One cannot but admire the fearless and uncompromising honesty with which Charlotte Brontë sent the MSS. round with all its previous journeys frankly indicated.
It is not easy at this time of day to understand why Mr. Williams refused The Professor. The story is incomparably superior to the average novel, and, indeed, contains touches which are equal to anything that Currer Bell ever wrote. It seems to me possible that Charlotte Brontë rewrote the story after its rejection, but the manuscript does not bear out that impression.
Charlotte Brontë’s method of writing was to take a piece of cardboard — the broken cover of a book, in fact — and a few sheets of note-paper, and write her first form of a story upon these sheets in a tiny handwriting in pencil. She would afterwards copy the whole out upon quarto paper very neatly in ink. None of the original pencilled MSS. of her greater novels have been preserved. The extant manuscripts of Jane Eyre and The Professor are in ink.
Jane Eyre was written, then, under Mr. Williams’s kind encouragement, and immediately accepted. It was published in the first week of October 1847.
The following letters were received by Mr. Williams while the book was beginning its course.
TO W. S. WILLIAMS
‘October 4th, 1847.
‘Dear Sir, — I thank you sincerely for your last letter. It is valuable to me because it furnishes me with a sound opinion on points respecting which I desired to be advised; be assured I shall do what I can to profit by your wise and good counsel.
‘Permit me, however, sir, to caution you against forming too favourable an idea of my powers, or too sanguine an expectation of what they can achieve. I am myself sensible both of deficiencies of capacity and disadvantages of circumstance which will, I fear, render it somewhat difficult for me to attain popularity as an author. The eminent writers you mention — Mr. Thackeray, Mr. Dickens, Mrs. Marsh, etc., doubtless enjoyed facilities for observation such as I have not; certainly they possess a knowledge of the world, whether intuitive or acquired, such as I can lay no claim to, and this gives their writings an importance and a variety greatly beyond what I can offer the public.
‘Still, if health be spared and time vouchsafed me, I mean to do my best; and should a moderate success crown my efforts, its value will be greatly enhanced by the proof it will seem to give that your kind counsel and encouragement have not been bestowed on one quite unworthy. — Yours respectfully,
‘C. Bell.’
TO W. S. WILLIAMS
‘October 9th, 1847.
‘Dear Sir, — I do not know whether the Dublin University Magazine is included in the list of periodicals to which Messrs. Smith & Elder are accustomed to send copies of new publications, but as a former work, the joint production of myself and my two relatives, Ellis and Acton Bell, received a somewhat favourable notice in that magazine, it appears to me that if the editor’s attention were drawn to Jane Eyre he might possibly bestow on it also a few words of remark.
‘The Critic and the Athenæum also gave comments on the work I allude to. The review in the first-mentioned paper was unexpectedly and generously eulogistic, that in the Athenæum more qualified, but still not discouraging. I mention these circumstances and leave it to you to judge whether any advantage is derivable from them.
‘You dispensed me from the duty of answering your last letter, but my sense of the justness of the views it expresses will not permit me to neglect this opportunity both of acknowledging it and thanking you for it. — Yours sincerely,
‘C. Bell.’
TO W. S. WILLIAMS
‘Haworth, December 13th, 1847.
‘Dear Sir, — Your advice merits and shall have my most serious attention. I feel the force of your reasoning. It is my wish to do my best in the career on which I have entered. So I shall study and strive; and by dint of time, thought, and effort, I hope yet to deserve in part the encouragement you and others have so generously accorded me. But time will be necessary — that I feel more than ever. In case of Jane Eyre reaching a second edition, I should wish some few corrections to be made, and will prepare an errata. How would the accompanying preface do? I thought it better to be brief.
‘The Observer has just reached me. I always compel myself to read the analysis in every newspaper-notice. It is a just punishment, a due though severe humiliation for faults of plan and construction. I wonder if the analysis of other fictions read as absurdly as that of Jane Eyre always does. — I am, dear sir, yours respectfully,
‘C. Bell.’
The following letter is interesting because it discusses the rejected novel, and refers to the project of recasting it, which ended in the writing of Villette.
TO W. S. WILLIAMS
‘December 14th, 1847.
‘Dear Sir, — I have just received your kind and welcome letter of the 11th. I shall proceed at once to discuss the principal subject of it.
