The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1883-05-20

untii o recent day. whom Mr.. swinburne drew
attention TO tho rare and high quality OF her
unique performance in prose fiction. that the
artistic merit Of Emily Brontc's novel was thor
oughly recognized by cultivated persons. NO
sooner. however. had the stimulus boon APP
| Piled and the right degree OF discernmont and
reflection boen brought to bear upon Wuther-
| ing Heights" than lively curiosity was
| kindlej respecting the author OF this remark
| able story. Of whom. rs 1t happened. no distinct
| and vigorous conception was deriyable from
Mrs. Gaskcll's biography OF her sister. In which
she had been kept too persistently in tho back.
| ground. 1t was with view Of satisfying this
| reasonable curiosity and Of discharging part
| OF the debt which has been suffered to remain
too long unpaid. that Miss A. NJ. +. RoBINsoN
has written palnstaking. thoughtful. sympa-
| thetic. and. in many respects. admirable lie Of
| Emily Bront6
| The author OF this short biography. Miss
Robinson. is already known to us By certain
graceful lyrics inspired by genuine feeling and
| q delicate fancy and fashioned with much tech
meal dexterity. In the book before us she has
given us some three hundred pages Of nervous
| and bright prose. which are delightfully."- FREQ
| from commonplace epithets and conventional
terms Of expression. Her style bears the well
| come marks OF fresh and fruitful mind. OF nm
| alert and penetrating eye. Of a judgment that
| holds the scales In its own hand. OF quick sym
| pathics. and Of taste ripencd and well trained
Her meaning Is enforced and her feeling Is
| made contagious BY a profusion OF metaphors
which are often nsw and are never
stale; and although there is perhaps
slight excess OF richness and quaint
| ness In hor diction. we nowhere get tho
impression OF nfIectation. She seems to
| write spontaneously, fuontly. with sin
Gle eye to conveying exactly and wildly
| the thought emotion OF the moment. and
her very Emergencies from accepted canons OF
prose- writing have sort OF ruant winsome-
ness. and fulfil the useful end OF keeping the
| readers hccdfulness wakcful and intent.
There are few things moro bracing than con-
| tact with a writer who not only has something
to say but has invented or instinctivoly lighted
| upon new way OF saying 1t. We are ant to
grow listless and preoccuplcd when facts and
ideas. however important in themselves. are
brought to us in vehicles framed upon long
copied models. every wheel and spring and
trick OF whose movement and mechanism IL ns
familiar and unexciting "a tho alphabet As we
follow by oar or eye u conventional composition
we guess tho purport OF u sentence when
It is hardly begun. and our wits 20 wool-gath-
erng while the authors thought Is wind
ing through tho old dull round. II our ear
catch substantive We know by experience
what adlectives will be loopod TO 1t: II we 500
a verb we do not need to lnger over the stereo-
| typo regimen. and we seldom reminded of
tho picturesque and half forgotten mean
ings that lie coiled about tho roots of
many hackneyed and faded words or idioms.
The attractivenoss Of Miss Robinson's style
comes from the circu instance that while 1t has
faults enough no doubt. it is. at all events. her
own-a ductilc sensitive. iridesccnt thing
which obeys and reflects the bond and gush
and simmer OF the mind behind it. 1t is. in
deed. fortunate for tho memory OF Emily
Bront6. whose own point Of view and dcton
were conspicuously original. that tho first do
lberats Attempt to depict her IA she was
should have been intrustcd to u woman whose
predictions and methods have points OF kin
: ship with her own.
, Let us. by some random quotations. exem
plfy the crisp and racy quality OF the author
r language. and at the same time exhibit the fer
vid yet by no means indscriminate. admirn
| ton with which she regards the subject OF he
Q narrative and which she certainly succeeds II
( communicating to others. Thus, apropos o
4 the intense. almost morbid. imagination no
. vealed in ''Wuthering Heights she says Few
0 have troI that perilous bridgo-that path OF 1
0 single hair which alone connects this worlt
8 with the land OF dreams-with the fearlessnes
Y o. Er,iIr RrontS. that ia her o~A ,sren mi
/ and there She wins our highest praise
4 but place her on the earth. ask her L
interpret for us tho common lives OF the sur
r rounding people. she can give no answer
!, The swift and certain spirit IN ives with tn
. clumsy. hesitating gait OF bird accustomed t.
y soar" Pursuing the comparison between
8 the sisters. who dwelt together in the SAM
r scuuestrod nook in the West Riding yot upol
4 whom the same environment produced sucl
discrepant Impressions. and who. from tn
9 same materials, evolved lessons so diGrren
!, and pictures unlike Miss Robinson illustrate
q the singular contradiction by the following
II apt simile: Say that two foreigners hav
- passed through StafTordshire. leaving us thei
j. reports of what they have seen. The first
. going by day will tell US OF the hideous black
q ness OF the country but yut moro. no doubt
g of tho awful patient struggle OF man with llr
IL and darkness OF the grim courage of those un
4 known lives: mn he would see what they toile
/" for. women with little children in their arms
"A and he would notice the blue sky bcyon
10 the smoke. doubly precious for such horribl
II environment. But the second traveller ha
= journeyed during the night: neither saualo
- nor ugliness. Mother sky nor children has h
ID seen. only vast stretch OF backncss she
70 through with flaming Ares. here and Their
,e burned to duh rcd by heated furnaces; an
e. before these strange toiers. half naked. scarce
n ly human. and red in the leaping flicker an
ii CLEAN Of the forge. The meaning Of their wor
=; he could not soc. but fearful and impressiv
"a phantasmagoria OF flame and blackness. an
p fiery energies at work In the encompassin
Of night SO differently did the black country
=, this world appear to Charlotte, clear- seein
;e and compassionate. and to Emily Bront6
to traveller through the shadows. Each faithful
Nv recorded what she saw. and the place was tn
same. but how unlike the vision"
70 OF Emily Bronte. during the months whic
10 much against the grain OF her shrinking. sci
\ nlx-