Charlotte Bronte and Her Circle Part 5

CHAPTER II: CHILDHOOD

Eighty years have pa.s.sed over Thornton since that village had the honour of becoming the birthplace of Charlotte Bronte. The visitor of to-day will find the Bell Chapel, in which Mr. Bronte officiated, a mere ruin, and the font in which his children were baptized ruthlessly exposed to the winds of heaven. {56a} The house in which Patrick Bronte resided is now a butcher's shop, and indeed little, one imagines, remains the same.

But within the new church one may still overhaul the registers, and find, with but little trouble, a record of the baptism of the Bronte children.

There, amid the names of the rough and rude peasantry of the neighbourhood, we find the accompanying entries, {56b} differing from their neighbours only by the fact that Mr. Morgan or Mr. Fennell came to the help of their relatives and officiated in place of Mr. Bronte. Mr.

Bronte, it will be observed, had already received his appointment to Haworth when Anne was baptized.

There were, it is well known, two elder children, Maria and Elizabeth, born at Hartshead, and doomed to die speedily at Haworth. A vague memory of Maria lives in the Helen Burns of _Jane Eyre_, but the only tangible records of the pair, as far as I am able to ascertain, are a couple of samplers, of the kind which Mrs. Bronte and her sisters had worked at Penzance a generation earlier.

_Maria Bronte finished this Sampler on the 16th of May at the age of eight years_

one of them tells us, and the other:

_Elizabeth Bronte finished this Sampler the 27th of July at the age of seven years_.

Maria died at the age of twelve in May 1825, and Elizabeth in June of the same year, at the age of eleven. It is, however, with their three sisters that we have most concern, although all the six children accompanied their parents to Haworth in 1820.

Haworth, we are told, has been over-described; and yet it may not be amiss to discover from the easily available directories what manner of place it was during the Bronte residence there. Pigot's Yorkshire Directory of 1828 gives the census during the first year of Mr. Bronte's inc.u.mbency thus:--

HAWORTH, _a populous manufacturing village_, _in the honour of Pontefract_, _Morley wapentake_, _and in the parish of Bradford_, _is four miles south of Keighley_, _containing_, _by the census of_ 1821, 4668 _inhabitants_.

_Gentry and Clergy_: _Bronte_, _Rev. Patrick_, _Haworth_; _Heaton_, _Robert_, _gent._, _Ponden Hall_; _Miles_, _Rev. Oddy_, _Haworth_; _Saunders_, _Rev. Moses_, _Haworth_.

From the same source twenty years later we obtain more explicit detail, which is not without interest to-day.

HAWORTH _is a chapelry_, _comprising the hamlets of Haworth_, _Stanbury_, _and Near and Far Oxenhope_, _in the parish of Bradford_, _and wapentake of Morley_, _West Riding_--_Haworth being ten miles from Bradford_, _about the same distance from Halifax_, _Colne_, _and Skipton_, _three and a half miles S. from Keighley_, _and eight from Hebden Bridge_, _at which latter place is a station on the Leeds and Manchester railway_. _Haworth is situated on the side of a hill_, _and consists of one irregularly built street_--_the habitations in that part called Oxenhope being yet more scattered_, _and Stanbury still farther distant_; _the entire chapelry occupying a wide s.p.a.ce_.

_The spinning of worsted_, _and the manufacture of stuffs_, _are branches which here prevail extensively_.

_The Church or rather chapel_ (_subject to Bradford_), _dedicated to St. Michael_, _was rebuilt in_ 1757: _the living is a perpetual curacy_, _in the presentation of the vicar of Bradford and certain trustees_; _the present curate is the Rev. Patrick_ _Bronte_. _The other places of worship are two chapels for baptists_, _one each for primitive and Wesleyan methodists_, _and another at Oxenhope for the latter denomination_. _There are two excellent free schools_--_one at Stanbury_, _the other_, _called the Free Grammar School_, _near Oxenhope_; _besides which there are several neat edifices erected for Sunday teaching_. _There are three annual fairs_: _they are held on Easter-Monday_, _the second Monday after St. Peter's day_ (_old style_), _and the first Monday after Old Michaelmas day_. _The chapelry of Haworth_, _and its dependent hamlets_, _contained by the returns for_ 1831, 5835 _inhabitants_; _and by the census taken in June_, 1841, _the population amounted to_ 6301.

