Brontës (191 page)

68.
Feather,
History of the Three Graces Lodge
, 43 citing the Lodge Minute Books; John Brown and Joseph Redman to Richard Hird, General Secretary to the Provincial Lodge of Free Masons, Wakefield, 8 Feb 1836: MS BS ix, B p.1, BPM [JB
BLL
, 35].

69.
John Brown and Joseph Redman to Robert Carr, Deputy General Secretary to the Provincial Lodge of Free Masons, Wakefield, 11 Feb 1836: MS BS ix, B p.1, BPM [JB
BLL
, 35].

70.
Robert Carr to John Brown, 13 Feb 1836: MS BS ix, B p.1, BPM; Feather,
History of the Three Graces Lodge
, 43.

71.
PBB to the Editor of
Blackwood's Magazine
, 8Apr 1836: MS 4042, NLS [VN
PBB
, 379–80].

72.
PBB, ‘Misery. Scene 1st [&] Scene 2d', [8Apr 1836]: MS 4042, NLS [VN
PBB
, 99–114]; PBB to the Editor of
Blackwood's Magazine
, 8Apr 1836: MS 4042 p.2, NLS [VN
PBB
, 380].

73.
PBB, ‘How fast that Courser fleeted by', 18 Dec 1835: MS BS 118 pp.2–10, BPM and ‘Wide I hear the wild winds sighing', 2 Mar 1836: MS MA 2696, PM [VN
PBB
, 380–8, 388–96]. For undated trial lines for these 2scenes see VN
PBB
, 388, 396–7. Branwell substantially revised both scenes before sending the poem.

74.
PBB to the Editor of
Blackwood's Magazine
, 8Apr 1836: MS 4042 pp.1–2, NLS [VN
PBB
, 379–80].

75.
Ibid., p.2.

76.
Feather,
History of the Three Graces Lodge
, 44. Branwell missed only one Lodge meeting in 1836 and 2(February and November) in 1837. Thereafter he never attended more than 2meetings a year: MS Masonic Records, in private hands.

77.
In addition to the 15 portraits in A&S nos.232, 243, 250–62 there are portraits in oils of John Ogden Wood and Robert Taylor (HAOPB:P.Br. B46 and B50, BPM) and two unauthenticated portraits of John and Mary Titterington of Sowerby, painted in the 1840s, (in private hands) which I am grateful to Alan Titterington for drawing to my attention.

78.
The unsigned, undated portraits in oils of Thomas, Foster and Fletcher are HAOBP:P.Br. B22, B44 and B26, BPM [A&S nos.260, 262, 253]. They may well date from 1838 when Branwell set up his studio in Bradford but, equally, one would have expected him to paint local figures before attempting to go further afield professionally. The portraits in oils of John Brown, William Brown and Maria Ingham are undated; that of Parker is dated 22 Dec 1838: HAOBP: P.Br. B20, B19, B52 and B21, BPM [A&S nos.243, 251, 256 and 250]; ECG,
Life
, 106.

79.
These events are described in widely dispersed and dismembered mss often only a couple of pages long and bound out of order with unrelated fragments: they are reconstructed as PBB, [Angria and the Angrians II], [Jan 1836–Dec 1837] in Neufeldt, ii, 454ff.

80.
PBB, [Angria and the Angrians I], [19 Dec 1835–7 Jan 1836]: MS p.7, Princeton [Neufeldt, ii, 429ff.]

81.
CB, ‘Well here I am at Roe Head' [RHJ], [Jan 1836]: MS MA 2696 R-V pp.1–2, PM [Glen, 447–50].

82.
Ibid. [Glen, 450].

83.
'My Angria and the Angrians' (14 Oct 1834) was the last complete story Charlotte had written: CB, ‘The Scrap Book' (15 Sept 1834–17 Mar 1835) was simply a collection of fragments.

