Chapter XVII: The Rev. Arthur Bell Nicholls (2)

'DEAR ELLEN,--I wonder how you are, and whether that harassing cough
is better. Be scrupulously cautious about undue exposure. Just now,
dear Ellen, an hour's inadvertence might cause you to be really ill.
So once again, take care. Since I came home I have been very busy
stitching. The little new room is got into order, 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. Nicholls 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 while I
was at Manchester and Brookroyd. 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. You remember
your aunt. 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.

'It is getting late and dark. Write soon, dear Ellen. Goodnight and
God bless you.--Yours affectionately,

'C. BRONTE.

TO MISS ELLEN NUSSEY

'HAWORTH, _May_ 27_th_, 1854.

'DEAR ELLEN,--Your letter was very welcome, and I am glad and
thankful to learn you are better. Still, beware of presuming on the
improvement--don't let it make you careless. Mr. Nicholls has just
left me. Your hopes were not ill-founded about his illness. At
first I was thoroughly frightened. However, inquiring gradually
relieved me. In short, I soon discovered that my business was,
instead of sympathy, to rate soundly. The patient had wholesome
treatment while he was at Haworth, and went away singularly better;
perfectly unreasonable, however, on some points, as his fallible sex
are not ashamed to be.

'Man is, indeed, an amazing piece of mechanism when you see, so to
speak, the full weakness of what he calls his strength. There is not
a female child above the age of eight but might rebuke him for spoilt
petulance of his wilful nonsense. I bought a border for the
table-cloth and have put it on.

'Good-bye, dear Ellen. Write again soon, and mind and give a
bulletin.--Yours faithfully,

'C. BRONTE.'

TO MISS ELLEN NUSSEY

'_June_ 12_th_, 1854.

'DEAR ELLEN,--Papa preached twice to-day as well and as strongly as
ever. It is strange how he varies, how soon he is depressed and how
soon revived. It makes me feel so thankful when he is better. I am
thankful too that you are stronger, dear Nell. My worthy
acquaintance at Kirk-Smeaton refuses to acknowledge himself better
yet. I am uneasy about not writing to Miss Wooler. I fear she will
think me negligent, while I am only busy and bothered. I want to
clear up my needlework a little, and have been sewing against time
since I was at Brookroyd. Mr. Nicholls hindered me for a full week.

'I like the card very well, but not the envelope. I should like a
perfectly plain envelope with a silver initial.

'I got my dresses from Halifax a day or two since, but have not had
time to have them unpacked, so I don't know what they are like.

'Next time I write, I hope to be able to give you clear information,
and to beg you to come here without further delay. Good-bye, dear
Nell.--Yours faithfully,

'C. BRONTE.

'I had almost forgotten to mention about the envelopes. Mr. Nicholls
says I have ordered far too few; he thinks sixty will be wanted. Is
it too late to remedy this error? There is no end to his string of
parson friends. My own list I have not made out.'

Charlotte Bronte's list of friends, to whom wedding-cards were to be sent, is in her own handwriting, and is not without interest:--

SEND CARDS TO

The Rev. W. Morgan, Rectory, Hulcott, Aylesbury, Bucks. Joseph
Branwell, Esq., Thamar Terrace, Launceston. Cornwall.

Dr. Wheelwright, 29 Phillimore Place, Kensington, London.

George Smith, Esq., 65 Cornhill, London.

Mrs. and Misses Smith, 65 Cornhill, London.

W. S. Williams, Esq., 65 Cornhill, London.

R. Monckton Milnes, Esq.

Mrs. Gaskell, Plymouth Grove, Manchester.

Francis Bennoch, Esq., Park, Blackheath, London.

George Taylor, Esq., Stanbury.

Mrs. and Miss Taylor.

H. Merrall, Esq., Lea Sykes, Haworth.

E. Merrall, Esq., Ebor House, Haworth.

R. Butterfield, Esq., Woodlands, Haworth.

R. Thomas, Esq., Haworth.

J. Pickles, Esq., Brow Top, Haworth.

Wooler Family.

Brookroyd. {491}

The following was written on her wedding day, June 29th, 1854.

TO MISS ELLEN NUSSEY

'_Thursday Evening_.

'DEAR ELLEN,--I scribble one hasty line just to say that after a
pleasant enough journey we have got safely to Conway; the evening is
wet and wild, though the day was fair chiefly, with some gleams of
sunshine. However, we are sheltered in a comfortable inn. My cold
is not worse. If you get this scrawl to-morrow and write by return,
direct to me at the post-office, Bangor, and I may get it on Monday.
Say how you and Miss Wooler got home. Give my kindest and most
grateful love to Miss Wooler whenever you write. On Monday, I think,
we cross the Channel. No more at present.--Yours faithfully and
lovingly,

'C. B. N.'

TO MISS ELLEN NUSSEY

'HAWORTH, _August_ 9_th_, 1854.

'DEAR ELLEN,--I earnestly hope you are by yourself now, and relieved
from the fag of entertaining guests. You do not complain, but I am
afraid you have had too much of it.

'Since I came home I have not had an 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 of, and away from yourself.

'We have had sundry callers this week. Yesterday Mr. Sowden and
another gentleman dined here, and Mr. and Mrs. Grant joined them at
tea.

'I do not think we shall go to Brookroyd soon, on papa's account. I
do not wish again to leave home for a time, but I trust you will ere
long come here.

'I really like Mr. Sowden very well. He asked after you. Mr.
Nicholls told him we expected you would be coming to stay with us in
the course of three or four weeks, and that he should then invite him
over again as he wished us to take sundry rather long walks, and as
he should have his wife to look after, and she was trouble enough, it
would be quite necessary to have a guardian for the other lady. Mr.
Sowden seemed perfectly acquiescent.

