are invariably revolting; you will never wish to read
them over twice. Omit the comedies of Shakspeare, and the Don Juan,
perhaps the Cain, of Byron, though the latter is a magnificent poem,
and read the rest fearlessly; that must indeed be a depraved mind
which can gather evil from Henry VIII., from Richard III., from
Macbeth, and Hamlet, and Julius Caesar. Scott's sweet, wild, romantic
poetry can do you no harm. Nor can Wordsworth's, nor Campbell's, nor
Southey's--the greatest part at least of his; some is certainly
objectionable. For history, read Hume, Rollin, and the Universal
History, if you can; I never did. For fiction, read Scott alone; all
novels after his are worthless. For biography, read Johnson's Lives
of the Poets, Boswell's Life of Johnson, Southey's Life of Nelson,
Lockhart's Life of Burns, Moore's Life of Sheridan, Moore's Life of
Byron, Wolfe's Remains. For natural history, read Bewick and Audubon,
and Goldsmith and White's history of Selborne. For divinity, your
brother will advise you there. I can only say, adhere to standard
authors, and avoid novelty."

From this list, we see that she must have had a good range of books from
which to choose her own reading. It is evident, that the womanly
consciences of these two correspondents were anxiously alive to many
questions discussed among the stricter religionists. The morality of
Shakspeare needed the confirmation of Charlotte's opinion to the
sensitive "E.;" and a little later, she inquired whether dancing was
objectionable, when indulged in for an hour or two in parties of boys and
girls. Charlotte replies, "I should hesitate to express a difference of
opinion from Mr. ---, or from your excellent sister, but really the
matter seems to me to stand thus. It is allowed on all hands, that the
sin of dancing consists not in the mere action of 'shaking the shanks'
(as the Scotch say), but in the consequences that usually attend it;
namely, frivolity and waste of time; when it is used only, as in the case
you state, for the exercise and amusement of an hour among young people
(who surely may without any breach of God's commandments be allowed a
little light-heartedness), these consequences cannot follow. Ergo
(according to my manner of arguing), the amusement is at such times
perfectly innocent."

Although the distance between Haworth and B--- was but seventeen miles,
it was difficult to go straig