New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1867-06-16
HOME OF CHARLOTTE BKoNrE

l rom advance sheets of Professor HopkIn ol'
England %

a Visit to Haworth by an American.
From advance sheets OF Professor Hopk'nS Via
keighly which has been chiefly made
known to us from its proximity to Haworth,
is one of those important and swarmlnB
manufacturing places that make the power
and wealth OF England; and, as | arrived
on payday afternoon, the streets were
thronged with thousands of factory people,
bearing the hard and independent stamp OF
West Riding weavers, described so vigor-
ou5!y in Shirley. In the dull and up hill
ride Of four miles to Haworth, shut in most
Of the way by high stone walls instead OF
the usual green hedges, ] could not but
think OF those two feeble sisters, struggling
along afoot over the dreary road, i'll the
| thunder storm, on their way to heighly to
| take the London train for the purpose OF
| proving to their publisher their actual and
| separate identity.
Haworth was pointed out with its gray
tower near the summit OF very high hill,
ana at its back swept away north the roll
ing, dismal moorlands, without the sign of
human habitation. A month later and
these moors would be gorgeous with heather
blossoms. After passing few struggling
houses we began to ascend that long, steep,
paved street OF Haworth now become SO
well known.
The church is plain stone building, less
| interesting, intellectually, than English
| village churches usually are.
| Mr.. Nichols is a dark compleXioned man,
rather thin. with black hair and beard.
The tones Of his voice, especially in the ser
| vice, were grave and pleasant. and, as | con
! Ceiyed with a touch of sadness.
! saw the pew, and the corner Of it, where
! Charlotte used to sit; and the new white
! marble tablet on the wall, erected to her
memory. and that of her mother four sisters.
and brother. It's scriptural motto was from
| | Cor So 81. The victory was soon gained
I5fl 100. OH tg.r+ ha afffh n :
and Shirley was only thirty-nine when
She died. / was also shown the register Of
her marriage. aud her autograph in the
church records
Without intending or seeking it, | was in
vited, as a stranger, TO call upon Mr.. Brontc
Tor few moments during the intermission.
| went through high walled yard at the
| back of the house, around to the front,
| through a smaller flower garden, and was
shown by Martha into Mr.. Bronte's
| study.
Mr. Bronte met me with real kindness of
manner but with something of the stateli-
ness of the old school, His hair, worn short,
was white as driven srow; his ample cam
| brio cravat completely covered his chin;
and his black dress was OF the most scrupu-
lous rea.ness. He has been called HAND
some, but that he never could have been.
with a high wrinkled forehead, and swarthy
complexion and his eyes are partially
closed, for he is almost blind.
He struck me as being naturally a very
social man, with a mind fond of discussion,
and feeding agreeably on new ideas in spite
of his reserve. ! went into the opposite
| parlor where his daughters used TO sit and
write. There was Charlottes portrait, with
| those large dark eyes, square impending
| brow aud sad, unsmiling mouth. Bran
| well Bronte's medallion likewise hung OPP
| posite; and Thackeray's portrait, Hooking
| past her" as slSsaid, was on the front wall.
| Her books still lay on the table. There
was a Bible of Emily's, and a much worn
copy of Mrs. Gaskell's Mary Barton, pre-
| scented by the authorizes to Mrs. Nichols.
| This room had rather a pleasant look; but
its furniture was simple to severity; its only
ornament was little bunch of broom grass
on the table. Martha then showed me into
the kitchen. II was q snug, warm, Groom
ing place; and it was not difficult to see the
picture on dark winter eve, when the
storms howled over the moor and ratified
against the windows, of those bright-fan-
cied children crowding together around the
fire, telling their strange stories, and living
in world created by themselves. Here
Emily Bronte studied German, with her
book propped up before her, while she
kneaded dough.
In the afternoon heard Mr.. Bronte
preach from Job iii. II: There the wicked
cease from troubling; and there the weary
| be AT rest. IL was The SIMPLE tALtlDDO
raneous talk OF an aged pastor to his people,
spoken without effort III short, easy SEN
tences-and was drawn, 1t appeared to me,
right out of that old graveyard, among
whose stones his feet had walked, and his
imagination had lived so long. In parts it
was pathetic, especially when he alluded to
the loss of his children. He branched off
upon the sorrows, commissions, and troubles
| in the world, and he seemed to long for
wings like dove to fly away from this
| changeful scene and be at rest.
On the whole, my Hsworth visit was a
serious and SOLDERING one. thought OF
what Charlotte Bronte said, that sit always
made her unhappy to 60 away from Ha-
worth, for it took her so long TO become
happy after she got home" Yet that stone
house century old, those bleak moors, that
very melancholy crowded graveyard, may
have done something to make Charlotte
| Bronte what she was. They fenced her In
and made her inventive. Her fiery Irish
imagination was concentrated here into a
vital energetic current that did not waste
itself in endless poetic may streams but
cut for itself deep, practical, and creative
channel The less she saw the more &C
eurately she drew and the more profoundly
she analysed. Hence a shy, secluded little
woman describes nature as II she had
always been accustomed TO live in the mids
| of the most lovely and opulent scenery, ant
\ moves our mind with something VI tn,
mighty power of Shakespeare, when she lays
bare the abysses and spiritual forces o
moral character.
The best criticism ever made upon he
| novels IL seems to me, was this--that he
characters did not converse like humal
beings, but that their conversation wa
in fact their thoughts; it was thinking
aloud.
/ afterward saw Madame Heger's schoo
in Brussels, where Charlotte and her siste
resided for time. Even that seemed to b
dull, shut-in-spot as it we're down in
pit. Intellectually speaking, she was vim
always to be kept pruned close by the hus
bandman, that she might bring forth NOR
fruit.
MAGGIE's EYKs.--The New Orleans RE
PUBLICAN has "a reader whose precious
wits are bothered By. Maggie Mitchel's eyes