Haworth needs even to-day no further description, but the house in which Mr. Bronte resided, from 1820 till his death in 1861, has not been over-described, perhaps because Mr. Bronte's successor has not been too well disposed to receive the casual visitor to Haworth under his roof.

Many changes have been made since Mr. Bronte died, but the house still retains its essentially interesting features. In the time of the Brontes, it is true, the front outlook was as desolate as to-day it is attractive. Then there was a little piece of barren ground running down to the walls of the churchyard, with here and there a currant-bush as the sole adornment. Now we see an abundance of trees and a well-kept lawn.

Miss Ellen Nussey well remembers seeing Emily and Anne, on a fine summer afternoon, sitting on stools in this bit of garden plucking currants from the poor insignificant bushes. There was no premonition of the time, not so far distant, when the rough doorway separating the churchyard from the garden, which was opened for their mother when they were little children, should be opened again time after time in rapid succession for their own biers to be carried through. This gateway is now effectively bricked up.

In the days of the Brontes it was reserved for the pa.s.sage of the dead--a grim arrangement, which, strange to say, finds no place in any one of the sisters' stories. We enter the house, and the door on the right leads into Mr. Bronte's study, always called the parlour; that on the left into the dining-room, where the children spent a great portion of their lives.

From childhood to womanhood, indeed, the three girls regularly breakfasted with their father in his study. In the dining-room--a square and simple room of a kind common enough in the houses of the poorer middle-cla.s.ses--they ate their mid-day dinner, their tea and supper. Mr.

Bronte joined them at tea, although he always dined alone in his study.

The children's dinner-table has been described to me by a visitor to the house. At one end sat Miss Branwell, at the other, Charlotte, with Emily and Anne on either side. Branwell was then absent. The living was of the simplest. A single joint, followed invariably by one kind or another of milk-pudding. Pastry was unknown in the Bronte household.

Milk-puddings, or food composed of milk and rice, would seem to have made the princ.i.p.al diet of Emily and Anne Bronte, and to this they added a breakfast of Scotch porridge, which they shared with their dogs. It is more interesting, perhaps, to think of all the daydreams in that room, of the ma.s.s of writing which was achieved there, of the conversations and speculation as to the future. Miss Nussey has given a pleasant picture of twilight when Charlotte and she walked with arms encircling one another round and round the table, and Emily and Anne followed in similar fashion. There was no lack of cheerfulness and of hope at that period.

Behind Mr. Bronte's studio was the kitchen; and there we may easily picture the Bronte children telling stories to Tabby or Martha, or to whatever servant reigned at the time, and learning, as all of them did, to become thoroughly domesticated--Emily most of all. Behind the dining-room was a peat-room, which, when Charlotte was married in 1854, was cleared out and converted into a little study for Mr. Nicholls. The staircase with its solid banister remains as it did half a century ago; and at its foot one is still shown the corner which tradition a.s.signs as the scene of Emily's conflict with her dog Keeper. On the right, at the back, as you mount the staircase, was a small room allotted to Branwell as a studio. On the other side of this staircase, also at the back, was the servants' room. In the front of the house, immediately over the dining-room, was Miss Branwell's room, afterwards the spare bedroom until Charlotte Bronte married. In that room she died. On the left, over Mr.

Bronte's study, was Mr. Bronte's bedroom. It was the room which, for many years, he shared with Branwell, and it was in that room that Branwell and his father died at an interval of twenty years. On the staircase, half-way up, was a grandfather's clock, which Mr. Bronte used to wind up every night on his way to bed. He always went to bed at nine o'clock, and Miss Nussey well remembers his stentorian tones as he called out as he left his study and pa.s.sed the dining-room door--'Don't be up late, children'--which they usually were. Between these two front rooms upstairs, and immediately over the pa.s.sage, with a door facing the staircase, was a box room; but this was the children's nursery, where for many years the children slept, where the bulk of their little books were compiled, and where, it is more than probable, _The Professor_ and _Jane Eyre_ were composed.