'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. Tell me when you think you can
come. Papa is better, but not well. How is your mother? give my
love to her.--Yours faithfully,

'C. B. NICHOLLS.

'Have I told you how much better Mr. Nicholls is? He looks quite
strong and hale; he gained 12 lbs. during the four weeks we were in
Ireland. To see this improvement in him has been a main source of
happiness to me, and to speak truth, a subject of wonder too.'

TO MISS ELLEN NUSSEY

'HAWORTH, _August_ 29_th_.

'DEAR ELLEN,--Can you come here on Wednesday week (Sept. 6th)? Try
to arrange matters to do so if possible, for it will be better than
to delay your visit till the days grow cold and short. I want to see
you again, dear Nell, and my husband too will receive you with
pleasure; and he is not diffuse of his courtesies or partialities, I
can assure you. One friendly word from him means as much as twenty
from most people.

'We have been busy lately giving a supper and tea-drinking to the
singers, ringers, Sunday-school teachers, and all the scholars of the
Sunday and National Schools, amounting in all to some 500 souls. It
gave satisfaction and went off well.

'Papa, I am thankful to say, is much better; he preached last Sunday.
How does your mother bear this hot weather? Write soon, dear Nell,
and say you will come.--Yours faithfully,

'C. B. N.'

TO MISS ELLEN NUSSEY

'HAWORTH, _September_ 7_th_, 1854.

'DEAR ELLEN,--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 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 glory, I never saw them fuller of purple bloom. I
wanted you to see them at their best; they are just 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. I trust, dear Nell,
that you are all well at Brookroyd, and that your visiting stirs are
pretty nearly over. I compassionate you from my heart for all the
trouble to which you must be put, and I am rather ashamed of people
coming sponging in that fashion one after another; get away from them
and come here.--Yours faithfully,

'C. B. NICHOLLS.'

TO MISS ELLEN NUSSEY

'HAWORTH, _November_ 7_th_, 1854.

'DEAR ELLEN,--Arthur wishes you would burn my letters. He was out
when I commenced this letter, but he has just come in. It is not
"old friends" he mistrusts, he says, but the chances of war--the
accidental passing of letters into hands and under eyes for which
they were never written.

'All this seems mighty amusing to me; it is a man's mode of viewing
correspondence. Men's letters are proverbially uninteresting and
uncommunicative. I never quite knew before why they made them so.
They may be right in a sense: strange chances do fall out certainly.
As to my own notes, I never thought of attaching importance to them
or considering their fate, till Arthur seemed to reflect on both so
seriously.

'I will write again next week if all be well to name a day for coming
to see you. I am sure you want, or at least ought to have, a little
rest before you are bothered with more company; but whenever I come,
I suppose, dear Nell, under present circumstances, it will be a quiet
visit, and that I shall not need to bring more than a plain dress or
two. Tell me this when you write.--Believe me faithfully yours,

'C. B. NICHOLLS.'

TO MISS ELLEN NUSSEY

'HAWORTH, _November_ 14_th_, 1854.

'DEAR ELLEN,--I am only just at liberty to write to you; guests have
kept me very busy during the last two or three days. Sir J.
Kay-Shuttleworth and a friend of his came here on Saturday afternoon
and stayed till after dinner on Monday.

'When I go to Brookroyd, Arthur will take me there and stay one
night, but I cannot yet fix the time of my visit. Good-bye for the
present, dear Nell.--Yours faithfully,

'C. B. NICHOLLS.'

TO MISS ELLEN NUSSEY

'HAWORTH, _November_ 21_st_, 1854,

'DEAR ELLEN,--You ask about Mr. Sowden's matter. He walked over here
on a wild rainy day. We talked it over. He is quite disposed to
entertain the proposal, but of course there must be close inquiry and
ripe consideration before either he or the patron decide. Meantime
Mr. Sowden {495} is most anxious that the affairs be kept absolutely
quiet; in the event of disappointment it would be both painful and
injurious to him if it should be rumoured at Hebden Bridge that he
has had thoughts of leaving. Arthur says if a whisper gets out these
things fly from parson to parson like wildfire. I cannot help
somehow wishing that the matter should be arranged, if all on
examination is found tolerably satisfactory.

'Papa continues pretty well, I am thankful to say; his deafness is
wonderfully relieved. Winter seems to suit him better than summer;
besides, he is settled and content, as I perceive with gratitude to
God.

'Dear Ellen, I wish you well through every trouble. Arthur is not in
just now or he would send a kind message.--Believe me, yours
faithfully,

'C. B. NICHOLLS.'

TO MISS ELLEN NUSSEY

'HAWORTH, _November_ 29_th_, 1854.

'DEAR ELLEN,--Arthur somewhat demurs about my going to Brookroyd as
yet; fever, you know, is a formidable word. I cannot say I entertain
any apprehensions myself further than this, that I should be terribly
bothered at the idea of being taken ill from home and causing
trouble; and strangers are sometimes more liable to infection than
persons living in the house.

'Mr. Sowden has seen Sir J. K. Shuttleworth, but I fancy the matter
is very uncertain as yet. It seems the Bishop of Manchester
stipulates that the clergyman chosen should, if possible, be from his
own diocese, and this, Arthur says, is quite right and just. An
exception would have been made in Arthur's favour, but the case is
not so clear with Mr. Sowden. However, no harm will have been done
if the matter does not take wind, as I trust it will not. Write very
soon, dear Nell, and,--Believe me, yours faithfully,

'C. B. NICHOLLS.'

