ionally and shows the hills and
the lake. Mrs. Gaskell is coming here this evening, and one or two
other people. Miss Martineau, I am sorry to say, I shall not see, as
she is already gone from home for the autumn.

'Be kind enough to write by return of post and tell me how you are
getting on and how you are. Give my kind regards to Tabby and
Martha, and--Believe me, dear papa, your affectionate daughter,

'C. BRONTE.'

And this is how she writes to a friend from Haworth, on her return, after
that first meeting:--

'Lady Shuttleworth never got out, being confined to the house with a
cold; but fortunately there was Mrs. Gaskell, the authoress of _Mary
Barton_, who came to the Briery the day after me. I was truly glad
of her companionship. She is a woman of the most genuine talent, of
cheerful, pleasing, and cordial manners, and, I believe, of a kind
and good heart.'

TO W. S. WILLIAMS

'_September_ 20_th_, 1850.

'MY DEAR SIR,--I herewith send you a very roughly written copy of
what I have to say about my sisters. When you have read it you can
better judge whether the word "Notice" or "Memoir" is the most
appropriate. I think the former. Memoir seems to me to express a
more circumstantial and different sort of account. My aim is to give
a just idea of their identity, not to write any narration of their
simple, uneventful lives. I depend on you for faithfully pointing
out whatever may strike you as faulty. I could not write it in the
conventional form--_that_ I found impossible.

'It gives me real pleasure to hear of your son's success. I trust he
may persevere and go on improving, and give his parents cause for
satisfaction and honest pride.

'I am truly pleased, too, to learn that Miss Kavanagh has managed so
well with Mr. Colburn. Her position seems to me one deserving of all
sympathy. I often think of her. Will her novel soon be published?
Somehow I expect it to be interesting.

'I certainly did hope that Mrs. Gaskell would offer her next work to
Smith & Elder. She and I had some conversation about publishers--a
comparison of our literary experiences was made. She seemed much
struck with the differences between hers and mine, tho