Charlotte Bronte and Her Circle Part 1

Charlotte Bronte and Her Circle.

by Clement K. Shorter.

PREFACE

It is claimed for the following book of some five hundred pages that the larger part of it is an addition of entirely new material to the romantic story of the Brontes. For this result, but very small credit is due to me; and my very hearty acknowledgments must be made, in the first place, to the Rev. Arthur Bell Nicholls, for whose generous surrender of personal inclination I must ever be grateful. It has been with extreme unwillingness that Mr. Nicholls has broken the silence of forty years, and he would not even now have consented to the publication of certain letters concerning his marriage, had he not been aware that these letters were already privately printed and in the hands of not less than eight or ten people. To Miss Ellen Nussey of Gomersall, I have also to render thanks for having placed the many letters in her possession at my disposal, and for having furnished a great deal of interesting information. Without the letters from Charlotte Bronte to Mr. W. S.

Williams, which were kindly lent to me by his son and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Thornton Williams, my book would have been the poorer. Sir Wemyss Reid, Mr. J. J. Stead, of Heckmondwike, Mr. Butler Wood, of Bradford, Mr.

W. W. Yates, of Dewsbury, Mr. Erskine Stuart, Mr. Buxton Forman, and Mr.

Thomas J. Wise are among the many Bronte specialists who have helped me with advice or with the loan of material. Mr. Wise, in particular, has lent me many valuable ma.n.u.scripts. Finally, I have to thank my friend Dr. Robertson Nicoll for the kindly pressure which has practically compelled me to prepare this little volume amid a mult.i.tude of journalistic duties.

CLEMENT K. SHORTER.

198 STRAND, LONDON, _September_ 1_st_, 1896.

PRELIMINARY: MRS. GASKELL

In the whole of English biographical literature there is no book that can compare in widespread interest with the _Life of Charlotte Bronte_ by Mrs. Gaskell. It has held a position of singular popularity for forty years; and while biography after biography has come and gone, it still commands a place side by side with Boswell's _Johnson_ and Lockhart's _Scott_. As far as mere readers are concerned, it may indeed claim its hundreds as against the tens of intrinsically more important rivals.

There are obvious reasons for this success. Mrs. Gaskell was herself a popular novelist, who commanded a very wide audience, and _Cranford_, at least, has taken a place among the cla.s.sics of our literature. She brought to bear upon the biography of Charlotte Bronte all those literary gifts which had made the charm of her seven volumes of romance. And these gifts were employed upon a romance of real life, not less fascinating than anything which imagination could have furnished.

Charlotte Bronte's success as an author turned the eyes of the world upon her. Thackeray had sent her his _Vanity Fair_ before he knew her name or s.e.x. The precious volume lies before me--

[Picture: First Thackeray Inscription]

And Thackeray did not send many inscribed copies of his books even to successful authors. Speculation concerning the author of _Jane Eyre_ was sufficiently rife during those seven sad years of literary renown to make a biography imperative when death came to Charlotte Bronte in 1855. All the world had heard something of the three marvellous sisters, daughters of a poor parson in Yorkshire, going one after another to their death with such melancholy swiftness, but leaving--two of them, at least--imperishable work behind them. The old blind father and the bereaved husband read the confused eulogy and criticism, sometimes with a sad pleasure at the praise, oftener with a sadder pain at the grotesque inaccuracy. Small wonder that it became impressed upon Mr. Bronte's mind that an authoritative biography was desirable. His son-in-law, Mr.

Arthur Bell Nicholls, who lived with him in the Haworth parsonage during the six weary years which succeeded Mrs. Nicholls's death, was not so readily won to the unveiling of his wife's inner life; and although we, who read Mrs. Gaskell's _Memoir_, have every reason to be thankful for Mr. Bronte's decision, peace of mind would undoubtedly have been more a.s.sured to Charlotte Bronte's surviving relatives had the most rigid silence been maintained. The book, when it appeared in 1857, gave infinite pain to a number of people, including Mr. Bronte and Mr.

