--Yours sincerely,

'C. BRONTE.'

TO JAMES TAYLOR, CORNHILL

'_September_ 20_th_, 1849.

'MY DEAR SIR,--It is time I answered the note which I received from
you last Thursday; I should have replied to it before had I not been
kept more than usually engaged by the presence of a clergyman in the
house, and the indisposition of one of our servants.

'As you may conjecture, it cheered and pleased me much to learn that
the opinion of my friends in Cornhill was favourable to
_Shirley_--that, on the whole, it was considered no falling off from
_Jane Eyre_. I am trying, however, not to encourage too sanguine an
expectation of a favourable reception by the public: the seeds of
prejudice have been sown, and I suppose the produce will have to be
reaped--but we shall see.

'I read with pleasure _Friends in Council_, and with very great
pleasure _The Thoughts and Opinions of a Statesman_. It is the
record of what may with truth be termed a beautiful mind--serene,
harmonious, elevated, and pure; it bespeaks, too, a heart full of
kindness and sympathy. I like it much.

'Papa has been pretty well during the past week, he begs to join me
in kind remembrances to yourself.--Believe me, my dear sir, yours
very sincerely,

'C. BRONTE.'

TO W. S. WILLIAMS

'_September_ 29_th_, 1849.

'DEAR SIR,--I have made the alteration; but I have made it to please
Cornhill, not the public nor the critics.

'I am sorry to say Newby does know my real name. I wish he did not,
but that cannot be helped. Meantime, though I earnestly wish to
preserve my incognito, I live under no slavish fear of discovery. I
am ashamed of nothing I have written--not a line.

'The envelope containing the first proof and your letter had been
received open at the General Post Office and resealed there. Perhaps
it was accident, but I think it better to inform you of the
circumstance.--Yours sincerely,

'C. BRONTE.'

TO W. S. WILLIAMS