w that thirty years have passed since
her death we have no substantial record of one of the most fascinating
women of her age. The loss to literature has been forcibly brought home
to the present writer, who has in his possession a bundle of letters
written by Mrs. Gaskell to numerous friends of Charlotte Bronte during
the progress of the biography. They serve, all of them, to impress one
with the singular charm of the woman, her humanity and breadth of
sympathy. They make us think better of Mrs. Gaskell, as Thackeray's
letters to Mrs. Brookfield make us think better of the author of _Vanity
Fair_.

Apart from these letters, a journey in the footsteps, as it were, of Mrs.
Gaskell reveals to us the remarkable conscientiousness with which she set
about her task. It would have been possible, with so much fame behind
her, to have secured an equal success, and certainly an equal pecuniary
reward, had she merely written a brief monograph with such material as
was voluntarily placed in her hands. Mrs. Gaskell possessed a higher
ideal of a biographer's duties. She spared no pains to find out the
facts; she visited every spot associated with the name of Charlotte
Bronte--Thornton, Haworth, Cowan Bridge, Birstall, Brussels--and she
wrote countless letters to the friends of Charlotte Bronte's earlier
days.

But why, it may be asked, was Mrs. Gaskell selected as biographer? The
choice was made by Mr. Bronte, and not, as has been suggested, by some
outside influence. When Mr. Bronte had once decided that there should be
an authoritative biography--and he alone was active in the matter--there
could be but little doubt upon whom the task would fall. Among all the
friends whom fame had brought to Charlotte, Mrs. Gaskell stood prominent
for her literary gifts and her large-hearted sympathy. She had made the
acquaintance of Miss Bronte when the latter was on a visit to Sir James
Kay Shuttleworth, in 1850; and a letter from Charlotte to her father, and
others to Mr. W. S. Williams, indicate the beginning of a friendship
which was to leave so permanent a record in literary history:--

TO W. S. WILLIAMS

'20_th_ _November_, 1849.

'MY DEAR SIR,--You said that if I wished for any copies of _Shirley_
to be sent to individuals I was to name the parties. I have thought
of one person to whom I should much like a copy to be
offered--Harr