving that he stayed long before
+    going out at the gate, and remembering his long grief, I took
+    courage, and went out, trembling and miserable. I found him
+    leaning against the garden door.... Of course I went straight to
+    him. Very few words were interchanged; those few barely
+    articulate: several things I should have liked to ask him were
+    swept entirely from my memory. Poor fellow! but he wanted such
+    hope and such encouragement as I _could_ not give him. Still
+    I trust he must know now that I am not cruelly blind and
+    indifferent to his constancy and grief. For a few weeks he goes to
+    the South of England--afterwards he takes a curacy somewhere in
+    Yorkshire, but I don't know where. Papa has been far from strong
+    lately. I dare not mention Mr. N----'s name to him. He speaks of
+    him quietly and without opprobrium to others; but to me he is
+    implacable on the matter. However, he is gone--gone--and there's
+    an end of it! I see no chance of hearing a word about him in
+    future, unless some stray shred of intelligence comes through Mr.
+    G---- or some other second-hand source.
+
+The remainder of the year 1853 was a chequered one. Mr. Nicholls left
+Haworth; Charlotte remained with her father. Those who saw her at this
+time bear testimony to the unfailing, never-flagging devotion she
+displayed towards one who was wounding her cruelly. But she bore this
+sorrow, like those which had preceded it, bravely and cheerfully. To
+her friend she opened her heart at times, revealing something of what
+she was suffering; but to all others she was silent.
+
+    Haworth, April 13th, 1853.
+
+    MY DEAR MISS ----,--Your last kind letter ought to have been
+    answered long since, and would have been, did I find it practicable
+    to proportion the promptitude of the response to the value I place
+    upon my correspondents and their communications. You will easily
+    understand, however, that the contrary rule often holds good, and
+    that the epistle which importunes often takes precedence of that
+    which interests. My publishers express entire satisfaction with the
+    reception which has been accorded to "Villette." And, indeed, the
+    majority of the reviews has been favourable enough. You will be
+    aware, however, that there is a minority, small in character, which
+    views the work with no favourable eye. "Currer Bell's" remarks on
+    Romanism have drawn down on him the condign displeasure of the High
+    Church party, which displeasure has been unequivocally expressed
+    through their principal organs, _The Guardian_, _The English
+    Churchman_, and _The Christian Remembrancer_. I can well
+    understand that some of the charges launched against me by these
+    publications will tell heavily to my prejudice in the minds of
+    most readers. But this must be borne; and for my part, I can
+    suffer no accusation to oppress me much which is not supported by
+    the inward evidence of Conscience and Reason. "Extremes meet,"
+    says the proverb; in proof whereof I would mention that Miss
+    Martineau finds with "Villette" nearly the same fault as the
+    Puseyites. She accuses me of attacking Popery "with virulence," of
+    going out of my way to assault it "passionately." In other
+    respects she has shown, with reference to the work, a spirit so
+    strangely and unexpectedly acrimonious, that I have gathered
+    courage to tell her that the gulf of mutual difference between her
+    and me is so wide and deep, the bridge of union so slight and
+    uncertain, I have come to the conclusion that frequent intercourse
+    would be most perilous and unadvisable, and have begged to adjourn
+    _sine die_ my long-projected visit to her. Of course she is now
+    very angry, but it cannot be helped. Two or three weeks since I
+    received a long and kind letter from Mr. ----, which I answered a
+    short time ago. I believe he thinks me a much better advocate for
+    _change_, and what is called "political progress," than I am.
+    However, in my reply I did not touch on these subjects. He
+    intimated a wish to publish some of his own MSS. I fear he would
+    hardly like the somewhat dissuasive tendency of my answer; but
+    really, in these days of headlong competition, it is a great risk
+    to publish.
+
+
+    April 18th, 1853.
+
+    If all be well, I think of going to Manchester about the close of
+    this week. I only intend staying a few days; but I can say nothing
+    about coming back by B----. Do not expect me; I would rather see
+    you at Haworth by-and-by. Two or three weeks since, Miss Martineau
+    wrote to ask why she did not hear from me, and to press me to go
+    to Ambleside. Explanations ensued; the notes on each side were
+    quite civil; but, having deliberately formed my resolution on
+    substantial grounds, I adhered to it. I have declined being her
+    visitor, and bid her good-bye. It is best so; the antagonism of
+    our natures and principles was too serious to be trifled with.
+
+This difference with Miss Martineau is not a thing to dwell on now.
+The pity is that two women so truthful, so sincere, so bold in their
+utterances should ever have differed. Charlotte Bronte had known how
+to stand bravely by Miss Martineau when she believed that the latter
+was suffering because of her honestly-formed opinions; she had known
+how to speak on her behalf with timely generosity and force. But her
+sensitive nature was wounded to the quick by criticisms which she
+believed to be unjust; and so these two great women parted, and met
+again no more.
+
+To the mental pain which she was now suffering from her father's
+conduct there was added keen physical torture. During this summer of
+1853 many of her letters contain sentences like this: "I have been
+suffering most severely for ten days with continued pain in the
+head--on the nerves it is said to be. Blistering at last seems to have
+done it some good; but I am yet weak and bewildered." A visit from
+Mrs. Gaskell, who came to see how Haworth looked in its autumn robe of
+splendour, did her some good; but still more was gained by a journey
+to the seaside in the company of her old friend and schoolmistress,
+Miss Wooler, before which she had addressed to her the following
+letter:
+
+    Haworth, August 30th, 1853.
+
+    MY DEAR MISS W.,--I was from home when your kind letter came, and,
+    as it was not forwarded, I did not get it till my return. All the
+    summer I have felt the wish and cherished the intention to join you
+    for a brief period at the seaside; nor do I yet entirely relinquish
+    the purpose, though its fulfilment must depend on my father's
+    health. At present he complains so much of weakness and depressed
+    spirits, that no thoughts of leaving him can be entertained. Should
+    he improve, however, I would fain come to you before autumn is
+    quite gone.
+
+    My late absence was but for a week, when I accompanied Mr. and
+    Mrs. ---- and baby on a trip to Scotland. They went with the
+    intention of taking up their quarters at Kirkcudbright, or some
+    watering-place on the Solway Firth. We hardly reached that
+    locality, and had stayed but one night, when the baby (that rather
+    despotic member of modern households) exhibited some symptoms of
+    indisposition. To my unskilled perception its ailments appeared
+    very slight, nowise interfering with its appetite or spirits; but
+    parental eyes saw the matter in a different light. The air of
+    Scotland was pronounced unpropitious to the child, and
+    consequently we had to retrace our steps. I own I felt some little
+    reluctance to leave "bonnie Scotland" so soon and so abruptly, but
+    of course I could not say a word, since, however strong on my own
+    mind the impression that the ailment in question was very trivial
+    and temporary (an impression confirmed by the issue), I could not
+    be absolutely certain that such was the case; and had any evil
+    consequences followed a prolonged stay, I should never have
+    forgiven myself.
+
+    Ilkley was the next place thought of. We went there, but I only
+    remained three days, for, in the hurry of changing trains at one
+    of the stations, my box was lost, and without clothes I could not
+    stay. I have heard of it twice, but have not yet regained it. In
+    all probability it is now lying at Kirkcudbright, where it was
+    directed.
+
+    Notwithstanding some minor trials, I greatly enjoyed this little
+    excursion. The scenery through which we travelled from Dumfries to
+    Kirkcudbright (a distance of thirty miles, performed outside a
+    stage-coach) was beautiful, though not at all of a peculiarly
+    Scottish character, being richly cultivated and well wooded. I
+    liked Ilkley, too, exceedingly, and shall long to revisit the
+    place. On the whole, I thought it for the best that circumstances
+    obliged me to return home so soon, for I found Papa far from well.
+    He is something better now, yet I shall not feel it right to leave
+    him again till I see a more thorough re-establishment of health
+    and strength.
+
+    With some things to regret and smile at, I saw things to admire in
+    the small family party with which I travelled. Mr. ---- makes a
+    most devoted father and husband. I admired his great kindness to
+    his wife; but I rather groaned (inwardly) over the unbounded
+    indulgence of both parents towards their only child. The world
+    does not revolve round the sun; that is a mistake. Certain babies,
+    I plainly perceive, are the important centre of all things. The
+    papa and mamma could only take their meals, rest, and exercise at
+    such times and in such manner as the despotic infant permitted.
+    While Mrs. ---- eat her dinner, Mr. ---- relieved guard as nurse.
+    A nominal nurse, indeed, accompanied the party, but her place was
+    a sort of anxious waiting sinecure, as the child did not fancy her
+    attendance. Tenderness to offspring is a virtue, yet I think I
+    have seen mothers who were most tender and thoughtful, yet in very
+    love for their children would not permit them to become tyrants
+    either over themselves or others.
+
+    I shall be glad and grateful, my dear Miss W., to hear from you
+    again whenever you have time or inclination to write--though, as I
+    told you before, there is no fear of my misunderstanding silence.
+    Should you leave Hornsea before winter sets in, I trust you will
+    just come straight to Haworth, and pay your long-anticipated visit
+    there before you go elsewhere. Papa and the servants send their
+    respects. I always duly deliver your kind messages of remembrance,
+    because they give pleasure.
+
+December came, and she writes to this friend expressing her wonder as
+to how she is spending the long winter evenings--"alone, probably,
+like me." It was a dreary winter for her; but the spring was at hand.
+Mr. Bronte, studying his daughter with keen eyes, could not hide from
+himself the fact that her health and spirits were drooping now as they
+had never drooped before. All work with the pen was laid aside; and
+household cares, attendance upon her father or on the old servant, who
+now also needed to be waited upon, occupied her time; but her heart
+was heavy with a burden such as she had never previously known. At
+last the stern nature of the man was broken down by his genuine
+affection for his daughter. His opposition to her marriage was
+suddenly laid aside; he asked her to recall Mr. Nicholls to Haworth,
+and with characteristic waywardness he now became as anxious that the
+wedding should take place as he had ever been that it should be
+prevented.
+
+There was a curious misadventure regarding the letter inviting Mr.
+Nicholls to Haworth, which is explained in the first of the letters I
+now quote.
+
+    Haworth, March 28th, 1854.
+
+    The enclosure in yours of yesterday puzzled me at first, for I did
+    not immediately recognise my own handwriting. When I did, the
+    sensation was one of consternation and vexation, as the letter
+    ought by all means to have gone on Friday. It was intended to
+    relieve him from great anxiety. However, I trust he will get it
+    to-day; and, on the whole, when I think it over, I can only be
+    thankful that the mistake was no worse, and did not throw the
+    letter into the hands of some indifferent and unscrupulous person.
+    I wrote it after some days of indisposition and uneasiness, and
+    when I felt weak and unfit to write. While writing to _him_ I
+    was at the same time intending to answer _your_ note; which I
+    suppose accounts for the confusion of ideas shown in the mixed and
+    blundering address.
+
+    I wish you could come about Easter rather than at another time,
+    for this reason. Mr. Nicholls, if not prevented, proposes coming
+    over then. I suppose he will be staying at Mr. ----'s, as he has
+    done two or three times before; but he will be frequently coming
+    here, which would enliven your visits a little. Perhaps, too, he
+    might take a walk with us occasionally. Altogether, it would be a
+    little change for you, such as you know I could not always offer.
+    If all be well, he will come under different circumstances to any
+    that have attended his visits before. Were it otherwise, I should
+    not ask you to meet him, for when aspects are gloomy and
+    unpropitious, the fewer there are to suffer from the cloud, the
+    better. He was here in January, and was then received.... I trust
+    it will be a little different now. Papa has breakfasted in bed
+    to-day, and has not yet risen. His bronchitis is still
+    troublesome. I had a bad week last week, but am greatly better
+    now, for my mind is a little relieved, though very sedate, and
+    rising only to expectations the most moderate. Some time, perhaps
+    in May, I may be in your neighbourhood, and shall then hope to
+    come to B.; but, as you will understand from what I have now
+    stated, I could not come before. Think it over, dear E., and come
+    to Haworth if you can.
+
+
+    April 11th, 1854.
+
+    The result of Mr. Nicholls's visit is that Papa's consent is
+    gained and his respect won, for Mr. Nicholls has in all things
+    proved himself disinterested and forbearing. He has shown, too,
+    that, while his feelings are exquisitely keen, he can freely
+    forgive.... In fact, dear Ellen, I am engaged. Mr. Nicholls in the
+    course of a few months will return to the curacy of Haworth. I
+    stipulated that I would not leave Papa, and to Papa himself I
+    proposed a plan of residence which should maintain his seclusion
+    and convenience uninvaded, and in a pecuniary sense bring him gain
+    instead of loss. What seemed at one time impossible is now
+    arranged, and Papa begins really to take a pleasure in the
+    prospect. For myself, dear E----, while thankful to One who seems
+    to have guided me through much difficulty, much and deep distress
+    and perplexity of mind, I am still very calm.... What I taste of
+    happiness is of the soberest order. Providence offers me this
+    destiny. Doubtless, then, it is the best for me; nor do I shrink
+    from wishing those dear to me one not less happy. It is possible
+    that our marriage may take place in the course of the summer. Mr.
