Brontës (210 page)

77.
PBB to John Brown, [summer 1848]: MS p.1, Brotherton [
LCB
, ii, 110–11].

78.
Grundy, 90–1.

79.
Ibid., 91.

80.
Ibid., 91–2.

81.
CB to Ann Nussey, 14 Oct 1848: MS BS 65.5 p.2, BPM [
LCB
, ii, 127]; CB to EN, 9 Oct 1848: MS Ashley 2452 p.2, BL [
LCB
, ii, 125].

82.
Leyland, ii, 278; Cautley, ‘Old Haworth Folk who Knew the Brontës', 78 quoting Tabitha Ratcliffe; CB to EN, 9Oct 1848: MS Ashley 2452 p.1, BL [
LCB
, ii, 125].

83.
CB to WSW, 6 Oct 1848: MS Bon 204 pp.2–3, BPM [
LCB
, ii, 124]; Leyland, ii, 278–9.

84.
CB to WSW, 6Oct 1848: MS Bon 204 pp.2–3, BPM [
LCB
, ii, 124]; CB to EN, 9Oct 1848: MS Ashley 2452 p.2, BL [
LCB
, ii, 125]; Leyland, ii, 279–80. Gaskell,
Life
, 289, 525, 539 says that Branwell had resolved in his last illness to die standing on his feet, declaring that so long as there was life there was strength of will to do as he chose: in his death throes he insisted on getting to his feet and died standing up, his pockets full of Mrs Robinson's letters. Both Gaskell and Leyland, whose account I have preferred, quoted ‘one who attended Branwell in his last illness', the likely informant in both cases being either John Brown or his daugh-ter, Martha, the Parsonage servant. I suspect, however, that Gaskell got her account second-hand, from Ellen, who quotes Branwell as saying ‘You have only to will a thing to get it' in 1839: EN, Reminiscences: MS p.27, KSC. It is inherently unlikely that Branwell made such a claim on his deathbed and it seems probable that the descriptions of his final hours were simply embroidered for and by village gossip. Martha Brown herself flatly denied that Branwell had died with Mrs Robinson's letters in his pockets, though unwittingly lending credence to the story by claiming
they ‘were mostly from a gentleman of Branwell's acquaintance, then living near the place of his former employment': Leyland, ii, 284. Clearly Martha did not realize the role played by Dr Cosby in Branwell's affair with Mrs Robinson. Though Branwell was 31 at his death, his funeral card and the newspapers all wrongly stated his age as 30: PBB, funeral card, 24 Sept 1848: MS BS X, F, BPM;
BO
, 28 Sept 1848 p.5;
LM
, 30 Sept 1848 p.8;
LI
, 30 Sept 1848 p.5 where a printing error reduced Branwell's age to 20.

85.
CB to WSW, 2 Oct 1848: MS MA 2696 R-V p.3, PM [
LCB
, ii, 122]. This is Charlotte's claim: she evidently did not remember being at her mother's deathbed.

86.
CB to WSW, 6 Oct 1848: MS Bon 204 pp.3–4, BPM [
LCB
, ii, 124].

87.
CB to WSW, 2Oct 1848: MS MA 2696 R-V pp.1–3, PM [
LCB
, ii, 122].

88.
Ibid., p.3 [
LCB
, ii, 122].

89.
CB to EN, 9Oct 1848: MS Ashley 2452 p.3, BL [
LCB
, ii, 126]; CB to WSW, 2Oct 1848: MS MA 2696 R-V p.3, PM [
LCB
, ii, 122].

