, 1861-02-11
THE HOME OF CHARLOTTE
BR0NTE.


Kecshley, In different localities. II Jon ask
how know! reply that eTe1 go manY years
ago come This 8th Of December WINS borne
tllsrc, lived near BY for tWenty-seveo years
thereafter, aud mnst hare hesrd the narne
many Thousand times. Hired for years with
orth town aud church., yet never went to tic
place in my life, for the simple reason that it
was one Of those places where no one ever
Thought d going, II he could help it. A grim,
hard place, poorn poverty, so poor tlsst re:
member the native Of villages round nbout had
hit upon a kind of common saying to describe
its chronic barrenness, and the uttEr
futility Of any hope that 4 man there could
have my choice in his ways Of living.
] heard it scores Of times in my boyhood, long
before the lives Of those three lated sisters hsd
made Hawoxth what Burns made sAuid Ayr. Il
advice Of one entirely unable TO ltlP him, and
ten to one but the 1s3ly would be- "Thaa muu
do as they do 1t hAworth; do rs thaa can, y
I have seea nothing in the description given
in any of the "artfclcs" that mekes so vivid
rs this saying, whie has most Ill ely percolated
from the observations Of centuries, the gri
sensec cf Ns poo: n css in the mind Of the uafives
Of the dalts. Far III my earliest boyhood.
remember what o dree, curious old etandfast
population fingered al about places that are
now flooded by new race, the creation Of tbs
spring time Of commerce and manufactures.
In the quaint ofd village ef nkley, the rude
fofefathers Of the hamlet had been carried to
their long home, and refted quietly in the
same spot, ever since 1t was one OF the cities
Of the Brigant*s, and the OlIcanh OF Strabo.
This village, 4 faw miles from Haworth, was a
good pattern Of the antique life il ali thoee
places. remember one hale olu patriafth
who prided himself on being the man who
tayed the only oatcake lett in the whole town
vixen detachment Of The Scotch rebels made
Il $tt$ Al $bnr4 hat.
mother put the cake In this cradle, and put the
bed orer it, and the baby over the bed. and 80
saved her cake.
In my Early Life used to wonder why a
family with the nams Of fckrin2il had the plea
SAINT privilege Of having the church bells
chimcd whenever one Of that blood died. For
all others the bell was tolled. When asked
after the custom was told it had always been
~ aud they being Wild, It 'less set to a mau,
l concluded that in some remote age tho
natives had been so glad to get nd Of them
that they had turned The sign Of sorrow Into
one Of rejoicing, until in my reading Istnmbled
oser the TACT that the family name Was q Danish
one, and the custom Of Ginning at funerals
vas Danish too. So then I saw how they must
have been Of the old wild stock that invaded
aud over1un those regions long before the
Conquest. The reckless fire In the blood was
still there, and the custom for the I'D had
been held fast for thousand years on the
same spot, but AZ memory Of the ilerce Viking,
with Lis slip full Of robbers, had faded away.
Speaking Of bells brings back the memory If
the only pleasant thing I ever linked into auy
Idea Of Haworth In those early times. The
bells In the old gray tower were full Of q fine
strong melody. The ringers were famous for
their ekill, and the church stands well for
tossing tho sound out over the great brown
nioorlands that stretch away from it IN every
direction. As grew up into the age Of poetry
and romance, very few things gave me purer
pleasure than to start on bright, clear Sab
bath morning In the early summer with new
book, {a1l books were new then, for long
walk over the moorlands, q long, quiet COM
manion With my author, and to hear the Haw-
orth bells ringing out through the still ali.
not go hard to climb in early youth as 1t be-
comes by-nnd-by, and that may have something
to do with the Intense enjoyment Of those
mosningr. A. now remember them-the clear,
still air, the blue sky, the moors slimmerirK
and glauciug in the morning sunshine-above
floating along, filling the air, mingline with
the song Of the sky-lark and linnct, it seemed
at somc moments a. If the heavens had lower
ed themselves and come down, and I was
listening to broken fragments from the sorg
Of the immediate angels, and the sound Of the
harpers harplug ON the sea o. glass. And
looking back into those times, which were
1<sel how the same pleasant thing must have
eheered her sometimes on IN her long srnlka
over the moors, for the ringing Was not con.