+    Nicholls wishes it to be in July. He spoke of you with great
+    kindness, and said he hoped you would be at our wedding. I said I
+    thought of having no other bridesmaid. Did I say right? I mean the
+    marriage to be literally _as quiet as possible_. Do not mention
+    these things as yet. Good-bye. There is a strange, half-sad
+    feeling in making these announcements. The whole thing is
+    something other than the imagination paints it beforehand--cares,
+    fears, come mixed inextricably with hopes. I trust yet to talk the
+    matter over with you.
+
+So at length the day had dawned, and every letter now is filled with
+the hopes and cares of the expectant bride.
+
+    April 15th.
+
+    I hope to see you somewhere about the second week in May. The
+    Manchester visit is still hanging over my head; I have deferred it
+    and deferred it, but have finally promised to go about the
+    beginning of next month. I shall only stay about three days; then
+    I spend two or three days at H., then come to B. The three visits
+    must be compressed into the space of a fortnight, if possible. I
+    suppose I shall have to go to Leeds. My purchases cannot be either
+    expensive or extensive. You must just resolve in your head the
+    bonnets and dresses: something that can be turned to decent use
+    and worn after the wedding-day will be best, I think. I wrote
+    immediately to Miss W----, and received a truly kind letter from
+    her this morning. Papa's mind seems wholly changed about this
+    matter; and he has said, both to me and when I was not there, how
+    much happier he feels since he allowed all to be settled. It is a
+    wonderful relief for me to hear him treat the thing rationally,
+    and quietly and amicably to talk over with him themes on which
+    once I dared not touch. He is rather anxious that things should
+    get forward now, and takes quite an interest in the arrangement of
+    preliminaries. His health improves daily, though this east wind
+    still keeps up a slight irritation in the throat and chest. The
+    feeling which has been disappointed in Papa was _ambition_--paternal
+    pride--ever a restless feeling, as we all know. Now that this
+    unquiet spirit is exorcised, justice, which was once quite
+    forgotten, is once more listened to, and affection, I hope, resumes
+    some power. My hope is that in the end this arrangement will turn
+    out more truly to Papa's advantage than any other it was in my
+    power to achieve. Mr. N. only in his last letter refers touchingly
+    to his earnest desire to prove his gratitude to Papa by offering
+    support and consolation to his declining age. This will not be mere
+    _talk_ with him. He is no talker, no dealer in mere professions.
+
+
+    April 28th.
+
+    Papa, thank God! continues to improve much. He preached twice on
+    Sunday, and again on Wednesday, and was not tired. His mind and
+    mood are different to what they were; so much more cheerful and
+    quiet. I trust the illusions of ambition are quite dissipated, and
+    that he really sees it is better to relieve a suffering and
+    faithful heart, to secure in its fidelity a solid good, than
+    unfeelingly to abandon one who is truly attached to _his_
+    interests as well as mine, and pursue some vain empty shadow.
+
+
+    Hemsworth, May 6th.
+
+    I came here on Thursday afternoon. I shall stay over Saturday and
+    Sunday, and, if all be well, I hope to come to B. on Monday, after
+    dinner, and just in time for tea. I leave you to judge by your own
+    feelings whether I long to see you or not. ---- tells me you are
+    looking better. She tells me also that I am not--rather ugly, as
+    usual. But never mind that, dear Nell--as, indeed, you never did.
+    On the whole, I _feel_ very decently at present, and within the
+    last fortnight have had much respite from headache. You are kind in
+    being so much in earnest in wishing for Mr. N. to come to B., and I
+    am sorry that circumstances do not favour such a step. But, knowing
+    how matters stood, I did not repeat the proposal to him, for I
+    thought it would be like tempting him to forget duty.
+
+In the following letters, in addition to the pleasing side-lights
+which they throw upon her life in its new aspect, there is another
+feature which deserves to be noticed--that is, the exceeding
+tenderness with which the writer watches over her friend. The new love
+entering into her heart has but made the old love stronger, and she
+lavishes upon the sole remaining companion of her youth the care and
+affection which can no longer be bestowed upon sisters of her own
+blood.
+
+    Haworth, May 14th.
+
+    I took the time of the Leeds, Keighley, Skipton trains from the
+    February time-table, and when I got to Leeds found myself all
+    wrong. The trains on that line were changed. One had that moment
+    left the station--indeed, it was just steaming away; there was not
+    another till a quarter after five o'clock; so I had just four
+    hours to sit and twirl my thumbs. I got over the time somehow, but
+    I was vexed to think how much more pleasantly I might have spent
+    it at B. It was just seven o'clock when I reached home. I found
+    Papa well. It seems he has been particularly well during my
+    absence, but to-day he is a little sickly, and only preached once.
+    However, he is better again this evening. I could not leave you,
+    dear Ellen, with a very quiet mind, or take away a satisfied
+    feeling about you. Not that I think that bad cough lodged in a
+    dangerous quarter; but it shakes your system, wears you out, and
+    makes you look ill. _Take care of it, do, dear Ellen. Avoid the
+    evening air for a time_; keep in the house when the weather is
+    cold. Observe these precautions till the cough is quite gone, and
+    you regain strength, and feel better able to bear chill and
+    change. Believe me, it does not suit you at present to be much
+    exposed to variations of temperature. I send the mantle with this,
+    but have made up my mind not to let you have the cushion now, lest
+    you should sit stitching over it too closely. It will do any time,
+    and whenever it comes will be your present all the same.
+
+
+    May 22nd.
+
+    I wonder how you are, and whether that harassing cough is better;
+    but I am afraid the variable weather of last week will not have
+    been favourable to improvement. I _will_ not and _do_ not believe
+    the cough lies on any vital organ. Still it is a mark of weakness,
+    and a warning to be scrupulously careful about undue exposure. Just
+    now, dear Ellen, an hour's inadvertence might derange your whole
+    constitution for years to come--might throw you into a state of
+    chronic ill-health which would waste, fade, and wither you up
+    prematurely. So, once and again, TAKE CARE. If you go to ----,
+    or any other evening party, pack yourself in blankets and a
+    feather-bed to come home, also fold your boa twice over your mouth,
+    to serve as a respirator. Since I came home I have been very busy
+    sketching. The little new room is got into order now, and the green
+    and white curtains are up. They exactly suit the papering, and look
+    neat and clean enough. I had a letter a day or two since,
+    announcing that Mr. N. comes to-morrow. I feel anxious about him,
+    more anxious on one point than I dare quite express to myself. It
+    seems he has again been suffering sharply from his rheumatic
+    affection. I hear this not from himself, but from another quarter.
+    He was ill whilst I was at Manchester and B. He uttered no
+    complaint to me, dropped no hint on the subject. Alas! he was
+    hoping he had got the better of it; and I know how this
+    contradiction of his hopes will sadden him. For unselfish reasons
+    he did so earnestly wish this complaint might not become chronic. I
+    fear--I fear--but, however, I mean to stand by him now, whether in
+    weal or woe. This liability to rheumatic pain was one of the strong
+    arguments used against the marriage. It did not weigh, somehow. If
+    he is doomed to suffer, it seems that so much the more will he need
+    care and help. And yet the ultimate possibilities of such a case
+    are appalling. Well, come what may, God help and strengthen both
+    him and me. I look forward to to-morrow with a mixture of
+    impatience and anxiety. Poor fellow! I want to see with my own eyes
+    how he is.
+
+
+    Haworth, June 7th.
+
+    I am very glad and thankful to hear that you continue better,
+    though I am afraid your cough will have returned a little during
+    the late chilly change in the weather. Are you taking proper care
+    of yourself, and either staying in the house or going out warmly
+    clad, and with a boa doing duty as a respirator? On this last
+    point I incline particularly to insist, for you seemed careless
+    about it, and unconscious how much atmospheric harm the fine thick
+    hairs of the fur might ward off. I was very miserable about Papa
+    again some days ago. While the weather was so sultry and electric,
+    about a week since, he was suddenly attacked with deafness, and
+    complained of other symptoms which showed the old tendency to the
+    head. His spirits, too, became excessively depressed. It was all I
+    could do to keep him up, and I own I was sad and depressed myself.
+    However he took some medicine, which did him good. The change to
+    cooler weather, too, has suited him. The temporary deafness has
+    quite disappeared for the present, and his head is again clear and
+    cool. I can only earnestly trust he will continue better. That
+    unlucky ---- continues his efforts to give what trouble he can,
+    and I am obliged to conceal things from Papa's knowledge as well
+    as I can, to spare him that anxiety which hurts him so much.... I
+    feel compelled to throw the burden of the contest upon Mr.
+    Nicholls, who is younger and can bear it better. The worst of it
+    is, Mr. N. has not Papa's right to speak and act, or he would do
+    it to purpose. I should then have to mediate, not rouse; to play
+    the part of
+
+        Feather-bed 'twixt castle-wall
+        And heavy brunt of cannon-ball.
+
+
+    June 16th.
+
+    MY DEAR MISS W----,--Owing to certain untoward proceedings, matters
+    have hitherto been kept in such a state of uncertainty that I could
+    not make any approach towards fixing the day; and now, if I would
+    avoid inconveniencing Papa, I must hurry. I believe the
+    commencement of July is the furthest date upon which I can
+    calculate; possibly I may be obliged to accept one still
+    nearer--the close of June. I cannot quite decide till next week.
+    Meantime, will you, my dear Miss W----, come as soon as you
+    possibly can, and let me know at your earliest convenience the
+    day of your arrival. I have written to Ellen, begging her to
+    communicate with you.... Your absence would be a real and grievous
+    disappointment. Papa also seems much to wish your presence. Mr.
+    Nicholls enters with true kindness into my wish to have all done
+    quietly; and he has made such arrangements as will, I trust, secure
+    literal privacy. Yourself, Ellen, and Mr. S. will be the only
+    persons present at the ceremony. Mr. and Mrs. G. are asked to the
+    breakfast afterwards. I know you will kindly excuse this brief
+    note, for I am and have been _very_ busy, and must still be busy up
+    to the very day. Give my sincere love to all Mr. C----'s family. I
+    hope Mr. C. and Mr. Nicholls may meet some day. I believe mutual
+    acquaintance would in time bring mutual respect; but one of them,
+    at least, requires _knowing_ to be _appreciated_. And I must say
+    that I have not yet found him to lose with closer knowledge. I make
+    no grand discoveries, but I occasionally come upon a quiet little
+    nook of character which excites esteem. He is always reliable,
+    truthful, faithful, affectionate; a little unbending, perhaps, but
+    still persuadable and open to kind influence--a man never, indeed,
+    to be driven, but who may be led.
+
+[Illustration: HAWORTH CHURCH.]
+
+The marriage took place on June 29th, 1854. A neighbouring clergyman
+read the service; Charlotte's "dear Nell" was the solitary bridesmaid;
+her old schoolmistress, whose friendship had ever been dear to her,
+Miss Wooler, gave her away; and visitors to Haworth who are shown the
+marriage register will see that these two faithful and trusted friends
+were the only witnesses. Immediately after the marriage the bride and
+bridegroom started for Ireland, to visit some of the relatives of Mr.
+Nicholls. "I trust I feel thankful to God for having enabled me to
+make a right choice; and I pray to be enabled to repay as I ought the
+affectionate devotion of a truthful, honourable, unboastful man," are
+words which appear in the first letter written from Ireland. A month
+later the bride writes as follows to her friend:
+
+    Dublin, July 28th, 1854.
+
+    I really cannot rest any longer without writing you a line, which
+    I have literally not had time to do during the last fortnight. We
+    have been travelling about, with only just such cessation as
+    enabled me to answer a few of the many notes of congratulation
+    forwarded, and which I dared not suffer to accumulate till my
+    return, when I know I shall be busy enough. We have been to
+    Killarney, Glen Gariffe, Tarbert, Tralee, Cork, and are now once
+    more in Dublin again on our way home, where we hope to arrive next
+    week. I shall make no effort to describe the scenery through which
+    we have passed. Some parts have exceeded all I ever imagined. Of
+    course, much pleasure has sprung from all this, and more, perhaps,
+    from the kind and ceaseless protection which has ever surrounded
+    me, and made travelling a different matter to me from what it has
+    heretofore been. Dear Nell, it is written that there shall be no
+    unmixed happiness in this world. Papa has not been well, and I
+    have been longing, _longing intensely_ sometimes, to be at
+    home. Indeed, I could enjoy and rest no more, and so home we are
+    going.
+
+It was a new life to which she was returning. Wedded to one who had
+proved by years of faithfulness and patience how strong and real was
+his love for her, it seemed as though peace and sunshine, the
+brightness of affection and the pleasures of home, were at length
+about to settle upon her and around her. The bare sitting-room in the
+parsonage, which for six years of loneliness and anguish had been
+peopled only by the heart-sick woman and the memories of those who had
+left her, once more resounded with the voices of the living. The
+husband's strong and upright nature furnished something for the wife
+to lean against; the painful sense of isolation which had so long
+oppressed her vanished utterly, and in its place came that "sweet
+sense of depending" which is the most blessed fruit of a trustful
+love. A great calm seemed to be breathed over the spirit of her life
+after the fitful fever which had raged so long; and her friends saw
+new shoots of tenderness, new blossoms of gentleness and affection,
+peeping forth in nooks of her character which had hitherto been
+barren. Of her letters during these happy months of peace and
+expectation I cannot quote much; they are too closely intertwined with
+the life of those who survive to permit of this being done; but all of
+them breathe the same spirit. They show that the courage, the
+patience, the cheerfulness with which the rude buffetings of fate had
+been borne in that stormy middle-passage of her history, had brought
+their own reward; and that joy had come at last, not perhaps in the
+shape she had imagined in her early youth, but as a substantial
+reality, and no longer a mocking illusion.
