Charlotte Bronte and Her Circle Part 6

[Accompanying these volumes is a one-page doc.u.ment detailing 'The Origin of the _Islanders_.' Dated _March_ 12, 1829.]

_The Evening Walk_: _A Poem_. _By the Marquis Douro_ 1830 _A Translation into English Verse of the First Book of Voltaire's 1830 Henriade_. _By Charlotte Bronte_ _Albion and Marina_: _A Tale_. _By Lord Wellesley_ 1830 _The Adventures of Ernest Alembert_: _A Fairy Tale_. _By 1830 Charlotte Bronte_ _The Violet: A Poem_. _With several smaller Pieces_. _By the 1830 Marquess of Douro_. _Published by Seargeant Tree_. _Gla.s.stown_, 1830 _The Bridal_. _By C. Bronte_ 1832 _Arthuriana_; _or_, _Odds and Ends_: _Being a Miscellaneous 1833 Collection of Pieces in Prose and Verse_. _By Lord Charles A. F.

Wellesley_ _Something about Arthur_. _Written by Charles Albert Florian 1833 Wellesley_ _The Vision_. _By Charlotte Bronte_ 1833 _The Secret and Lily Hart_: _Two Tales_. _By Lord Charles 1833 Wellesley_

[The first page of this book is given in facsimile in vol. i. of Mrs. Gaskell's _Life of Charlotte Bronte_.]

_Visits in Verdopolis_. _By the Honourable Charles Albert Florian 1833 Wellesley_. _Two vols._ _The Green Dwarf_: _A Tale of the Perfect Tense_. _By Lord Charles 1833 Albert Florian Wellesley_. _Charlotte Bronte_.

_The Foundling_: _A Tale of our own Times_. _By Captain Tree_ 1833 _Richard Coeur de Lion and Blondel_. _By Charlotte Bronte_, 1833 8vo, pp. 20. Signed in full _Charlotte Bronte_, and dated _Haworth_, _near Bradford_, Dec. 27_th_, 1833 _My Angria and the Angrians_. _By Lord Charles Albert Florian 1834 Wellesley_ _A Leaf from an Unopened Volume_; _or_, _The Ma.n.u.script of an 1834 Unfortunate Author_. _Edited by Lord Charles Albert Florian Wellesley_ _Corner Dishes_: _Being a small Collection of_ . . . _Trifles in 1834 Prose and Verse_. _By Lord Charles Albert Florian Wellesley_ _The Spell_: _An Extravaganza_. _By Lord Charles Albert Florian Wellesley_. Signed _Charlotte Bronte_, _June_ 21_st_, 1834.

The contents include: 1. Preface, half page; 2. _The Spell_, 26 pages; 3. _High Life in Verdopolis_: _or The Difficulties of Annexing a Suitable t.i.tle to a Work Practically Ill.u.s.trated in Six Chapters_. _By Lord C. A. F. Wellesley_, _March_ 20, 1834, 22 pages; 4. _The Sc.r.a.p-Book_: _A Mingling of Many Things_.

_Compiled by Lord C. A. F. Wellesley_. _C. Bronte_, _March_ 17_th_, 1835, 31 pages.

[This volume is in the British Museum.]

_Death of Darius Cadoma.n.u.s_: _A Poem_. _By Charlotte Bronte_. 1835 Pp. 24. Signed in full, and dated _Saul and Memory_: _Two Poems_. _By C. Bronte_. Pp. 12 1835 _Pa.s.sing Events_ 1836 '_We Wove a Web in Childhood_': A poem (pp. vi.), signed _C. 1835 Bronte_, _Haworth_, _Dec'br_. 19_th_, 1835 _The Wounded Stag_, _and other Poems_. _Signed C. Bronte_. 1836 _Jan'y._ 19, 1836. Pp. 20 _Lord Douro_: _A Story_. _Signed C. Bronte_. _July_ 21_st_, 1837 1837 _Poems_. _By C. Bronte_. Pp. 16 1838 _Lettre d'Invitation a un Ecclesiastique_. Signed 1842 _Charlotte Bronte_. _Le_ 21 _Juillet_, 1842. Large 8vo, pp. 4.