fined to the Sabbath At every rural wedd irg
the ringers were sureto be ready the moment
the hsppy pair cana out Of church to strike
up their welcome, and early On avery Christ
mas eve you were sura to hear them, and all
through the night at intervals there came
sound aud then silence through the dale, nov
the bells aud then the coafse but musical
voices Of men and women telling how,
While shepherds watch'd their doeks BY night
ALI seated On the ground,
The Angel of the LUrd GANG down
And glory shone around"
So, a1so, New Years night the bells eTel
sounded to tell the etory OF the Old and New
Aud with the lights that shine on that old par
sonage now, one thinks tender}y Of those thai
lay there listening, OF went aboutthe DIM roon
feeling. II not eaylng, the burden Of the grea
song
Ring happy bells, across the snow,
The year ts going. let him go;
Ring out the ta1ee, ring In the true,
Rim: in the yslant man and free
The l2rrE he r, the kinLu.r hand;
Ring out the darkness Of the land;
RIM in tbs Chzi.t that Ia to be-"
And have wondered sometimes vhethe,
this one pleasant thing In Iaworth had not
some sunt1e influence, leading them when ii J
must perforce come before the world to write
thcsc names on their title pages :Cmrer, Ellis
aad Acton Rtu+ TIE composition between
cesssnt and relentless. Church had the vantage
ground Of ancient prestige. The Yorkshire
man of tho dalesdearly loves the old chapel
prospered b. the direct and homely sermon.
Of its blacksmiths and ehosmakers. Believing
with all ths{r heart, they preached with allthei
might The most unfair thing in The pictures o
Charlotte Bronte is ever when she gfrds at til,
sMe,hodics," and it tells better than auyships
else how small irritations OF children lost fton
the Sunday ;Bchot !, and members ct the con
greg4,ion, fretted her in spite Of herbelf Th,
great heart of the woman looking ont at th4
world, and tho local heart Of tho parson'.
daughter looking into the country church ant
deepest reverence for lhe one, know tot
much Of how iii those thing. stood in th,
times when she gathered: The material for hel
books, not to know that she Is entirely unfail
in the treatment Of Htsentors. The rrogres.
of all parties in higher care and culture il
the most tacsed things had already made
great difference thirty ,ears aRo. TIE churct
course n 1t had been, but It was motto
| r1nusly >the chapel that had put the churct
on ler nettle, aud they kept her to he,
work. And In spite Of tho trenchant criticism
| aud oversight, there Yere strange doipgsaome
times In ono or another Of the churches.
church rcadino prayers one day. and when tha
(! people had settled down for their sermon, b,
! told them he had lost It coming from Denton
/ {the old homo Of the Fadz{a1 fRmity,> so b,
| must send them home with the benediction
| And OF another, a man Of great poTer. VIII
used to boast AhAt he could drink. preach o.
! hunt with any man he ever saw. OF another
| to whose house the vardeDs went one Satur
day to ask If lie would say the prsycr fol rain
| As the crops were Ia danger Of drying up-tt
which he replied. "Ceitatnly, but I. know
will be useless unless thb wind change 0
! one parish clerk, when the curate was abou
| to lcave, erve notice that next Sunday Mr. B
| pould preach hiA funeral sermon. And IN
other, poet, unconsciousfy reading out
| vsrse he had made in praise Of . lady instea'
| of ths hymn. Poor fsatow! he died the othe
! elerkly poek, who, TO honor the visit Of tn
| bishop. all unknown to the parson, made
psalm. and at the time when the psalm shout
| come in. announced I" a psalm OF my own con
posing"
/ "Ye little hills why do }e slip.
And wherefore do ye hop:
| II It bccanpe that ye have come
To see my Lord Rishop:"
l believe they did not let him give ont an
more :.
a correction, Perhaps I need to be corrccte
| for treepasb, mar not forbcar, however, t
! mention the wonderful truth Of Charlott
Bronte's pictures OF Yorkshire life. Living
| the same localities, able to identify the plact
| in Jane Eyre from her accurate drawing
! wherever size has no such bias as have notet
she is sharp and distinct ~ the photograph
Her bits Of dialect in her first book are pure1
true to Haworth, Ten miles makes ditie
euce of speech to the ear Of nauKe.. VINE
| -..5 7otA F..rn II xrua m fhtH Eidn the A