The Sun.
London, England, 1857-05-14 00:00:00

CHARLOTTE BRONTE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

• Sir.—Msy. I ask for a cJrcer for the following, taken
olt of a R,eview,'whoh is all ample answer to the state.
meats in'tbe " Life of Charlotte .Bronte," regarding my
father's charitable inAitotions.—Yrnr,. &c.,
W. W. CARUS WILSON.
Weston-super-Mare.

"Now, we are in a position to state, that, when 'Jane
Eyre,' came out, many al pupils and teachers, who
were at Cowan Bridge when Miss Bronte was there,
wrote to Mr. 'Wilson's family, denying; and grieving
over her statements as to bad diet and treatment,' etc. ;
and the lady who was superintendent of that institution
in 1824 (whose husband now heads a college in America)
wrote, in 1855, a long and complete answer to all the
assertions in 'Jane Eyre,' and bee able letter appeared
in a Review. We wish we could have inserted all thia
important letter, but we have only space for the follow.
ing extract. She says—
" The columns of the leading papers have been for
seine time past much occupied with obituary notices of
the late Miss Bronte, and many conveying the impres-
sion that her treatment at the Clergy Daughters' School,
when at Cowan Bridge, was of a character not only to
affect her health, but to darken her prospects in after
life. Now, as I have it in my power entirely to refute
these charges, I should consider myself in a measure
concerning them, did I not make known to the world
tee truth of the case, and thereby a x merate an excel-
lent and eminently useful clergyman from the imputa-
tions cast upon ban in "Jane Eyre," as well as to
vindicate an institution which has been to the poverty.
stricken clergy a blessing of inestimable value."
She then goes on to say—
"ln July, 1824,the Rev.Mr.Bronte arrived atCowan
Bridge with two of his daughters, Maria and Elizabeth ;
the children were so delicate that there were doubts
whether they could be admitted into the school. They
were* received, and went on so well that their father
brought in September two more, Charlotte and
Emily. During both these visits Mr. Bronte stayed
at the school, sat at the table with the pupils,
and saw the whole routine of the establishment,
They all inherited consumption from their mother,
and were taken home ; none of them, as has been stated.
had any attack of fever or died at the school. I can truly
say that noae of the pupils were denied a sufficient
quantity of good food ; they were never limited ; meat,
vegetable, and puddings, daily in abundance ; any state-
ment to the contrary is most false. Charlotte was a
bright, clever, happy little girl, never in disgrace. In
size remarkably diminutive, and if, as has been asserted,
she never grew an inch after leaving the school, she
must have been a literal dwarf. . . . Let us hope,
that in caricaturing an institution which has been such
a blessing to the daughters of her own church, she had
no injurious motives, but, misled by a vivid imagination,
and a dim recollection of thirty years, when she was
but a child, she published in an unguarded moment, un-
mindful of the consequences, misstatements, the ten-
dency of which has been to calumniate a most excellent
institution, and to bring disgrace on religion. .
When it is known that I have been absent 12 years
from my native land, and 10 years previously bad with-
drawn, from conscientious motives, from the Church of
England, I think I need not fear being considered a par-
tisan ; my only object is to do justice, and to state to
the public things as they have been and are."

The whole of this letter Mrs. Gaskell mast have seen,
as she quotes one sentence out of it word for word,
but has carefully suppressed all in it that bears so
favourably on the School. She allows "it is a subject
she approaches with the greatest difficulty ;" and ad-
mitting an improvement in the school, seems greatly
puzzled how to do this, and yet defend her friend's as-
sertions in "Jane Eyre."
With the above we would take the testimony of
hundreds of pupils, who with their parents have grate.
fully acknowledged the advantages they received at
these institutions, rather than the account of one, how-
ever talented, who when but a child of nine left the es-
tablishment, and has so ungenerously cast an odium
upon him who first planned such a help to our poorer
clergy, and who has yearly undertaken the risk of the
support of near 300 pupils and teachers, for, including a
preparatory school, there are about 150 daughters of
clergymen boarded, clothed, and educated, at only 141.
a year each, including everything, and, in the "Ser-
vants' School," above 100 girls trained for service, each
paying but 101. a year. The schools are situated in
Westmorland, built on Mr. Carus Wilson's property,
half a mile from Casterton Hall, his residence. They
stand amid beautiful scenery, on high and healthy situ•
ations. They require above ICOO/. a year, in addition
to the payment of the pupils, to cover all expenses.

Racing Fixt

ms for 1857.
Y.

Ludlow 14
Bath
JII

Harpenden 22
I Epsom 26
NE.

Redditch
Cartmel 7.
Manchester
Wye 3
Havaick 5
Ascot 9
Beverley, Hull, &c. 10
Hampton l7
Newton 17
JU

Newcastle 23
Knighton 23
Lenham 24
Bibury Club 24
Stockbridge 25
Winchester 26
Carlisle 3O
Chelmsford

Worcester 2
Stoorbridge
Newmarket
Odiham, 10
Liverpool l5

Nottingham 21
Stamford .3
Koutsford 23
Goodwood .28

Ripon
North Staffordshire 4
Brighton
Brightim Club 7
Wolverhampton lO
Reading l2

UST.
York 19
Radcliffe 24
Egham • 25
Stockton 27
Hereford 27
Maidstone 28
MBER.

