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SPOTTISWOODE'S TAUANTASSE JOUU"NKY . A Tctrantasse Journey through Eastern Russia in the Autumn of 1850 . By William Spottiawoodo , 'M . A ., F . ll . S . Longman and to . Mb . SroTTiswooi > E ' s observations in Russia ranged from Moscow to the Ural Mountains at Ekaterinburg , thence by way of Ufa to Orenburg , on the Kirghiz borders , along the skirts of the steppes to the Caspian coast , and again north-westwards across the country of the Don Cossacks , through lliazan to the capital , and to "Warsaw- Throughout this extensive journey ho studied landscapes , industry , men , and manners , with a careful and discriminating eye , throwing the results into a pleasant narrative form , always to oiler
solid , never heavy , always amusing , never frivolous . AVero vvu tourists a model , we couldnot select a better than this thoroughly interesting book , which is as rich in new information as tho story of thivo months travel could possibly bo . Mr . Spottiswoode does not trespass on the rcavlev 3 attention -with impertinent superfluities of digression , does not seek : to fossilise foolish jokes , or to condense old histories of which nil that is not already familiar has been justiliably forgotten . He keeps in view the propel " object of a tourist , is everywhere immovably impartial , lights up witu scholarship the interior of hi . s tarantassc , imd illustrates vividly with pen ami pencil the aspects of'Eastcm llussia . Indeed , the book i . s a panoramic view , unfolding u hundred changes of scenery and customs , of costume ft ^ architectuix ' , of natural and artificial characteristics , from Moscow , ol tno
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As each , volume contains from sixty to a hnndrad pages , and tlie size of thel ^ T ^ lithographed is rather less than the average , the amount of the whole seems W ^ great , if we remember that it was all written in about fifteen months . So nvieli f - the quantity ; the quality strikes me as of singular merit for a girl of thirteen ° fourteen . Both as a specimen of her prose style at this time , and also as revealing something of the quiet domestic life led by these children , I take an extract from fh introduction to ¦ " Tales of the Islanders , " the title of ona of their " ¦ LittK Mil zines : " — . . . . . w ¦ a a a-¦ ' "" Tune , the 31 s ? , IS' 9 " The play of the ' Islanders' was formed in December , 1827 , in the follo ^ vi ' homanner . One night , nbo'ifc the time when the cold sleet and stormy fogs of Xovem ° ber are succeeded by the snow-storms and high piercing nig"ht-winds of confir med
¦ winter , we were all sitting round the warm blazing kitchen fire , having just concluded a quarrel with Tabby concerning the propriety of lighting a candle , from which she came off -victorious , no candle having been produced . Along pause succeo-kd , which ¦ was at . last broken by Branwell saying , in a lazy manner , ' I don ' t know what to do . ' This was echoed by Emily and Awno . " Tabby . < Whaya may go t'bed . ' " Branwell . ' I'd rather do anything thanthat . ' i : Charlotte . ' Why are you so glum to-night , Tabby ? Oh \ supiiose we had each . an island of our own . '
foil-owing out -a good purpose , fell in ¦ tracking an evil one . " Another element-of wildness entered aato the original of Jane . Eyre / for although in that boc * b Cbaclotte Bronte did not deliberately sit for her own portrait , tke type of the ' artist is reproduced in . the -work . She was of Irish extraction . Her father , the 3 fceverend Patrick Bronte , was a native of the ¦ ¦ County of Down , in Ireland—is , we should say , for Mr . Bronte still lives , although ¦ bereft of all liis family . He was himself . a . man of more energy than self-control . Knowbrg that lus father could afford him no pecuniary aid , and tiiat . he must depend upon his owax exertions , he opened a public school at the early age of sixteen . He next became tutor in the family of a clergyman , and thence proceeded , at the age of five-and-twenty , to St . John ' s
College , Cambridge . While he was at college ., he entered one of the volunteer ¦ corps then enrolled all over the country ; and he mentions the name of Temple—Lord Palmerston—as associated with him in his military duties . Having entered the Church , Mr . Bronte became curate of Hartshead ; and while in this humble position he married Maria Branwell , the daughter of a Penzance merchant , who was on a visit at Leeds ; from Hartshead , Mr . Bronte -was promoted to the living of Thornton , ^ vhere , on . the 21 st of April , was born his third daughter , Charlotte , and two others . Soon after the birth of the youngest daughter , Anne , the girls lost their mother . Mrs . IBronte was not handsome , but was very elegant in her appearance and manner , and very gentle . Her life had , indeed , been one of trial . She had married a trial .
iHis Btrong , passionate , ; Irish nature was , in general , compressed down with resolute stoicism , bat it -was there , notwithstanding all his philosophic calm , and dignity of demeanour . He did not speak when he was annoyed or displeased , but worked off h . is volatile wrath by firing pistols out of the back door in rapid succession . Mrs . Bronte , lyingin bed ng-stairs , would hear the quick explosions , and knew that something hadigone-wrong ; but her sweet nature tiought invariably of * the bright side , and she- would say , " Ought I not to be thankful that he never gave me an angry word ? " 3 tfow and then his anger took a different form , but still was speechless . Once ha got the hearth-rug , and stuffing it up the grate , deliberately set it on fire , and remained in the room , in spite of the stench , until it had smouldered and shrivelled away into uselessness . Another time lie took , some chairs and sawed away at the tacks till they were reduced to the condition of stools .