Of the work of the Bronte children in these early years, a great deal might be written. Mrs. Gaskell gives a list of some eighteen booklets, but at least eighteen more from the pen of Charlotte are in existence.

Branwell was equally prolific; and of him, also, there remains an immense ma.s.s of childish effort. That Emily and Anne were industrious in a like measure there is abundant reason to believe; but scarcely one of their juvenile efforts remains to us, nor even the unpublished fragments of later years, to which reference will be made a little later. Whether Emily and Anne on the eve of their death deliberately destroyed all their treasures, or whether they were destroyed by Charlotte in the days of her mourning, will never be known. Meanwhile one turns with interest to the efforts of Charlotte and Branwell. Charlotte's little stories commence in her thirteenth year, and go on until she is twenty-three. From thirteen to eighteen she would seem to have had one absorbing hero. It was the Duke of Wellington; and her hero-worship extended to the children of the Duke, who, indeed, would seem even more than their father to have absorbed her childish affections. Whether the stories are fairy tales or dramas of modern life, they all alike introduce the Marquis of Douro, who afterwards became the second Duke of Wellington, and Lord Charles Wellesley, whose son is now the third Duke of Wellington. The length of some of these fragments is indeed incredible. They fill but a few sheets of notepaper in that tiny handwriting; but when copied by zealous admirers, it is seen that more than one of them is twenty thousand words in length.

_The Foundling_, by Captain Tree, written in 1833, is a story of thirty-five thousand words, though the ma.n.u.script has only eighteen pages. _The Green Dwarf_, written in the same year, is even longer, and indeed after her return from Roe Head in 1833, Charlotte must have devoted herself to continuous writing. _The Adventures of Ernest Alembert_ is a booklet of this date, and _Arthuriana_, _or Odds and Ends_: _being a Miscellaneous Collection of Pieces in Prose and Verse_, by Lord Charles Wellesley, is yet another.

The son of the Iron Duke is made to talk, in these little books, in a way which would have gladdened the heart of a modern interviewer:

'Lord Charles,' said Mr. Rundle to me one afternoon lately, 'I have an engagement to drink tea with an old college chum this evening, so I shall give you sixty lines of the _AEneid_ to get ready during my absence. If it is not ready by the time I come back you know the consequences.' 'Very well, Sir,' said I, bringing out the books with a prodigious bustle, and making a show as if I intended to learn a whole book instead of sixty lines of the _AEneid_. This appearance of industry, however, lasted no longer than until the old gentleman's back was turned. No sooner had he fairly quitted the room than I flung aside the musty tomes, took my cap, and speeding through chamber, hall, and gallery, was soon outside the gates of Waterloo Palace.'

_The Secret_, another story, of which Mrs. Gaskell gave a facsimile of the first page, was also written in 1833, and indeed in this, her seventeenth year, Charlotte Bronte must have written as much as in any year of her life. When at Roe Head, 1832-3, she would seem to have worked at her studies, and particularly her drawing; but in the interval between Cowan Bridge and Roe Head she wrote a great deal. The earliest ma.n.u.scripts in my possession bear date 1829--that is to say, in Charlotte's thirteenth year. They are her _Tales of the Islanders_, which extend to four little volumes in brown paper covers neatly inscribed 'First Volume,' 'Second Volume,' and so on. The Duke is of absorbing importance in these 'Tales.' 'One evening the Duke of Wellington was writing in his room in Downing Street. He was reposing at his ease in a simple easy chair, smoking a homely tobacco-pipe, for he disdained all the modern frippery of cigars . . . ' and so on in an abundance of childish imaginings. _The Search after Happiness_ and _Characters of Great Men of the Present Time_ were also written in 1829.