+
+    August 9th, 1854.
+
+    ---- will probably end by accepting ----; and judging from what you
+    say, it seems to me that it would be rational to do so. If, indeed,
+    some one else whom she preferred _wished_ to have her, and had duly
+    and sincerely come forward, matters would be different. But this it
+    appears is not the case; and to cherish any _unguarded_ and
+    unsustained preference is neither right nor wise. Since I came home
+    I have not had one unemployed moment. My life is changed indeed; to
+    be wanted continually, to be constantly called for and occupied,
+    seems so strange; yet it is a marvellously good thing. As yet I
+    don't quite understand how some wives grow so selfish. As far as my
+    experience of matrimony goes, I think it tends to draw you out and
+    away from yourself.... Dear Nell, during the last six weeks the
+    colour of my thoughts is a good deal changed. I know more of the
+    realities of life than I once did. I think many false ideas are
+    propagated, perhaps unintentionally. I think those married women
+    who indiscriminately urge their acquaintance to marry, much to
+    blame. For my part I can only say with deeper sincerity and fuller
+    significance, what I always said in theory: Wait God's will.
+    Indeed, indeed, Nell, it is a solemn and strange and perilous thing
+    for a woman to become a wife. Man's lot is far, far different....
+    Have I told you how much better Mr. Nicholls is? He looks quite
+    strong and hale. To see this improvement in him has been a great
+    source of happiness to me; and, to speak truth, a source of wonder
+    too.
+
+
+    Haworth, September 7th, 1854.
+
+    I send a French paper to-day. You would almost think I had given
+    them up, it is so long since one was despatched. The fact is they
+    had accumulated to quite a pile during my absence. I wished to
+    look them over before sending them off, and as yet I have scarcely
+    found time. That same _time_ is an article of which I once had a
+    large stock always on hand; where it is all gone to now it would
+    be difficult to say, but my moments are very fully occupied. Take
+    warning, Ellen. The married woman can call but a very small
+    portion of each day her own. Not that I complain of this sort of
+    monopoly as yet, and I hope I never shall incline to regard it as
+    a misfortune, but it certainly exists. We were both disappointed
+    that you could not come on the day I mentioned. I have grudged
+    this splendid weather very much. The moors are in their glory; I
+    never saw them fuller of purple bloom; I wanted you to see them at
+    their best. They are fast turning now, and in another week, I
+    fear, will be faded and sere. As soon as ever you can leave home,
+    be sure to write and let me know.... Papa continues greatly
+    better. My husband flourishes; he begins indeed to express some
+    slight alarm at the growing improvement in his condition. I think
+    I am decent--better certainly than I was two months ago; but
+    people don't compliment me as they do Arthur--excuse the name; it
+    has grown natural to use it now.
+
+
+    Haworth, September 16th, 1854.
+
+    MY DEAR MISS ----,--You kindly tell me not to write while Ellen is
+    with me; I am expecting her this week; and as I think it would be
+    wrong long to defer answering a letter like yours, I will reduce
+    to practice the maxim: "There is no time like the present," and do
+    it at once. It grieves me that you should have had any anxiety
+    about my health; the cough left me before I quitted Ireland, and
+    since my return home I have scarcely had an ailment, except
+    occasional headaches. My dear father, too, continues much better.
+    Dr. B---- was here on Sunday, preaching a sermon for the Jews, and
+    he gratified me much by saying that he thought Papa not at all
+    altered since he saw him last--nearly a year ago. I am afraid this
+    opinion is rather flattering; but still it gave me pleasure, for I
+    had feared that he looked undeniably thinner and older. You ask
+    what visitors we have had. A good many amongst the clergy, &c., in
+    the neighbourhood, but none of note from a distance. Haworth is,
+    as you say, a very quiet place; it is also difficult of access,
+    and unless under the stimulus of necessity, or that of strong
+    curiosity, or finally, that of true and tried friendship, few take
+    courage to penetrate to so remote a nook. Besides, now that I am
+    married, I do not expect to be an object of much general interest.
+    Ladies who have won some prominence (call it either _notoriety_ or
+    celebrity) in their single life, often fall quite into the
+    background when they change their names. But if true domestic
+    happiness replace fame, the change is indeed for the better. Yes,
+    I am thankful to say that my husband is in improved health and
+    spirits. It makes me content and grateful to hear him, from time
+    to time, avow his happiness in the brief but plain phrase of
+    sincerity. My own life is more occupied than it used to be; I have
+    not so much time for thinking: I am obliged to be more practical,
+    for my dear Arthur is a very practical as well as a very punctual,
+    methodical man. Every morning he is in the national school by nine
+    o'clock; he gives the children religious instruction till
+    half-past ten. Almost every afternoon he pays visits amongst the
+    poor parishioners. Of course he often finds a little work for his
+    wife to do, and I hope she is not sorry to help him. I believe it
+    is not bad for me that his bent should be so wholly towards
+    matters of real life and active usefulness--so little inclined to
+    the literary and contemplative. As to his continued affection and
+    kind attentions, it does not become me to say much of them; but as
+    yet they neither change nor diminish. I wish, my dear Miss ----,
+    _you_ had some kind, faithful companion to enliven your solitude
+    at R----, some friend to whom to communicate your pleasure in the
+    scenery, the fine weather, the pleasant walks. You never complain,
+    never murmur, never seem otherwise than thankful; but I know you
+    must miss a privilege none could more keenly appreciate than
+    yourself.
+
+There are other letters like the foregoing, all speaking of the
+constant occupation of time, which once hung heavily, all giving
+evidence that peace and love had made their home in her heart, all
+free from that strain of sadness which was so common in other years.
+One only of these letters, that written on the morrow of her last
+Christmas Day, need be quoted, however.
+
+    Haworth, December 26th.
+
+    I return Mrs. ----'s letter: it is as you say, very genuine,
+    truthful, affectionate, _maternal_, without a taint of sham or
+    exaggeration. She will love her child without spoiling it, I
+    think. She does not make an uproar about her happiness either. The
+    longer I live the more I suspect exaggerations. I fancy it is
+    sometimes a sort of fashion for each to vie with the other in
+    protestations about their wondrous felicity--and sometimes they
+    _fib_! I am truly glad to hear you are all better at B----. In the
+    course of three or four weeks now I expect to get leave to come
+    to you. I certainly long to see you again. One circumstance
+    reconciles me to this delay--the weather. I do not know whether it
+    has been as bad with you as with us; but here for three weeks we
+    have had little else than a succession of hurricanes.... You
+    inquire after Mrs. Gaskell. She has not been here, and I think I
+    should not like her to come now till summer. She is very busy now
+    with her story of "North and South." I must make this note very
+    short. Arthur joins me in sincere good wishes for a happy
+    Christmas and many of them to you and yours. He is well, thank
+    God, and so am I; and he _is_ "my dear boy" certainly--dearer
+    now than he was six months ago. In three days we shall actually
+    have been married that length of time.
+
+There was not much time for literary labours during these happy months
+of married life. The wife, new to her duties, was engaged in mastering
+them with all the patience, self-suppression, and industry which had
+characterised her throughout her life. Her husband was now her first
+thought; and he took the time which had formerly been devoted to
+reading, study, thought, and writing. But occasionally the pressure
+she was forced to put upon herself was very severe. Mr. Nicholls had
+never been attracted towards her by her literary fame; with literary
+effort, indeed, he had no sympathy, and upon the whole he would rather
+that his wife should lay aside her pen entirely than that she should
+gain any fresh triumphs in the world of letters. So she submitted, and
+with cheerful courage repressed that "gift" which had been her solace
+in sorrows deep and many. Yet once "the spell" was too strong to be
+resisted, and she hastily wrote a few pages of a new story called
+"Emma," in which once more she proposed to deal with her favourite
+theme--the history of a friendless girl. One would fain have seen how
+she would have treated her subject, now that "the colour of her
+thoughts" had been changed, and that a happy marriage had introduced
+her to a new phase of that life which she had studied so closely and
+so constantly. But it was not to be. On January 19, when she had
+returned to Haworth, after a visit to Sir J. K. Shuttleworth's, she
+wrote to her friend as follows. This letter was the last written in
+ink to her schoolfellow:
+
+    Haworth, January 19th, 1855.
+
+    Since our return from Gawthorpe we have had Mr. B----, one of
+    Arthur's cousins, staying with us. It was a great pleasure. I wish
+    you could have seen him and made his acquaintance: a true
+    gentleman by nature and cultivation is not, after all, an everyday
+    thing.... I very much wish to come to B----, and I hoped to be
+    able to write with certainty and fix Wednesday, the 31st January,
+    as the day; but the fact is I am not sure whether I shall be well
+    enough to leave home. At present I should be a most tedious
+    visitor. My health has really been very good ever since my return
+    from Ireland, till about ten days ago. Indigestion and continual
+    faint sickness have been my portion ever since. I never before
+    felt as I have done lately. I am rather mortified to lose my good
+    looks and grow thin as I am doing, just when I thought of going to
+    B----. Poor J----! I still hope he will get better, but A----
+    writes grievous though not always clear or consistent accounts.
+    Dear Ellen, I want to see you, and I hope I shall see you well.
+
+Those around her were not alarmed at first. They hoped that before
+long all would be well with her again; they could not believe that the
+joys of which she had just begun to taste were about to be snatched
+away. But her weakness grew apace; the sickness knew no abatement; and
+a deadly fear began to creep into the hearts of husband and father.
+She was soon so weak that she was compelled to remain in bed, and from
+that "dreary bed" she wrote two or three faint pencil notes which
+still exist--the last pathetic chapters in that life-long
+correspondence from which we have gathered so many extracts. In one of
+them, which Mrs. Gaskell has published, she says: "I want to give you
+an assurance which I know will comfort you--and that is that I find in
+my husband the tenderest nurse, the kindest support, the best earthly
+comfort that ever woman had. His patience never fails, and it is tried
+by sad days and broken nights." In another, the last, she says: "I
+cannot talk--even to my dear, patient, constant Arthur I can say but
+few words at once." One dreary March morning, when frost still bound
+the earth and no spring sun had come to gladden the hearts of those
+who watched for summer, her friend received another letter, written,
+not in the neat, minute hand of Charlotte Bronte, but in her father's
+tremulous characters:
+
+    Haworth, near Keighley,
+    March 30th, 1855.
+
+    MY DEAR MADAM,--We are all in great trouble, and Mr. Nicholls so
+    much so that he is not sufficiently strong and composed as to be
+    able to write. I therefore devote a few lines to tell you that my
+    dear daughter is very ill, and apparently on the verge of the
+    grave. If she could speak she would no doubt dictate to us whilst
+    answering your kind letter. But we are left to ourselves to give
+    what answer we can. The doctors have no hope of her case, and
+    fondly as we a long time cherished hope, that hope is now gone; and
+    we have only to look forward to the solemn event with prayer to God
+    that He will give us grace and strength sufficient unto our day.
+
+    Ever truly and respectfully yours,
+
+    P. Bronte.
+
+The following day, March 31st, 1855, the blinds were drawn once again
+at Haworth Parsonage; the last and greatest of the children of the
+house had passed away; and the brilliant name of Charlotte Bronte had
+become a name and nothing more! "We are left to ourselves," said Mr.
+Bronte in the letter I have just quoted--and so it was. Not the glory
+only, but the light, had fled from the parsonage where the childless
+father and the widowed husband sat together beside their dead. Of all
+the drear and desolate spots upon that wild Yorkshire moorland there
+was none now so dreary and so desolate as the house which had once
+been the home of Charlotte Bronte.
+
+
+
+
+XII.
+
+POSTHUMOUS HONOURS.
+
+
+There is a deeper truth in the maxim which bids us judge no man happy
+till his death than most of us are apt to perceive. For sometimes the
+happiness of a life is crowned by death itself; and that which to the
+superficial gaze seems but the dreary and tragic close of the play, is
+really the welcome release from the burden which had become too heavy
+to be borne longer. But where life and breath fail suddenly in the
+moment of fullest hope, apparently in the moment also of greatest
+bliss, the strain upon our faith is almost too severe, and blinded and
+bewildered, we see nothing and feel nothing but the awful stroke of
+fate which has laid the loved one low, and the great gap which remains
+at the table and the hearth. It was with such a feeling as this that
+the outer world heard of that Easter-day tragedy which had been
+enacted to the bitter end among the Yorkshire hills. Those who knew
+the little household at Haworth had been watching, as has already been
+told, for that fulness of joy which seemed close at hand. They had
+seen the lonely authoress developing into the trustful happy wife, and
+they looked forward to no distant day when children should be gathered
+at her knee, and a new generation, born amid happier circumstances,
+freed from the strain and stress which had been laid upon her, should
+perpetuate a great name, and perhaps something of a great genius.
