Brontës (223 page)

41.
Constantin Heger to ECG, 22 May 1856:
MS EL fB91, Rylands; ECG to EN, 9 July 1856 [C&P, 394]; ECG to Emily Shaen, [7–8Sept 1856] [C&P, 409]; ECG,
Life
, 209–11, suggesting Charlotte's growing antipathy to Roman Catholicism and fears about Branwell and her father's failing sight were the reasons why she left Brussels.

42.
ECG to EN, 9July 1856 [C&P, 395–6]; EN to ECG, [July 1856]: MS n.l. [
L&L
, iv, 205].

43.
ECG to EN, 9July 1856 [C&P, 394–5]; Marianne Gaskell pp. ECG to EN, 15 July 1856 [C&P, 881].

44.
EN to ECG, [July 1856]: MS n.l. [
L&L
, iv, 204–5].

45.
PB to Revd William Gaskell, 23 July 1856: MS BR f823.81 G pp.1, 2, Manchester [
LRPB
, 247]. Accompanying notes give a resumé of the sermon, delivered at the Cross Street Chapel on 4 May 1856.

46.
Marianne Gaskell pp. ECG to EN, 15 July 1856 [C&P, 881].

47.
ECG to GS, [?25 July 1856] [C&P, 398–9]. See ECG to EN, 9July 1856 [C&P, 395] for a previous attempt to get the portrait photographed.

48.
ECG to GS, [?25 July 1856] [C&P, 398]. Interestingly, Gaskell describes them as being like some manuscripts of William Blake which she had recently seen.

49.
ECG to GS, [1 Aug 1856] [C&P, 400–1].

50.
ECG to Emily Shaen, [7–8Sept 1856] [C&P, 409–10]; ECG to GS, 13 Aug [1856] [C&P, 403]; ECG to GS, [1Aug 1856] [C&P, 401].

51.
ECG to Emily Shaen, [7–8Sept 1856] [C&P, 410]; ABN to GS, 21 Aug 1856: MS File 8no.22, JMA [
BST
:19:3:99].

52.
ABN to GS, 20 Sept 1856: MS File 8no.23, JMA [
BST
:19:3:99].

53.
ECG to GS, [17 Mar 1858] [C&P, 496]; Fraser,
Charlotte Brontë
, 496 quoting EN to T.W. Reid. Ellen later told Reid that Nicholls' ‘whole anxiety … was that she should cease entirely to be the author' and that ‘she was compelled to place a severe strain upon herself in order to comply with her husband's wishes, and once, as we have seen, her strength of self-repression gave way, and she indulged in the forbidden luxury of work with the pen': Reid, 186.

54.
ABN to GS, 1Oct 1856: MS File 8no.1, JMA [
BST
:19:3:100]; ECG to Emily Shaen, [7–8Sept 1856] [C&P, 410]; ABN to GS, 26 Sept 1856: MS File 8no.24, JMA.

55.
ECG to GS, 2 Oct [1856] [C&P, 417].

56.
Ibid.; ABN to GS, 4Oct 1856: MS File 8no.25, JMA [
BST
:19:3:100].

57.
PB to ECG, 3 Nov 1856: MS EL B1221 pp.3–6, Rylands [
LRPB
, 248–9].

58.
Ibid. pp.6–7 [
LRPB
, 249].

59.
ECG to GS, 11 Dec [1856] [C&P, 425]; ECG to [?WSW], [?19 Jan 1857] [C&P, 439]. Contrary to Gaskell's claim, Patrick never even mentioned Ellen, let alone ‘especially forbids my showing the MS of my biography to her': see above, p.934.