Perhaps the only juvenile fragment which is worth anything is also the only one in which she escapes from the Wellington enthusiasm. It has an interest also in indicating that Charlotte in her girlhood heard something of her father's native land. It is called--

AN ADVENTURE IN IRELAND

During my travels in the south of Ireland the following adventure happened to me. One evening in the month of August, after a long walk, I was ascending the mountain which overlooks the village of Cahill, when I suddenly came in sight of a fine old castle. It was built upon a rock, and behind it was a large wood and before it was a river. Over the river there was a bridge, which formed the approach to the castle. When I arrived at the bridge I stood still awhile to enjoy the prospect around me: far below was the wide sheet of still water in which the reflection of the pale moon was not disturbed by the smallest wave; in the valley was the cl.u.s.ter of cabins which is known by the appellation of Cahin, and beyond these were the mountains of Killala. Over all, the grey robe of twilight was now stealing with silent and scarcely perceptible advances. No sound except the hum of the distant village and the sweet song of the nightingale in the wood behind me broke upon the stillness of the scene. While I was contemplating this beautiful prospect, a gentleman, whom I had not before observed, accosted me with 'Good evening, sir; are you a stranger in these parts?' I replied that I was. He then asked me where I was going to stop for the night; I answered that I intended to sleep somewhere in the village. 'I am afraid you will find very bad accommodation there,' said the gentleman; 'but if you will take up your quarters with me at the castle, you are welcome.' I thanked him for his kind offer, and accepted it.

When we arrived at the castle I was shown into a large parlour, in which was an old lady sitting in an arm-chair by the fireside, knitting. On the rug lay a very pretty tortoise-sh.e.l.l cat. As soon as mentioned, the old lady rose; and when Mr. O'Callaghan (for that, I learned, was his name) told her who I was, she said in the most cordial tone that I was welcome, and asked me to sit down. In the course of conversation I learned that she was Mr. O'Callaghan's mother, and that his father had been dead about a year. We had sat about an hour, when supper was announced, and after supper Mr.

O'Callaghan asked me if I should like to retire for the night. I answered in the affirmative, and a little boy was commissioned to show me to my apartment. It was a snug, clean, and comfortable little old-fashioned room at the top of the castle. As soon as we had entered, the boy, who appeared to be a shrewd, good-tempered little fellow, said with a shrug of the shoulder, 'If it was going to bed I was, it shouldn't be here that you'd catch me.' 'Why?' said I.

'Because,' replied the boy, 'they say that the ould masther's ghost has been seen sitting on that there chair.' 'And have you seen him?'

'No; but I've heard him washing his hands in that basin often and often.' 'What is your name, my little fellow?' 'Dennis Mulready, please your honour.' 'Well, good-night to you.' 'Good-night, masther; and may the saints keep you from all fairies and brownies,'

said Dennis as he left the room.

As soon as I had laid down I began to think of what the boy had been telling me, and I confess I felt a strange kind of fear, and once or twice I even thought I could discern something white through the darkness which surrounded me. At length, by the help of reason, I succeeded in mastering these, what some would call idle fancies, and fell asleep. I had slept about an hour when a strange sound awoke me, and I saw looking through my curtains a skeleton wrapped in a white sheet. I was overcome with terror and tried to scream, but my tongue was paralysed and my whole frame shook with fear. In a deep hollow voice it said to me, 'Arise, that I may show thee this world's wonders,' and in an instant I found myself encompa.s.sed with clouds and darkness. But soon the roar of mighty waters fell upon my ear, and I saw some clouds of spray arising from high falls that rolled in awful majesty down tremendous precipices, and then foamed and thundered in the gulf beneath as if they had taken up their unquiet abode in some giant's cauldron. But soon the scene changed, and I found myself in the mines of Cracone. There were high pillars and stately arches, whose glittering splendour was never excelled by the brightest fairy palaces. There were not many lamps, only those of a few poor miners, whose rough visages formed a striking contrast to the dazzling figures and grandeur which surrounded them. But in the midst of all this magnificence I felt an indescribable sense of fear and terror, for the sea raged above us, and by the awful and tumultuous noises of roaring winds and dashing waves, it seemed as if the storm was violent. And now the mossy pillars groaned beneath the pressure of the ocean, and the glittering arches seemed about to be overwhelmed. When I heard the rushing waters and saw a mighty flood rolling towards me I gave a loud shriek of terror. The scene vanished, and I found myself in a wide desert full of barren rocks and high mountains. As I was approaching one of the rocks, in which there was a large cave, my foot stumbled and I fell. Just then I heard a deep growl, and saw by the unearthly light of his own fiery eyes a royal lion rousing himself from his kingly slumbers. His terrible eye was fixed upon me, and the desert rang and the rocks echoed with the tremendous roar of fierce delight which he uttered as he sprang towards me. 'Well, masther, it's been a windy night, though it's fine now,' said Dennis, as he drew the window-curtain and let the bright rays of the morning sun into the little old-fashioned room at the top of O'Callaghan Castle.

