New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1877-07-13


Young woman, what can you want with mcr
Sir we have come up from Yorkshire. | wish TO
speak to you privately. i wrote Jane Eyre
You wrote Jane Eyre' cried the delighted pub
Usher; and taking them into his Office, insisted on
their coming to the house of his mother, who would
take every care of them. Charlotte related after
wards the strange contrast between the desolate
waiting a. the station in the early morning. ana
their loneliness in the crowd of the great city,
and finding themselves in the evening seated
among the brilliant company at the Opera House,
listening 10 the performance OF Jenny I-lhd'
Ii was not until aftorthe publication Of Shirley III
1919, that her secret made known to The w"Ild,
and she began to share in the exccmcns of success
full authorship. Upon the appearance of this book
with its vivid pictures of Yorkshire life and its
mastery sketches OF character, there was but one
chorus Of praise even from the obtuse critics who
Joined in eager cry against Jane Eyre" she was
now persuaded to visit London. and make acquaint-
ance with her admirers and peers in the world Of
letters whose names were familiar in Hawarth par
sonage long before Currer Bel' had made her first
modest appeal to the public. The following passage
from one Of her letters at The time describes her first
impressions OF London life.
l havcjust remembered tina. as yon do not know my
addYess you cannot 1te TN You get it, came TO
this big Babylon last Thursday and have been III what
sort of NlrltVcl since; hc'''
aud stimulus which would Tee time 70 offers arc iuvl
TO me found when mentioned to Mr' - my pan OF
Icon seriously brrt: he made his mother write TO me,
and thus persuaded 10 male my prncpaI stay az
MS house SO lar have igumd no ret5 5 20 S has
Ia , tcfst oricr. IN lac scIiulolisiy attentive.
had FIRE in nay bedroom evening aud morning TWO wax
candles &C. and Mrs. and her Daughters seemed 10
io ON % with mi xtlre oil respect and alarm. But all
this Is canccd that is say tine attention aud polite
trangemenf are q5itc gone; she treats she liked
irll % "a.
heart-wnucr had not JUDGED 100 iaN9lany %! 1 Oh
"A and brother than as man oi business M W
- too is really most gcutlcmany ana WelilDlormeo
in sociciy. Mr ~ Ghe little mani has again shown
his parts or him have lot yet come to clear decision
Abilities ne Las, fOT ne rules ne lIi ana h'epS I"i
young under strict control ~ MS non Will lis
young superior likes nn Which 10 speak the ruin =
more than do at present In faCi, susIcc lhal no u
Of the Hcls0u order of mcnrZid despotic, ana SELF
wled lie trles 70 nc very h', az" oHt" 10 VNl'ns
He has determined, dreadful nose ia the middle of
n me- cuts into nv soul Ike iroa Sal! he
iE horribly intelligent quick searching, sltS'cIouh'
and with d menor, OF RELENTLESS cnacity; TO turn 10
after him Is tO turn from granite 10 easy down OF
warm fur. have Srcn IbacEei"y
stances q eciicncnt. but suicr acute pain sonen''s
mental pam, mean. ~ INC moment MI. lh"ehGidy
having eaeh hotn.ne Si o'c,ock in ne cvDimr
Txcr:cmcnt and exhaustion together made savage
"orh - orrot III This evening ma going 10 meet
Miss Martpeau: che has written 20 INC most Kindly; SIC
knows me only rs Currer Bel; am COINS alone now
shall get Oh 40 not RhoW. II Mrs - were noe ki's'
should sometimes be miserable; but she treats me al
most a0ectOnately her attentions never nag nav
seen many things hore some day TO zen yon mat
Yesterday I went the new Houses Of Parliament
with Mr. An attack Of lhcnhhtic FEVER mas kept
poor NJ. y. ont o. the way s.hce "Iolo its,; an
si1 not stay ia London day <egerthan hst ln'eatd
saaReu. The laundering Times has attacked me saw
ageiy.
At a subsequent visit in London, she heard Mr.
Thaclcray's lectures on the English huinor5ts
where not q little connection was excited by her I'M
expected presence among the literary crowd.
"Some there are still living who remember That
first lecture when all London had assembled to lis
ten to the author of Vanity Fair and the runor
suddenly ran rOand the room that the author OF
Jane Eyre was among the audience. Men and
women were at fault at first III their efforts to dis
tinguish 'Currer Bell in that brilliant company of
literary and social notabtics but at last she was
discovered hiding under the luotheIly wing of a
chaperon, timid blushing but excited and pleased
not at the attention She herself attracted but at the
treat she had in prospect One or two gentlemen
sought and obtained introductons to her-among
them Lord Carlyle and M. M0nckt0n biines.
They were not particularly impressed By her appear
ance or the speech of the parsons daughter Her
person was insignificant her dress somewhat rustic,
her language quantity precise and formal, her man
ner odd and constrained. Altogether this was
woman whom even London could not Ionic; some
body outwardly altogether too plain simple, unpre-
tending. to admit of hero-wors.lip. Within there
was as we know, something entirely exceptional
and extraordinary but, like Lucy Snowe, she still
kent her real self hidden under veil which no casual
friend or chance acquaintance was allowed to hit
1t was but brief visit to the Big Babylon and
then back to Haworth, TO loneliness and duty"
The words last quoted furnish the key to tho life
and character of Charlotte BrontG. OF keenly SELL
sitive temperament, with nature craving for SYM
pathy as its appropriate sustenancc, she knew little
Of the 10y of sincere companionship Her secluded
position kept her from wide choice of friends, and
her fastidous taste made her scrupulOus and dainty
in their selection. She was thus thrown back the
solid principles of duty in her owR soul and sho adj
heIed to them with the fidelity Of a martyr in life
and IN death. OF the peculiar sacrifices TO which
she was called, she rarely mado mention, even
to those who most fully shared her confidence
but she bore them in silence and secreSy with saint
like cOmpOsure and inelfable sweetness. The pres
cnt volume will serve to recall the image OF noble
woman, which was fading from the memory OF a
busy generation, but whose serene example of pa
ticnce and faith affords wholesome tonic in the
midst OF secular distractions Her letters possess
the merit of transparent sincerity; they are equally
without pIetensiOn and without disguise; and If
they show little of the fire and brliancy of her ro
narkahlc genius. they present an instructive guide
in the study of her admirable character.
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