60.
See above, p.924, 927–8and, for example, PB to ECG, 23 Jan 1856: MS EL B121 pp.2–4, Rylands [
LRPB
, 244]; ABN to ECG, 24 Dec 1855: MS pp.2–3, Brotherton [
L&L
, iv, 197]; ABN to GS, 3Dec 1856: MS File 8no.28, JMA; EN to GS, 1June [1860]: MS File 7no.5, JMA, where Ellen says she expected Gaskell to write an article, not a book, did not expect any actual transcripts of her letters to appear and obtained from Gaskell a verbal promise that, before publication, she could see ‘any extracts she might think to make'.

61.
ECG to GS, 19 Aug [1856] [C&P, 405].

62.
ECG to GS, [
c
.15 Nov 1856] [C&P, 420–1].

63.
ECG to GS, 22 Nov [1856] [C&P, 422]; ABN to GS, 3Dec 1856: MS File 8no.28, JMA.

64.
ABN to GS, 28 Nov 1856: MS File 8no.26 pp.1–2, 5, JMA.

65.
ABN to GS, 3Dec 1856: MS File 8no.28 p.2, JMA.

66.
ABN to GS, 1Dec 1856: MS File 8no.27 pp.1–3, JMA.

67.
ECG to GS, 11 Dec [1856] [C&P, 425].

68.
ECG to GS, [?early Nov 1856] [C&P, 420]; ECG to GS, [?Dec 1856] [C&P, 427].

69.
ECG to GS, 26 Dec [1856] [C&P, 429–30]. ‘I suppose Mr Williams thought that I was going to print that part relating to his being like a “faded Tom Dixon”. If I had no delicacy of feeling, I have at least a consciousness of what would \or ought to/ interest readers, and I should have certainly scored out, so that no one could have read it through my marks all that related to any one's appearance, style of living &c, in whose character as indicated by these things the public were not directly interested.' The proofs came much too slowly for Gaskell's liking: see her letters to George Smith [C&P, 436–8].

70.
ECG to GS, 26 Dec [1856] [C&P, 430]; ECG to GS, 29 Dec 1856 [C&P, 431–427]. Gaskell signed a receipt for £800 for the copyright of ECG,
Life
on 2Feb 1857: MS SG 105b, BPM.

71.
ECG to GS, 4Feb [1857] [C&P, 442]; ECG to GS, 6 Feb 1857 [C&P, 443]; ECG
to GS, [?11 Feb 1857] [C&P, 446]. Nicholls commented on the engraving that ‘Haworth Church and Parsonage are commonplace enough, but not quite such queer things as they are represented in the view': ABN to GS, 2 Apr 1857: MS File 8 no.32 p.3, JMA.

72.
Smith, Elder & Co. Ledgers, vol i, 369, JMA. To the cost of purchasing the copyright (£800) were added £50 for printing in English on the Continent, 10 guineas for permission to publish the Richmond portrait of Charlotte and 22 guineas to Armytage for engraving the portrait and Gaskell's drawing.

73.
[John Skelton],
Fraser's Magazine
, May 1857 pp.569–82 [Allott, 331].

74.
Unsigned review,
Christian Remembrancer
, July 1857 pp. 87–145 [Allott, 364].

75.
[Margaret Sweat],
North American Review
, Oct 1857 pp.293–329 [Allott, 379–80].

76.
Charles Kingsley to ECG, 14 May 1857 [Allott, 343].

77.
[W.C. Roscoe],
National Review
, June 1857 pp.127–64 [Allott, 346].

78.
Ibid [Allott, 347].

79.
G.H. Lewes to ECG, 15 Apr 1857 [Allott, 329]; Charles Kingsley to ECG, 14 May 1857 [Allott, 343]; Revd William Gaskell to EN, 15 Apr 1857 [
L&L
, iv, 122].

80.
The Spectator
, quoted in a summary of the reviews in
BO
, 9 Apr 1857 p.7.

81.
G.H. Lewes to ECG, 15 Apr 1857 [Allott, 330].

82.
PB to GS, 30 Mar 1857: MS File 10 no.4 JMA [
LRPB
, 251]; PB to ECG, 2Apr 1857: MS EL B121 pp.3–4, Rylands [
LRPB
, 251–2].

