Evening star., 1929-12-01
PRESERVING LITERARY SHRINES
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

their mother had died. Emily and Anne
died while still quite young. Their lives
at the parsonage had been, therefore,
surrounded by sorrow and depression.
Much interest is added to the parsop~
age as shrine. because the poetry ana
the novels written by the girls ref1ecA
the dif1cult and unrelieved life there.
The novels, especially, are characterized
by sadness almost Russian in its stark
ness.
The present American movement to
preserve the Haworth parsonage was
begun by Claude Meeker of Columbus,
OHIO, who first became interested In the
idea while serving as American consul
at Bradford, which is not far distant
from the Bronte home. Claude Bowers
and Harry Hansen, American writer's
ana literary critics, also have taken an
interest in the plan.
BrOnte Shrine Is Intact.
There Is a Bronte Society which has
been in existence for some years. 1t is
composed chiefly of Americans and
Englishmen. This organization already
has collected a great many relics of the
Bronte sisters, which are preserved at
the parsonage. 1t now is proposed that
the place be purchased so that there
can be no doubt about it's continued
preservation. The sum of $4,000 is
necessary to effect the purchase, and
an EngliShman of the Bronte country,
Sir James Roberts, has agreed to SUBJ
scribe 5000 of this sum provided other
members of the society and the general
public make up the balance. There is
little doubt that this will be done
One reason why the Bronte shrine
is intact is that it is located in lonely
place, quite off the beaten track Of
tourists. Recently, however, the extern
sion of bus lines through sections not
penetrated by railways has induced a
good many Americans to visit Haworth.
Nearby is still standing the inn, the
Black Bull, where Branwell Bronte
drank himself to death. Although the
hostelry has passed out of the hands
Of the proprietor who served Bronte,
the present operator has shown enough
interest in the Bronte tradition to keep
the youths memory alive by the pres
ervation of relics relating to him. The
chair which he always occupied during
his long hours at the Black Bull still
sits In the same place where he liked
to have it, and on a small shelf beside
it are a drinking glass and a pipe
which, 1t is understood, were habitually
| used by him.
Preservation of these relics Of a per-
I
| the parsonage, give an atmosphere of
great realism to these places and en-
able admirers of the talented family
to understand clearly how they lived.
1t is interesting to recall that Amy
! Lowell during her lifetime devoted
much effort to preservation Of the
! house in London occupied by John
Keats, while A. Edward Newton Is en-
gagged in raising funds to erect a me-
mortal to Thomas Hardy on Egdon
Heath. Many of the homes Of impor-
tant British literary figures remain In
the hands of descendants, who do not
desire to part with them, but as they
do become available there is good rea-
son to believe that Americans will not
be slow to take them over. However,
when George Bernard Shaw recently
moved from his apartment in the ia
nous Adelphi Terrace, which he had
long occupied and where he wrote some
Of his most famous works, he himself
expressed surprise that there was no
rush on the part of Americans to rent
the place. It stood vacant for quite o
while. But Shaw is not dead yet.