A French exercise written at Brussels _John Henry_. _By Charlotte Bronte_, Crown 8vo, pp. 36, _circa_ 1852 written in pencil _Willie Ellin_. _By Charlotte Bronte_. _May and June_ 1853 Crown 8vo, pp. 18

The following, included in Charlotte's 'Catalogue of my Books'

printed by Mrs. Gaskell, are not now forthcoming:

_Leisure Hours_: _A Tale_, _and two Fragments_ _July_ 6_th_, 1829 _The Adventures of Edward de Crak_: _A Tale_ _Feb._ 2_nd_, 1830 _An Interesting Incident in the Lives of some _June_ 10_th_, 1830 of the most eminent Persons of the Age_: _A Tale_ _The Poetaster_: _A Drama_. _In two volumes_, _July_ 12_th_, 1830 _A Book of Rhymes_, _finished_ _December_ 17_th_, 1829 _Miscellaneous Poems_, _finished_ _May_ 3_rd_, 1830

[These _Miscellaneous Poems_ are probably poems written upon separate sheets, and not forming a complete book--indeed, some half dozen such separate poems are still extant. The last item given in Charlotte's list of these _Miscellaneous Poems_ is _The Evening Walk_, 1820; this is a separate book, and is included in the list above.]

BY EMILY BRONTE

A volume of_ Poems_, 8vo, pp. 29; signed (at the top of the first 1844 page) _E. J. B_. _Transcribed February_ 1814. Each poem is headed with the date of its composition. Of the poems included in this book four are still unprinted, the remainder were published in the _Poems_ of 1846. The whole are written in microscopic characters A volume of _Poems_, square 8vo, pp. 24. Each poem is dated, 1837-1839 and the first is signed _E. J. Bronte_, _August_ 19_th_, 1837.

Written in an ordinary, and not a minute, handwriting. All unpublished A series of poems written in a minute hand upon both sides of 1833-1839 fourteen or fifteen small slips of paper of various sizes. All unpublished _Lettre and Reponse_. An exercise in French. Large 8vo, 1842 pp. 4. Signed _E. J. Bronte_, and dated 16 _Juillet_ _L'Amour Filial_. An exercise in French. Small quarto, pp. 4. 1842 Signed in full _Emily J. Bronte_, and dated 5 _Aout_

BY ANNE BRONTE.

_Verses by Lady Geralda_, and other poems. A crown 8vo volume 1836-1837 of 28 pages. Each poem is signed (or initialled) and dated, the dates extending from 1836 to 1837. The poems are all unpublished _The North Wind_, and other poems. A crown 8vo volume of 26 1838-1840 pages. Each poem is signed (or initialled) and dated, some having in addition to her own name the nom-de-guerre _Alexandrina Zen.o.bia_ or _Olivia Vernon_. The dates extend from 1838 to 1840. The poems are all unpublished _To Cowper_, and other poems. 8vo, pp. 22. Of the nine 1842-1845 poems contained in this volume three are signed _Anne Bronte_, four are signed _A. Bronte_, and two are initialled '_A. B._'

All are dated. Part of these Poems are unpublished, the remainder appeared in the _Poems_ of 1846 A thin 8vo volume of poems (mostly dated 1845), pp. 14, _circa_ 1845 each being signed _A. Bronte_, or simply '_A. B._'--some having in addition to, or instead of, her own name the nom-de-guerre _Zerona_. A few of these poems are unprinted; the remainder are a portion of Anne's contribution to the _Poems_ of 1846 _Song_: '_Should Life's first feelings be forgot_' (one octavo 1845 leaf)

[A fair copy (2 pp. 8vo) of a poem by Branwell Bronte, in the hand-writing of Anne Bronte.]