+
+The announcement that all these hopes had been brought to nothing fell
+upon the world as a blow not easily to be borne. When it was made
+known that the author of "Jane Eyre" was dead, there rose up even from
+those who had been her bitter critics during her lifetime, a cry of
+pain and regret which would have astonished nobody more than herself
+had she been able to hear it. The genuine unaffected modesty which had
+enabled her to preserve the simplicity of her character amid all the
+temptations which thronged round her at the height of her fame, had
+prevented her from ever feeling herself to be a person of consequence
+in the world. What she did in the way of writing she did because she
+could not escape the commanding authority of her own genius; but the
+idea that by doing this she had made herself conspicuously great never
+once occurred to her. There is not a letter extant from her which
+shows that she thought anything of the fame or the fortune she had
+acquired. On the contrary everything that remains of her inner life
+proves that to the very last she esteemed herself as humbly as ever
+she did during the days of her "governessing" in Yorkshire or at
+Brussels. She knew of course that she attracted attention wherever she
+went; but her own unfeigned belief seems to have been that this
+attention was due solely to curiosity, and to curiosity of a not very
+pleasant or flattering kind. Brought up as she had been among those
+who regarded any literary pursuit, and above all the writing of a
+book, as something beyond the proper limits of the rights and duties
+of her sex, she had never quite escaped from the notion that in
+putting pen to paper she was in some vague way offending against the
+proprieties of society. It has been shown by an extract from one of
+her letters, how keenly and indignantly she repudiated the notion that
+she had ever written anything of which she needed to be ashamed. Her
+pure heart vindicated her absolutely upon that point. But, from first
+to last, she seemed during her literary career to feel that in writing
+novels she had sinned against the conventional canons, and that she
+was in consequence looked upon not as a great woman who had taken a
+lofty place in the republic of letters, but as a social curiosity who
+had done something which made her for the time-being notorious. How
+ready she was to forget her success as a writer is shown by a thousand
+passages in her correspondence, many of these passages being too
+tender or sacred for quotation. It is impossible to read her letters
+without seeing that, with the exception of a solitary friend, the
+companions of her daily life in Yorkshire did not feel at all drawn
+towards her by her literary fame. With her accustomed humility she
+accepted herself at their valuation, and whilst the nations afar off
+were praising her, she herself was perfectly ready to take a humble
+place in the circle of her friends at home. The tastes of her husband
+had unquestionably something to do in maintaining this simple and
+sincere modesty up to the end of her life. He was resolute in putting
+aside all thought of her literary achievements; his whole anxiety--an
+anxiety arising almost entirely from his desire for her happiness--was
+that she should cease entirely to be the author, and should become the
+busy, useful, contented wife of the village clergyman. It would be
+wrong to hide the fact that she was compelled to place a severe strain
+upon herself in order to comply with her husband's wishes; and once,
+as we have seen, her strength of self-repression gave way, and she
+indulged in the forbidden luxury of work with the pen. But it is not
+surprising that, surrounded by those who, loving her very dearly, yet
+withheld from her all recognition of her position as one of the great
+writers of the day, she should have accepted their estimate of her
+place with characteristic humility, and believed herself to be of
+little or no account outside the walls of her own home.
+
+In this belief she lived and died. Among the letters before me, but
+from which I must forbear to quote, are not a few written during that
+last sad illness when the end began to loom before her vision. In
+these, whilst there are many anxious inquiries after the friends of
+early days, and many remarks upon their varying fortunes, many
+allusions, too, to her husband and father, and to parish work at
+Haworth, there is not a line which speaks of her own feelings as an
+author, or of the work which she had accomplished during the brief
+closing years of her life. The novelist has passed entirely out of
+sight, and only the wife, the friend, the expectant mother, remains. I
+know nothing which more touchingly shows one how small a thing is
+great fame, how little even the most marked and marvellous successes
+can affect the realities of life, than the last chapters of Charlotte
+Bronte's correspondence do. Her death, all unknown to the great world
+outside; her quiet funeral, treated only as the funeral of the
+clergyman's daughter, the curate's wife; the modest announcement of
+her end sent to the local papers--all these are in keeping with her
+own low estimate of herself.
+
+But death, the great touchstone of humanity, revealed her true
+position to the world, and to her surviving relatives and friends.
+Copies of the newspapers of that sad March week in 1855 lie before me,
+carefully treasured up by loving hands. They speak with an eloquence
+which is not always that of mere words, of a nation's mourning for a
+great soul gone prematurely to its account. Of all these tributes of
+loving admiration, there are two which must be singled out for special
+mention. One is Miss Martineau's generous though not wholly
+satisfactory notice of "Currer Bell" in _The Daily News_, and the
+other the far more sympathetic article by "Shirley," which appeared in
+_Fraser's Magazine_ a few months later.
+
+Her father, her husband, her life-long friend, were wonderfully
+touched and moved when they found how closely the simple, modest
+woman, who had been so long a sweet and familiar presence to them, had
+wound herself round the great heart of the reading public. But they
+were slow to grasp all the truth. When it was proposed that some
+record of this noble life should be preserved, and when Mrs. Gaskell
+was named as the fittest among all Charlotte's literary acquaintances
+to undertake the office, there was strong and keen opposition on the
+part of those who had been nearest and dearest to her. With a natural
+feeling, to which no word of blame can be attached, but which again
+throws light upon the character of her surroundings in life, they
+objected to any revelation to the world of the real character and
+career of the lost member of their household. Happily, their scruples
+were overcome, and the world was permitted to read the story of the
+Brontes as told by one who was herself a woman of genius and of the
+highest moral worth. The reader of this monograph will not, it is to
+be hoped, imagine that the writer has presumed to set himself up as a
+rival to Mrs. Gaskell. He can no more pretend to equal her in the
+treatment of his subject than in the freshness of the interest
+attaching to it. And if he has found himself obliged to differ from
+her on some points not wholly unimportant, it must be borne in mind
+that the writer of to-day is free from not a few of the difficulties
+and restraints which weighed upon the writer of twenty years ago. Mrs.
+Gaskell had, indeed, to labour under serious disadvantages in her
+task. Not only was she unable to obtain full and ready access to all
+the materials which she needed to employ, but she was also compelled
+to introduce much irrelevant and even hurtful matter into a delightful
+and beautiful story. When, after gathering up the bare outline of the
+life she proposed to write, she complained to Mr. Bronte that there
+were not incidents enough in the history of his daughter to make an
+interesting narrative of the ordinary length, his reply was a
+characteristic one: "If there are not facts enough in Charlotte's life
+to make a book, madam, you must invent some." There is no need to say
+that Mrs. Gaskell declined to follow this advice; but none the less
+was she hampered all through her work by the necessity of introducing
+topics which had but little to do with her main theme; and we see the
+result in the fact that the plain unadorned tale of Charlotte Bronte
+and her sisters has been interwoven with dismal episodes with which
+properly it had no concern.
+
+The publication of Mrs. Gaskell's biography came, however, as a
+revelation upon the world. Readers everywhere had learned to admire
+the writings of "Currer Bell," and to mourn over the premature
+extinction of her genius, but few of them had imagined that the life
+and personal character of the author of "Jane Eyre" had been what it
+was.
+
+The following letter from Charles Kingsley to Mrs. Gaskell
+sufficiently indicates the revulsion of feeling wrought in many minds
+by the publication of the "Memoir:"
+
+    St. Leonards, May 14, 1857.
+
+    Let me renew our long-interrupted acquaintance by complimenting
+    you on poor Miss Bronte's "Life." You have had a delicate and a
+    great work to do, and you have done it admirably. Be sure that the
+    book will do good. It will shame literary people into some
+    stronger belief that a simple, virtuous, practical home life, is
+    consistent with high imaginative genius; and it will shame, too,
+    the prudery of a not over cleanly though carefully white-washed
+    age, into believing that purity is now (as in all ages till now)
+    quite compatible with the knowledge of evil. I confess that the
+    book has made me ashamed of myself. "Jane Eyre" I hardly looked
+    into, very seldom reading a work of fiction--yours, indeed, and
+    Thackeray's, are the only ones I care to open. "Shirley" disgusted
+    me at the opening, and I gave up the writer and her books with a
+    notion that she was a person who liked coarseness. How I misjudged
+    her! and how thankful I am that I never put a word of my
+    misconceptions into print, or recorded my misjudgments of one who
+    is a whole heaven above me.
+
+    Well have you done your work, and given us the picture of a
+    valiant woman made perfect by sufferings. I shall now read
+    carefully and lovingly every word she has written, especially
+    those poems, which ought not to have fallen dead as they did, and
+    which seem to be (from a review in the current _Fraser_) of
+    remarkable, strength and purity.[1]
+
+          [1] "Charles Kingsley: his Letters and Memories of his
+          Life," vol. ii. p. 24.
+
+The effect of the portrait was heightened by the admirable skill with
+which the background was drawn; and the story of the life gained a
+popularity which hardly any other recent English biography has
+attained. Yet, from the first, people were found here and there who,
+whilst acknowledging the skill, the sympathy, and the entire sincerity
+displayed by Mrs. Gaskell, yet whispered that the Charlotte Bronte of
+the story was not in all particulars the Charlotte Bronte they had
+known.
+
+[Illustration: INTERIOR OF HAWORTH CHURCH.]
+
+One great change resulted immediately from the publication of Mrs.
+Gaskell's work. Haworth and its parsonage became the shrine to which
+hundreds of literary pilgrims from all parts of the globe began to
+find their way. To see the house in which the three sisters had spent
+their lives and done their work, to stand at the altar at which
+Charlotte was married, and beneath which her ashes now rest, and to
+hear her aged father preach one of his pithy, sensible, but dogmatic
+sermons, was what all literary lion-hunters aspired to do. In
+Yorkshire, indeed, the stolid people of the West Riding were not
+greatly moved by this enthusiasm. Just as Charlotte herself had seemed
+an ordinary and rather obscure person to her Yorkshire friends, so
+Haworth was still regarded as being a very dull and dreary village by
+those who lived near it. But the empire of genius knows no
+geographical boundaries, and if at her own doors Charlotte Bronte's
+sway was unrecognised, from far-distant quarters of the world there
+came the free and full acknowledgment of her power. No other land,
+however, furnished so many eager and enthusiastic visitors to the
+Bronte shrine as the United States, and the number of Americans who
+found their way to Haworth during the ten years immediately following
+the death of the author of "Jane Eyre" would, if properly recorded,
+astonish the world. The bleak and lonely house by the side of the
+moors, with its dismal little garden stretching down to the
+churchyard, where the village dead of many a generation rest, and its
+dreary out-look upon the old tower rising from its bank of nettles,
+the squalid houses of the hamlet, and the bare moorlands beyond,
+received almost as many visitors from the other side of the Atlantic
+during those years as Abbotsford or Stratford-upon-Avon. Mr. Bronte
+and Mr. Nicholls, though they were anxious to avoid the pertinacious
+intrusion of these curious but enthusiastic guests, could not entirely
+escape from meeting them. It followed that many an American lady and
+gentleman wandered through the rooms where the three sisters had dwelt
+together in love and unity, and where Charlotte had laboured alone
+after the light of her life had fled from her, and many an American
+magazine and newspaper contained the record of the impressions which
+these visits left upon the minds of those who made them.
+
+In only one case does it seem necessary to recall those impressions.
+The late Mr. Raymond, for many years editor of _The New York Times_,
+visited Haworth, and wrote an account of his visit, some passages of
+which may well be reproduced here. He tells us how on his railway
+journey to Keighley, at that time the nearest railway station to
+Haworth, he "astonished an intelligent, sociable, and very agreeable
+English lady, his sole companion in the railway carriage, by telling
+her the errand which had brought him to Yorkshire. She lived in the
+neighbourhood, had read the 'Jane Eyre' novels, and 'supposed the
+girls were clever;' but 'she would not go ten steps to see where they
+lived, nor could she understand how a stranger from America should
+feel any interest in their affairs.'" Arrived at Haworth, and having
+satisfied himself as to the appearance of the parsonage and the
+character of the surrounding neighbourhood, Mr. Raymond went to the
+Black Bull Inn to dine and sleep. "As I took my candle to go to my
+chamber, I stepped for a moment into the kitchen, where the landlord
+and landlady were having a comfortable chat over pipes and ale, with a
+companionable rustic of the place, who proved to be a nephew of the
+old servant Tabby, who lived so long, and at last died in the service
+of the Bronte family. I joined the circle, and sat there till long
+after midnight. Branwell was clearly the hero of the village worship.
+A little red-headed fellow, the landlord said, quick, bright,
+abounding in stories, in jokes, and in pleasant talk of every kind; he
+was a general favourite in town, and the special wonder of the Black
+Bull circles. Small as he was, it was impossible to frighten him. They
+had seen him volunteer during a mill-riot to go in and thrash a dozen
+fellows, any one of whom could have put him in his pocket and carried
+him off at a minute's notice. Indeed a characteristic of the whole
+family seems to have been an entire insensibility to danger and to
+fear. Emily and Charlotte, these people told me, were one day walking
+through the street, when their great dog, Keeper, engaged in a fight
+with another dog of equal size. Whilst everybody else stood aloof and
+shouted, these girls went in, caught Keeper by the neck, and by dint
+of tugging, and beating him over the head, succeeded in dragging him
+away." I extract this passage because of the confirmation which it
+gives, on the authority of one who made his inquiries very soon after
+the death of Charlotte Bronte, of the account of some of the family
+characteristics which appear in these pages; nor will the story of Mr.
+Raymond's interview with Mr. Bronte, told as it is with American
+directness, be without its interest and its value.