‘Of course a second work has occupied my thoughts much. I think it would be premature in me to undertake a serial now — I am not yet qualified for the task: I have neither gained a sufficiently firm footing with the public, nor do I possess sufficient confidence in myself, nor can I boast those unflagging animal spirits, that even command of the faculty of composition, which as you say, and, I am persuaded, most justly, is an indispensable requisite to success in serial literature. I decidedly feel that ere I change my ground I had better make another venture in the three volume novel form.
‘Respecting the plan of such a work, I have pondered it, but as yet with very unsatisfactory results. Three commencements have I essayed, but all three displease me. A few days since I looked over The Professor. I found the beginning very feeble, the whole narrative deficient in incident and in general attractiveness. Yet the middle and latter portion of the work, all that relates to Brussels, the Belgian school, etc., is as good as I can write: it contains more pith, more substance, more reality, in my judgment, than much of Jane Eyre. It gives, I think, a new view of a grade, an occupation, and a class of characters — all very commonplace, very insignificant in themselves, but not more so than the materials composing that portion of Jane Eyre which seems to please most generally.
‘My wish is to recast The Professor, add as well as I can what is deficient, retrench some parts, develop others, and make of it a three volume work — no easy task, I know, yet I trust not an impracticable one.
‘I have not forgotten that The Professor was set aside in my agreement with Messrs. Smith & Elder; therefore before I take any step to execute the plan I have sketched, I should wish to have your judgment on its wisdom. You read or looked over the Ms. — what impression have you now respecting its worth? and what confidence have you that I can make it better than it is?
‘Feeling certain that from business reasons as well as from natural integrity you will be quite candid with me, I esteem it a privilege to be able thus to consult you. — Believe me, dear sir, yours respectfully,
‘C. Bell.
‘Wuthering Heights is, I suppose, at length published, at least Mr. Newby has sent the authors their six copies. I wonder how it will be received. I should say it merits the epithets of “vigorous” and “original” much more decidedly than Jane Eyre did. Agnes Grey should please such critics as Mr. Lewes, for it is “true” and “unexaggerated” enough. The books are not well got up — they abound in errors of the press. On a former occasion I expressed myself with perhaps too little reserve regarding Mr. Newby, yet I cannot but feel, and feel painfully, that Ellis and Acton have not had the justice at his hands that I have had at those of Messrs. Smith & Elder.’
TO W. S. WILLIAMS
‘December 31st, 1847.
‘Dear Sirs, — I think, for the reasons you mention, it is better to substitute author for editor. I should not be ashamed to be considered the author of Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey, but, possessing no real claim to that honour, I would rather not have it attributed to me, thereby depriving the true authors of their just meed.
‘You do very rightly
and very kindly to tell me the objections made against Jane Eyre — they are more essential than the praises. I feel a sort of heart-ache when I hear the book called “godless” and “pernicious” by good and earnest-minded men; but I know that heart-ache will be salutary — at least I trust so.
‘What is meant by the charges of trickery and artifice I have yet to comprehend. It was no art in me to write a tale — it was no trick in Messrs. Smith & Elder to publish it. Where do the trickery and artifice lie?
‘I have received the Scotsman, and was greatly amused to see Jane Eyre likened to Rebecca Sharp — the resemblance would hardly have occurred to me.
‘I wish to send this note by to-day’s post, and must therefore conclude in haste. — I am, dear sir, yours respectfully,
‘C. Bell.’
TO W. S. WILLIAMS
‘Haworth, January 4th, 1848.
‘Dear Sir, — Your letter made me ashamed of myself that I should ever have uttered a murmur, or expressed by any sign that I was sensible of pain from the unfavourable opinions of some misjudging but well-meaning people. But, indeed, let me assure you, I am not ungrateful for the kindness which has been given me in such abundant measure. I can discriminate the proportions in which blame and praise have been awarded to my efforts: I see well that I have had less of the former and more of the latter than I merit. I am not therefore crushed, though I may be momentarily saddened by the frown, even of the good.