SEPTE:

Warwick
Cardiff
Lichfield
Derby
Thirsk • 11 I

Doncaster 15
Leicester 23
Monmouth (.. 24
Manchester Autumn 25
Newmarket F 0 29

PUCLIC OFFICES.—Tbe gross total increase in the
number of persons employed in the public offices last
year amounted to 816, and the concurrent decrease to
5,555. The gross total increase of expenses was
264,1961., and the gross decrease 141,6571.
To TELL GOOD EGGS.—If you desire to be certain that
your eggs are good and fresh put them in water ; if the
buts turn up they are not fresh. This is an infallible rule
to distinguish a good egg from a bad one.
In addition to the number of emigrants recently for-
warded to Australia by the aid of 'the Wellington Emi-
gration Fund, another party, in all amounting to 70
persons, will be sent out to Canada on the 2041 inst.,
being the first despatched to the British North Ame-
rican colonies under the auspices of the society.
Canadian News.

TRANSPORTATION BILL.—The following notice is
printed on the hack of the ticket issued by the Lord
Mayor concerning the Mansion-house meeting for Fri-
day next :—" The meeting will he invited to consider
the propriety of petitioning Parliament to introduce
clauoes into Sir G. Grey's bill. First, to confiscate and
apply to productive uses the labour, skill, and indus-
trial powers of all criminals during the tell period of
their sentences ; secondly, to empower the Home Sec-
retary in certain cases to substitute for fixed periods of
imprisonment and transportation a proportionate num-
ber of hours of labour to be performed by convicted
criminals in this country, or in the colonioe, as cons'•
deletions of economy and expedience may dictate ;
thirdly, to provide in all such cases for the moral and
religious instruction of each criminal, with an allowance
of food, bodily comlort, rest, and recreation, correspon,i-
ing in character and amount with his conduct and in-
dustry, on confinement, so as to excite motives, powers.
and habits of industry, self-rellanco, and self-control,
and thus render criminals the voluntary instruments of
their own maintenance, punishßent, reformation, and
release..—Vide the evidence,
_alipeudix and reports of
the House of Commons Comedittec on Prison Discipline.
Juts 29, 1850."
THUNDSR STOICAL—On Monday afternoon the town
and neighbourhood of Reading were visited with a thun-
der storm of the most terrific character known there for
20 years, when much damage was done to agricultural
crops, besides damage to other property. The storm
broke out over the town about 5 o'clock, the flashes of
lightning were vivid and forked, and the rolling thunder
was exceedingly loud. The rain, with scarcely any cess
tion, fell in torrents for nearly half an hour. The sterna
pursued its course northward of the town, and on the Ox-
fordshire hills there fell a hail of firs, which shattered
several trees, and did extensive damage. In the villages
of Twyford and Wargrave the storm proved to be equal y
f-arful. The north pinnacle of Wargrave church w,st
struck by the lightning, doing much mischief, and the
electric fluid descended into a vault beneath, making an
extensive aperture in the stove work. A large and hand.
some tree on the lawn of Park-place, the seat of Mr. E.
F. Maitland, was stripped of the bark, and a number of
trees between Wargrave and Reading were shattered and
struck down. In Twyford, a public-house, near the rad-
way station, was struck at one corner, and damaged,
and the inmates wer*greatly alarmed, but providentially
nothing fatal occurred. The extent of mischief by this
storm is not yet known, but it must bee'very great.
SALE OF THE ORGAN AND WORKS OF ART AT TAR
PANOPTICON.—Yesterday the third and cc ncludirg day's
sate took place at the Auction Rooms, 21, Old Bone-
street, when Messrs. Chinnock and Galsworthy, auc-
tioneers, submitted to public auction the organ, works of
art, and other effects contained in the Panopticon, Lei-
ee-ter-square. The grand organ, built by Messrs Hill
and Co., said to be the large•t and most comprehensive
in the metropoli., consists of 4 manuals, each from CC
to A in alt, and a pedal organ from CCC to F. 30
notes. Stxty complete stops. Cost nearly 6,000/.—
sold to Mr. E. T. Smith, the new proprietor of the
Panopticon, at 1,5001. The " Peri," from "Lelia
Rookie" in marble, by Signor Christopher Monti—
so'd to Mr. Leggett, of Cornhill, at 4771. 15s. ; " Fi-
gure of David," life size, in marble, by Fracnaroti—
sold at 1571. 10s. ; "The Death of Abel," a group—
sold at 131 ; " The Day Dream," P. IVl'Dowel!, R.A.
—sold at 131. 10s. ; " Deer Stalker," C. B. Stevens—
P. M‘Dowell, R.A.—
C. Marshall, R A.—sold
ssoolldd aatt
112111: ;;
sGairblzinata,,pawth.,'C'
; C;a
"Girlctacußs
W. C. Marshall, R.A.—
sa
)tlloa/ 0..
t. 1111.
Lalor—Feld at
Si. 10s. ; Suppliant," W. Weeks—sold at 71. ; "Ear y
St rrow," P. APDowell, R.A.—sold at 71. 7e. The op.
tical diorama sold at 1361. 103. A number of paintings
,nglass',busts, alabaster ornaments, scientific instru-
ments, and other articles, were also sold amid cowl.
derable competition, and generally realised good prices.