[Charlotte Brontë, as Currer Bell, to her publisher, W. S. Williams, 15 June 1848:]
'I duly received Mirabeau from Mr Smith [...] When I have read the book, I will tell you what I think of it — its subject is interesting. One thing a little annoyed me — as I glanced over the pages I fancied I detected a savour of Carlyle's peculiarities of style. Now Carlyle is a great man, but I always wish he would write plain English; and to imitate his Germanisms is, I think, to imitate his faults.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Charlotte Brontë Print: Book
Charlotte Bronte, as Currer Bell, to her publisher W. S. Williams, 22 June 1848:
'I feel a little difficulty in telling you what I think of the "Life of Mirabeau." It has interested me much, and I have derived additional information; in the course of reading it, I have often felt called upon to approve the ability and tact of the writer [...] but I have also been moved frequently to disapprobation. It is not the political principles of the writer with which I find fault, nor is it his talents [...] it is his manner of treating Mirabeau's errors that offends [...] there, I think, he betrays a little of crudeness — a little of presumption — not a little of indiscretion.
Could you with confidence put this work into the hands of your son, secure that its perusal would not harm him — that it would not leave on his mind some vague impression that there is a grandeur in vice committed on a colossal scale? [comments further, at length, on text]'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Charlotte Brontë Print: Book