‘It would take a great deal to crush me, because I know, in the first place, that my own intentions were correct, that I feel in my heart a deep reverence for religion, that impiety is very abhorrent to me; and in the second, I place firm reliance on the judgment of some who have encouraged me. You and Mr. Lewes are quite as good authorities, in my estimation, as Mr. Dilke or the editor of the Spectator, and I would not under any circumstances, or for any opprobrium, regard with shame what my friends had approved — none but a coward would let the detraction of an enemy outweigh the encouragement of a friend. You must not, therefore, fulfil your threat of being less communicative in future; you must kindly tell me all.
‘Miss Kavanagh’s view of the maniac coincides with Leigh Hunt’s. I agree with them that the character is shocking, but I know that it is but too natural. There is a phase of insanity which may be called moral madness, in which all that is good or even human seems to disappear from the mind, and a fiend-nature replaces it. The sole aim and desire of the being thus possessed is to exasperate, to molest, to destroy, and preternatural ingenuity and energy are often exercised to that dreadful end. The aspect, in such cases, assimilates with the disposition — all seem demonized. It is true that profound pity ought to be the only sentiment elicited by the view of such degradation, and equally true is it that I have not sufficiently dwelt on that feeling: I have erred in making horror too predominant. Mrs. Rochester, indeed, lived a sinful life before she was insane, but sin is itself a species of insanity — the truly good behold and compassionate it as such.
‘Jane Eyre has got down into Yorkshire, a copy has even penetrated into this neighbourhood. I saw an elderly clergyman reading it the other day, and had the satisfaction of hearing him exclaim, “Why, they have got — - School, and Mr. — - here, I declare! and Miss — -” (naming the originals of Lowood, Mr. Brocklehurst and Miss Temple). He had known them all. I wondered whether he would recognise the portraits, and was gratified to find that he did, and that, moreover, he pronounced them faithful and just. He said, too, that Mr. — - (Brocklehurst) “deserved the chastisement he had got.”
‘He did not recognise Currer Bell. What author would be without the advantage of being able to walk invisible? One is thereby enabled to keep such a quiet mind. I make this small observation in confidence.
‘What makes you say that the notice in the Westminster Review is not by Mr. Lewes? It expresses precisely his opinions, and he said he would perhaps insert a few lines in that periodical.
‘I have sometimes thought that I ought to have written to Mr. Lewes to thank him for his review in Fraser; and, indeed, I did write a note, but then it occurred to me that he did not require the author’s thanks, and I feared it would be superfluous to send it, therefore I refrained; however, though I have not expressed gratitude I have felt it.
‘I wish you, too, many many happy new years, and prosperity and success to you and yours. — Believe me, etc.,
‘Currer Bell.
‘I have received the Courier and the Oxford Chronicle.’
TO W. S. WILLIAMS
‘January 22nd, 1848.
‘Dear Sir, — I have received the Morning Herald, and was much pleased with the notice, chiefly on account of the reference made to that portion of the preface which concerns Messrs. Smith & Elder. If my tribute of thanks can benefit my publishers, it is desirable that it should have as much publicity as possible.
‘I do not know if the part which relates to Mr. Thackeray is likely to be as well received; but whether generally approved of and understood or not, I shall not regret having written it, for I am convinced of its truth.
‘I see I was mistaken in my idea that the Athenæum and others wished to ascribe the authorship of Wuthering Heights to Currer Bell; the contrary is the case, Jane Eyre is given to Ellis Bell; and Mr. Newby, it appears, thinks it expedient so to frame his advertisements as to favour the misapprehension. If Mr. Newby had much sagacity he would see that Ellis Bell is strong enough to stand without being propped by Currer Bell, and would have disdained what Ellis himself of all things disdains — recourse to trickery. However, Ellis, Acton, and Currer care nothing for the matter personally; the public and the critics are welcome to confuse our identities as much as they choose; my only fear is lest Messrs. Smith & Elder should in some way be annoyed by it.
‘I was much interested in your account of Miss Kavanagh. The character you sketch belongs to a class I peculiarly esteem: one in which endurance combines with exertion, talent with goodness; where genius is found unmarred by extravagance, self-reliance unalloyed by self-complacency. It is a character which is, I believe, rarely found except where there has been toil to undergo and adversity to struggle against: it will only grow to perfection in a poor soil and in the shade; if the soil be too indigent, the shade too dank and thick, of course it dies where it sprung. But I trust this will not be the case with Miss Kavanagh. I trust she will struggle ere long into the sunshine. In you she has a kind friend to direct her, and I hope her mother will live to see the daughter, who yields to her such childlike duty, both happy and successful.