TO MISS ELLEN NUSSEY

'HAWORTH, _December_ 7_th_, 1854.

'DEAR ELLEN,--I shall not get leave to go to Brookroyd before
Christmas now, so do not expect me. For my own part I really should
have no fear, and if it just depended on me I should come. But these
matters are not quite in my power now: another must be consulted; and
where his wish and judgment have a decided bias to a particular
course, I make no stir, but just adopt it. Arthur is sorry to
disappoint both you and me, but it is his fixed wish that a few weeks
should be allowed yet to elapse before we meet. Probably he is
confirmed in this desire by my having a cold at present. I did not
achieve the walk to the waterfall with impunity. Though I changed my
wet things immediately on returning home, yet I felt a chill
afterwards, and the same night had sore throat and cold; however, I
am better now, but not quite well.

'Did I tell you that our poor little Flossy is dead? He drooped for
a single day, and died quietly in the night without pain. The loss
even of a dog was very saddening, yet perhaps no dog ever had a
happier life or an easier death.

'Papa continues pretty well, I am happy to say, and my dear boy
flourishes. I do not mean that he continues to grow stouter, which
one would not desire, but he keeps in excellent condition.

'You would wonder, I dare say, at the long disappearance of the
French paper. I had got such an accumulation of them unread that I
thought I would not wait to send the old ones; now you will receive
them regularly. I am writing in haste. It is almost inexplicable to
me that I seem so often hurried now; but the fact is, whenever Arthur
is in I must have occupations in which he can share, or which will
not at least divert my attention from him--thus a multitude of little
matters get put off till he goes out, and then I am quite busy.
Goodbye, dear Ellen, I hope we shall meet soon.--Yours faithfully,

'C. B. NICHOLLS.'

TO MISS ELLEN NUSSEY

'HAWORTH, _December_ 26_th_, 1854.

'DEAR ELLEN,--I return the letter. It is, as you say, very genuine,
truthful, affectionate, maternal--without a taint of sham or
exaggeration. Mary 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 wonderful felicity, and sometimes they--FIB. I am truly glad
to hear you are all better at Brookroyd. In the course of three or
four weeks more 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.

'In your last you asked about Mr. Sowden and Sir James. I fear Mr.
Sowden has little chance of the living; he had heard nothing more of
it the last time he wrote to Arthur, and in a note he had from Sir
James yesterday the subject is not mentioned.

'You inquire too 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 with her story of _North and South_.

'I must make this note short that it may not be overweight. 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!
Good-bye, dear Nell.--Yours faithfully,

'C. B. NICHOLLS.'

At the beginning of 1855 Mr. and Mrs. Nicholls visited Sir James Kay-Shuttleworth at Gawthorpe. I know of only four letters by her, written in this year.

TO MISS ELLEN NUSSEY

'HAWORTH, _January_ 19_th_, 1855.

'DEAR ELLEN,--Since our return from Gawthorpe we have had a Mr. Bell,
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.

'As to the living of Habergham or Padiham, it appears the chance is
doubtful at present for anybody. The present incumbent wishes to
retract his resignation, and declares his intention of appointing a
curate for two years. I fear Mr. Sowden hardly produced a favourable
impression; a strong wish was expressed that Arthur could come, but
that is out of the question.

'I very much wish to come to Brookroyd, and I hope 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
been really very good since my return from Ireland till about ten
days ago, when the stomach seemed quite suddenly to lose its tone;
indigestion and continual faint sickness have been my portion ever
since. Don't conjecture, dear Nell, for it is too soon yet, though I
certainly never before felt as I have done lately. But keep the
matter wholly to yourself, for I can come to no decided opinion at
present. I am rather mortified to lose my good looks and grow thin
as I am doing just when I thought of going to Brookroyd. Dear Ellen,
I want to see you, and I hope I shall see you well. My love to
all.--Yours faithfully,

'C. B. NICHOLLS.'

There were three more letters, but they were written in pencil from her deathbed. Two of them are printed by Mrs. Gaskell--one to Miss Nussey, the other to Miss Wheelwright. Here is the third and last of all.

TO MISS ELLEN NUSSEY

'MY DEAR ELLEN,--Thank you very much for Mrs. Hewitt's sensible clear
letter. Thank her too. In much her case was wonderfully like mine,
but I am reduced to greater weakness; the skeleton emaciation is the
same. I cannot talk. Even to my dear, patient, constant Arthur I
can say but few words at once.

'These last two days I have been somewhat better, and have taken some
beef-tea, a spoonful of wine and water, a mouthful of light pudding
at different times.

'Dear Ellen, I realise full well what you have gone through and will
have to go through with poor Mercy. Oh, may you continue to be
supported and not sink. Sickness here has been terribly rife.
Kindest regards to Mr. and Mrs. Clapham, your mother, Mercy. Write
when you can.--Yours,

'C. B. NICHOLLS.'

Little remains to be said. This is not a biography but a bundle of correspondence, and I have only to state that Mrs. Nicholls died of an illness incidental to childbirth on March 31st 1855, and was buried in the Bronte tomb in Haworth church. Her will runs as follows:--

Extracted from the District Probate Registry at York attached to Her
Majesty's High Court of Justice.