84.
CB, Passing Events, 21–9 Apr 1836: MS MA 30 p.4, PM [WG
FN
, 38–9].

85.
Ibid., p.13 [WG
FN
, 52].

86.
PBB, [Angria and the Angrians II(f)], [Apr 1836]: MSS p.24, Princeton and pp.1–2, Brotherton [Neufeldt, ii, 518–23]. Though usually dated to May, this fragment must predate ‘Passing Events' as Charlotte refers there to Northangerland's ‘wandering & wild & terrible' sermon: CB, Passing Events, 21–9Apr 1836: MS MA 30 p.14, PM [WG
FN
, 53]. For Percy's first ‘Methodist' speech see above, p.239–40.

87.
PBB, [Angria and the Angrians II(f)], [Apr 1836]: MS p.24, Princeton [Neufeldt, ii, 519].

88.
This attitude is still evident in the Brontës' published novels: the leader of the Luddite rioters is a drunken, hypocritical Methodist lay preacher in CB,
Shirley
, 128ff and Emily gives a piquant caricature of Methodism in her description of Jabes Branderham and the ‘Seventy times Seven' sermon in EJB,
Wuthering Heights
, 20–2.

89.
CB to EN, [28 May 1836]: MS n.l. [
LCB
, i, 145].

90.
MT to ECG, 18 Feb 1856: MS n.l. [Stevens, 160]; CB to EN, 10 May 1836: MS HM 24411 p.2, Huntington [
LCB
, i, 143] where Charlotte says ‘You seemed kindly apprehensive about my health. I am perfectly well now and I never was very ill.'

91.
CB to Mrs Franks, 2 June 1836: MS 58 Cii p.3, Firth Papers, University of Sheffield [
LCB
, i, 146].

92.
PB to Mrs Franks, 13 June 1836: MS BS 186 p.1, BPM [
LCB
, i, 147].

93.
John Firth Franks to George Moore Smith, n.d.: MS 58 Cvi, Firth Papers, University of Sheffield. This anecdote may actually relate to Charlotte's days as a pupil at Roe Head. Franks recollected ‘being seated on the floor in my mother's dining room with my box of bricks, when the 3 misses Bronte walked in' and mentions that the visit was during the Easter vacation. Although an 1831 date seems more likely, as playing with bricks is an activity better suited to a 5–year-old, rather than a 10-year-old, Charlotte would then have been unaccompanied whereas in 1836 she had Anne with her. Franks specifically states ‘Charlotte was then assistant mistress at the school in Mirfield parish', so I have reluctantly accepted his dating.

94.
CB to EN, [July 1836]: MS HM 24412 p.2, Huntington [
LCB
, i, 148].

95.
Ibid., p.3[
LCB
, i, 148].

96.
EJB, ‘Cold clear and blue the morning heaven', [Spring 1836]: MS Bon 127 p.16, BPM [Roper, 206].

97.
CB, unrelated fragment appended to Passing Events, 24–8 June 1836: MS MA 30 pp.28–33, PM. Though transcribed as part of ‘Passing Events' in WG
FN
, 160–8and
M&U
, ii, 160–8it is in fact a separate piece: see Jos Bemelmans, ‘
Passing Events
and Another Manuscript',
BST
:20:3:121–5.

98.
PBB, [Angria and the Angrians III(a)], 24 June 1836: MS in Brotherton [Neufeldt, ii, 564–7].

99.
CB, ‘And when you left me what thoughts had I then', 19 July 1836: MS Bon 93, BPM [VN
CB
, 194–209].

100.
These form the so-called ‘Roe Head Journal' but the term is misleading and inappropriate implying a consistent set of dated entries in a bound volume. It is actually composed of the autobiographical passages with which Charlotte introduced or ended Angrian fragments written mostly at Roe Head: some are undated or appear to have been written subsequent to the events described, leading to dating inconsistencies. They are listed in Alexander,
A Bibliography of the Manuscripts of Charlotte Brontë
, 56 and published in Glen, 447–66 but both omit the prose continuation to CB, ‘We wove a web in childhood' 19 Dec 1835: MS HM 2578 pp.5–6, Huntington [VN
CB
, 169–70] in which Charlotte's Angrian musings are rudely ended by Miss Lister, see above, p.276–7.