_The Power of Love_, and other poems. Post octavo, pp. 26. 1845-1846 Each poem is signed (or initialled) and dated _Self Communion_, a Poem. 8vo, pp. 19. Signed '_A. B_.' and 1848 dated _April_ 17_th_, 1848

BY BRANWELL BRONTE.

_The Battle of Washington_. By _P. B. Bronte_. With full-page 1827 coloured ill.u.s.trations

[An exceedingly childish production, and the earliest of all the Bronte ma.n.u.scripts.]

_History of the Rebellion in my Army_ 1828 _The Travels of Rolando Segur_: _Comprising his Adventures 1829 throughout the Voyage_, _and in America_, _Europe_, _the South Pole_, _etc._ _By Patrick Branwell Bronte_. _In two volumes_ _A Collection of Poems_. _By Young Soult the Rhymer_. 1829 _Ill.u.s.trated with Notes and Commentaries by Monsieur Chateaubriand_. _In two volumes_ _The Liar Detected_. _By Captain Bud_ 1830 _Caractacus_: _A Dramatic Poem_. _By Young Soult_ 1830 _The Revenge_: _A Tragedy_, _in three Acts_. _By Young Soult_. 1830 _P. B. Bronte_. _In two volumes_. _Gla.s.stown_

[Although the t.i.tle page reads 'in two volumes,' the book is complete in one volume only.]

_The History of the Young Men_. _By John Bud_ 1831 _Letters from an Englishman_. _By Captain John Flower_. _In 1830-1832 six volumes_ _The Monthly Intelligencer_. _No._ 1 _March_ 27, 1833

[The only number produced of a projected ma.n.u.script newspaper, by Branwell Bronte. The MS. consists of 4 pp. 4to, arranged in columns, precisely after the manner of an ordinary journal.]

_Real Life in Verdopolis_: _A Tale_. _By Captain John Flower_, 1833 _M.P._ _In two volumes_. _P. B. Bronte_ _The Politics of Verdopolis_: _A Tale_. _By Captain John Flower_. 1833 _P. B. Bronte_ _The Pirate_: _A Tale_. _By Captain John Flower_ 1833

[The most pretentious of Branwell's prose stories.]

_Thermopylae_: _A Poem_. _By P. B. Bronte_. 8vo, pp. 14 1834 _And the Weary are at Rest_: _A Tale_. _By P. B. Bronte_ 1834 _The Wool is Rising_: _An Angrian Adventure_. _By the Right 1834 Honourable John Baron Flower_ _Ode to the Polar Star, and other Poems_. _By P. B. Bronte_. 1834 Quarto, pp. 24 _The Life of Field Marshal the Right Honourable Alexander 1835 Percy_, _Earl of Northangerland_. _In two volumes_. _By John Bud_. _P. B. Bronte_ _The Rising of the Angrians_: _A Tale_. _By P. B. Bronte_ 1836 _A Narrative of the First War_. _By P. B. Bronte_ 1836 _The Angrian Welcome_: _A Tale_. _By P. B. Bronte_ 1836 _Percy_: _A Story_. _By P. B. Bronte_ 1837 A packet containing four small groups of _Poems_, of about six or eight pages each, mostly without t.i.tles, but all either signed or initialled, and dated from 1836 to 1838 _Love and Warfare_: _A Story_. _By P. B. Bronte_ 1839 _Lord Nelson_, _and other Poems_. _By P. B. Bronte_. Written in 1844 pencil. Small 8vo, pp. 26

[This book contains a full-page pencil portrait of Branwell Bronte, drawn by himself, as well as four carefully finished heads.

These give an excellent idea of the extent of Branwell's artistic skill.]