_In the name of God_. _Amen_. _I_, CHARLOTTE NICHOLLS, _of Haworth
in the parish of Bradford and county of York_, _being of sound and
disposing mind_, _memory_, _and understanding_, _but mindful of my
own mortality_, _do this seventeenth day of February_, _in the year
of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-five_, _make this my
last Will and Testament in manner and form following_, _that is to
say_: _In case I die without issue I give and bequeath to my husband
all my property to be his absolutely and entirely_, _but_, _In case I
leave issue I bequeath to my husband the interest of my property
during his lifetime_, _and at his death I desire that the principal
should go to my surviving child or children_; _should there be more
than one child_, _share and share alike_. _And I do hereby make and
appoint my said husband_, _Arthur Bell Nicholls_, _clerk_, _sole
executor of this my last Will and Testament_; _In witness whereof I
have to this my last Will and Testament subscribed my hand_, _the day
and year first above written_--CHARLOTTE NICHOLLS. _Signed and
acknowledged by the said testatrix_ CHARLOTTE NICHOLLS, _as and for
her last Will and Testament in the presence of us_, _who_, _at her
request_, _in her presence and in presence of each other_, _have at
the same time hereunto_ _subscribed our names as witnesses thereto_:
_Patrick Bronte_, B.A. _Incumbent of Haworth_, _Yorkshire_; _Martha
Brown_.

_The eighteenth day of April_ 1855, _the Will of_ CHARLOTTE NICHOLLS,
_late of Haworth in the parish of Bradford in the county of York_
(_wife of the Reverend Arthur Bell Nicholls_, _Clerk in Holy Orders_)
(_having bona notabilia within the province of York_). _Deceased was
proved in the prerogative court of York by the oath of the said
Arthur Bell Nicholls_ (_the husband_), _the sole executor to whom
administration was granted_, _he having been first sworn duly to
administer_.

Testatrix died 31st March 1855.

It is easy as fruitless to mourn over 'unfulfilled renown,' but it is not easy to believe that the future had any great things in store. Miss Bronte's four novels will remain for all time imperishable monuments of her power. She had touched with effect in two of them all that she knew of her home surroundings, and in two others all that was revealed to her of a wider life. More she could not have done with equal effect had she lived to be eighty. Hers was, it is true, a sad life, but such gifts as these rarely bring happiness with them. It was surely something to have tasted the sweets of fame, and a fame so indisputably lasting.

Mr. Nicholls stayed on at Haworth for the six years that followed his wife's death. When Mr. Bronte died he returned to Ireland. Some years later he married again--a cousin, Miss Bell by name. That second marriage has been one of unmixed blessedness. I found him in a home of supreme simplicity and charm, esteemed by all who knew him and idolised in his own household. It was not difficult to understand that Charlotte Bronte had loved him and had fought down parental opposition in his behalf. The qualities of gentleness, sincerity, unaffected piety, and delicacy of mind are his; and he is beautifully jealous, not only for the fair fame of Currer Bell, but--what she would equally have loved--for her father, who also has had much undue detraction in the years that are past. That Mr. Nicholls may long continue to enjoy the kindly calm of his Irish home will be the wish of all who have read of his own continuous devotion to a wife who must ever rank among the greatest of her sex.

FOOTNOTES

{8} Although so stated by Professor A. W. Ward in the _Dictionary of National Biography_, vol. xxi.

{14} 'Mama's last days,' it runs, 'had been full of loving thought and tender help for others. She was so sweet and dear and noble beyond words.'

{17} 'Some of the West Ridingers are very angry, and declare they are half-a-century in civilisation before some of the Lancashire folk, and that this neighbourhood is a paradise compared with some districts not far from Manchester.'--Ellen Nussey to Mrs. Gaskell, April 16th, 1859.

{19} 'To this bold statement (i.e. that love-letters were found in Branwell's pockets) Martha Brown gave to me a flat contradiction, declaring that she was employed in the sick room at the time, and had personal knowledge that not one letter, nor a vestige of one, from the lady in question, was so found.'--Leyland. _The Bronte Family_, vol. ii. p. 284.

{22} Mrs. Gaskell had described Charlotte Bronte's features as 'plain, large, and ill-set,' and had written of her 'crooked mouth and large nose'--while acknowledging the beauty of hair and eyes.

{25} Mrs. Lawry of Muswell Hill, to whose courtesy in placing these and other papers at my disposal I am greatly indebted.

{28} 'Patrick Branty' is written in another handwriting in the list of admissions at St. John's College, Cambridge. Dr. J. A. Erskine Stuart, who has a valuable note on the subject in an article on 'The Bronte Nomenclature' (Bronte Society's Publications, Pt. III.), has found the name as Brunty, Bruntee, Bronty, and Branty--but never in Patrick Bronte's handwriting. There is, however, no signature of Mr. Bronte's extant prior to 1799.

{29} 'I translated this' (_i.e._ an Irish romance) 'from a manuscript in my possession made by one Patrick O'Prunty, an ancestor probably of Charlotte Bronte, in 1763.' _The Story of Early Gaelic Literature_, p. 49. By Douglas Hyde, LL.D. T. Fisher Uwin, 1895.

{33} Mrs. Gaskell says 'Dec. 29th'; but Miss Charlotte Branwell of Penzance writes to me as follows:--'My Aunt Maria Branwell, after the death of her parents, went to Yorkshire on a visit to her relatives, where she met the Rev. Patrick Bronte. They soon became engaged to be married. Jane Fennell was previously engaged to the Rev. William Morgan. And when the time arrived for their marriage, Mr. Fennell said he should have to give his daughter and niece away, and if so, he could not marry them; so it was arranged that Mr. Morgan should marry Mr. Bronte and Maria Branwell, and afterwards Mr. Bronte should perform the same kindly office towards Mr. Morgan and Jane Fennell. So the bridegrooms married each other and the brides acted as bridesmaids to each other. My father and mother, Joseph and Charlotte Branwell, were married at Madron, which was then the parish church of Penzance, on the same day and hour. Perhaps a similar case never happened before or since: two sisters and four first cousins being united in holy matrimony at one and the same time. And they were all happy marriages. Mr. Bronte was perhaps peculiar, but I have always heard my own dear mother say that he was devotedly fond of his wife, and she of him. These marriages were solemnised on the 18th of December 1812.'