Nicholls; and Mrs. Gaskell's subsequent experiences had the effect of persuading her that all biographical literature was intolerable and undesirable. She would seem to have given instructions that no biography of herself should be written; and now that thirty years have pa.s.sed since her death we have no substantial record of one of the most fascinating women of her age. The loss to literature has been forcibly brought home to the present writer, who has in his possession a bundle of letters written by Mrs. Gaskell to numerous friends of Charlotte Bronte during the progress of the biography. They serve, all of them, to impress one with the singular charm of the woman, her humanity and breadth of sympathy. They make us think better of Mrs. Gaskell, as Thackeray's letters to Mrs. Brookfield make us think better of the author of _Vanity Fair_.

Apart from these letters, a journey in the footsteps, as it were, of Mrs.

Gaskell reveals to us the remarkable conscientiousness with which she set about her task. It would have been possible, with so much fame behind her, to have secured an equal success, and certainly an equal pecuniary reward, had she merely written a brief monograph with such material as was voluntarily placed in her hands. Mrs. Gaskell possessed a higher ideal of a biographer's duties. She spared no pains to find out the facts; she visited every spot a.s.sociated with the name of Charlotte Bronte--Thornton, Haworth, Cowan Bridge, Birstall, Brussels--and she wrote countless letters to the friends of Charlotte Bronte's earlier days.

But why, it may be asked, was Mrs. Gaskell selected as biographer? The choice was made by Mr. Bronte, and not, as has been suggested, by some outside influence. When Mr. Bronte had once decided that there should be an authoritative biography--and he alone was active in the matter--there could be but little doubt upon whom the task would fall. Among all the friends whom fame had brought to Charlotte, Mrs. Gaskell stood prominent for her literary gifts and her large-hearted sympathy. She had made the acquaintance of Miss Bronte when the latter was on a visit to Sir James Kay Shuttleworth, in 1850; and a letter from Charlotte to her father, and others to Mr. W. S. Williams, indicate the beginning of a friendship which was to leave so permanent a record in literary history:--

TO W. S. WILLIAMS

'20_th_ _November_, 1849.

'MY DEAR SIR,--You said that if I wished for any copies of _Shirley_ to be sent to individuals I was to name the parties. I have thought of one person to whom I should much like a copy to be offered--Harriet Martineau. For her character--as revealed in her works--I have a lively admiration, a deep esteem. Will you inclose with the volume the accompanying note?

'The letter you forwarded this morning was from Mrs. Gaskell, auth.o.r.ess of _Mary Barton_; she said I was not to answer it, but I cannot help doing so. The note brought the tears to my eyes. She is a good, she is a great woman. Proud am I that I can touch a chord of sympathy in souls so n.o.ble. In Mrs. Gaskell's nature it mournfully pleases me to fancy a remote affinity to my sister Emily. In Miss Martineau's mind I have always felt the same, though there are wide differences. Both these ladies are above me--certainly far my superiors in attainments and experience. I think I could look up to them if I knew them.--I am, dear sir, yours sincerely,

'C. BRONTE.'

TO W. S. WILLIAMS

'_November_ 29_th_, 1849.

'DEAR SIR,--I inclose two notes for postage. The note you sent yesterday was from Harriet Martineau; its contents were more than gratifying. I ought to be thankful, and I trust I am, for such testimonies of sympathy from the first order of minds. When Mrs.

Gaskell tells me she shall keep my works as a treasure for her daughters, and when Harriet Martineau testifies affectionate approbation, I feel the sting taken from the strictures of another cla.s.s of critics. My resolution of seclusion withholds me from communicating further with these ladies at present, but I now know how they are inclined to me--I know how my writings have affected their wise and pure minds. The knowledge is present support and, perhaps, may be future armour.

'I trust Mrs. Williams's health and, consequently, your spirits are by this time quite restored. If all be well, perhaps I shall see you next week.--Yours sincerely,

'C. BRONTE.'

TO W. S. WILLIAMS

'_January_ 1_st_, 1850.

'MY DEAR SIR,--May I beg that a copy of _Wuthering Heights_ may be sent to Mrs. Gaskell; her present address is 3 Suss.e.x Place, Regent's Park. She has just sent me the _Moorland Cottage_. I felt disappointed about the publication of that book, having hoped it would be offered to Smith, Elder & Co.; but it seems she had no alternative, as it was Mr. Chapman himself who asked her to write a Christmas book. On my return home yesterday I found two packets from Cornhill directed in two well-known hands waiting for me. You are all very very good.

