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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. 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