t no favourable
criticism gave her more unqualified pleasure than that which came from
her 'master,' as she was not indisposed to consider one who was only
seven years her senior, and whose best books were practically
contemporaneous with her own.

TO W. S. WILLIAMS

'HAWORTH, _October_ 28_th_, 1847.

'DEAR SIR,--Your last letter was very pleasant to me to read, and is
very cheering to reflect on. I feel honoured in being approved by
Mr. Thackeray, because I approve Mr. Thackeray. This may sound
presumptuous perhaps, but I mean that I have long recognised in his
writings genuine talent, such as I admired, such as I wondered at and
delighted in. No author seems to distinguish so exquisitely as he
does dross from ore, the real from the counterfeit. I believed too
he had deep and true feelings under his seeming sternness. Now I am
sure he has. One good word from such a man is worth pages of praise
from ordinary judges.

'You are right in having faith in the reality of Helen Burns's
character; she was real enough. I have exaggerated nothing there. I
abstained from recording much that I remember respecting her, lest
the narrative should sound incredible. Knowing this, I could not but
smile at the quiet self-complacent dogmatism with which one of the
journals lays it down that "such creations as Helen Burns are very
beautiful but very untrue."

'The plot of _Jane Eyre_ may be a hackneyed one. Mr. Thackeray
remarks that it is familiar to him. But having read comparatively
few novels, I never chanced to meet with it, and I thought it
original. The work referred to by the critic of the _Athenaeum_, I
had not had the good fortune to hear of.

'The _Weekly Chronicle_ seems inclined to identify me with Mrs.
Marsh. I never had the pleasure of perusing a line of Mrs. Marsh's
in my life, but I wish very much to read her works, and shall profit
by the first opportunity of doing so. I hope I shall not find I have
been an unconscious imitator.

'I would still endeavour to keep my expectations low respecting the
ultimate success of _Jane Eyre_. But my desire that it should
succeed augments, for you have taken much trouble about the work, and
it would grieve me seriously if your active efforts should be baffled
and your s