CHAPTER III: SCHOOL AND GOVERNESS LIFE

In seeking for fresh light upon the development of Charlotte Bronte, it is not necessary to discuss further her childhood's years at Cowan Bridge. She left the school at nine years of age, and what memories of it were carried into womanhood were, with more or less of picturesque colouring, embodied in Jane Eyre. {74} From 1825 to 1831 Charlotte was at home with her sisters, reading and writing as we have seen, but learning nothing very systematically. In 1831-32 she was a boarder at Miss Wooler's school at Roe Head, some twenty miles from Haworth. Miss Wooler lived to a green old age, dying in the year 1885. She would seem to have been very proud of her famous pupil, and could not have been blind to her capacity in the earlier years. Charlotte was with her as governess at Roe Head, and later at Dewsbury Moor. It is quite clear that Miss Bronte was head of the school in all intellectual pursuits, and she made two firm friends--Ellen Nussey and Mary Taylor. A very fair measure of French and some skill in drawing appear to have been the most striking accomplishments which Charlotte carried back from Roe Head to Haworth. There are some twenty drawings of about this date, and a translation into English verse of the first book of Voltaire's _Henriade_. With Ellen Nussey commenced a friendship which terminated only with the pencilled notes written from Charlotte Bronte's deathbed.

The first suggestion of a regular correspondence is contained in the following letter.

TO MISS ELLEN NUSSEY

'HAWORTH, _July_ 21_st_, 1832.

'MY DEAREST ELLEN,--Your kind and interesting letter gave me the sincerest pleasure. I have been expecting to hear from you almost every day since my arrival at home, and I at length began to despair of receiving the wished-for letter. You ask me to give you a description of the manner in which I have pa.s.sed every day since I left school. This is soon done, as an account of one day is an account of all. In the mornings, from nine o'clock to half-past twelve, I instruct my sisters and draw, then we walk till dinner; after dinner I sew till tea-time, and after tea I either read, write, do a little fancy-work, or draw, as I please. Thus in one delightful, though somewhat monotonous course, my life is pa.s.sed. I have only been out to tea twice since I came home. We are expecting company this afternoon, and on Tuesday next we shall have all the female teachers of the Sunday school to tea. I do hope, my dearest Ellen, that you will return to school again for your own sake, though for mine I would rather that you would remain at home, as we shall then have more frequent opportunities of correspondence with each other. Should your friends decide against your returning to school, I know you have too much good-sense and right feeling not to strive earnestly for your own improvement. Your natural abilities are excellent, and under the direction of a judicious and able friend (and I know you have many such), you might acquire a decided taste for elegant literature, and even poetry, which, indeed, is included under that general term. I was very much disappointed by your not sending the hair; you may be sure, my dearest Ellen, that I would not grudge double postage to obtain it, but I must offer the same excuse for not sending you any. My aunt and sisters desire their love to you. Remember me kindly to your mother and sisters, and accept all the fondest expressions of genuine attachment, from your real friend

'CHARLOTTE BRONTE.

'_P.S._--Remember the mutual promise we made of a regular correspondence with each other. Excuse all faults in this wretched scrawl. Give my love to the Miss Taylors when you see them.

Farewell, my _dear_, _dear_, _dear_ Ellen.'

Reading, writing, and as thorough a domestic training as the little parsonage could afford, made up the next few years. Then came the determination to be a governess--a not unnatural resolution when the size of the family and the modest stipend of its head are considered. Far more prosperous parents are content in our day that their daughters should earn their living in this manner. In 1835 Charlotte went back to Roe Head as governess, and she continued in that position when Miss Wooler removed her school to Dewsbury Moor in 1836.

TO MISS ELLEN NUSSEY

'DEWSBURY MOOR, _August_ 24_th_, 1837.