+
+    The next morning I prepared to call at the parsonage. I was told
+    that Mr. Bronte and Mr. Nicholls declined to receive strangers,
+    having a great aversion to visits of curiosity, and being
+    exceedingly retiring and reserved in their habits. I sent in my
+    card, however, and was shown into the little library at the right
+    of the entrance, where I was asked to await Mr. Nicholls's
+    appearance. The room was small, very plainly furnished, with small
+    bookcases round the walls, the one between the windows containing
+    copies of the Bronte novels. Mr. Nicholls soon came in and made me
+    welcome. To my apologies for my intrusion he assured me that while
+    they were under the necessity of declining many visits, both he
+    and his father were always happy to see their friends, and that
+    the words "New York" upon my card were quite sufficient to insure
+    me a welcome. Mr. Bronte, he said, was not up when I called, but
+    had desired him to detain me until he could dress and come down,
+    as he did soon after. I had an exceedingly pleasant conversation
+    of half an hour with them both.... Mr. Bronte's personal
+    appearance is striking and peculiar. He is tall, thin, and rather
+    muscular, has a quick energetic manner, a reflective and by no
+    means unpleasant countenance, and a resolute promptness of
+    movement which indicated marked decision and firmness of
+    character. The extraordinary stories told by Mrs. Gaskell of his
+    inflammable temper, of his burning silk dresses belonging to his
+    wife which he did not approve of her wearing, of his sawing chairs
+    and tables, and firing off pistols in the back-yard by way of
+    relieving his superfluous anger, find no warrant certainly in his
+    present appearance, and are generally considered exaggerations. I
+    remarked to him that I had been agreeably disappointed in the face
+    of the country and the general aspect of the town, that they were
+    less sombre and repulsive than Mrs. Gaskell's descriptions led me
+    to expect. Mr. Nicholls and Mr. Bronte smiled at each other, and
+    the latter remarked: "Well, I think Mrs. Gaskell tried to make us
+    all appear as bad as she could." Mr. Bronte wears a very wide
+    white neckcloth, and usually sinks his chin so that his mouth is
+    barely visible over it. This gives him rather a singular
+    expression, which is rendered still more so by spectacles with
+    large round glasses enclosed in broad metallic rims. Though over
+    eighty years old and somewhat infirm, he preaches once every
+    Sunday in his church.... As I rose to take my leave Mr. Nicholls
+    asked me to step into the parlour and look at Charlotte's
+    portrait. It is the one from which the engraving in the "Life" is
+    made; but the latter does no justice to the picture, which Mr.
+    Nicholls said was a perfect likeness of the original. I remarked
+    that the engraving gives to the face, and especially to the eyes,
+    a weird, sinister, and unpleasant expression which did not appear
+    in the portrait. He said he had observed it, and that nothing
+    could be more unjust, for Charlotte's eyes were as soft and
+    affectionate in their expression as could possibly be conceived.
+
+Slight as these scraps from the pen of an American "interviewer" may
+seem, they have their value as contemporary records of scenes and
+incidents the memory of which is fast fading away. Yet even to-day old
+men and women are to be found in Haworth who can regale the curious
+stranger with many a reminiscence, more or less original, of the
+family which has given so great a glory to the place.
+
+Mr. Bronte lived six years after the death of Charlotte. In spite of
+his great age he preached regularly in the church till within a few
+months of his death; and when at last he took to his bed, he retained
+his active interest in the affairs of the world. The newspapers which
+Charlotte mentions in one of her juvenile lucubrations as being
+regularly "taken in" at the patronage--_The Leeds Mercury_ and
+_The Intelligencer_--were still brought to him, and read aloud.
+Every scrap of political information which he could gather up he
+cherished as a precious morsel; and any visitor who could tell him how
+the currents of public life were moving in the great West Riding towns
+around him, was certain to be welcome. But the chief enjoyment of his
+later years was connected with the public respect shown for his
+daughter's memory. The tributes to her virtues and her genius which
+were poured from the press after the publication of Mrs. Gaskell's
+work were valued by him to the latest moment of his life; and in the
+end he at last understood something of the character and the inner
+life of the child who had dwelt so long a stranger under her father's
+roof.
+
+One point I must notice ere I quit the subject of Charlotte Bronte's
+father. Some of those who knew him in his later years, including one
+who is above all others entitled to an opinion on the subject, have
+objected to the portrait of him presented in these pages, as being
+over-coloured. So far as his early life and manhood are concerned, I
+cannot admit the force of the objection; for what has been told of Mr.
+Bronte in these pages has been gathered from the best of all
+sources--from the letters of his children and the recollections of
+those who saw much of him during that period. But it is perfectly true
+that in old age, after the marriage, and still more after the death of
+Charlotte, he was wonderfully softened in character. The fierce
+outburst of opposition to the engagement between his daughter and Mr.
+Nicholls was almost the last trace of that vehement passion which
+consumed him during his earlier years; and those visitors who, like
+Mr. Raymond, first became acquainted with him in the closing days of
+his life, found it difficult to believe that the stories told of his
+propensities in youth and middle-age could possibly be true. Time did
+its work at last, even on his adamantine character, softening the
+asperities, and wearing away the corners of a disposition, the angular
+eccentricities of which had long been so noticeable. Nor ought mention
+of the closing scenes of Mr. Bronte's life to be made without some
+reference to the part which Mr. Nicholls played at Haworth during
+those last sad years. The faithful husband remained under the
+parsonage roof in the character of a faithful son. The two men, bound
+together by so tender and sacred a tie, were not lightly to be
+separated, now that the living and visible link had been taken away.
+To some it may seem strange that Charlotte Bronte should have given
+her heart to one who was little disposed to sympathise with the
+overmastering passion inspired by her genius. But if in her husband
+she had found one who was not likely to have helped her in her
+literary work, she had also found in him a friend whose steadfastness
+even to the death was nobly proved. During all these sad and lonely
+years, whilst the father of the Brontes waited for the summons which
+should call him once more into their company, Charlotte's husband
+lived with him, the patient companion of his hours of pain and
+weariness, the faithful guardian of that living legacy which had been
+bequeathed to him by the woman whom he loved. And by this
+self-sacrificing life he did greater honour to the memory of Charlotte
+Bronte than by the most tender and vivid appreciation of her
+intellectual greatness.
+
+There is a strange sad harmony between the closing chapter of the
+Bronte story and the earlier ones. The brightness had fled for ever
+from the parson's house; the gaiety which it had once witnessed was
+gone; even its fame as the home of one who was a living force in
+English literature had departed; but there still remained one to bear
+witness in his own person to the nobleness of that entire devotion to
+duty of the necessity of which Charlotte was so fully convinced. The
+friendship by which Mr. Nicholls soothed the last days of Mr. Bronte
+is a touching episode in the Haworth story, and it is one which cannot
+be allowed to pass unnoticed.
+
+When Mr. Bronte died there was a general wish, not only among those
+who were impressed by the claims of all connected with his family upon
+Haworth, but by the parishioners themselves, that his son-in-law
+should succeed him, and that the relationship of the Brontes to the
+place where their lives had been spent and their work accomplished,
+should thus not be absolutely severed. But the bestowal of church
+patronage is not always influenced by considerations of this kind. The
+incumbency of Haworth was given to a stranger; Mr. Nicholls returned
+to Ireland; and new faces and a new life filled the parsonage-house in
+which "Jane Eyre" and "Wuthering Heights" were written.
+
+[Illustration: THE ORGAN LOFT, OVER THE BRONTE TABLET AND PEW.]
+
+
+
+
+XIII.
+
+THE BRONTE NOVELS.
+
+
+The Bronte novels continued to sell largely for some time after
+Charlotte's death. The publication of Mrs. Gaskell's "Life" added not
+a little to the sale, and both at home and abroad the fame of the
+three sisters was greatly increased. But in recent years the
+disposition has been almost to ignore these books; and though fresh
+editions have recently been issued they have had no circulation worthy
+of being compared with that which they maintained between 1850 and
+1860. Yet though there has not been the same interest in these
+remarkable performances as that which formerly prevailed, they
+continue from time to time to attract the attention of literary
+critics both in this and other countries, the works of "Currer Bell"
+naturally holding the foremost place in the critiques upon the
+writings of the sisters.
+
+"Wuthering Heights," the solitary prose work of Emily Bronte, is now
+practically unread. Even those who admire the genius of the family,
+those who have the highest opinion of the qualities displayed in "Jane
+Eyre" or "Villette," turn away with something like a shudder from
+"that dreadful book," as one who knew the Brontes intimately always
+calls it. But I venture to invite the attention of my readers to this
+story, as being in its way as marvellous a _tour de force_ as "Jane
+Eyre" itself. It is true that as a novel it is repulsive and almost
+ghastly. As one reads chapter after chapter of the horrible chronicles
+of Heathcliff's crimes, the only literary work that can be recalled
+for comparison with it is the gory tragedy of "Titus Andronicus." From
+the first page to the last there is hardly a redeeming passage in the
+book. The atmosphere is lurid and storm-laden throughout, only lighted
+up occasionally by the blaze of passion and madness. The hero himself
+is the most unmitigated villain in fiction; and there is hardly a
+personage in the story who is not in some shape or another the victim
+of mental or moral deformities. Nobody can pretend that such a story
+as this ever ought to have been written; nobody can read it without
+feeling that its author must herself have had a morbid if not a
+diseased mind. Much, however, may be said in defence of Emily Bronte's
+conduct in writing "Wuthering Heights." She was in her twenty-eighth
+year when it was written, and the reader has seen something of the
+circumstances of her life, and the motives which led her to take up
+her pen. The life had been, so far as the outer world could judge,
+singularly barren and unproductive. Its one eventful episode was the
+short visit to Brussels. But Brussels had made no such impression upon
+Emily as it made upon Charlotte. She went back to Haworth quite
+unchanged; her love for the moors stronger than ever; her self-reserve
+only strengthened by the assaults to which it had been exposed during
+her residence among strangers; her whole nature still crying out for
+the solitary life of home, and the sustenance which she drew from the
+congenial society of the animals she loved and the servants she
+understood. When, partly in the forlorn hope of making money by the
+use of her pen, but still more to give some relief to her pent-up
+feelings, she began to write "Wuthering Heights," she knew nothing of
+the world. "I am bound to avow," says Charlotte, "that she had
+scarcely more practical knowledge of the peasants amongst whom she
+lived than a nun has of the country people who sometimes pass her
+convent gates." Love, except the love for nature and for her own
+nearest relatives, was a passion absolutely unknown to her--as any one
+who cares to study the pictures of it in "Wuthering Heights" may
+easily perceive. Of harsh and brutal, or deliberate crime, she had no
+personal knowledge. She had before her, it is true, a sad instance of
+the results of vicious self-indulgence, and from that she drew
+materials for some portions of her story. But so far as the great
+movements of human nature were concerned--of those movements which are
+not to be mastered by book learning, but which must come as the tardy
+fruits of personal experience--she was in absolute ignorance. Little
+as Charlotte herself knew at this time of the world, and of men and
+women, she was an accomplished mistress of the secrets of life, in
+comparison with Emily.
+
+When a woman has lived such a life as that of "Ellis Bell," her first
+literary effort must be regarded as the attempt of an innocent and
+ignorant child. It may be full of faults; all the conditions which
+should govern a work of art may have been neglected; the book itself,
+so far as story, tone, and execution are concerned, may be an entire
+mistake; but it will nevertheless give us far more insight into the
+real character of the author than any more elaborate and successful
+work, constructed after experience has taught her what to do and what
+to avoid in order to secure the ear of the public.
+
+"Wuthering Heights," then, is the work of one who, in everything but
+years, was a mere child, and its great and glaring faults are to be
+forgiven as one forgives the mistakes of childhood. But how vast was
+the intellectual greatness displayed in this juvenile work! The author
+seizes the reader at the first moment at which they meet, holds him
+thrilled, entranced, terrified perhaps, in a grasp which never
+relaxes, and leaves him at last, after a perusal of the story, shaken
+and exhausted as by some great effort of the mind. Surely nowhere in
+modern English fiction can more striking proof be found of the
+possession of "the creative gift" in an extraordinary degree than is
+to be obtained in "Wuthering Heights." From what unfathomed recesses
+of her intellect did this shy, nervous, untrained girl produce such
+characters as those which hold the foremost place in her story? Mrs.
+Dean, the faithful domestic, we can understand; for her model was at
+Emily's elbow in the kitchen at Haworth. Joseph, the quaint High
+Calvinist, whose fidelity to his creed is unredeemed by a single touch
+of fellow-feeling with the human creatures around him, was drawn from
+life; and vigorous and powerful though his portrait is, one can
+understand it also. But Heathcliff, and the two Catherines, and
+Hareton Earnshaw--none of these ever came within the ken of Emily
+Bronte. No persons approaching them in originality or force of
+character were to be found in her circle of friends. Here and there
+some psychologist, learned in the secrets of morbid human nature, may
+have conceived the existence of such persons--evolved them from an
+inner consciousness which had been enlightened by years of studious
+labour. But no such slow and painful process guided the pen of Emily
+Bronte in painting these weird and wonderful portraits. They come
+forth with all the vigour and freshness, the living reality and
+impressiveness, which can belong only to the spontaneous creations of
+genius. They are no copies, indeed, but living originals, owing their
+lives to her own travail and suffering.
