would end in a little man whose mind would be below the average,
but that was in what I may denominate a paroxysm of maternal
disappointment. Within a month," said Mrs. Wilfer, deepening her
voice, as if she were relating a terrible ghost story, "within a
month, I first saw R. W., my husband. Within a year I married him. It
is natural for the mind to recall these dark coincidences on the
present day."

Mr. Sampson, at length released from the custody of Mrs. Wilfer's eye,
now drew a long breath, and made the original and striking remark,
that there was no accounting for these sort of presentiments. R. W.
scratched his head and looked apologetically all round the table until
he came to his wife, when observing her as it were shrouded in a more
somber veil than before, he once more hinted, "My dear, I am really
afraid you are not altogether enjoying yourself?" To which she once
more replied, "On the contrary, R. W. Quite so."

The wretched Mr. Sampson's position at this agreeable entertainment
was truly pitiable. For, not only was he exposed defenseless to the
harangues of Mrs. Wilfer, but he received the utmost contumely at the
hands of Lavinia, who, partly to show Bella that she (Lavinia) could
do what she liked with him, and partly to pay him off for still
obviously admiring Bella's beauty, led him the life of a dog.
Illuminated on the one hand by the stately graces of Mrs. Wilfer's
oratory, and shadowed on the other by the cheeks and frowns of the
young lady to whom he had devoted himself in his destitution, the
sufferings of this young gentleman were distressing to witness. If his
mind for the moment reeled under them, it may be urged, in extenuation
of its weakness, that it was constitutionally a knock-knee'd mind, and
never very strong upon its legs.

CHARLOTTE BRONTE

Born in 1816, died in 1855; her father a curate with whom
most of her life was spent; married Rev. A. Nicholls, who
survived her fifty years; published "Jane Eyre" in 1847,
"Shirley" in 1849, "The Professor" in 1855, and "Poems" in
1846.

OF THE AUTHOR OF "VANITY FAIR"[31]

To that class in whose eyes whatever is unusual is wrong; whose ears
detect in each protest against bigotry--that parent of crime--an
insult to piety, that regent of God on earth, I would suggest to such
doubters certain obvious distinctions; I would remind them of certain
simple truths.

[Footnote 31: Preface to the second edition