Charotte Bronte's Father.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 706, 23 December 1876, Page 2 (Supplement)

Charotte Bronte's Father.

Patkiok Bronte, the father of that extraordinary young woman who Buffered bo much among the wild hilla of Yorkshuo '»n«l who wrote the wonderful novel of ' Jano tyre,' was an Irishman by birth, but when still a young man he had gono to Yorkshue as a curate, and in Yorkshire be remained t:> the end of his days He appears to havo been * strange compound of good and ovil. That he was not without some good is acknowledged by all who know him. He had kindly feelings toward most people, anl he delighted in the stern rectitude which distinguished many of his Yorkahira flack. When his daughter became famous no one was better pleased at the circumstance tbau he was. He cut out of every newspaper every scrap which referred to her ; ho |was proud of her achievements, proud of her intellect, and jealous for her reputation. But throughout his whole hfo there was buS one parson with whom he had any real sympathy, and that person was him'clf. Passionate, self willed, vain, habitually cold aud distant in his demeanor to those of hm own homehold, he exhibited in a matked degree maaj .of the characteristics which Charlotte Bronte Afterward "sketched in the portrait of the Mr. Helaton of Shhlcy. Tne stranger who encountered him fouud a scrupulously polite gentleman of tho o'd school, who was garrulous about bis put life, and who needed nothing mo*e than the stimulus of a g'ass of wino to become talkative on the subject of his conquests over the heart* of the ladies of hit congregation. As you listened to the quaintly-attired old man who chatted on with inexhaustible volubility, you possibly conoeived the idea that he was a mere fribble —gay, conceited, harmless ; but at odd times a searching glince from the keen, deepsunk eyes warned you that you also were beiug weighed in the balance by your ! companion, and that this assumption of light hearted vanity was far from revealing tho real man to you. Only those who dwelt under the same roof knew him as he really was. Among the many stories told of him by his children there is one relating to the meek and gentle woman who was his wife, and whosa lot it was to submit to persistent coldcess and neglect. Somebody had given Mri. Bronta a very pretty dress, and her husband, who was as proud a« he was selfwilled, had taken offence at the gift. A word to his wife, who lived in habitual dread of her lordly matter, would hare secured all he wanted; bat in his pwhionate determination that she should not weir the obnoxious garment, he deliberately cut it to pieces, and presented her with the tattered garments. Even during his wife's lifetime he formed the hrbib of taking 'his meals alone ; he constantly carried loaded pistols in hu pooketi, and when excited be would fire these at doors of the outhonsea so that the villagers were quite accustomed to the sound of pistolshots at any hour of the diy in their pastor's house. It would be a mistake to suppose that violence was one of tho weapons to which Mr. Bronte habitually resorted. Howover •te.rq and peremptory might be his dealings with his wife (who soon left him to spend the remainder of hi* life in a dr*ary widowerhood}, his general policy was to secure his end by craft rathor than by force. A profound belief in his own superior wisdom was conspicuous among his cnaracteristics, and he felt convinced thai; no one was too clever to be outwitted bv vi» diplomacy. He h>d also an amazing persistency, which led him to purg\\o <my course qn which he once embarked with dogged determination Jt happened in later yeats, when hii strength was failing ao'* when at last he begin to see hii d&uf**' . ' her truo light, that h_<> auarr*' ' . ••" In regarding the oly^U- "' ; ; c . (l . WW f l * T Ihe eh Afefe - 1 , ' °.n?. n ? ° f $ heir f rlOn,d(!fouu<t ♦*■" -4*My3 datstul and respectful, ...at any effnt to stem the torrent of tm bitLer and unjust wrath when he spoke of tho friend who had offended him was attended by consequences which were positively dangerous. The veins of his forehead swelled, his eyes glared, hit voice ehoak, and sho was fain to submit lest her father's passion should prova fatal to him. Bnt vrhon, wounded beyond endurance by his violence and injustice, she withdrew for a few days from her home, and told her father she would receive no letters from him in which this friend* nama was mentioned, the old man's cunning took the place of passion. He wrota long and passionate letters to her on general subjects ; but accompanying each lottor was a Jittle slip of paper, which professed to be a note from Charlotte's dog ' Fjossy' to bis ' much respected and beloved mistress,' in which the dog, declaring that he saw 'a good deal of human nature tbit was !iid from chose who had the gift of language, 1 wag marie to repeat th» attacks upon the obnoxious parson which Mr. Bronto dared no longer make in his own character.