'MY DEAR ELLEN,--I have determined to write lest you should begin to think I have forgotten you, and in revenge resolve to forget me. As you will perceive by the date of this letter, I am again engaged in the old business--teach, teach, teach. Miss and Mrs. Wooler are coming here next Christmas. Miss Wooler will then relinquish the school in favour of her sister Eliza, but I am happy to say worthy Miss Wooler will continue to reside in the house. I should be sorry indeed to part with her. When will you come _home_? Make haste, you have been at Bath long enough for all purposes. By this time you have acquired polish enough, I am sure. If the varnish is laid on much thicker, I am afraid the good wood underneath will be quite concealed, and your old Yorkshire friends won't stand that. Come, come, I am getting really tired of your absence. Sat.u.r.day after Sat.u.r.day comes round, and I can have no hope of hearing your knock at the door and then being told that "Miss E. N. is come." Oh dear! in this monotonous life of mine that was a pleasant event. I wish it would recur again, but it will take two or three interviews before the stiffness, the estrangement of this long separation will quite wear away. I have nothing at all to tell you now but that Mary Taylor is better, and that she and Martha are gone to take a tour in Wales. Patty came on her pony about a fortnight since to inform me that this important event was in contemplation. She actually began to fret about your long absence, and to express the most eager wishes for your return. My own dear Ellen, good-bye. If we are all spared I hope soon to see you again. G.o.d bless you.

'C. BRONTE.'

Things were not always going on quite so smoothly, as the following letter indicates.

TO MISS ELLEN NUSSEY

'DEWSBURY MOOR, _January_ 4_th_, 1838.

'Your letter, Ellen, was a welcome surprise, though it contained something like a reprimand. I had not, however, forgotten our agreement. You were right in your conjectures respecting the cause of my sudden departure. Anne continued wretchedly ill, neither the pain nor the difficulty of breathing left her, and how could I feel otherwise than very miserable. I looked on her case in a different light to what I could wish or expect any uninterested person to view it in. Miss Wooler thought me a fool, and by way of proving her opinion treated me with marked coldness. We came to a little eclairciss.e.m.e.nt one evening. I told her one or two rather plain truths, which set her a-crying; and the next day, unknown to me, she wrote papa, telling him that I had reproached her bitterly, taken her severely to task, etc. Papa sent for us the day after he had received her letter. Meantime I had formed a firm resolution to quit Miss Wooler and her concerns for ever; but just before I went away, she took me to her room, and giving way to her feelings, which in general she restrains far too rigidly, gave me to understand that in spite of her cold, repulsive manners, she had a considerable regard for me, and would be very sorry to part with me. If any body likes me, I cannot help liking them; and remembering that she had in general been very kind to me, I gave in and said I would come back if she wished me. So we are settled again for the present, but I am not satisfied. I should have respected her far more if she had turned me out of doors, instead of crying for two days and two nights together.

I was in a regular pa.s.sion; my "_warm_ temper" quite got the better of me, of which I don't boast, for it was a weakness; nor am I ashamed of it, for I had reason to be angry.

'Anne is now much better, though she still requires a great deal of care. However, I am relieved from my worst fears respecting her. I approve highly of the plan you mention, except as it regards committing a verse of the Psalms to memory. I do not see the direct advantage to be derived from that. We have entered on a new year.

Will it be stained as darkly as the last with all our sins, follies, secret vanities, and uncontrolled pa.s.sions and propensities? I trust not; but I feel in nothing better, neither humbler nor purer. It will want three weeks next Monday to the termination of the holidays.

Come to see me, my dear Ellen, as soon as you can; however bitterly I sometimes feel towards other people, the recollection of your mild, steady friendship consoles and softens me. I am glad you are not such a pa.s.sionate fool as myself. Give my best love to your mother and sisters. Excuse the most hideous scrawl that ever was penned, and--Believe me always tenderly yours,

'C. BRONTE.'

Dewsbury Moor, however, did not agree with Charlotte. That was probably the core of the matter. She returned to Haworth, but only to look around for another 'situation.' This time she accepted the position of private governess in the family of a Mr. Sidgwick, at Stonegappe, in the same county. Her letters from his house require no comment. A sentence from the first was quoted by Mrs. Gaskell.