90.
AB to WSW, 29 Sept 1848: MS Ashley 155, BL [
LCB
, ii, 121].

91.
Burials, Haworth (28 Sept 1848).

92.
PBB, Death Certificate, 24 Sept 1848: MS BS x, D, BPM. ‘Marasmus' meant literally ‘physically wasting away'. Charlotte herself told a friend that Branwell had been ‘long in weak health – and latterly consumptive – though we were far from apprehending immediate danger': CB to Laetitia Wheelwright, 15 Mar 1849: MS pp.1–2, in private hands [
LCB
, ii, 190]. I am grateful to Roger Barrett for a photocopy of this letter and permission to quote from it. Ironically, given the volume and frequently lyrical quality of Branwell's poetry over the year, his last effort appears to have been a vituperative and obscene attack on Wheelhouse, whose attentions he had not appreciated: PBB, ‘While holy Wheelhouse far above' and ‘Say Dr Wheelhouse is a jewel' [LFN], [1848]: MSS pp.3–6, Brotherton [VN
PBB
, 298–9].

93.
Grundy, 92.

CHAPTER TWENTY: STRIPPED AND BEREAVED

Title: CB to WSW, 13 June 1849: MS Ashley 172 p.3, BL [
LCB
, ii, 220].

1.
CB to WSW, 2Oct 1848: MS MA 2696 R-V p.1, PM [
LCB
, ii, 122]. The phrase is a quote from Genesis ch.23 v.4.

2.
CB to WSW, 25 June 1849: MS BS 70 p.3, BPM [
LCB
, ii, 224].

3.
CB to WSW, [?18 Oct 1848]: MS n.l. [
LCB
, ii, 128]. Charlotte actually wrote ‘less formidable' rather than ‘more formidable', an indication of her mental agitation at this time.

4.
CB to EN, 29 Oct 1848: MS Gr. E15 pp.2–3, BPM [
LCB
, ii, 130–1].

5.
CB to WSW, 2Nov 1848: MS BS 66 p.1, BPM [
LCB
, ii, 132]; CB to GS, 7 Nov 1848: MS SG 18 p.2, BPM [
LCB
, ii, 138]; CB to WSW, 25 June 1849: MS BS 70 p.7, BPM [
LCB
, ii, 225].

6.
CB to WSW, 2Nov 1848: MS BS 66 p.3, BPM [
LCB
, ii, 133].

7.
Ibid., pp.2–3[
LCB
, ii, 132].

8.
CB to WSW, 22 Nov 1848: MS Ashley 2452 pp.1–2, BL [
LCB
, ii, 142].

9.
CB to EN, 23 Nov 1848: MS Gr. E16 pp.1–2, BPM [
LCB
, ii, 145].

10.
Ibid., p.2[
LCB
, ii, 145].

11.
CB to EN, [?27 Nov 1848]: MS p.1, Princeton [
LCB
, ii, 146]; CB to WSW, 7Dec 1848: MS Gr. F6 p.1, BPM [
LCB
, ii, 147]; CB to WSW, 9Dec 1848, with accompanying statement of Emily's symptoms: MS Gr. F5, BPM [
LCB
, ii, 150]; CB to EN, 10 Dec 1848: MS p.1, Harvard [
LCB
, ii, 152]; CB to EN, [19 Dec 1848]: MS in Pennsylvania [
LCB
, ii, 154].

12.
CB to WSW, 7Dec 1848: MS Gr. F6 pp.1–2, BPM [
LCB
, ii, 147].

13.
CB to EN, 28 July 1848: MS Gr. E14 pp.3–4, BPM [
LCB
, ii, 92].

14.
Ibid., p.4 [
LCB
, ii, 92]; CB to EN, 18 Aug 1848: MS Gr. E13 pp.3–4, BPM [
LCB
, ii, 104].

15.
CB to EN, 23 Nov 1848: MS Gr. E16 p.3, BPM [
LCB
, ii, 145].

16.
Ibid., pp.2–3[
LCB
, ii, 145]. [
LCB
, ii, 145]; Henry Clapham/Mary Robinson, draft Marriage Settlement, 18 Oct 1848: MS 23, Robinson Papers, BPM; CB to EN, 10 Dec 1848: MS p.3, Harvard [
LCB
, ii, 153].

