"
It was about this time that Mr. Bronte provided his children with a
teacher in drawing, who turned out to be a man of considerable talent,
but very little principle. Although they never attained to anything like
proficiency, they took great interest in acquiring this art; evidently,
from an instinctive desire to express their powerful imaginations in
visible forms. Charlotte told me, that at this period of her life,
drawing, and walking out with her sisters, formed the two great pleasures
and relaxations of her day.
The three girls used to walk upwards toward the "purple-black" moors, the
sweeping surface of which was broken by here and there a stone-quarry;
and if they had strength and time to go far enough, they reached a
waterfall, where the beck fell over some rocks into the "bottom." They
seldom went downwards through the village. They were shy of meeting even
familiar faces, and were scrupulous about entering the house of the very
poorest uninvited. They were steady teachers at the Sunday-School, a
habit which Charlotte kept up very faithfully, even after she was left
alone; but they never faced their kind voluntary, and always preferred
the solitude and freedom of the moors.
* * * * *
In the September of this year, Charlotte went to pay her first visit to
her friend "E.
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