'I trust to have derived benefit from my visit to Miss Martineau. A visit more interesting I certainly never paid. If self-sustaining strength can be acquired from example, I ought to have got good. But my nature is not hers; I could not make it so though I were to submit it seventy times seven to the furnace of affliction, and discipline it for an age under the hammer and anvil of toil and self-sacrifice.

Perhaps if I was like her I should not admire her so much as I do.

She is somewhat absolute, though quite unconsciously so; but she is likewise kind, with an affection at once abrupt and constant, whose sincerity you cannot doubt. It was delightful to sit near her in the evenings and hear her converse, myself mute. She speaks with what seems to me a wonderful fluency and eloquence. Her animal spirits are as unflagging as her intellectual powers. I was glad to find her health excellent. I believe neither solitude nor loss of friends would break her down. I saw some faults in her, but somehow I liked them for the sake of her good points. It gave me no pain to feel insignificant, mentally and corporeally, in comparison with her.

'Trusting that you and yours are well, and sincerely wishing you all a happy new year,--I am, my dear sir, yours sincerely,

'C. BRONTE.'

TO REV. P. BRONTE

'THE BRIERY, WINDERMERE, '_August_ 10_th_, 1850.

'DEAR PAPA,--I reached this place yesterday evening at eight o'clock, after a safe though rather tedious journey. I had to change carriages three times and to wait an hour and a half at Lancaster.

Sir James came to meet me at the station; both he and Lady Shuttleworth gave me a very kind reception. This place is exquisitely beautiful, though the weather is cloudy, misty, and stormy; but the sun bursts out occasionally and shows the hills and the lake. Mrs. Gaskell is coming here this evening, and one or two other people. Miss Martineau, I am sorry to say, I shall not see, as she is already gone from home for the autumn.

'Be kind enough to write by return of post and tell me how you are getting on and how you are. Give my kind regards to Tabby and Martha, and--Believe me, dear papa, your affectionate daughter,

'C. BRONTE.'

And this is how she writes to a friend from Haworth, on her return, after that first meeting:--

'Lady Shuttleworth never got out, being confined to the house with a cold; but fortunately there was Mrs. Gaskell, the auth.o.r.ess of _Mary Barton_, who came to the Briery the day after me. I was truly glad of her companionship. She is a woman of the most genuine talent, of cheerful, pleasing, and cordial manners, and, I believe, of a kind and good heart.'

TO W. S. WILLIAMS

'_September_ 20_th_, 1850.

'MY DEAR SIR,--I herewith send you a very roughly written copy of what I have to say about my sisters. When you have read it you can better judge whether the word "Notice" or "Memoir" is the most appropriate. I think the former. Memoir seems to me to express a more circ.u.mstantial and different sort of account. My aim is to give a just idea of their ident.i.ty, not to write any narration of their simple, uneventful lives. I depend on you for faithfully pointing out whatever may strike you as faulty. I could not write it in the conventional form--_that_ I found impossible.

'It gives me real pleasure to hear of your son's success. I trust he may persevere and go on improving, and give his parents cause for satisfaction and honest pride.

'I am truly pleased, too, to learn that Miss Kavanagh has managed so well with Mr. Colburn. Her position seems to me one deserving of all sympathy. I often think of her. Will her novel soon be published?

Somehow I expect it to be interesting.

'I certainly did hope that Mrs. Gaskell would offer her next work to Smith & Elder. She and I had some conversation about publishers--a comparison of our literary experiences was made. She seemed much struck with the differences between hers and mine, though I did not enter into details or tell her all. Unless I greatly mistake, she and you and Mr. Smith would get on well together; but one does not know what causes there may be to prevent her from doing as she would wish in such a case. I think Mr. Smith will not object to my occasionally sending her any of the Cornhill books that she may like to see. I have already taken the liberty of lending her Wordsworth's _Prelude_, as she was saying how much she wished to have the opportunity of reading it.