101.
CB ‘All this day I have been in a dream', 11 Aug–14 Oct 1836: MS Bon 98(8) pp.1–2, BPM [JB,
BLL
, 38–9].

102.
Ibid., p.2[Glen, 453].

103.
CB, ‘I'm just going to write because I cannot help it', [
c
.Oct 1836]: MS Bon 98(7) p.1, BPM [Glen, 456].

104.
Ibid.

105.
CB ‘All this day I have been in a dream', 11 Aug–14 Oct 1836: MS Bon 98(8) pp.1–2, BPM [Glen, 455].

CHAPTER TEN: LOSING BATTLES

1.
E. Metcalfe to the Bible Society, London, 23 July 1836: MS in archives of Bible Society, ULC. Moses Saunders and other Baptists had apparently withdrawn their membership of the Society: contrary to the Society's rules, Saunders later purchased ‘certain dissenting publications of a controversial nature' for the library but was forced to remove them by the committee:
LI
, 15 Apr 1837 p.5.

2.
BO
, 7 July 1836 p.181; 24 Nov 1836 p.341.

3.
Ibid., 29 Sept 1836 p.272.

4.
PB,
LM
, 5 Nov 1836 p.6 [
LRPB
, 108–9].

5.
'Z',
LM
, 17 Dec 1836 p.8. Winterbotham's letter trying to raise support for a Bradford Anti-Church Rates Society is in
BO
, 15 Dec 1836 p.366.

6.
William Hodgson,
LM
, 31 Dec 1836 p.7.

7.
William Hodgson,
LI
, 31 Dec 1836 p.8.

8.
CB to EN, 29 Dec 1836: MS BS 40.4 pp.1–2, BPM [
LCB
, i, 158–9]. The weather was particularly severe this winter: four inches of snow had already fallen by 28 October (
BO
, 2 Nov 1837 p.317) and in her letter Charlotte refers to the moors being ‘blockaded with snow'.

9.
ECG,
Life
, 130–1; CB to EN, 29 Dec 1836: MS BS 40.4 p.1 crossed, BPM [
LCB
, i, 159].

10.
AB, Verses by Lady Geralda, Dec 1836: MS n.l., transcript in Symington Collection, Texas [Chitham, 49–51].

11.
PBB, [Angria and the Angrians III and IV], 6Dec 1836–7 Jan 1837: MSS in BPM, Brotherton and Berg [Neufeldt, ii, 646–51; iii, 1ff].

12.
PBB, [Angria and the Angrians III(d)], 19 Sept–11 Nov 1837: MS p.15, Brotherton [Neufeldt, ii, 617–8].

13.
'I wonder if Branwell has really killed the Duchess – Is she dead, or is she buried is she alone in the cold earth on this dreary night': CB, ‘I'm just going to write because I cannot help it' [RHJ], [Oct 1836]: MS Bon 98(7) p.1, BPM [Glen, 456].

14.
PBB, [Angria and the Angrians III(d)], 19 Sept–11 Nov 1837: MS p.2in private hands. [Neufeldt, ii, 624]. I am grateful to Roger Barrett for sending me photocopies of his ms and allowing me to quote from it.

15.
CB, [The Return of Zamorna], Dec 1836–Jan 1837: MS in Law [
M&U
, ii, 284–5].

16.
Ibid., 282–314.

17.
CB, ‘Well the day's toils are over with success', 9 Jan 1837: MS Bon 100, BPM [VN
CB
, 209–20]; PBB, [Angria and the Angrians IV(e)], [Summer 1837]: MS BS 111 pp.3–10, BPM [Neufeldt, iii, 108–13]. Charlotte, however, continued to feature Mary in her stories.