17.
CB to EN, 23 Nov 1848: MS Gr. E16 p.3, BPM [
LCB
, ii, 145].

18.
CB to EN, 10 Dec 1848: MS p.3, Harvard [
LCB
, ii, 152–3].

19.
Unsigned review,
Sharpe's London Magazine
, Aug 1848 pp.181–4[Allott, 263, 265].

20.
Unsigned review,
Rambler
, Sept 1848 pp.65–6[Allott, 267].

21.
E.P. Whipple,
North American Review
, Oct 1848 pp.354–69 [Allott, 248]; CB to WSW, 22 Nov 1848: MS Ashley 2452 pp.2–3, BL [
LCB
, ii, 142].

22.
CB to EN, 10 Dec 1848: MS pp.1–2,
Harvard [
LCB
, ii, 152]. Patrick's own copy of Graham,
Modern Domestic Medicine
: HAOBP:bb210 p.239, BPM pointed out that diarrhoea occurs in the third and last stage of consumption and, as with Emily, ‘Till this period, and occasionally, indeed, through it, the patient supports his spirits, and flatters himself with ultimate success.'

23.
CB,
Biographical Notice
, 363.

24.
Robinson,
Emily Brontë
, 228, which gives no source for the dog-feeding incident and is uncorroborated; ECG,
Life
, 292.

25.
Cautley, ‘Old Haworth Folk who Knew the Brontës' 78, quoting Tabitha Ratcliffe. The alleged comb, acquired from the Brown family via the Dixon sale, is HAOBP:H121, BPM.

26.
ECG to [?John Forster], [Sept 1853]: MS pp.12–13, Brotherton [C&P, 246]; CB to EN, [19 Dec 1848]: MS in Pennsylvania [
LCB
, ii, 154].

27.
ECG,
Life
, 293. Wheelhouse's presence is assumed from the fact that he signed the death certificate as being ‘in attendance': EJB, Death Certificate, 19 Dec 1848: MS BS X, D, BPM. An ulcerated throat and mouth, inflicting hoarseness of the voice, were a recognized symptom of the final stages of consumption, according to Patrick's copy of Graham,
Modern Domestic Medicine
: HAOBP:bb210 p.239, BPM (see above, n.22).

28.
CB to WSW, 25 June 1849: MS BS 70 p.1, BPM [
LCB
, ii, 224]; CB to WSW, 13 June 1849: MS Ashley 172 pp.3–4, BL [
LCB
, ii, 220]. See also CB to EN, 23 Dec 1848: MS p.1, Berg [
LCB
, ii, 156]. The first person to suggest that Emily died on the sofa was Robinson,
Emily Brontë
, 230, claiming ‘she tried to rise, leaning with one hand upon the sofa. And thus the chord of life snapped.' This sounds suspiciously like the Haworth stories of Branwell's death (see above, p.1092 n.84) and Robinson gives no source for her information; Charlotte's eye-witness references to Emily's dying-bed and dying in the arms of those who loved her are more credible. In any case, the sofa in the parsonage dining-room (HAOBP: F5, BPM), made by William Wood of Haworth, probably post-dates Emily's death: see JB
ST
no.8.

29.
CB to WSW, [20 Dec 1848]: MS in Scripps [
LCB
, ii, 155]. I am grateful to Margaret Smith for drawing this ms, which was then unpublished, to my attention.

30.
WSW to CB, 21 Dec 1848: Ms pp.1–4, 6–7, in private hands [
LCB
, ii, 155–7].

31.
CB to WSW, 25 Dec 1848: MS Ashley 2452 p.1, BL [
LCB
, ii, 159].

32.
Ibid., p.3 [
LCB
, ii, 159].

33.
BO
, 21 Dec 1848 p.5;
HG
, 23 Dec 1848 p.8;
LI
, 23 Dec 1848 p.5;
LM
, 23 Dec 1848 p.8. All the newspapers wrongly place Emily in her 29th year, instead of her 30th, as does the funeral card which was printed by Joseph Fox, Confectioner, who presumably supplied the funeral tea: EJB, funeral card, 19 Dec 1848. Two pairs of white funeral gloves, issued at the burials of unmarried women and associated with Emily's, are HAOBP: D60 and D61, BPM. Plaited necklaces and bracelets, made from Emily's and Anne's hair, are HAOBP: J12, J43 and J51, BPM. Mourning jewellery, made from the hair of the deceased, was a popular memento of the dead in the days before photography became cheap and commonplace.

