The times., 1899-10-22

THE TIMES, !
eating-room. and they had no other place in which
to receive visitors. Next 10 this, and across the
hall from the kitchen, was a storeroom Mr.
Bronte's bedchamher was directly above me
study, and as declining health soon competed
his wife to have q separate sleeping-room, she
took that over the parlor servants domtory
above the stoTcroom could be warmed by q CRATE
if necessary The nursery was cut of from the
upper front hall The solitary window looked upon
the graveyard and the church. There was neither
fireplace nor stove in il. he winters chill and
the spring dsmpnCss must have got into the stone
wall and The tagged flooring, and fingered there
until July suns baked the house to its heart
That was not luxurious age and the children
We're Yorkshire born. yet We cannot hear without
a shutdCr that the six little things had no other
playToom than this; that they spent hours Of
busy with their books and the games invented
10y themselves. They hsd no toys, and no play
fellows outside the parsonage,
Mrs. Terhune then goes on to tell of
the children's daily life. PoTridge and
milk bread and butter. made up their
morning meal and conversation at the ia
BILE was discouraged. The windows of the
dining-room looked out on the graveyard.
After breakfast the children had their les
sons with their father, and were then
committed TO their nurse for sewing les
sons In the afternoon they went for
walk. Their father seems TO have been
reserved and melancholy but gentle-na
tured man, and it is recorded that his
wife had no fear of him" and that he
never gave her an angry word.
Perhaps the toyless life of the children
stimulated their imagination. Not one of
the girls ever had a doll, but they enacted
all sorts of dramas among themselves. As
they grew up they were taught houseke p
ing in all its branches, and made all
their own clothing. Then, as time went on,
they were sent to the half charity
school where the tuition was $3.50 a year,
the fare mean, and the educational sys
tenn poor. Why is it that in boarding
schools such an immense amount Of money
is charged for Indifferent accommodations?
After the experience at school, of which
Maria, the eldest sister, died, the family
lived at home, busted with their own
quaint concerns The children seem to
have amused themselves in all sorts of
quiet but unusual ways. The young
Mems Magazine" in six numbers was
printed with the pen, by Charlotte, and
its subscribers were her two sisters and
her brotheT-nobody else.
A later chapter describes Charlottes ex-
periences as q governess. Then follows the
story of the family troubles, familiar to
the reading public; Of the escapades of
Branwen, and the death of the father. One
of the chapters which viii be most gem
orally interesting is that on Charlotte's
first success as writer Most peOp.e have
heard how She came to her father, after
Jane Eyre had appeared, with the book
and q bundle of press notices. and remark
ed diftidently, Papa. I've been writing a
book" He said he was afraid that if he
tried TO read it her minute handwriting
would try his eyes. She told him it was
printed Then he began to worry about
the expense and probable failure of a book
by an obscure writer and she gave him
book and criticisms and slipped away.
(The path of the literary woman in the
foTties was not a particularly easy oneD
Subsequently the family oracle appeared
in the parlor and standing over the plainly
laid tea table, exclaimed:
Girls. do YOU know Charlotte has been writing
a book, and il is much better than likely?
The queer little incident which followed
the success of Jane Eyre" is. perhaps not
so well known. The critics thought that
the three pen names, -Currer, Ellis, and
Acton Bell. were but masks for the identity
OF one and the same person, and in the sin
gleness Of their integrity the sisters con-
sidered this a slur upon their veracity. So
Charlotte and Anne set out for London at
once, two quaint little figures. The eXpe-
rience they had is worth publishing: pa.
Dressed for the eyentful journey, Charlotte
and Anne sat down 70 an e5ny tea eating liz
tie as may imagine, and then began the
four-mile walk in good season TO catch the
night train. A heavy shower wet them to the
skin tie road, but they pressed on. Defama-
tion Of character was too serious a peril for
them to mind tnhes when bent mp Il self
justification.
They went straight from the Chapter Coffee
House (where, odd il msy seem, they
elected TO lodge because their father used to
put up there a young mani TO Smith &
Elders Cornhin Office, Amazing the senior part
Ber by presenting the letter he had sent 70
'Currer Bell Up 10 now he and Mr. vii
liams had written TO their author a man.
The publisher turned II over IN lis hand, and
looked beUildered from his own handwriting
10 the quaint little women st3ndiHg side by
side Al the full height Of their small stature.
Where did you get thisY' he asked natu-
rally Charlotte was spokesw0man, intro
ducing herself Courier Bell her companion
as Acton" In his delight at the solution of
more than one yeXed question, Mr.. Smith Would
have called together a coteTie Of literary people
at his house to meet the unmasked celebrities,
but the visitors would not consent. They would
retain their incognita 70 everybody in London
but himself and his partners. After an hour S
chat, they trudged back TO their quaint quar-
tiers, never noticing that they were the only
women in the house
The book is fully illustrated. and will
be a valuable addition to any reference
library. (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons.
s25O)