Mr . Bronte was seized with the theory common in that day of bringing up the children ; in great " hardiness . " Two of them sank in infancy under this -mode of hardening ; and the others appear to have carried through their short life tke destructive consequences . Mrs . Bronte ' s decline was tedious , and , during her illness , the father beiag much engaged in study , the children were left almost wholly to themselves . Thus to the harsh and barbarous character of the neighbourhood were added this perverse hardy training and a wild neglect of the nursery . Maria , the eldest , then scarcely seven years -of age , was fond of getting the newspaper , with , which she entertained her sisters , and / 'hrere , probably , was the germ of Charlotte ' s passion for politics , which more or less followed her through life j though how many children would hear the newspaper read without in the slightest degree being seized by a passion for politics ! At a very early age the children began to invent and act plays for themselves : — I have had a carious packet confided to me , containing an immense amount of manuscript , in an inconceivably small . space ; tales , dramas , poems , romances , written principally by Charlotte , in a hand which it is almost impossible to decipher without the aid of a magnifring-glass . Among these papers there i 3 , a list of her works , which I copy , as a curious proof liow early the rage for literary composition had seized upon her : 1
oataxiogtjjs . my books , with the period oe . their completion up to - August 3 rd , 1830 . Two romantic tales in one volume ; viz ., The Twelve Adventurers and the Adventures in Ireland , Apxil 2 nd , 1829 . The Search after Happiness , a Tale , Aug . 1 st , 1829 . Leisure Hours , a Tale , and two Fragments , July Cth , 182 !) . The Adventures « f Edward de Crack , a Tale , Feb . 2 nd , 1830 . The Adventures of Ernest Alcmbert , a Tale , May 26 th , 1830 . An interesting Incident in the Lives of some of the most eminent Persons of the Age , a 'Tale , June 10 tb , 1830 .
Tales of the Islanders , in four volumes . Contents of the 1 st vol : —1 . An Account of their Origin ; 2 . A Description of Vision Island ; 3 . Ratten ' s Attempt ; 4 . Lord Charles Wellesley . and the MarquU of . Douro's Adventure ; completed June 31 st , 1829 . 2 nd vol .: —1 . The Schools rebellion ; 2 . Tho strange Incident in the Duke of Wellington ' s . Life ; 3 . Tale to his Sons ; 4 . The Marquis of Douro - and Lord Charles lVellcalcy ' s Tale to ; his little King and Queans ; completed Dec- 2 nd , . 1829 . 3 rd vol . : —1 . The Duke of Wellington ' s Adventure in the Cavern ; 2 . Tho Duke of Wellington and the' little King ' s and Queen ' s visit to tho Horse-Guards ; completed May 8 th , 1830 . ' 4 th vol .: —1 . The three old Washerwomen of Strathfioldsaye ; 2 . Lord C . Wellesley ' a Tale to his Brother ; completed July 30 th , 1880 . ' Characters of Great Men of the Preaeut Age , Dec . 17 th , 1829 .
iThe'Youwg Men's ^ Magazines , in Six Numbers , from August to December , the latter month ' s -double ) . number , completed Decomber the 12 th , 1829 . General index to their ¦ contents >—1 . , A / r « ie Story ; . 2 . Causes of the War ; 3 . A . Song ; 4 . Conversations ; & . ATruo St » Rjr continued ; 6 . The Spirit of Cawdor ; 7 . Interior of a Pothouse , & Poem ; : 8 . iTheJGlasa Town , a SoJtg ; 9 . The Silver Cup , a Tale ; 10 . Tho Tablo and . Vlasoin-. thaBeaert , a Sorvg ; 11 . Converaation ^; 12 . Scene on tho Groat Bridge ; 13 . Sang of . iuo Anoieut Britons ; 14 . Scene in my Tun , xi Talc ; 15 . An Araeiicau Tale ; 16 . Lines written on Booing the Garden of a Genius ; 17 . The Lay of the Glass Town ; 18 . Tho 8 wbaArtist , a Tale . ; 19 . Lines on tho transfer of this Magazine ; 20 . Ou *^ o"Same , by a different Hand ; 21 . Chief Geni in Council ; 22 . Harvest in ^ ' , « oSwisaATfci 8 tcontinuea 5 24 « Conversations . The t Poetaater , a Drama , in 2 Thames , July 12 th , 1880 . A Book df'Khymea ^ finiahed December 17 th , 1829 ; Contents : —1 . The Beauty of ¦ JSatuee ; :. * .. A « bort > Boem : 3 . Meditations while Journaying ina Canadian Torost ; ^ ilr a * ' } . M ( 1 ; ' ; S"Oa Seeing tha-Bains of . the Tower of Babel ; 6 . A Thing « ri 4 A «««; . 7 . L 1 . M 3 written oa the . Unk . of ; a Riuer ono fiuo iSummer Evening ; 8 . Spring , a Sawg ; 9 . -Autumn , a goiiff .
