When Mr. Bronte died he returned to Ireland. Some years
later he married again--a cousin, Miss Bell by name. That second
marriage has been one of unmixed blessedness. I found him in a home of
supreme simplicity and charm, esteemed by all who knew him and idolised
in his own household. It was not difficult to understand that Charlotte
Bronte had loved him and had fought down parental opposition in his
behalf. The qualities of gentleness, sincerity, unaffected piety, and
delicacy of mind are his; and he is beautifully jealous, not only for the
fair fame of Currer Bell, but--what she would equally have loved--for her
father, who also has had much undue detraction in the years that are
past. That Mr. Nicholls may long continue to enjoy the kindly calm of
his Irish home will be the wish of all who have read of his own
continuous devotion to a wife who must ever rank among the greatest of
her sex.
FOOTNOTES
{8} Although so stated by Professor A. W. Ward in the _Dictionary of
National Biography_, vol. xxi.
{14} 'Mama's last days,' it runs, 'had been full of loving thought and
tender help for others. She was so sweet and dear and noble beyond
words.'
{17} 'Some of the West Ridingers are very angry, and declare they are
half-a-century in civilisation before some of the Lancashire folk, and
that this neighbourhood is a paradise compared with some districts not
far from Manchester.
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