{39} The passage in brackets is quoted by Mrs. Gaskell.

{49} The passage in brackets is quoted, not quite accurately, by Mrs. Gaskell.

{53} The following letter indicates Mr. Bronte's independence of spirit. It was written after Charlotte's death:

'HAWORTH, NR. KEIGHLEY, _January_ 16_th_, 1858.

'SIR,--Your letter which I have received this morning gives both to
Mr. Nicholls and me great uneasiness. It would seem that application
has been made to the Duke of Devonshire for money to aid the
subscription in reference to the expense of apparatus for heating our
church and schools. This has been done without our knowledge, and
most assuredly, had we known it, would have met with our strongest
opposition. We have no claim on the Duke. His Grace honour'd us
with a visit, in token of his respect for the memory of the dead, and
his liberality and munificence are well and widely known; and the
mercenary, taking an unfair advantage of these circumstances, have
taken a step which both Mr. Nicholls and I utterly regret and
condemn. In answer to your query, I may state that the whole expense
for both the schools and church is about one hundred pounds; and that
after what has been and may be subscribed, there may fifty pounds
remain as a debt. But this may, and ought, to be raised by the
inhabitants, in the next year after the depression of trade shall, it
is hoped, have passed away. I have written to His Grace on the
subject--I remain, sir, your obedient servant,

'P. BRONTE.

'SIR JOSEPH PAXTON, BART.,
'Hardwick Hall,
'Chesterfield.'

{56a} The vicar, the Rev. J. Jolly, assures me, as these pages are passing through the press, that he is now moving it into the new church.

{56b} _Baptisms solomnised in the Parish of Bradford and Chapelry of Thornton in the County of York_. _When _Child's _Parent's _Parent's _Abode_. _Quality_, _By whom the Baptized_. Christian Name_ Name_ _Trade or Ceremony was Name_. (_Christian_). (_Surname_). Profession_. Performed_. 1816 _Charlotte _The Rev. _Bronte_ _Thornton_ _Minister of _Wm. Morgan 29_th_ _June_ daughter of_ Patrick and Thornton_ Minster of Christ Maria_. Church Bradford_. 1817 _Patrick _Patrick and _Bronte_ _Thornton_ _Minister_ _Jno. Fennell _July_ 23 Branwell son Maria_. officiating of_ Minister_. 1818 _Emily Jane _The Rev. _Bronte_ A.B. _Thornton _Minister of _Wm. Morgan 20_th_ daughter of_ Patrick and Parsonage_ Thornton_ Minster of Christ _August_ Maria_. Church Bradford_. 1820 _Anne daughter _The Rev. _Bronte_ _Minister of _Wm. Morgan _March_ 25_th_ of_ Patrick and Haworth_ Minster of Christ Maria_. Church Bradford_.

{74} At the same time it is worth while quoting from a letter by 'A. H.' in August 1855. A. H. was a teacher who was at Cowan Bridge during the time of the residence of the little Brontes there.

'In July 1824 the Rev. Mr. Bronte arrived at Cowan Bridge with two of
his daughters, Maria and Elizabeth, 12 and 10 years of age. The
children were delicate; both had but recently recovered from the
measles and whooping-cough--so recently, indeed, that doubts were
entertained whether they could be admitted with safety to the other
pupils. They were received, however, and went on so well that in
September their father returned, bringing with him two more of his
children--Charlotte, 9 [she was really but 8] and Emily, 6 years of
age. During both these visits Mr. Bronte lodged at the school, sat
at the same table with the children, saw the whole routine of the
establishment, and, so far as I have ever known, was satisfied with
everything that came under his observation.

'"The two younger children enjoyed uniformly good health." Charlotte
was a general favourite. To the best of my recollection she was
never under disgrace, however slight; punishment she certainly did
_not _experience while she was at Cowan Bridge.

'In size, Charlotte was remarkably diminutive; and if, as has been
recently asserted, she never grew an inch after leaving the Clergy
Daughters' School, she must have been a _literal dwarf_, and could
not have obtained a situation as teacher in a school at Brussels, or
anywhere else; the idea is absurd. In respect of the treatment of
the pupils at Cowan Bridge, I will say that neither Mr. Bronte's
daughters nor any other of the children were denied a sufficient
quantity of food. Any statement to the contrary is entirely false.
The daily dinner consisted of meat, vegetables, and pudding, in
abundance; the children were permitted, and expected, to ask for
whatever they desired, and were never limited.

'It has been remarked that the food of the school was such that none
but starving children could eat it; and in support of this statement
reference is made to a certain occasion when the medical attendant
was consulted about it. In reply to this, let me say that during the
spring of 1825 a low fever, although not an alarming one, prevailed
in the school, and the managers, naturally anxious to ascertain
whether any local cause occasioned the epidemic, took an opportunity
to ask the physician's opinion of the food that happened to be then
on the table. I recollect that he spoke rather scornfully of a baked
rice pudding; but as the ingredients of this dish were chiefly, rice,
sugar, and milk, its effects could hardly have been so serious as
have been affirmed. I thus furnish you with the simple fact from
which those statements have been manufactured.

'I have not the least hesitation in saying that, upon the whole, the
comforts were as many and the privations as few at Cowan Bridge as
can well be found in so large an establishment. How far young or
delicate children are able to contend with the necessary evils of a
public school is, in my opinion, a very grave question, and does not
enter into the present discussion.

