{2} In the month of April 1858, a neat mural tablet was erected within the Communion railing of the Church at Haworth, to the memory of the deceased members of the Bronte family. The tablet is of white Carrara marble on a ground of dove-coloured marble, with a cornice surmounted by an ornamental pediment of chaste design. Between the brackets which support the tablet, is inscribed the sacred monogram I.H.S., in old English letters.
{3} With regard to my own opinion of the present school, I can only give it as formed after what was merely a cursory and superficial inspection, as I do not believe that I was in the house above half an hour; but it was and is this,--that the house at Casterton seemed thoroughly healthy and well kept, and is situated in a lovely spot; that the pupils looked bright, happy, and well, and that the lady superintendent was a most prepossessing looking person, who, on my making some inquiry as to the accomplishments taught to the pupils, said that the scheme of education was materially changed since the school had been opened.
I would have inserted this testimony in the first edition, had Ibelieved that any weight could be attached to an opinion formed on such slight and superficial grounds.
{4} "Jane Eyre," vol. I., page 20.
{5} Scott describes the sport, "Shooting at the Popinjay," "as an ancient game formerly practised with archery, but at this period (1679) with firearms. This was the figure of a bird decked with parti-coloured feathers, so as to resemble a popinjay or parrot.
It was suspended to a pole, and served for a mark at which the competitors discharged their fusees and carbines in rotation, at the distance of seventy paces. He whose ball brought down the mark held the proud title of Captain of the Popinjay for the remainder of the day, and was usually escorted in triumph to the most respectable change-house in the neighbourhood, where the evening was closed with conviviality, conducted under his auspices, and if he was able to maintain it, at his expense."--Old Mortality.
{6} In this Gutenberg eText M. Heger's comments are given in {} at approximately the place where they occur--DP.
End The Life of Charlotte Bronte-Volume 2by Elizabeth Claghorn Gaskell
CONTENTS OF VOLUME TWO
CHAPTER I.
Mr. Bronte afflicted with blindness, and relieved by a successful operation for cataract--Charlotte Bronte's first work of fiction, "The Professor"--She commences "Jane Eyre"--Circumstances attending its composition--Her ideas of a heroine--Her attachment to home--Haworth in December--A letter of confession and counsel.
CHAPTER II.
State of Charlotte Bronte's health at the commencement of 1847--Family trials--"Wuthering Heights" and "Agnes Grey" accepted by a publisher--"The Professor" rejected--Completion of "Jane Eyre", its reception and publication--The reviews of "Jane Eyre", and the author's comments on them--Her father's reception of the book--Public interest excited by "Jane Eyre"--Dedication of the second edition to Mr. Thackeray--Correspondence of Currer Bell with Mr. Lewes on "Jane Eyre"--Publication of "Wuthering Heights"and "Agnes Grey"--Miss Bronte's account of the authoress of "Wuthering Heights"--Domestic anxieties of the Bronte sisters--Currer Bell's correspondence with Mr. Lewes--Unhealthy state of Haworth--Charlotte Bronte on the revolutions of 1848--Her repudiation of authorship--Anne Bronte's second tale, "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall"--Misunderstanding as to the individuality of the three Bells, and its results--Currer and Acton Bell visit London--Charlotte Bronte's account of her visit--The Chapter Coffee House--The Clergy Daughters' School at Casterton--Death of Branwell Bronte--Illness and death of Emily Bronte.
CHAPTER III
The Quarterly Review on "Jane Eyre"--Severe illness of Anne Bronte--Her last verses--She is removed to Scarborough--Her last hours, and death and burial there--Charlotte's return to Haworth, and her loneliness.
CHAPTER IV.
