Charlotte Bronte never doubted that
she had been set in the forefront of the battle, and that her first
concern was with the issues of life and sorrow and death. She died
at thirty-eight, at a time when many men and women have hardly got
a firm hold of life at all, or have parted with weak illusions. Yet
years before she had said sternly to a friend who was meditating a
flight from hard conditions of life: "The right course is that
which necessitates the greatest sacrifice of self-interest." Many
people could have said that, but I know no figure who more
relentlessly and loyally carried out the principle than Charlotte
Bronte, or who waged a more vigorous and tenacious battle with
every onset of fear. "My conscience tells me," she once wrote about
an anxious decision, "that it would be the act of a moral poltroon
to let the fear of suffering stand in the way of improvement. But
suffer I shall. No matter!"
XIV
JOHN STERLING
I believe that the most affecting, beautiful, and grave message ever
written from a death-bed is John Sterling's last letter to Carlyle.
Pages:
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151