'The younger children in all larger institutions are liable to be
oppressed; but the exposure to this evil at Cowan Bridge was not more
than in other schools, but, as I believe, far less. Then, again,
thoughtless servants will occasionally spoil food, even in private
families; and in public schools they are likely to be still less
particular, unless they are well looked after.

'But in this respect the institution in question compares very
favourably with other and more expensive schools, as from personal
experience I have reason to know.--A.H., August 1855.'--From _A
Vindication of the Clergy Daughters' School and the Rev. W. Carus
Wilson from the Remarks in_ '_The Life of Charlotte Bronte_,' _by the
Rev. H. Shepheard_, _M.A. London_: _Seeley_, _Jackson_, _and
Halliday_, 1857.

{92} The Rev. William Weightman.

{95} It is interesting to note that Charlotte sent one of her little pupils a gift-book during the holidays. The book is lost, but the fly-leaf of it, inscribed 'Sarah Louisa White, from her friend C. Bronte, July 20, 1841,' is in the possession of Mr. W. Lowe Fleeming, of Wolverhampton.

{96} 'UPPERWOOD HOUSE, RAWDON, _September _29_th_, 1841.

'DEAR AUNT,--I have heard nothing of Miss Wooler yet since I wrote to
her intimating that I would accept her offer. I cannot conjecture
the reason of this long silence, unless some unforeseen impediment
has occurred in concluding the bargain. Meantime, a plan has been
suggested and approved by Mr. and Mrs. White, and others, which I
wish now to impart to you. My friends recommend me, if I desire to
secure permanent success, to delay commencing the school for six
months longer, and by all means to contrive, by hook or by crook, to
spend the intervening time in some school on the continent. They say
schools in England are so numerous, competition so great, that
without some such step towards attaining superiority we shall
probably have a very hard struggle, and may fail in the end. They
say, moreover, that the loan of 100 pounds, which you have been so
kind as to offer us, will, perhaps, not be all required now, as Miss
Wooler will lend us the furniture; and that, if the speculation is
intended to be a good and successful one, half the sum, at least,
ought to be laid out in the manner I have mentioned, thereby insuring
a more speedy repayment both of interest and principal.

'I would not go to France or to Paris. I would go to Brussels, in
Belgium. The cost of the journey there, at the dearest rate of
travelling, would be 5 pounds; living is there little more than half
as dear as it is in England, and the facilities for education are
equal or superior to any other place in Europe. In half a year, I
could acquire a thorough familiarity with French. I could improve
greatly in Italian, and even get a dash of German, _i.e._, providing
my health continued as good as it is now. Martha Taylor is now
staying in Brussels, at a first-rate establishment there. I should
not think of going to the Chateau de Kockleberg, where she is
resident, as the terms are much too high; but if I wrote to her, she,
with the assistance of Mrs. Jenkins, the wife of the British Consul,
would be able to secure me a cheap and decent residence and
respectable protection. I should have the opportunity of seeing her
frequently, she would make me acquainted with the city; and, with the
assistance of her cousins, I should probably in time be introduced to
connections far more improving, polished, and cultivated, than any I
have yet known.

'These are advantages which would turn to vast account, when we
actually commenced a school--and, if Emily could share them with me,
only for a single half-year, we could take a footing in the world
afterwards which we can never do now. I say Emily instead of Anne;
for Anne might take her turn at some future period, if our school
answered. I feel certain, while I am writing, that you will see the
propriety of what I say; you always like to use your money to the
best advantage; you are not fond of making shabby purchases; when you
do confer a favour, it is often done in style; and depend upon it 50,
or 100 pounds, thus laid out, would be well employed. Of course, I
know no other friend in the world to whom I could apply on this
subject except yourself. I feel an absolute conviction that, if this
advantage were allowed us, it would be the making of us for life.
Papa will perhaps think it a wild and ambitious scheme; but who ever
rose in the world without ambition? When he left Ireland to go to
Cambridge University, he was as ambitious as I am now. I want us all
to go on. I know we have talents, and I want them to be turned to
account. I look to you, aunt, to help us. I think you will not
refuse. I know, if you consent, it shall not be my fault if you ever
repent your kindness. With love to all, and the hope that you are
all well,--Believe me, dear aunt, your affectionate niece,

'MISS BRANWELL. C. BRONTE.'

_Mrs. Gaskell's_ '_Life_.' _Corrected and completed from original letter in the possession of Mr. A. B. Nicholls_.

{107} Miss Mary Dixon, the sister of Mr. George Dixon, M.P., is still alive, but she has unfortunately not preserved her letters from Charlotte Bronte.

{109a} 'The Brontes at Brussels,' by Frederika Macdonald.--_The Woman at Home_, July 1894.

{109b} This statement has received the separate endorsement of the Rev. A. B. Nicholls and of Miss Ellen Nussey.

{110} M. and Mme. Heger celebrated their golden wedding in 1888, but Mme. Heger died the next year. M. Constantin Heger lived to be eighty-seven years of age, dying at 72 Rue Nettoyer, Brussels, on the 6th of May 1896. He was born in Brussels in 1809, took part in the Belgian revolution of 1830, and fought in the war of independence against the Dutch. He was twice married, and it was his second wife who was associated with Charlotte Bronte. She started the school in the Rue d'Isabelle, and M. Heger took charge of the upper French classes. In an obituary article written by M. Colin of _L'Etoile Belge_ in _The Sketch_ (June 5, 1896), which was revised by Dr. Heger, the only son of M. Heger, it is stated that Charlotte Bronte was piqued at being refused permission to return to the Pensionnat a third time, and that _Villette_ was her revenge. We know that this was not the case. The Pensionnat Heger was removed in 1894 to the Avenue Louise. The building in the Rue d'Isabelle will shortly be pulled down.