‘You asked me if I should like any copies of the second edition of Jane Eyre, and I said — no. It is true I do not want any for myself or my acquaintances, but if the request be not unusual, I should much like one to be given to Miss Kavanagh. If you would have the goodness, you might write on the fly-leaf that the book is presented with the author’s best wishes for her welfare here and hereafter. My reason for wishing that she should have a copy is because she said the book had been to her a suggestive one, and I know that suggestive books are valuable to authors.
‘I am truly sorry to hear that Mr. Smith has had an attack of the prevalent complaint, but I trust his recovery is by this time complete. I cannot boast entire exemption from its ravages, as I now write under its depressing influence. Hoping that you have been more fortunate, — I am, dear sir, yours faithfully,
‘C. Bell.’
TO W. S. WILLIAMS
‘March 3rd, 1848.
‘My dear Sir, — I have received the Christian Remembrancer, and read the review. It is written with some ability; but to do justice was evidently not the critic’s main object, therefore he excuses himself from performing that duty.
‘I daresay the reviewer imagines that Currer Bell ought to be extremely afflicted, very much cut up, by some smart things he says — this however is not the case. C. Bell is on the whole rather encouraged than dispirited by the review: the hard-wrung praise extorted reluctantly from a foe is the most precious praise of
all — you are sure that this, at least, has no admixture of flattery. I fear he has too high an opinion of my abilities and of what I can do; but that is his own fault. In other respects, he aims his shafts in the dark, and the success, or, rather, ill-success of his hits makes me laugh rather than cry. His shafts of sarcasm are nicely polished, keenly pointed; he should not have wasted them in shooting at a mark he cannot see.
‘I hope such reviews will not make much difference with me, and that if the spirit moves me in future to say anything about priests, etc., I shall say it with the same freedom as heretofore. I hope also that their anger will not make me angry. As a body, I had no ill-will against them to begin with, and I feel it would be an error to let opposition engender such ill-will. A few individuals may possibly be called upon to sit for their portraits some time; if their brethren in general dislike the resemblance and abuse the artist — tant pis! — Believe me, my dear sir, yours sincerely,
‘C. Bell.’
It seems that Mr. Williams had hinted that Charlotte might like to emulate Thackeray by illustrating her own books.
TO W. S. WILLIAMS
‘March 11th, 1848.
‘Dear Sir, — I have just received the copy of the second edition, and will look over it, and send the corrections as soon as possible; I will also, since you think it advisable, avail myself of the opportunity of a third edition to correct the mistake respecting the authorship of Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey.
‘As to your second suggestion, it is, one can see at a glance, a very judicious and happy one; but I cannot adopt it, because I have not the skill you attribute to me. It is not enough to have the artist’s eye, one must also have the artist’s hand to turn the first gift to practical account. I have, in my day, wasted a certain quantity of Bristol board and drawing-paper, crayons and cakes of colour, but when I examine the contents of my portfolio now, it seems as if during the years it has been lying closed some fairy had changed what I once thought sterling coin into dry leaves, and I feel much inclined to consign the whole collection of drawings to the fire; I see they have no value. If, then, Jane Eyre is ever to be illustrated, it must be by some other hand than that of its author. But I hope no one will be at the trouble to make portraits of my characters. Bulwer and Byron heroes and heroines are very well, they are all of them handsome; but my personages are mostly unattractive in look, and therefore ill-adapted to figure in ideal portraits. At the best, I have always thought such representations futile. You will not easily find a second Thackeray. How he can render, with a few black lines and dots, shades of expression so fine, so real; traits of character so minute, so subtle, so difficult to seize and fix, I cannot tell — I can only wonder and admire. Thackeray may not be a painter, but he is a wizard of a draughtsman; touched with his pencil, paper lives. And then his drawing is so refreshing; after the wooden limbs one is accustomed to see pourtrayed by commonplace illustrators, his shapes of bone and muscle clothed with flesh, correct in proportion and anatomy, are a real relief. All is true in Thackeray. If Truth were again a goddess, Thackeray should be her high priest.
Delphi Complete Works of the Brontes Page 512