MiaCeUau » ou 3 . PQom 8 , ^ aUhoaM * y 80 tI ., 1830 . Content 3 :-1 . ThoClmrchyard ; ?; , ^^ SaTrMM ^ ' ^^ f ^ I ^« UIX > Bl > * ° » ^ ° Pleasant Baalcs of the s-e k ^ rr . ^ 'Sis : nsasri A 1 i £ sr t . > * & ? r % z ^^^ I S '^" - '™ ' s " » ' «^ t .= aPo . ^ 12 & Mokiog in the whole' twenty-two vdlumes . C . Bbojsxb , AuguBt 3 , 1830 .
" Branwell . ' If we hau I would choose the Island of Man . ' Charlotte . ' And I would choose the Isle of Wight . ' " Emily . The Isle of Arran for me . ' . " Anne . ' And mine should be Guernsey . ' " We then chdse who should ba chief men In our islands . Branwell chose John Bull , Astley Cooper , ami Leigh Hunt ; Emily , Walter Scott , Sir . Loclchart , Johnny Lockhart ; Anne , Michael Sadler , Lord Bentinck , Sir Henry Halford . I cliose the Duke of Wellington and two sons , Christopher North and Co ., and Mr . Abcrneth y . Here our conversation " \ ras interrupted b ^ the , tons , dismal sound of the clock striking seven , and we were summoned oiF to bed . The next day Aveadiled many others to our list of men , till-we got almost all the chief men of theMiigdom . "
In fact their intellectual vigour seems even then to have gone beyond the uncontrolled energy of the father s to have become something greater than he could completely understand . While Mai'ia was about ten years of a ^ e and the youngest about four , Mr . Bronte I'esorted to a curicms method of drawiag them out . He had a mask in the house , and he told them all to stand out and speak boldly from under its cover . " I began with the youngest , '' continues he ; " ( Anna , afterwards Acton Bell ) and asked what a child like her most wanted ; she answered , ' Ago and experience . ' I asked the next , Emily ( afterwards Ellis Bell } , what I had best do ivith her brother Bramvell , who was sometimes a naughty boy ; she answeredj ' Reason with him , and
when he won't listen to reason , whip him . I asked Branwell what Avas the best -way of knowing the difference between tlie intellects of men and . women ; he answered , 'By considering the difference between them , as to their bodies . ' I then asked Charlotte what was the best book in the world ; she answered , ' The Bible . ' And what was the next best ; she answered , ' The Bosk of Nature . ' I then asked the next what \ vas the best mode of educiition for a woman ; she answered , ' That which made her rule her house -well . ' Lastly , I asked the eldest what was the best mode of spending time ; she answered , 'By laying it out in preparation for a happy eternity . ' I may not have given precisely their words , t > ut I have nearly done so , as tiey made a deep and lasting impression on my memory . The substance , howeyer , was exactly what I have stated . " :
The household ; , as Charlotte Bronte ; -knew it in her youth , was scarcely formed until the death of the mother . Mrs . Bronte ' s sister then cume from Cornwall to take charge of-the house , but her situation was irksome , and she passed most of her time in her own room . Yet it is evidont that she attempted to introduce some kind of order and method . She trained-the girls to habits of housewifery and punctuality , and so drilled them , that even as children they could keep the house clean , dress a dinner , gut up fine linen , and , in fact , live as completely " on their own hook" as the children of emigrants , another characteristic of early training which goes far to explain the unconstrained vigour of Jane Byre .
The three eldest girld were sent to a school at Cowan ' s Bridge , a little hamLet in the road bet-ween Leeds and Kendall , represented under the name of Lowood in Jane Eyre . It was ill managed—so ill , thnt tlie health of the girls was seriously injured , if not destroyed , and in less than a year after their arrival , Maria and Elizabeth went home to die . Charlotte was still sent back with a younger sister , Emily ; but it became necessary to advise the removal of the children from the school . Charlotte was then little more than nine years old ; she- had become the eldest , and she seems to have been painfully conscious of tlie responsibility which rested upon her with regard to both her sisters . " The loving assumption of duties beyond her years , " says Mys . Gaskell , " made her foul considerably older than she was ; " and after that fatal yoar " the epithet bright could no longer be applied to her . "
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854 TH -g _^ . E , A ^
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 11, 1857, page 354, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2188/page/18/
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