{121} _Pictures of the Past_, by Francis H. Grundy, C.E: Griffith & Farran, 1879; _Emily Bronte_, by A. Mary F. Robinson: W. H. Allen, 1883; _The Bronte Family_, _with Special Reference to Patrick Branwell Bronte_, by Francis A. Leyland: Hurst & Blackett, 2 vols. 1886.

{123} After Mr. Bronte's death Mr. Nicholls removed it to Ireland. Being of opinion that the only accurate portrait was that of Emily, he cut this out and destroyed the remainder. The portrait of Emily was given to Martha Brown, the servant, on one of her visits to Mr. Nicholls, and I have not been able to trace it. There are three or four so-called portraits of Emily in existence, but they are all repudiated by Mr. Nicholls as absolutely unlike her. The supposed portrait which appeared in _The Woman at Home_ for July 1894 is now known to have been merely an illustration from a 'Book of Beauty,' and entirely spurious.

{138} There are two portraits of Branwell in existence, both of them in the possession of Mr. Nicholls. One of them is a medallion by his friend Leyland, the other the silhouette which accompanies this chapter. They both suggest, mainly on account of the clothing, a man of more mature years than Branwell actually attained to.

{142} In the _Mirror_, 1872, Mr. Phillips, under the pseudonym of 'January Searle,' wrote a readable biography of Wordsworth.

{145a} Charlotte writes from Dewsbury Moor (October 2, 1836):--'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 until near eleven at night, with only one half-hour of exercise between. This is slavery. I fear she will never stand it.'--Mrs. Gaskell's _Life_.

{145b} _Haworth Churchyard_, _April_ 1855, by Matthew Arnold. Macmillan & Co.

{158} See chap. xiii., page 346.

{159} A dog, referred to elsewhere as Flossie, junior.

{161} It was sent to Mr. Williams on six half-sheets of note-paper and was preserved by him.

{163} Although _Jane Eyre_ has been dramatised by several hands, the play has never been as popular as one might suppose from a story of such thrilling incident. I can find no trace of the particular version which is referred to in this letter, but in the next year the novel was dramatised by John Brougham, the actor and dramatist, and produced in New York on March 26, 1849. Brougham is rather an interesting figure. An Irishman by birth, he had a chequered experience of every phase of theatrical life both in London and New York. It was he who adapted 'The Queen's Motto' and 'Lady Audley's Secret,' and he collaborated with Dion Boucicault in 'London Assurance.' In 1849 he seems to have been managing Niblo's Garden in New York, and in the following year the Lyceum Theatre in Broadway. Miss Wemyss took the title role in _Jane Eyre_, J. Gilbert was Rochester, and Mrs. J. Gilbert was Lady Ingram; and though the play proved only moderately successful, it was revived in 1856 at Laura Keene's Varieties at New York, with Laura Keene as Jane Eyre. This version has been published by Samuel French, and is also in Dick's _Penny Plays_. Divided into five Acts and twelve scenes, Brougham starts the story at Lowood Academy. The second Act introduces us to Rochester's house, and the curtain descends in the fourth as Jane announces that the house is in flames. At the end of the fifth, Brougham reproduced _verbatim_ much of the conversation of the dialogue between Rochester and Jane. Perhaps the best-known dramatisation of the novel was that by the late W. G. Wills, who divided the story into four Acts. His play was produced on Saturday, December 23, 1882, at the Globe Theatre, by Mrs. Bernard-Beere, with the following cast:--

_Jane Eyre_ Mrs. Bernard-Beere _Lady Ingram_ Miss Carlotta Leclercq _Blanche Ingram_ Miss Kate Bishop _Mary Ingram_ Miss Maggie Hunt _Miss Beechey_ Miss Nellie Jordan _Mrs. Fairfax_ Miss Alexes Leighton _Grace Poole_ Miss Masson _Bertha_ Miss D'Almaine _Adele_ Mdlle. Clemente Colle _Mr. Rochester_ Mr. Charles Kelly _Lord Desmond_ Mr. A. M. Denison _Rev. Mr. Price_ Mr. H. E. Russel _Nat Lee_ Mr. H. H. Cameron _James_ Mr. C. Stevens

Mr. Wills confined the story to Thornfield Hall. One critic described the drama at the time as 'not so much a play as a long conversation.' A few years ago James Willing made a melodrama of _Jane Eyre_ under the title of _Poor Relations_. This piece was performed at the Standard, Surrey, and Park Theatres. A version of the story, dramatised by Charlotte Birch-Pfeiffer, called _Die Waise von Lowood_, has been rather popular in Germany.

{168a} Alexander Harris wrote _A Converted Atheist's Testimony to the Truth of Christianity_, and other now forgotten works.

{168b} Julia Kavanagh (1824-1877). Her father, M. P. Kavanagh, wrote _The Wanderings of Lucan and Dinah_, a poetical romance, and other works. Miss Kavanagh was born at Thurles and died at Nice. Her first book, _The Three Paths_, a tale for children, was published in 1847. _Madeline_, a story founded on the life of a peasant girl of Auvergne, in 1848. _Women in France during the Eighteenth Century_ appeared in 1850, _Nathalie_ the same year. In the succeeding years she wrote innumerable stories and biographical sketches.

{173} It runs thus:--

'_December_ 9_th_, 1848.

