After this he rapidly deteriorated, developed symptoms of consumption, and died 26 Sept. 1848. In his last moments he started convulsively to his feet and fell dead. This incident apparently gave rise to Mrs. Gaskell's statement that he carried out a previous resolution that he would die standing, in order to prove the strength of his will.
These facts must be mentioned, because they explain one cause of the sisters' depression, and because they have unfortunately been misstated. Biographers believed in Branwell's story of the vileness of his employer's wife, and though when first published it was met with an indignant denial and instantly suppressed, it has since been reported as authentic. It rests solely upon the testimony of the pothouse brags of a degraded creature. All the statements which can now be checked are false. The husband's will did not, as Branwell asserted, make the lady's fortune conditional on her not seeing him. On the contrary, it shows complete confidence in her. Branwell did not die with his pocket 'full of her letters,' She never wrote to him, and the letters were from another person (Leyland, ii. 142, 284). The whole may be dismissed as a shameful lie, possibly based in part on real delusion. A claim has been set up for Branwell to a partial authorship of 'Wuthering Heights.' He wrote, even to the last, some poems (many published by Mr. Leyland) which, though often feeble, show distinct marks of the family talent. He had finished by September 1845 one volume of a three-volume novel. He told Mr. Grundy, apparently in 1846, that he had written a great part of 'Wuthering Heights,' and, as Mr. Grundy adds, 'what his sister said bore out the assertion.' Two of his friends also stated (Leyland, ii. 186-8) that Branwell had read to them part of a novel, which, from recollection, they identified with 'Wuthering Heights.' On the other hand, Charlotte Brontë, who was in daily communication with her sisters at every step, obviously had no doubt that it was written by her sister Emily. Her testimony is conclusive. She could not have been deceived, nor is it possible to suppose that Emily would have carried out such a deception. The sisters still consulted Branwell on their work, and Emily was least repelled by him. That he may have given her some suggestions is probable enough; nor is it improbable that the reprobate who was slandering his employer's wife was making a false claim to part of his sister's novel. Stories of this kind are common enough in literary history-'Garth did not write his own "Dispensary"'-and this claim of Branwell's may be dismissed with others of the same class. The internal evidence cannot be discussed; though it may be said that Emily's poems show far higher promise than anything of Branwell's, and so far strengthen her claim to a story of astonishing power. Branwell's habits at this time were as unfavourable to good work as conducive to the disappearance of any fragments he may have written. When Charlotte left Brussels, her father's eyesight was failing. The weak health of Tabby increased the labour of housekeeping. On 25 Aug. 1846 Mr. Brontë underwent a successful operation for cataract. The sisters now turned their thoughts to literature. Charlotte tells M. Héger in 1845 that she had been approved by Southey and (Hartley) Coleridge (Gaskell, i. 321). The latter was known to some of Branwell's friends, and it is said that he and Wordsworth gave some encouragement to Branwell. In the autumn of 1845 Charlotte had accidentally found some poems of Emily's. Anne then confessed to having also written verse; and the three put together a small volume, which was published at their expense in May 1846 by Messrs. Aylott & Jones. It attracted little notice, though reviewed in the 'Athenæum' (4 Judy 1846). The sisters adopted the pseudonyms Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell, corresponding to their initials. They next offered their novels, the 'Professor,' 'Wuthering Heights' and 'Agnes Grey,' to various publishers. A refusal of the 'Professor' reached Charlotte on the day of her father's operation, and on the same day she began 'Jane Eyre.' In the spring of 1847, Emily's and Anne's stories were accepted by J. Cautley Newby. Before they had appeared Charlotte received a letter from Messrs. Smith & Elder containing a refusal of the 'Professor,' but 'so delicate, reasonable, and courteous as to be more cheering than some acceptances.' It encouraged her to offer them 'Jane Eyre,' already nearly finished. The reader, the late Mr. W. S. Williams, recognised its great power. It was immediately accepted and published in August 1847. 'Jane Eyre' achieved at once surprising success. Charlotte had overcome the tendency to fine writing of her first story, and the reaction into dryness of the 'Professor.' She had learnt to combine extraordinary power of expressing passion with an equally surprising power of giving reality to her pictures which transfigures the commonest scenes and events in the light of genius. 'Jane Eyre,' which owed little to contemporary critics, was warmly praised in the 'Examiner,' and by G. H. Lewes in 'Fraser's Magazine' for December; but the rush for copies, 'which began early in De-