+
+Regarded in this light they must, I think, be counted among the
+greatest curiosities of literature. Their very repulsiveness adds to
+their force. I have said that Heathcliff is the greatest villain in
+fiction. The reader of the story is disposed to echo the agonised cry
+of his wife when she asks: "Is Mr. Heathcliff a man? If so, is he mad?
+And if not, is he a devil?" It is not pleasant to see such a character
+obtruded upon us in a novel; but I repeat, it is far more difficult to
+paint a consummate villain of the Heathcliff type than to draw any of
+the more ordinary types of humanity. The concentration of power
+required in performing the task is enormous. At every moment the
+writer is tempted to turn aside and relieve the darkness by some touch
+of light; and the risk which the artist must encounter if he gives way
+to this temptation is that of destroying the whole effect of the
+picture. Light and shade there must be, or the portrait becomes a mere
+daub of blackness; and the man whom the author has desired to create
+stands forth as a monster, unrecognisable as a creature belonging to
+the same race as ourselves. But unless these lighter shades are
+introduced with a tact and a self-command which belong rather to
+genius than to art, there must, as I have said, be complete failure.
+Now, Emily Bronte has not failed in her portrait of Heathcliff. He
+stands, indeed, absolutely alone in that great human portrait-gallery
+which forms one of the chambers in the noble edifice of English
+literature. We can compare him to nobody else among the creatures of
+fiction. We cannot even trace his literary pedigree. He is a distinct
+being, not less original than he is hateful. But this circumstance
+does not alter the fact that we accept him at once as a real being,
+not a merely grotesque monster. He stands as much alone as
+Frankenstein's creature did; but we recognise within him that subtle
+combination of elements which gives him kinship with the human race.
+Here, then, Emily Bronte has succeeded; and girl as she was when she
+wrote, she has succeeded where some of the most practised writers have
+failed entirely. Compare "Wuthering Heights," for example, with the
+fantastic horrors of Lord Lytton's "Strange Story," and you feel at
+once how much more powerful and masterly is the touch of the woman.
+Lord Lytton's villain, though he has been drawn with so much care and
+skill, is often absurd and at last entirely wearisome. Emily Bronte's
+is consistent, terrible, fascinating, from beginning to end. Then,
+again, the writer never tries to frighten her reader with a bogey. She
+never hints at the possibility of supernatural agencies being at work
+behind the scene. Even when she is showing us that Heathcliff is for
+ever haunted by the dead Catherine, she makes it clear by the words
+she puts into his own mouth that his belief on the subject is nothing
+more than the delusion of a disordered brain, worried by a guilty
+conscience. "I knew no living thing in flesh and blood was by," says
+Heathcliff, describing how he dug down into Catherine's grave on the
+night after she had been buried; "but as certainly as you perceive the
+approach to some substantial body in the dark, so certainly I felt
+that Cathy was there: not under me, but on the earth. A sudden sense
+of relief flowed from my heart through every limb. I relinquished my
+labour of agony, and turned consoled at once--unspeakably consoled.
+Her presence was with me; it remained while I refilled the grave and
+led me home. You may laugh if you will; but I was sure I should see
+her there. I was sure she was with me, and I could not help talking to
+her. Having reached the Heights I rushed eagerly to the door. It was
+fastened; and I remember that accursed Earnshaw and my wife opposed my
+entrance. I remember stopping to kick the breath out of him, and then
+hurrying upstairs to my room and hers. I looked round impatiently--I
+felt her by me--I could _almost_ see her, and yet I _could not_! I
+ought to have sweat blood then, from the anguish of my yearning--from
+the fervour of my supplications to have but one glimpse! I had not
+one. She showed herself, as she often was in life, a devil to me. And,
+since then, sometimes more and sometimes less, I've been the sport of
+that intolerable torture.... When I sat in the house with Hareton, it
+seemed that on going out I should meet her; when I walked on the moors
+I should meet her coming in. When I went from home I hastened to
+return. She _must_ be somewhere at the Heights, I was certain! And
+when I slept in her chamber--I was beaten out of that. I couldn't lie
+there; for the moment I closed my eyes, she was either outside the
+window, or sliding back the panels, or entering the room, or even
+resting her darling head on the same pillow as she did when a child;
+and I must open my lids to see. And so I opened and closed them a
+hundred times a night--to be always disappointed!" Here is a picture
+of a man who is really haunted. No supernatural agency is invoked; no
+strain is put upon the reader's credulity. We are asked to believe in
+the suspension of no law of nature. In one word, we can all understand
+how a wicked man, whose brain has, as it were, been made drunk with
+the fumes of his own wickedness, can be persecuted throughout his
+whole life by terrors of this kind; and just because we are able to
+conceive and understand it, this haunting of Heathcliff by the ghost
+of his dead mistress is infinitely more terrible than if it had been
+accompanied either by the paraphernalia of rococo horrors which Mrs.
+Radcliffe habitually invoked, or by those refined and subtle
+supernatural phenomena which Lord Lytton employs in his famous ghost
+story.
+
+This strict honesty which refused to allow the writer of the weirdest
+story in the English language to avail herself of the easiest of all
+the modes of stimulating a reader's terrors, is shown all through the
+novel. The workmanship is good from beginning to end, though the art
+is crude and clumsy. She never allows a date to escape her memory, nor
+are there any of those broken threads which usually abound in the
+works of inexperienced writers. All is neatly, clearly, carefully
+finished off. Every date fits into its place, and so does every
+incident. The reader is never allowed to wander into a blind alley.
+Though at the outset he finds himself in a bewildering maze, far too
+complicated in construction to comply with the canons of literary art,
+he has only to go straight on, and in the end he will find everything
+made plain. Emily permits no fact however minute to drop from her
+grasp. Irrelevant though it may seem at the moment when the reader
+meets with it, a place has been prepared for it in the edifice which
+the patient hands are rearing, and in the end it will be fitted into
+that place. Thus there is no scamped work in the story; nor any
+sacrifice of details in order to obtain those broad effects in which
+the tale abounds.
+
+Let the reader turn to "Wuthering Heights," and he will find many a
+simple innocent revelation of the character of the author peeping out
+from its pages in unexpected places. We know how the story was
+written, and how day by day it was submitted to the revision of
+Charlotte and Anne. We may be sure under these circumstances that
+Emily did not allow too much of her true inner nature to appear in
+what she wrote. Even from her sisters she habitually concealed some of
+the strongest and deepest emotions of her heart. But such passages as
+the following, when read in the light of her history, as we know it
+now, are of strange and abiding interest:
+
+    He said the pleasantest manner of spending a hot July day was
+    lying from morning till evening on a bank of heath in the middle
+    of the moors, with the bees humming dreamily about among the
+    bloom, and the larks singing high up over head, and the blue sky
+    and bright sun shining steadily and cloudlessly. That was his most
+    perfect idea of heaven's happiness. Mine was rocking in a rustling
+    green tree, with a west wind blowing, and bright white clouds
+    flitting rapidly above; and not only larks, but throstles and
+    blackbirds and linnets and cuckoos, pouring out music on every
+    side, and the moors seen at a distance broken into cool dusky
+    dells; but close by great swells of long grass undulating in waves
+    to the breeze; and woods and sounding water, and the whole world
+    awake and wild with joy. He wanted all to lie in an ecstasy of
+    peace. I wanted all to sparkle and dance in a glorious jubilee. I
+    said his heaven would be only half alive; and he said mine would
+    be drunk. I said I should fall asleep in his; and he said he could
+    not breathe in mine.
+
+For "he," read "Anne," and accept Emily as speaking for herself, and
+we have in this passage a vivid description of the opposing tastes of
+the two sisters.
+
+The abhorrence which Charlotte felt for the High Calvinism, which was
+the favourite creed around her, was felt even more strongly by Emily.
+Her poems throw not a little light upon this feature of her character;
+but we also gain some from her solitary novel. Joseph, the old
+man-servant, was a study from life, and he represented one of a class
+whom the author thoroughly disliked, but for whom at the same time she
+entertained a certain respect. Again and again she breaks forth with
+all the force of sarcasm she can command against "the wearisomest,
+self-righteous pharisee that ever ransacked a Bible to rake the
+promises to himself and fling the curses to his neighbours." Yet there
+is no character in the story over whom she lingers more lovingly than
+Joseph, and it is only in painting his portrait that she allows
+herself to be betrayed into the display of any of that humour which,
+according to her sisters, always lurked very near the surface of her
+character, ever ready to show itself when no stranger was at hand. Few
+who have read "Wuthering Heights" can have forgotten Joseph's quaint
+remark when the boy Heathcliff has disappeared, and the others are
+speculating on his fate.
+
+    Nay, nay, he's noan at Gimmerton. I's never wonder but he's at t'
+    bottom of a bog-boile. This visitation worn't for nowt, and I wod
+    hev ye to look out, miss. Yah muh be t' next. Thank Hivin for all!
+    All works togither for gooid to them as is chozzen, and piked out
+    fro' th' rubbidge. Yah knaw whet t' Scripture ses.
+
+There is one passage in the story which furnishes so strange a
+foreshadowing of Emily's own death, that it is difficult to believe
+that she did not bear it in her mind during those last hours when she
+faced the dread enemy with such unwavering resolution. She is writing
+of the death of Mrs. Earnshaw.
+
+    Poor soul! till within a week of her death that gay heart never
+    failed her; and her husband persisted doggedly, nay furiously, in
+    affirming her health improved every day. When Kenneth warned him
+    that his medicines were useless at that stage of the malady, and
+    he needn't put him to further expense by attending her, he
+    retorted:
+
+    "I know you need not. She's well; she does not want any more
+    attendance from you! She never was in a consumption. It was a
+    fever, and it is gone: her pulse is as slow as mine now, and her
+    cheek as cool!"
+
+    He told his wife the same story, and she seemed to believe him.
+    But one night while leaning on his shoulder, in the act of saying
+    she thought she should be able to get up to-morrow, a fit of
+    coughing took her--a very slight one--he raised her in his arms;
+    she put her two hands about his neck, her face changed, and she
+    was dead.
+
+Strange and inscrutable, indeed, are the mysteries of the human heart!
+Let the reader turn from the passage I have quoted to that letter in
+which Charlotte laments that "Emily is too intractable," and let him
+read how she refused to believe that she was ill until death caught
+her as suddenly as it did the wife of Earnshaw. The blindness to the
+approach of danger, which she describes so clearly in her story, was
+but a few months afterwards displayed even more fully by herself. In
+this last quotation, which I venture to make from a book now seldom
+opened, we see the author speaking evidently out of the fulness of her
+heart on a subject on which in conversation she was specially
+reserved.
+
+    I don't know if it be a peculiarity in me, but I am seldom
+    otherwise than happy when watching in the chamber of death, should
+    no frenzied or despairing mourner share the duty with me. I see a
+    repose that neither earth nor hell can break, and I feel an
+    assurance of the endless and shadowless hereafter--the Eternity
+    they have entered--where life is boundless in its duration, and
+    love in its sympathy, and joy in its fulness. I noticed on that
+    occasion how much selfishness there is even in a love like Mr.
+    Linton's, when he so regretted Catherine's blessed release! To be
+    sure, one might have doubted, after the wayward and impatient
+    existence she had led, whether she merited a haven of peace at
+    last. One might doubt in seasons of cold reflection; but not then
+    in the presence of her corpse. It asserted its own tranquillity,
+    which seemed a pledge of equal quiet to its former inhabitant.
+
+Even these fragments, culled from the pages of "Wuthering Heights,"
+are sufficient to show how little the story has in common with the
+ordinary novel. Differing widely in every respect from "Jane Eyre,"
+dealing with characters and circumstances which belong to the romance
+rather than the reality of life, it is yet stamped by the same
+originality, the same daring, the same thoughtfulness, and the same
+intense individuality. It is a marvel to all who know anything of the
+secrets of literary work, that Haworth Parsonage should have produced
+"Jane Eyre;" but how is the marvel increased, when we know that at the
+same time it produced, from the brain of another inmate, the wonderful
+story of "Wuthering Heights." Brimful of faults as it may be, that
+book is alone sufficient to prove that a rare and splendid genius was
+lost to the world when Emily Bronte died.
+
+All interested in the story of the Brontes must be curious to know
+whence Emily derived the materials for this romance. I have said that
+Heathcliff and the other prominent characters of the story are
+creations of her own; and indeed the book in its originality is almost
+unique. But this does not affect the fact that somewhere, and at some
+period during her life, the seed which brought forth this strange
+fruit must have been sown. It has been suggested by some--strangely
+ignorant, surely, of the conditions of West Riding life during the
+present century--that Emily obtained the skeleton of her plot from her
+own observation of people around her. But the life round Haworth was
+really tame and commonplace. Josephs and Mrs. Deans could be found in
+and about the village in abundance; but there were no people round
+whose lives hung anything of the mystery which attaches to Heathcliff.
+It was, so far as I can learn, during her early girlhood that Emily's
+mind was filled with those grim traditions which she afterwards
+employed in writing "Wuthering Heights." Mr. Bronte, in addition to
+his other gifts, had the faculty of storytelling highly developed, and
+his delight was to use this faculty in order to awaken superstitious
+terrors in the hearts of his children.
