' Lastly I
asked the oldest 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, but I have nearly done so,
as they made a deep and lasting impression on my memory. The
substance, however, was exactly what I have stated."
The strange and quaint simplicity of the mode taken by the father to
ascertain the hidden characters of his children, and the tone and
character of these questions and answers, show the curious education
which was made by the circumstances surrounding the Brontes. They knew
no other children. They knew no other modes of thought than what were
suggested to them by the fragments of clerical conversation which they
overheard in the parlour, or the subjects of village and local interest
which they heard discussed in the kitchen. Each had their own strong
characteristic flavour.
They took a vivid interest in the public characters, and the local and
foreign politics discussed in the newspapers. Long before Maria Bronte
died, at the age of eleven, her father used to say he would converse
with her on any of the leading topics of the day with as much freedom
and pleasure as with any grown-up person.
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