C. BRONTE.

_April the_ 28_th_, 1829.

Six numbers of _The Young Men's Magazine_ were written in 1829; a very juvenile poem, _The Evening Walk_, by the Marquis of Douro, in 1830; and another, of greater literary value, _The Violet_, in the same year. In 1831 we have an unfinished poem, _The Trumpet Hath Sounded_; and in 1832 a very long poem called _The Bridal_. Some of them, as for example a poem called _Richard Coeur de Lion and Blondel_, are written in penny and twopenny notebooks of the kind used by laundresses. Occasionally her father has purchased a sixpenny book and has written within the cover--

_All that is written in this book must be in a good_, _plain_, _and legible hand_.--P. B.

While upon this topic, I may as well carry the record up to the date of publication of Currer Bell's poems. _A Leaf from an Unopened Volume_ was written in 1834, as were also _The Death of Darius_, and _Corner Dishes_.

_Saul_: _a Poem_, was written in 1835, and a number of other still unpublished verses. There is a story called _Lord Douro_, bearing date 1837, and a ma.n.u.script book of verses of 1838, but that pretty well exhausts the ma.n.u.scripts before me previous to the days of serious literary activity. During the years as private governess (1839-1841) and the Brussels experiences (1842-1844), Charlotte would seem to have put all literary effort on one side.

There is only one letter of Charlotte Bronte's childhood. It is indorsed by Mr. Bronte on the cover _Charlotte's First Letter_, possibly for the guidance of Mrs. Gaskell, who may perhaps have thought it of insufficient importance. That can scarcely be the opinion of any one to-day.

Charlotte, aged thirteen, is staying with the Fennells, her mother's friends of those early love-letters.

TO THE REV. P. BRONTE

'PARSONAGE HOUSE, CROSSTONE, _September_ 23_rd_, 1829.

'MY DEAR PAPA,--At Aunt's request I write these lines to inform you that "if all be well" we shall be at home on Friday by dinner-time, when we hope to find you in good health. On account of the bad weather we have not been out much, but notwithstanding we have spent our time very pleasantly, between reading, working, and learning our lessons, which Uncle Fennell has been so kind as to teach us every day. Branwell has taken two sketches from nature, and Emily, Anne, and myself have likewise each of us drawn a piece from some views of the lakes which Mr. Fennell brought with him from Westmoreland. The whole of these he intends keeping. Mr. Fennell is sorry he cannot accompany us to Haworth on Friday, for want of room, but hopes to have the pleasure of seeing you soon. All unite in sending their kind love with your affectionate daughter,

'CHARLOTTE BRONTE.'

The following list includes the whole of the early Bronte Ma.n.u.scripts known to me, or of which I can find any record:--

UNPUBLISHED BRONTE LITERATURE.

BY CHARLOTTE BRONTE

_The Young Men's Magazines_. In Six Numbers 1829

[Only four out of these six numbers appear to have been preserved.]

_The Search after Happiness_: _A Tale_. _By Charlotte Bronte_ 1829 _Two Romantic Tales_; _viz. The Twelve Adventures_, _and An 1829 Adventure in Ireland_ _Characters of Great Men of the Present Age_, _Dec._ 17_th_ 1829 _Tales of the Islanders_. _By Charlotte Bronte_:-- Vol. i. dated _June_ 31, 1829 Vol. ii. dated _December_ 2, 1829 Vol. iii. dated _May_ 8, 1830 Vol. iv. dated _July_ 30, 1830