'The patient, respecting whose case Dr. Epps is consulted, and for
whom his opinion and advice are requested, is a female in her 29th
year. A peculiar reserve of character renders it difficult to draw
from her all the symptoms of her malady, but as far as they can be
ascertained they are as follows:--

Her appetite failed; she evinced a continual thirst, with a craving for acids, and required a constant change of beverage. In appearance she grew rapidly emaciated; her pulse--the only time she allowed it to be felt--was found to be 115 per minute. The patient usually appeared worse in the forenoon, she was then frequently exhausted and drowsy; toward evening she often seemed better.

'Expectoration accompanies the cough. The shortness of breath is
aggravated by the slightest exertion. The patient's sleep is
supposed to be tolerably good at intervals, but disturbed by
paroxysms of coughing. Her resolution to contend against illness
being very fixed, she has never consented to lie in bed for a single
day--she sits up from 7 in the morning till 10 at night. All medical
aid she has rejected, insisting that Nature should be left to take
her own course. She has taken no medicine, but occasionally, a mild
aperient and Locock's cough wafers, of which she has used about 3 per
diem, and considers their effect rather beneficial. Her diet, which
she regulates herself, is very simple and light.

'The patient has hitherto enjoyed pretty good health, though she has
never looked strong, and the family constitution is not supposed to
be robust. Her temperament is highly nervous. She has been
accustomed to a sedentary and studious life.

'If Dr. Epps can, from what has here been stated, give an opinion on
the case and prescribe a course of treatment, he will greatly oblige
the patient's friends.

'Address--Miss Bronte, Parsonage, Haworth, Bradford, Yorks.'

{183a} The original of this letter is lost, so that it is not possible to fill in the hiatus.

{183b} Emily--who was called the Major, because on one occasion she guarded Miss Nussey from the attentions of Mr. Weightman during an evening walk.

{190} In his next letter Mr. Williams informed her that Miss Rigby was the writer of the _Quarterly_ article.

{221} In Hathersage Church is the altar tomb of Robert Eyre who fought at Agincourt and died on the 21st of May 1459, also of his wife Joan Eyre who died on the 9th of May 1464. This Joan Eyre was heiress of the house of Padley, and brought the Padley estates into the Eyre family. There is a Sanctus bell of the fifteenth century with a Latin inscription, 'Pray for the souls of Robert Eyre and Joan his wife.'--Rev. Thomas Keyworth on 'Morton Village and _Jane Eyre_'--a paper read before the Bronte Society at Keighley, 1895.

{259a} _Miss Miles_, _or A Tale of Yorkshire Life Sixty Years Ago_, by Mary Taylor. Rivingtons, 1890.

{259b} _The First Duty of Women_. A Series of Articles reprinted from the _Victorian Magazine_, 1865 to 1870, by Mary Taylor. 1870.

{262} See letter to Ellen Nussey, page 78.

{275} Miss Bronte was paid 1500 pounds in all for her three novels, and Mr. Nicholls received an additional 250 pounds for the copyright of _The Professor_.

{280} A Mr. Hodgson is spoken of earlier, but he would seem to have been only a temporary help.

{282} Referring to a present of birds which the curate had sent to Miss Nussey.

{287} A Funeral Sermon for the late Rev. William Weightman, M.A., preached in the Church at Haworth on Sunday the 2nd of October 1842 by the Rev. Patrick Bronte, A.B., Incumbent. The profits, if any, to go in aid of the Sunday School. Halifax--Printed by J. U. Walker, George Street, 1842. Price sixpence.

{288} A little dog, called in the next letter 'Flossie, junr.,' which indicates its parentage. Flossy was the little dog given by the Robinsons to Anne.

{325} The originals are in the possession of Mr. Alfred Morrison of Carlton House Terrace, London.

{330} _De Quincey Memorials_, by Alexander H. Japp. 2 vols. 1891. William Heinemann.

{332a} _Agnes Grey_, a novel, by Acton Bell. Vol. III. London, Thomas Cautley Newby, publisher, 72 Mortimer Street, Cavendish Square.

{332b} And yet the error not infrequently occurs, and was recently made by Professor Saintsbury (_Nineteenth Century Literature_), of assuming that it was _Jane Eyre_ which met with many refusals.

{332c} Mr. Nicholls assures me that the manuscript was not rewritten after his marriage, although I had thought it possible, not only on account of its intrinsic merits, which have not been sufficiently acknowledged, but on account of the singular fact that Mlle. Henri, the charming heroine, is married in a white muslin dress, and that her going-away dress was of lilac silk. These were the actual wedding dresses of Mrs. Nicholls.

{333} Anne Marsh (1791-1874), a daughter of James Caldwell, J.P., of Linley Wood, Staffordshire, married a son of the senior partner in the London banking firm of Marsh, Stacey, & Graham. Her first volume appeared in 1834, and contained, under the title of _Two Old Men's Tales_, two stories, _The Admiral's Daughter_ and _The Deformed_, which won considerable popularity. _Emilia Wyndham_, _Time_, _the Avenger_, _Mount Sorel_, and _Castle Avon_, are perhaps the best of her many subsequent novels.

{335} _The Professor_ was published, with a brief note by Mr. Nicholls, two years after the death of its author. _The Professor_, a Tale, by Currer Bell, in two volumes. Smith, Elder & Co., 65 Cornhill, 1857.

{348} Lady Eastlake died in 1893.

{349} _Letters and Journals_ of Lady Eastlake, edited by her nephew, Charles Eastlake Smith, vol. i. pp. 221, 222 (John Murray).

{350} _Life of J. G. Lockhart_, by Andrew Lang. Published by John Nimmo. Mr. Lang has courteously permitted me to copy this letter from his proof-sheets.