+
+Though he habitually took his meals alone, he would often appear at
+the table where his daughters, with possibly their one female friend,
+were breakfasting, and, without joining in the repast, would entertain
+the little company of schoolgirls with wild legends not only relating
+to life in Yorkshire during the last century, but to that still wilder
+life which he had left behind him in Ireland. A cold smile would play
+round his mouth as he added horror to horror in his attempts to move
+his children; and his keen eyes sparkled with triumph when he found he
+had succeeded in filling them with alarm. Emily listened to these
+stories with bated breath, drinking them, in eagerly. She could repeat
+them afterwards by the hour together to her sisters; and no better
+proof of the deep root they took in her sensitive nature can be
+desired, than the fact that they led her to write "Wuthering Heights."
+Thus the paternal influence, strong as it was in the case of all the
+daughters, was peculiarly strong as regarded Emily; and we can gauge
+the nature of that influence in the weird and ghastly story which was
+brought forth under its shadow.
+
+It is with a feeling of curious disappointment that one rises from the
+perusal of the writings of Anne Bronte. She wrote two novels, "Agnes
+Grey" and "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall," neither of which will really
+repay perusal. In the first she sought to set forth some of the
+experiences which had befallen her in that patient placid life which
+she led as a governess. They were not ordinary experiences, the reader
+should know. I have resolutely avoided, in writing this sketch of
+Charlotte Bronte and her sisters, all unnecessary reference to the
+tragedy of Branwell Bronte's life. But it is a strange sad feature of
+that story, that the pious and gentle youngest sister was compelled to
+be a closer and more constant witness of his sins and his sufferings
+than either Charlotte or Emily. She was living under the same roof
+with him when he went astray and was thrust out in deep disgrace. I
+have said already that the effect of his career upon her own was as
+strong and deep as Mrs. Gaskell represents it to have been. Branwell's
+fall formed the dark turning-point in Anne Bronte's life. So it was
+not unnatural that it should colour her literary labours. Accordingly,
+whilst "Agnes Grey" gives us some of the scenes of her governess life,
+dressed up in the fashion of the ordinary romances of thirty years
+ago, "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" presents us with a dreary and
+repulsive picture of Branwell Bronte's condition after his fall.
+Charlotte, in her brief memoir of her sisters, does bare justice to
+Anne when she speaks in these words upon the subject:
+
+    "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall," by "Acton Bell," had likewise an
+    unfavourable reception. At this I cannot wonder. The choice of
+    subject was an entire mistake. Nothing less congruous with the
+    writer's nature could be conceived. The motives which dictated
+    this choice were pure, but, I think, slightly morbid. She had in
+    the course of her life been called on to contemplate, near at
+    hand, and for a long time, the terrible effects of talents misused
+    and faculties abused; hers was naturally a sensitive, reserved,
+    and dejected nature; what she saw sank very deeply into her mind;
+    it did her harm. She brooded over it till she believed it to be a
+    duty to reproduce every detail (of course with fictitious
+    characters, incidents, and situations) as a warning to others. She
+    hated her work, but would pursue it. When reasoned with on the
+    subject, she regarded such reasonings as a temptation to
+    self-indulgence. She must be honest; she must not varnish, soften,
+    or conceal. This well-meant resolution brought on her
+    misconception and some abuse, which she bore, as it was her custom
+    to bear whatever was unpleasant, with mild steady patience. She
+    was a very sincere and practical Christian, but the tinge of
+    religious melancholy communicated a sad hue to her brief blameless
+    life.
+
+What a picture one gets of this third and least considered of the
+Bronte sisters in the passage which I have quoted! A lovable,
+fair-featured girl, leading a blameless life, lighted up by few hopes
+of any brighter future--for the one little romance of her own heart
+had been destroyed ere this by the unrelenting hand of death--and not
+inspired as her sisters were by the passion of the artist or the
+creator; a girl whose simple faith was still unmoved from its first
+foundations; whose delight was in visiting the poor and helping the
+sick, who had no sustaining conviction of her own strength such as
+maintained Charlotte and Emily in their darkest hours, and whose very
+piety was "tinged with melancholy." This is the girl who, not from any
+of the irresistible impulses which attend the exercise of the creative
+faculty, but from a simple sense of duty, set herself the hard task of
+depicting in the pages of a novel the consequences of a shocking vice
+with which her brother's degradation had brought her into close and
+abiding contact. Of course she failed. It is not by hands so weak as
+those of Anne Bronte that effective blows are struck at such sins as
+she assailed. But whilst we acknowledge her failure, let us do justice
+both to the self-sacrificing courage and the fervent piety which led
+her to undertake this painful work.
+
+Of Charlotte Bronte's novels, as a whole, I shall say nothing at this
+point; but something may very properly be said here of the story which
+she wrote at the time when her sisters were engaged in writing
+"Wuthering Heights" and "Agnes Grey." It was not published until after
+her death, and after the world had learned from Mrs. Gaskell's pages
+something of the truth about her life. Its interest to the ordinary
+reader was to a considerable extent discounted by the fact that the
+author had so largely used the materials in her last great work,
+"Villette." But even as a mere novel "The Professor" has striking
+merits, and would well repay perusal from that point of view alone;
+whilst as a means of gaining fresh light with regard to the character
+of the writer, it is not less valuable than "Wuthering Heights"
+itself. True, "The Professor" is not really a first attempt. "A first
+attempt it certainly was not," says Charlotte in reference to it, "as
+the pen which wrote it had previously been worn a good deal in a
+practice of some years." But the previous writings, of which hardly a
+trace now remains--those early MSS. having been carefully destroyed,
+with the exception of the few which Mrs. Gaskell was permitted to
+see--were in no respect finished productions, nor had they been
+written with a view to publication. The first occasion on which
+Charlotte Bronte really began a prose work which she proposed to
+commit to the press was on that day when, seated by her two sisters,
+she joined them in penning the first page of a new novel.
+
+To all practical intents, therefore, "The Professor" is entitled to be
+regarded as a first work; and certainly nothing can show Charlotte's
+peculiar views on the subject of novel-writing more clearly or
+strikingly than this book does. The world knows how resolutely in all
+her writings she strove to be true to life as she saw it. In "Jane
+Eyre" there are, indeed, romantic incidents and situations, but even
+in that work there is no trespassing beyond the limits always allowed
+to the writer of fiction; whilst it must not be forgotten that "Jane
+Eyre" was in part a response to the direct appeal from the publishers
+for something different in character from "The Professor." In that
+first story she determined that she would write a man's life as men's
+lives usually are. Her hero was "never to get a shilling he had not
+earned;" no sudden turns of fortune were "to lift him in a moment to
+wealth and high station;" and he was not even to marry "a beautiful
+girl or a lady of rank." "As Adam's son he should share Adam's doom,
+and drain throughout life a mixed and moderate cup of enjoyment."
+
+Very few novel-readers will share this conception of what a novel
+ought to be. The writer of fiction is an artist whose accepted duty it
+is to lift men and women out of the cares of ordinary life, out of the
+sordid surroundings which belong to every lot in this world, and to
+show us life under different, perhaps under fantastic, conditions: a
+life which by its contrast to that we ourselves are leading shall
+furnish some relief to our mental vision, wearied and jaded by its
+constant contemplation of the fevers and disappointments, the crosses
+and long years of weary monotony, which belong to life as it is. We
+know how a great living writer has ventured to protest against this
+theory, and how in her finest works of fiction she has shown us life
+as it is, under the sad and bitter conditions of pain, sorrow, and
+hopelessness. But Charlotte Bronte wrote "The Professor" long before
+"George Eliot" took up her pen; and she must at least receive credit
+for having been in the field as a reformer of fiction before her
+fellow-labourer was heard of.
+
+She was true to the conditions she had laid down for herself in
+writing "The Professor." Nothing more sober and matter-of-fact than
+that story is to be found in English literature. And yet, though the
+landscape one is invited to view is but a vast plain, without even a
+hillock to give variety to the prospect, it has beauties of its own
+which commend it to our admiration. The story, as everybody knows,
+deals with Brussels, from which she had just returned when she began
+to write it. But it is sad to note the difference between the spirit
+of "The Professor" and that which is exhibited in "Villette." Dealing
+with the same circumstances, and substantially with the same story,
+the author has nevertheless cast each in a mould of its own. Nor is
+the cause of this any secret to those who know Charlotte Bronte. When
+she wrote "The Professor," disillusioned though she was, she was still
+young, and still blessed with that fervent belief in a better future
+which the youthful heart can never quite cast out, even under the
+heaviest blows of fate. She had come home restless and miserable,
+feeling Haworth to be far too small and quiet a place for her; and her
+mind could not take in the reality that under that modest roof the
+remainder of her life was destined to be spent. Suffering and unhappy
+as she was, she could not shut out the hope that brighter days lay
+before her. The fever of life racked her; but in the very fact that it
+burnt so high there was proof that love and hope, the capacity for a
+large enjoyment of existence, still lived within her. So "The
+Professor," though a sad, monotonous book, has life and hope, and a
+fair faith in the ultimate blessedness of all sorrowful ones, shining
+through all its pages; and it closes in a scene of rest and peace.
+
+Very different is the case with "Villette." It was written years after
+the period when "The Professor" was composed, when the hard realities
+of life had ceased to be veiled under tender mists of sentiment or
+imagination, and when the lonely present, the future, "which often
+appals me," made the writer too painfully aware that she had drunk the
+cup of existence almost to the dregs. As a piece of workmanship there
+is no comparison between it and the earlier story. On every page we
+see traces of the artist's hand. Genius flashes forth from both works
+it is true, but in "Villette" it is genius chastened and restrained by
+a cultivated taste, or working under that high pressure which only the
+trained writer can bring to bear upon it. Yet, whilst we must admit
+the immense superiority of the later over the earlier work, we cannot
+turn from the one to the other without being painfully touched by the
+sad, strange difference in the spirit which animates them. The
+stories, as I have said, are nearly the same. With some curious
+transformations, in fact, they are practically identical. But they are
+only the same in the sense in which the portrait of the fair and
+hopeful girl, with life's romance shining before her eyes, is the same
+as the portrait of the worn and solitary woman for whom the romance is
+at an end. A whole world of suffering, of sorrow, of patient
+endurance, lies between the two. I have spoken of the mood in which
+"The Professor" was written--Hope still lingered at that time in the
+heart, breathing its merciful though illusory suggestions of something
+brighter and better in the future. All who have passed through the
+ordeal of a life's sorrow will be able to understand the distinction
+between the temperament of the author at that period in her life, and
+her temperament when she composed "Villette." For such suffering ones
+know, how, in the first and bitterest moment of sorrow, the heart
+cannot shut out the blessed belief that a time of release from the
+pain will come--a time far off, perhaps, but in which a day bright as
+that which has suddenly been eclipsed will shine again. It is only as
+the years go by, and as the first ache of intolerable anguish has been
+lulled into a dreary rest by habit, that the faith which gave them
+strength to bear the keenest smart, takes flight, and leaves them to
+the pale monotony of a twilight which can know no dawn. It was in this
+later and saddest stage of endurance that "Villette" was written. The
+sharpest pangs of the heart-experiences at Brussels had vanished. The
+author, no longer full of the self-consciousness of the girl, could
+even treat her own story, her own sorrows of that period, with a
+lighter hand, a more artistic touch, than when she first wrote of
+them; but through all her work there ran the dreary conviction that in
+those days of mingled joy and suffering she had tasted life at its
+best, and that in the future which lay before her there could be
+nothing which should renew either the strong delights or keen anguish
+of that time. So the book is pitched, as we know, in a key of almost
+absolute hopelessness. Nothing but the genius of Charlotte Bronte
+could have saved such a work from sinking under its own burden of
+gloom. That this intense and tragic study of a soul should have had
+power to fascinate, not the psychologist alone, but the vast masses of
+the reading world, is a triumph which can hardly be paralleled in
+recent literary efforts. In "The Professor" we move among the same
+scenes, almost among the same characters and incidents, but the whole
+atmosphere is a different one. It is a dull, cold atmosphere, if you
+will, but one feels that behind the clouds the sun is shining, and
+that sooner or later the hero and heroine will be allowed to bask in
+his reviving rays. Set the two stories together, and read them in the
+light of all that passed between the years in which they were
+written--the death of Branwell, of Emily, and of Anne, the utter
+shattering of some fair illusions which buoyed up Charlotte's heart in
+the first years of her literary triumph, the apparent extinction of
+all hope as to future happiness--and you will get from them a truer
+knowledge of the author's soul than any critic or biographer could
+convey to you.
+
+Ere I part from "The Professor," which, naturally enough, never gained
+much attention from the public, I must extract from it one passage, a
+parallel to which may be found in many of Charlotte Bronte's letters.
+It describes, as none but one who had suffered could do, one of those
+seasons of mental depression, arising from bodily illness, by which
+she was visited at intervals, and under the influence of which not a
+little of her work was done. Reading it, we get some idea of the true
+origin of much in her character that was supposed to be morbid and
+unnatural:
+
+    Man is ever clogged with his mortality, and it was my mortal
+    nature which now faltered and plained; my nerves which jarred and
+    gave a false sound, because the soul, of late rushing headlong to
+    an aim, had overstrained the body's comparative weakness. A horror
+    of great darkness fell upon me; I felt my chamber invaded by one I
+    had known formerly but had thought for ever departed. I was
+    temporarily a prey to hypochondria. She had been my acquaintance,
+    nay, my guest, once before in boyhood; I had entertained her at
+    bed and board for a year; for that space of time I had her to
+    myself in secret; she lay with me, she ate with me, she walked out
+    with me, showing me nooks in woods, hollows in hills, where we
+    could sit together, and where she could drop her drear veil over
+    me, and so hide sky and sun, grass and green tree; taking me
+    entirely to her death-cold bosom and holding me with arms of bone.