34.
Burials, Haworth (22 Dec 1848). The entry is recorded by Nicholls. Martha Brown told ECG the details of the funeral procession: ECG to [?John Forster], [Sept 1853] [C&P, 246]. For Keeper see CB to WSW, 25 June 1849: MS BS 70 p.1, BPM [
LCB
, ii, 224].

35.
CB to EN, [23 Dec 1848]: MS p.1, Berg [
LCB
, ii, 157].

36.
CB to WSW, 25 Dec 1848: MS Ashley 2452 p.3, BL [
LCB
, ii, 159].

37.
CB to WSW, 7 Dec 1848: MS Gr. F6 pp.3–4, BPM [
LCB
, ii, 148]; CB to WSW, 14 Aug 1848: MS p.6, Berg [
LCB
, ii, 100], in which Charlotte had said ‘My sister Anne wishes me to say that should she ever write another work, Mr Smith will certainly have the first offer of the copyright.' For Emily's second novel see above, pp.629–31.

38.
By July 1853 only 279 copies out of the 961 purchased from Aylott & Jones at 6d. each had been sold: G.D. Hargreaves, ‘The Publishing of “Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell”‘,
BST
:15:79:299; unsigned review,
Spectator
, 11 Nov 1848 pp.1094–5 [Allott, 64–6].

39.
AB, The Three Guides, 11 Aug 1847: MS Bon 136, BPM [Chitham, 144–5];
Fraser's Magazine
, Aug 1848, 193–5: ECG,
Life
, 233. This was not, as Chitham claims, the only poem by Anne, other than in
Poems
1846, to appear in print in her lifetime; nor was it, as he concludes, the poem Gaskell reports Ellen saying was published in
Chamber's Journal
while she was staying at Haworth. Anne probably learnt that ‘The Narrow Way' had been published in
Fraser's Magazine
from the
LI
, 30 Dec 1848 p.7which reprinted the poem in its poetry
column under the heading ‘From Frazer's Magazine for the present Month'.

40.
AB, The Narrow Way, 24 Apr 1848: MS Ashley 54 pp.9–10, BL [Chitham, 161–2]. I have followed the version printed in
LI
, 30 Dec 1848 p.7.

41.
Unsigned review,
Sharpe's London Magazine
, Aug 1848 pp.181–4 [Allott, 265]; AB to Revd David Thom, 30 Dec 1848: MS pp.2–3, 6–7, Princeton. Though Anne says that she had discovered the doctrine for her-self, I suspect that she may have been introduced to it by Revd James La Trobe during her religious crisis as a school-girl at Roe Head (see above, pp.327–331). Moravians, like Christadelphians and Anabaptists, openly espoused a belief in uni-versal salvation. The idea that salvation was ultimately achievable, whatever sins the believer had committed, was the antithesis of the Calvinist belief in the elect to which Anne (and Charlotte) had been exposed. Naturally it would have appealed to her, given her sense of her own unworthiness. Significantly, Charlotte would later openly admit her belief in universal salvation, rounding on Miss Wooler who had reported clerical criticism of
Jane Eyre
and
Shirley
: ‘I am sorry the Clergy do not like the doctrine of Universal Salvation; I think it a great pity for their sakes, but surely they are not so unreasonable as to expect me to deny or suppress what I believe the truth!': CB to MW, 14 Feb 1850: MS FM 8 p.2, Fitzwilliam [
LCB
, ii, 343]. I suspect that Patrick also believed in universal salvation: he could not preach the doctrine openly because Anglican clergymen who did so could be deprived of their livings (which explains Anne's caution in describing her ‘hints in support' as ‘mere suggestions') but his liberal attitude towards, for instance, criminals (see above, pp.184, 195) suggests that he did not believe in eternal damnation.