83.
ABN to GS, 2Apr 1857: MS File 8no.32 pp.1–2, JMA.

84.
See, for example,
BO
, 30 Apr 1857 p.7.

85.
'J.W.E.', ‘A Pilgrimage to Haworth',
BO
, 30 Apr 1857 p.7;
LI
, 2May 1857 p.7.

86.
PB to Revd William Gaskell, 7 Apr 1857: MS EL B121 pp.1–3, Rylands [
LRPB
, 252–3]. The ‘Eccentick Movements' were burning hearthrugs and sawing the backs off chairs.

87.
G.H. Lewes to ECG, 15 Apr 1857 [Allott, 330]; J.Hodgson Ramsbotham,
LI
18 Apr 1857 p.7(see above, pp.96–9); ECG to EN, 16 June 1857 [C&P, 453].

88.
ECG to GS, 2Oct [1856] [C&P, 418].

89.
ECG to GS, 26 Dec [1856] [C&P, 428–9].

90.
ECG to GS, 29 Dec [1856] [C&P, 432];
Times
, 30 May 1857 p.5. The retraction also appeared in the
Athenaeum
, 6June 1857: I am grateful to Margaret Smith for this reference. The letters themselves are dated 26 and 27 May, so they predate Gaskell's return, though the publication of the retraction did not.

91.
ABN to GS, 23 May 1857: MS File 8no.30 pp.2–3, 5–6, JMA; ABN in
HG
, 6June 1857 p.6. W.W.C. Wilson's letters, quoting Miss Andrews, were published in the
Leeds Intelligencer
and
Leeds Mercury
on 16 May 1857.

92.
ABN to GS, 1 June 1857: MS File 8no.33 pp.2–3, JMA. The fullest range of correspondence was published in the
Halifax Guardian
with letters appearing each week from May to the end of July 1857.

93.
ABN to GS, 6June 1857: MS File 8no.31 p.2, JMA; PB to GS, 9June 1857: MS File 10 no.8pp.1–2, JMA [
LRPB
, 254].

94.
PB to GS, 15 June 1857: MS File 10 no.7pp.2–3, JMA [
LRPB
, 255].

95.
As Mary Crowther, age 14, she had been admitted on 12 Jan 1830: CDSAR no.230. In common with many other entries her Christian name appears to have been wrongly entered.

96.
PB to the Editor of
Halifax Guardian
, 22 July 1857: MS Bon 257, BPM [
LRPB
, 257];
HG
, 25 July 1857 p.8. The editor wearily complained that he had received for insertion that week alone ‘1. Another letter of four pages (note size) from Mr Wilson. 2. A letter of a little more than three pages foolscap from the Rev. Mr Nicholls. 3. A letter (note size) of four pages from the “E” of Mr Nicholls' last letter. And last, but not least, a letter of six closely-written foolscap pages from Mrs Baldwin.'

97.
Sarah Baldwin, Advertisement: ‘To the Readers of the
Halifax Guardian
',
HG
, 1Aug 1857 p.6. Nicholls appears to have written privately to Mrs Baldwin, rebuking her for not accepting the editor's conclusion: this prompted a furious reply which I quote as an example of the vituperative nature of her correspondence: ‘You could not expect after your grossly abusive letters to me that I should submit to such a closing of the Controversy … Surely it would have been a greater adorning to your Gown to have adopted a less Crooked Course than you have been led to do by some few prejudiced minds – I am sorry you could condescend to such Coarseness, as to partake of my Father's hospitality as you have done, then make such mean remarks about him [Nicholls had quoted Crowther's disparaging comments about the school when withdrawing his daughter] – Your mind seems to be fully made up to believe nothing but evil – I am no partisan nor in any way interested as you so meanly insinuate –
Your hard words have not excited in me any angry feeling: contempt I do feel, more expecially that you could condescend to be so little as by any such evidence to give reality to fiction –': Sarah Baldwin to ABN, [
c
.8 Aug 1857]: MS in private hands.