18.
CB, The Wood, Dec 1836–Jan 1837: MS n.l. [VN
CB
, 295–8]; ‘Well the day's toils are over with success', 9Jan 1837: MS Bon 100, BPM [VN
CB
, 209–20]; ‘Lady-bird! lady-bird! Fly away home', [Jan 1837]: MSS in Berg and Bon 127 pp.10–10v, BPM [VN
CB
, 221–6]; ‘I never sought my mother's face', n.d.: MS Bon 105, BPM [VN
CB
, 226–7]; ‘On the bright scene around them spread' and ‘few have felt the avenging steel', 17 Jan 1837: pencilled inside front cover of Charlotte's copy of Mr Porny,
Grammatical Exercises, English and French
(London, 1810): HAOBP:bb47, BPM [VN
CB
, 227–8].

19.
Robert Southey to Caroline Bowles [
L&L
, ii, 156]. For Charlotte's letter to Hartley Coleridge see below, pp.395–6.

20.
Robert Southey to CB, 12 Mar 1837: MS BS ix, S pp.1–3, BPM [
LCB
, i, 166–7].

21.
CB,
Shirley
, 390.

22.
CB to Robert Southey, 16 Mar 1837: MS BS 40.25, BPM [
LCB
, i, 168–9].

23.
CB, note on letter wrapper from Robert Southey, 21 Apr 1837: MS BS 14.5, BPM [
LCB
, i, 170 n.].

24.
PBB to Editor of
Blackwood's Magazine
, 4 Jan 1837: MS BS 135 pp.2, 3, BPM [
BST
:1:81:20–1].

25.
PBB to William Wordsworth, 10 Jan 1837: MS pp.1–2, Wordsworth Trust [
LCB
, i, 160–1].

26.
PBB, The Struggles of flesh with Spirit Scene I – Infancy, n.d.: MS accompanying PBB to William Wordsworth, 10 Jan 1837: MS, Wordsworth Trust [
LCB
, i, 160–1]. This version is substantially the same as one Branwell composed in 5days, 8–13 August 1836: the first draft dates from early January 1836: see VN
PBB
, 120–6, 398–404. Like ‘Misery – Scene 1st' which Branwell had sent to
Blackwood's Magazine
on 8Apr 1836, the poem was part of a longer scheme depicting the life of Alexander Percy.

27.
Robert Southey to Caroline Bowles [
L&L
, ii, 156].

28.
PBB, untitled notebook, 9Mar 1837–12 May 1838: MS BS 125, BPM [VN
PBB
, xii-xiv].

29.
Emily's earliest extant dated poems are ‘Will the day be bright or cloudy?', 12 July 1836 and ‘High waveing heather, ‘neath stormy blasts bending', 13 Dec 1836 [Roper, 31–2]. Thereafter she seems to have written and preserved poems almost monthly. For Anne's earliest extant poem see above, n.10.

30.
LI
, 21 Jan 1837 p.7. Although Patrick's authorship cannot be proved beyond doubt, the sentiments are in in keeping and the piece is signed ‘P.B. Near Keighley, Jan. 4th, 1837'. ‘P.B.' later submitted another poem, ‘A solemn political hymn' to be sung to the tune of Auld Lang Syne, which urged the Church to withstand her attackers:
LI
, 3 Feb 1838 p.7.

31.
PBB, Minute Book of Haworth Operative Conservative Society, 27 Jan–12 Feb 1837: MS BS 125 pp.81–3and BS 146.5, BPM [Neufeldt, iii, 21–2]. Branwell recorded the minutes of meetings on 27 January and 12
February but by 9 March he had converted it into a copybook for his own poems. Provision for the purchase of a book for minutes was made at the initial meeting, so Branwell must have transferred his minutes to the new book by the middle of February. Branwell began his poems at the other end of the book and upside down to the minutes he had already taken.