New-York tribune., 1896-10-18

as the one that she was a woman. Wnat we
owe 10 Mr.. Shorter is a deepened sense oi '"a'
fact and an enlargement Of evidence
Mr.. Shorter is tinged by the feeling of exai'd-
ton which seems to be the special properly o'
BrontS devotces but generally he leaves his
subject to speak for herself. and he prih's So
many characteristic letters that he cannot hep
letting us the exact truth about her. lha'
truth pushes the woe-begone and some"ha'
melodramatic Charlotte Bron,s. who has "eeh
so long n topic of hystcrical writer's. INTO 'he
limbo Of exploded myths, and il shows us no"
like her fellow-women she was for all her
genius; how aboundng in animal spirits sn"
was In the face Of all her troubles; how w""-
anly. and even grlIsh was the novelist Wh"m
il has been the fashion To regard as an hero
phantc sodl. wrapi in the gloom Of semi-trasN
existence and striking fire in her novels as WIZ"
J an awful supernatural hand Tw'tter'hg au-
, thors will tell yon to this day about Charlotte
Bronte's pathetic life she. indeed. was ac-
quainted with grief they assure Even
Thackeray saw her and her sisters through more
or less Of a mist. What story Is that of the
family of poets in their solitude yonder on the
gloomy Yorkshire moors.' Beginning with Mrs
GaskeE. too and continuing thro Ugh all OF
Charlotte Bront&'s biographcrs, there has been
a grim tradition about the temper and other
troublesome attributes Of old Patrick Brontc
about Rranwell Bront6s misdoinEs about the
unsympathetic character Of Charlottcs hus-
band. Mr. Nichols. Well. it is all just. Ia
certain extent but the point 10 he insisted upon
is that which is made by her familiar letters
which seem To say, as forcihy as II the wr'ter
were herself making the protest. face To race
with her interOcutOr: Il am suffering. yes; and
l would like to he doing other things but am
a human being not q great authoress kept from
my desk. I woman. l have Il woman's
sense OF humor. her lght-heartcd patience. her
sunshine. her ineffable scorn Of the weakness
that would make her sit down and rcpne over
her misfortunes. For Heavens sake. don't be
lnaudlin over me, I'm the last woman In the
world to stand that
Thackeray has left record Of the impression
that Charlotte Bronta made upon him when
they met He speaks of her having struck him
"a a very pure and lofty, and high minded per-
SON" and says that "a great and holy reverence
of right and truth seemed to be with her al-
ways" But Thackeray himself fanced her IAN
austere little Joan OF Arc marching In upon us
and rebuking our easy lives. our easy morals y
All the time. so battling the shy demeanor
of his friend. he missed. apparently the spirit
in the woman that made her not rcincarnaion
of Joan Of Arc. but one Of the simplest. most
artless and genuine individualites among he
women OF the nineteenth century. There was
nothing Of the mystic about her. nothing of the
saint called to bear griefs under which any
woman not saint would have sunk in despair
Not one jot Of the burden she bore can ever
he underestimatcd by sensitive student OF her
life but IL seems the higher honor to con-
slider her as struggling with her rat" III mortar
way and bearing her troubles with all OF me
little endearing weaknesses of a fellow-n"rta
In the long run she always conquered but those
who believe in her now will believe In her III"
more when they read the letter. for example
in which she tells Emily Of the adventure '"
which she was driven in Brussels through her
loneliness as teacher there:
81 should inevitably fall into the gulf Of low
spirits" she writes IF stayed always by my
self here without a human being to speak to-
so / go out and traverse the Boulevards ana
streets OF Bruxel,es. sometimes for hours to-
re,ber Yesterday ] found myself np
posite to Ste. Gudule. and the bell. whose voice
Won know began to toll for cverirg sa'ut
wep" n quite alone (Which procedure YOU WI
saw Is not much like mel. wandered about IN"
aigies where few old women were saying their
PRAYERS till vespers began. STAYED wi hoy
were over. Still / could not leave the chuich
or force myself To 60 hone-to school. mean
An odd whim came into my head. In s'si'arF
part Of the Cathedral six or seven people SIM
remained kneelng by the confcssionals. In Two
confessonals | saw a priest. felt az II fiH
not care what | did. provided II was not abso-
lutely wrong and that II served ia vary my LIE
and Weld a moments interest. took fancy I"
change myself into Catholic. and go ana max
n real confession 10 see what n was like.
I had TO knccl ten minutes waiting. for on IN"
other side was another pen:tent invisible to
me At last that wc1t away and !ittle wood
on door inside the grating opened. and ! saw
the priest leaning bia ear toward me. wns
oblie.d TO begin and vet 7 did not know a wori
OF the formula with which they always com
merco their confessions II was funny posi-
tion felt precisely as did when alone on tn"
Thames at midnight commenced with saying
7 was a foreigner and had been brought up
Protestant The priest asked II was a Protect
tant then somehow could not toll a lie. and
said YES He replied that in that case could
not FOUR du bonhcur 4" a confess. hut vas
determined TO confess. and at last he said no
would allow me becaus" il might he the nrst
step toward returning to the true Church
actually did confcss--a r'al confession. When
had done he told me his address. and said that
overv morning 7 was TO 60 to the Rue du Pare
To his house and ne would reason with M.
| and trv TO convince me Of the error and eDor-
I nifty nf being Protestant. PROMISED
| faithfully TO go OF course. however. the ad-
venture stops there and I hope shall never 49,"
| the priest again.
| II ia not easy to turn from 90 personal n