98.
ABN in
HG
, 8Aug 1857 p.3; Revd William Baldwin to ABN, 13 Aug 1857: MS p.2, in private hands.

99.
William Dearden and Francis Leyland in
BO
, 3Sept 1857 p.8. During this interview Dearden noticed that Patrick was ‘very cold and distant' with Leyland and later discovered the reason: Branwell's friend, the sculptor J.B. Leyland, had died on 28 January 1851 and his brother had responsibility for disposing of his effects. Charlotte and Patrick had sent John Brown to collect the medallion portrait of Branwell (see above, p.1081, n.42), thinking it belonged to them, but Brown had returned saying that Leyland had demanded £66s for it. They had had some difficulty in putting the sum together but had succeeded and Brown had duly delivered the portrait. In fact Francis Leyland had intended to send it as a gift and given Brown a verbal message to that effect. The Brontës never received the message, Brown had pocketed the money and Patrick understandably felt aggrieved that Leyland had charged him for his own property: Francis Leyland, draft letter to ABN, 17 Aug 1883: MS E.2008.3, BPM.

100.
PB to GS, 9 June 1857: MS File 10 no.8JMA [
LRPB
, 254]; PB to ECG, 30 July 1857: MS EL B121 pp.1–4, Rylands [
LRPB
, 258–9]. See also PB to GS, 16 July 1857: MS EL B121 pp.1–2, Rylands [
LRPB
, 256–7].

101.
William Dearden,
BO
, 13 Aug 1857 p.7 and 20 Aug 1857 p.8.

102.
PB to ECG, 20 Aug 1857: MS EL B121 pp.2–4, Rylands [
LRPB
, 260].

103.
HM,
Daily News
, 24 Aug 1857, quoted in
BO
, 27 Aug 1857 p.8.

104.
William Dearden,
BO
, 3Sept 1857 p.7; PB to William Dearden, 31 Aug 1857: MS BS 205 pp.1–3, BPM [
LRPB
, 263].

105.
PB to ECG, 31 Aug 1857: MS EL B121 p.3, Rylands [
LRPB
, 264].

106.
William Dearden,
BO
, 3Sept 1857 p.8. Corroborative accounts of Dearden's conversation with Patrick by Francis Leyland and William Brooksbank, who had accompanied him on his 2 visits, were published with his letter. Martineau commented on seeing Patrick's first letter to Gaskell praising ECG,
Life
, (see above, p.941) ‘The old monster! Any thing so appalling as one sentence in it I am sure I never saw come from a human hand. Beautiful as the book is in many ways, I do mourn that Mrs G. ever came in the way of that awful family': HM to Catherine Winkworth, 13 June [1857] [Valerie Sanders (ed.),
Harriet Martineau: Selected Letters
(Oxford, 1990), 143]. The appalling sentence was probably Patrick's comment that he would have written a memoir himself ‘rather than have left all, to selfish, hostile or ignorant scribblers': Martineau was likely to take offence having herself written Charlotte's obituary for the
Daily News
.

107.
Article in the
Spectator
, ‘The Revd P. Bronte, Mrs Gaskell, and Miss Martineau', reprinted in
BO
, 3Sept 1857 p.7.

108.
ECG to EN, 16 June [1857] [C&P, 454]; ECG to GS, 3June [1857] [C&P, 449].

109.
PB to ECG, 9Sept 1857: MS EL B121 pp.2–3, Rylands [
LRPB
, 265–6].

110.
PB to HM, 5 Nov 1857: MS HM 90, Birmingham [
LRPB
, 266]; HM to PB, 5Nov 1857: MS HM 89, Birmingham.

111.
ABN to HM, 6 Nov 1857: MS HM 91 pp.2–3, Birmingham. Nicholls also informed Martineau that he had supplied Gaskell with a copy of the letter and Charlotte's reply to it.