+    What tales she would tell me at such hours! What songs she would
+    recite in my ears! How she would discourse to me of her own
+    country--the grave--and again and again promise to conduct me
+    there ere long; and drawing me to the very brink of a black sullen
+    river, show me on the other side shores unequal with mound,
+    monument, and tablet, standing up in a glimmer more hoary than
+    moonlight. "Necropolis!" she would whisper, pointing to the pale
+    piles, and add, "it contains a mansion prepared for you." But my
+    boyhood was lonely, parentless; uncheered by brother or sister;
+    and there was no marvel that, just as I rose to youth, a
+    sorceress, finding me lost in vague mental wanderings, with many
+    affections and few objects, glowing aspirations and gloomy
+    prospects, strong desires and tender hopes, should lift up her
+    illusive lamp to me in the distance, and lure me to her vaulted
+    home of horrors.
+
+It was when, under the influence of occasional spells of physical
+suffering such as she here describes, that Miss Bronte gave those who
+saw her the impresion that her mind was naturally a morbid one; and,
+as I have said before, the same influence is at times perceptible in
+her writings. One of the purposes with which this little book has been
+written is to show the world how much of the gloom and depression
+which are now associated with her story, must be attributed to purely
+physical or accidental causes.
+
+
+
+
+XIV.
+
+CONCLUSION.
+
+
+No apology need be offered for any single feature of Charlotte
+Bronte's life or character. She was what God made her in the furnace
+of sore afflictions and yet more sore temptations; her life, instinct
+with its extraordinary individuality, was, notwithstanding, always
+subject to exterior influences for the existence of which she was not
+responsible, and which more than once threatened to change the whole
+nature and purpose of her being; her genius, which brought forth its
+first-fruits under the cold shade of obscurity and adversity, was
+developed far more largely by sorrow, loneliness, and pain, than by
+the success which she gained in so abundant a degree. There are
+features of her character which we can scarcely comprehend, for the
+existence of which we are unable to account; and there are features of
+her genius which jar upon our sympathies and ruffle our conventional
+ideas; but for neither will one word of apology or excuse be offered
+by any who really know and love this great woman.
+
+The fashion which exalted her to such a pinnacle of fame, like many
+another fashion, has lost its vogue; and the present generation,
+wrapped in admiration of another school of fiction, has consigned the
+works of "Currer Bell" to a premature sepulchre. But her friends need
+not despair; for from that dreary tomb of neglect an hour of
+resurrection must come, and the woman who has given us three of the
+most masterful books of the century, will again assert her true
+position in the literature of her country. We hear nothing now of the
+"immorality" of her writings. Younger people, if they turn from the
+sparkling or didactic pages of the most popular of recent stories to
+"Jane Eyre" or "Villette," in the hope of finding there some stimulant
+which may have power to tickle their jaded palates, will search in
+vain for anything that even borders upon impropriety--as we understand
+the word in these enlightened days--and they will form a strange
+conception of the generation of critics which denounced "Currer Bell"
+as the writer of immoral works of fiction. But it is said that there
+is coarseness in her stories, "otherwise so entirely noble." Even Mrs.
+Gaskell has assented to the charge; and it is generally believed that
+Charlotte Bronte, as a writer, though not immoral in tone, was rude in
+language and coarse in thought. The truth, I maintain, is, that this
+so-called coarseness is nothing more than the simplicity and purity,
+the straightforwardness and unconsciousness which an unspotted heart
+naturally displays in dealing with those great problems of life which,
+alas! none who have drunk deep of the waters of good and evil can ever
+handle with entire freedom from embarrassment. An American writer[2]
+has spoken of Charlotte Bronte as "the great pre-Raphaelite among
+women, who was not ashamed or afraid to utter what God had shown her,
+and was too single-hearted of aim to swerve one hairbreadth in
+duplicating nature's outlines." She was more than this however; she
+was bold enough to set up a standard of right of her own; and when
+still the unknown daughter of the humble Yorkshire parson, she could
+stir the hearts of readers throughout the world with the trumpet-note
+of such a declaration as this: "Conventionality is not morality;
+self-righteousness is not religion; to pluck the mask from the face of
+the Pharisee is not to lift an impious hand to the Crown of Thorns."
+Let it be remembered that these words were written nearly thirty years
+ago, when conventionalism was still a potent influence in checking the
+free utterance of our inmost opinions; and let us be thankful that in
+that heroic band to whom we owe the emancipation of English thought, a
+woman holds an honourable place.
+
+          [2] Harper's _New Monthly Magazine_, February, 1866.
+
+Writing of her life just after it had closed, her friend Miss
+Martineau said of her: "In her vocation she had, in addition to the
+deep intuitions of a gifted woman, the strength of a man, the patience
+of a hero, and the conscientiousness of a saint." Those who know her
+best will apply to her personal character the epithets which Miss
+Martineau reserved for her career as an author. It has been my object
+in these pages to supplement the picture painted in Mrs. Gaskell's
+admirable biography by the addition of one or two features, slight in
+themselves perhaps, and yet not unimportant when the effect of the
+whole as a faithful portrait is considered. Charlotte Bronte was not
+naturally a morbid person; in youth she was happy and high-spirited;
+and up to the last moment of her life she had a serene strength and
+cheerfulness which seldom deserted her, except when acute physical
+suffering was added to her mental pangs. If her mind could have been
+freed from the depressing influences exerted on it by her frail and
+suffering body, it would have been one of the healthiest and most
+equable minds of our age. As it was, it showed itself able to meet the
+rude buffetings of fate without shrinking and without bravado; and the
+woman who is to this day regarded by the world at large as a marvel of
+self-conscious genius and of unchecked morbidness, was able to her
+dying hour to take the keenest, liveliest interest in the welfare of
+her friends, to pour out all her sympathy wherever she believed it was
+needed and deserved, and to lighten the grim parsonage of Haworth by a
+presence which, in the sacred recesses of her home, was bright and
+cheerful, as well as steadfast and calm.
+
+"Do not underrate her oddity," said a gifted friend who knew her
+during her heyday of fame, while these pages were being written. Her
+oddity, it must be owned, was extreme--so far as the world could
+judge. But I have striven to show how much this eccentricity was
+outward and superficial only, due in part to the peculiar conditions
+of her early life, but chiefly to the excessive shyness in the
+presence of strangers which she shared with her sisters. At heart, as
+some of these letters will show, she was one of the truest women who
+ever breathed; and her own heart-history was by no means so
+exceptional, so far removed from the heart-history of most women, as
+the public believes.
+
+The key to her character was simple and unflinching devotion to duty.
+Once she failed,[3] or rather, once she allowed inclination to blind
+her as to the true direction of the path of duty, and that single
+failure coloured the whole of her subsequent life. But her own
+condemnation of herself was more sharp and bitter than any which could
+have been passed upon her by the world, and from that one venial error
+she drew lessons which enabled her henceforward to live with a steady,
+constant power of self-sacrifice at her command such as distinguishes
+saints and heroes rather than ordinary men and women. Hot, impulsive,
+and tenacious in her affections, she suffered those whom she loved the
+most dearly to be torn from her without losing faith in herself or in
+God; tenderly sensitive as to the treatment which her friends
+received, she repaid the cruelty and injustice of her father towards
+the man whose heart she had won, by a depth of devotion and
+self-sacrifice which can only be fully estimated by those who know
+under what bitter conditions it was lavished upon an unworthy parent;
+bound, as all the children of genius are, by the spell of her own
+imagination, she was yet able during the closing months of her life to
+lay aside her pen, and give herself up wholly, at the desire of her
+husband, to those parish duties which had such slight attractions for
+her. Those who, knowing these facts, still venture to assert that the
+virtues which distinguished "Currer Bell" the author were lacking in
+Charlotte Bronte the woman, must have minds warped by deep-rooted and
+unworthy prejudices.
+
+          [3] I ought perhaps to point out, as this passage may
+          otherwise be open to misconception, that the failure to
+          which I refer is that confessed by herself in a letter I
+          have quoted on page 59.
+
+I have expressed my conviction that the comparative neglect from which
+"Jane Eyre" and its sister-works now suffer is only temporary. It is
+true that in some respects these books are not attractive. Though they
+are written with a terse vigour which must make them grateful to all
+whose palates are cloyed by the pretty writing of the present
+generation, they undoubtedly err on the side of a lack of literary
+polish. And though the portraits presented to us in their pages are
+wonderful as works of art, unsurpassed as studies of character, the
+range of the artist is a limited one, and, as a rule, the subjects
+chosen are not the most pleasing that could have been conceived. Yet
+one great and striking merit belongs to this masterly painter of men
+and women, which is lacking in some who, treading to a certain extent
+in her footsteps, have achieved even a wider and more brilliant
+reputation. There is no taint of the dissecting-room about her books;
+we are never invited to admire the supreme cleverness of the operator
+who, with unsparing knife, lays bare before us the whole cunning
+mechanism of the soul which is stretched under the scalpel; nor are we
+bidden to pause and listen to those didactic moralisings which belong
+rather to the preacher or the lecturer than the novelist. It is the
+artist, not the anatomist who is instructing us; and after all, we may
+derive a more accurate knowledge of men and women as they are from the
+cartoons of a Raphael than from the most elaborate diagrams or
+sections of the most eminent of physiologists.
+
+Perhaps no merit is more conspicuous in Charlotte Bronte's writings
+than their unswerving honesty. Writing always "under the spell," at
+the dictation, as it were, of an invisible and superior spirit, she
+would never write save when "the fit was upon her" and she had
+something to say. "I have been silent lately because I have
+accumulated nothing since I wrote last," is a phrase which fell from
+her on one occasion. Save when she believed that she had accumulated
+something, some truth which she was bound to convey to the world, she
+would not touch her pen. She had every temptation to write fast and
+freely. Money was needed at home, and money was to be had by the mere
+production of novels which, whether good, bad, or indifferent, were
+certain to sell. But she withstood the temptation bravely, withstood
+it even when it came strengthened by the supplications of her friends;
+and from first to last she gave the world nothing but her best. This
+honesty--rare enough unfortunately among those whose painful lot it is
+to coin their brains into money--was carried far beyond these limits.
+When in writing she found that any character had escaped from her
+hands--and every writer of fiction knows how easily this may
+happen--she made no attempt to finish the portrait according to the
+canons of literary art. She waited patiently for fresh light; studying
+deeply in her waking hours, dreaming constantly of her task during her
+uneasy slumbers, until perchance the light she needed came and she
+could go on. But if it came not she never pretended to supply the
+place of this inspiration of genius by any clever trick of literary
+workmanship. The picture was left unfinished--perfect so far as it
+went, but broken off at the point at which the author's keen
+intuitions had failed or fled from her. Nor when her work was done
+would she consent to alter or amend at the bidding of others; for the
+sake of no applause, of no success, would she change the fate of any
+of her characters as they had been fixed in the crucible of her
+genius. Even when her father exerted all his authority to secure
+another ending to the tale of "Villette," he could only, as we have
+seen, persuade his daughter to veil the catastrophe. The hero was
+doomed; and Charlotte, whatever might be her own inclination, could
+not save him from his fate. Books so true, so honest, so simple, so
+thorough as these, depend for their ultimate fate upon no transitions
+of fashion, no caprices of the public taste. They will hold their own
+as the slow-born fruits of a great genius, long after the productions
+of a score of facile pens now able to secure the world's attention
+have been utterly forgotten. The daring and passion of "Jane Eyre,"
+the broad human sympathies, sparkling humour, and graphic portraiture
+of "Shirley," and the steady, patient, unsurpassed concentration of
+power which distinguishes "Villette," can hardly cease to command
+admiration whilst the literature of this century is remembered and
+studied.
+
+But when we turn from the author to the woman, from the written pages
+to the writer, and when, forgetting the features and fortunes of those
+who appear in the romances of "Currer Bell," we recall that touching
+story which will for ever be associated with Haworth Parsonage and
+with the great family of the Brontes, we see that the artist is
+greater than her works, that the woman is nobler and purer than the
+writer, and that by her life, even more than by her labours, the
+author of "Jane Eyre" must always teach us those lessons of courage,
+self-sacrifice, and patient endurance of which our poor humanity
+stands in such pressing and constant need.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+CHARLES DICKENS AND EVANS, CRYSTAL PALACE PRESS.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Charlotte Bronte, by T. Wemyss Reid
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHARLOTTE BRONTE ***
+
+***** This file should be named 37888.txt or 37888.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        https://www.gutenberg.org/3/7/8/8/37888/
+
+Produced by StevenGibbs and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+https://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at https://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit https://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
+donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     https://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/37888.zip b/37888.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b5f7f0b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/37888.zip
diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6312041
--- /dev/null
+++ b/LICENSE.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
+No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in
+jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize
+this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright
+status under the laws that apply to them.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..91ecda9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #37888 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/37888)