An allusion of that sort seems to say more than a regular
notice. I _do_ trust I may have the power so to write in future as
not to disappoint those who have been kind enough to think and speak
well of _Jane Eyre_; at any rate, I will take pains. But still,
whenever I hear my one book praised, the pleasure I feel is chastened
by a mixture of doubt and fear; and, in truth, I hardly wish it to be
otherwise: it is much too early for me to feel safe, or to take as my
due the commendation bestowed.
'Some remarks in your last letter on teaching commanded my attention.
I suppose you never were engaged in tuition yourself; but if you had
been, you could not have more exactly hit on the great
qualification--I had almost said the _one_ great
qualification--necessary to the task: the faculty, not merely of
acquiring but of imparting knowledge--the power of influencing young
minds--that natural fondness for, that innate sympathy with,
children, which, you say, Mrs. Williams is so happy as to possess.
He or she who possesses this faculty, this sympathy--though perhaps
not otherwise highly accomplished--need never fear failure in the
career of instruction. Children will be docile with them, will
improve under them; parents will consequently repose in them
confidence.
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