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1While the direction was being executed, the lady consulted moved slowly up the room. I suppose I have a considerable
2organ of veneration, for I retain yet the sense of admiring awe with which my eyes traced her steps. Seen now, in broad
3daylight, she looked tall, fair, and shapely; brown eyes with a benignant light in their irids, and a fine pencilling of
4long lashes round, relieved the whiteness of her large front; on each of her temples her hair, of a very dark brown, was
5clustered in round curls, according to the fashion of those times, when neither smooth bands nor long ringlets were in
6vogue; her dress, also in the mode of the day, was of purple cloth, relieved by a sort of Spanish trimming of black
7velvet; a gold watch (watches were not so common then as now) shone at her girdle. Let the reader add, to complete the
8picture, refined features; a complexion, if pale, clear; and a stately air and carriage, and he will have, at least, as
9clearly as words can give it, a correct idea of the exterior of Miss Temple--Maria Temple, as I afterwards saw the name
10written in a prayer-book intrusted to me to carry to church. The superintendent of Lowood (for such was this lady)
11having taken her seat before a pair of globes placed on one of the tables, summoned the first class round her, and
12commenced giving a lesson on geography; the lower classes were called by the teachers: repetitions in history, grammar,
13&c., went on for an hour; writing and arithmetic succeeded, and music lessons were given by Miss Temple to some of the
14elder girls. The duration of each lesson was measured by the clock, which at last struck twelve. The superintendent
15rose-- "I have a word to address to the pupils," said she. The tumult of cessation from lessons was already breaking
16forth, but it sank at her voice. She went on-- "You had this morning a breakfast which you could not eat; you must be
17hungry:--I have ordered that a lunch of bread and cheese shall be served to all." The teachers looked at her with a sort
18of surprise. "It is to be done on my responsibility," she added, in an explanatory tone to them, and immediately
19afterwards left the room. The bread and cheese was presently brought in and distributed, to the high delight and
20refreshment of the whole school. The order was now given "To the garden!" Each put on a coarse straw bonnet, with
21strings of coloured calico, and a cloak of grey frieze. I was similarly equipped, and, following the stream, I made my
22way into the open air. The garden was a wide inclosure, surrounded with walls so high as to exclude every glimpse of
23prospect; a covered verandah ran down one side, and broad walks bordered a middle space divided into scores of little
24beds: these beds were assigned as gardens for the pupils to cultivate, and each bed had an owner. When full of flowers
25they would doubtless look pretty; but now, at the latter end of January, all was wintry blight and brown decay. I
26shuddered as I stood and looked round me: it was an inclement day for outdoor exercise; not positively rainy, but
27darkened by a drizzling yellow fog; all under foot was still soaking wet with the floods of yesterday. The stronger
28among the girls ran about and engaged in active games, but sundry pale and thin ones herded together for shelter and
29warmth in the verandah; and amongst these, as the dense mist penetrated to their shivering frames, I heard frequently
30the sound of a hollow cough. As yet I had spoken to no one, nor did anybody seem to take notice of me; I stood lonely
31enough: but to that feeling of isolation I was accustomed; it did not oppress me much. I leant against a pillar of the
32verandah, drew my grey mantle close about me, and, trying to forget the cold which nipped me without, and the
33unsatisfied hunger which gnawed me within, delivered myself up to the employment of watching and thinking. My
34reflections were too undefined and fragmentary to merit record: I hardly yet knew where I was; Gateshead and my past
35life seemed floated away to an immeasurable distance; the present was vague and strange, and of the future I could form
36no conjecture. I looked round the convent-like garden, and then up at the house--a large building, half of which seemed
37grey and old, the other half quite new. The new part, containing the schoolroom and dormitory, was lit by mullioned and
38latticed windows, which gave it a church-like aspect; a stone tablet over the door bore this inscription:-- LOWOOD
39INSTITUTION. This portion was rebuilt A.D. ----, by Naomi Brocklehurst, of Brocklehurst Hall, in this county. "Let your
40light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."--St. Matt. v.
4116. I read these words over and over again: I felt that an explanation belonged to them, and was unable fully to
42penetrate their import. I was still pondering the signification of "Institution," and endeavouring to make out a
43connection between the first words and the verse of Scripture, when the sound of a cough close behind me made me turn my
44head. I saw a girl sitting on a stone bench near; she was bent over a book, on the perusal of which she seemed intent:
45from where I stood I could see the title--it was "Rasselas;" a name that struck me as strange, and consequently
46attractive. In turning a leaf she happened to look up, and I said to her directly-- "Is your book interesting?" I had
47already formed the intention of asking her to lend it to me some day. "I like it," she answered, after a pause of a
48second or two, during which she examined me. "What is it about?" I continued. I hardly know where I found the hardihood
49thus to open a conversation with a stranger; the step was contrary to my nature and habits: but I think her occupation
50touched a chord of sympathy somewhere; for I too liked reading, though of a frivolous and childish kind; I could not
51digest or comprehend the serious or substantial. "You may look at it," replied the girl, offering me the book. I did so;
52a brief examination convinced me that the contents were less taking than the title: "Rasselas" looked dull to my
53trifling taste; I saw nothing about fairies, nothing about genii; no bright variety seemed spread over the
54closely-printed pages. I returned it to her; she received it quietly, and without saying anything she was about to
55relapse into her former studious mood: again I ventured to disturb her-- "Can you tell me what the writing on that stone
56over the door means? What is Lowood Institution?" "This house where you are come to live." "And why do they call it
57Institution? Is it in any way different from other schools?" "It is partly a charity-school: you and I, and all the rest
58of us, are charity-children. I suppose you are an orphan: are not either your father or your mother dead?" "Both died
59before I can remember." "Well, all the girls here have lost either one or both parents, and this is called an
60institution for educating orphans." "Do we pay no money? Do they keep us for nothing?" "We pay, or our friends pay,
61fifteen pounds a year for each." "Then why do they call us charity-children?" "Because fifteen pounds is not enough for
62board and teaching, and the deficiency is supplied by subscription." "Who subscribes?" "Different benevolent-minded
63ladies and gentlemen in this neighbourhood and in London." "Who was Naomi Brocklehurst?" "The lady who built the new
64part of this house as that tablet records, and whose son overlooks and directs everything here." "Why?" "Because he is
65treasurer and manager of the establishment." "Then this house does not belong to that tall lady who wears a watch, and
66who said we were to have some bread and cheese?" "To Miss Temple? Oh, no! I wish it did: she has to answer to Mr.
67Brocklehurst for all she does. Mr. Brocklehurst buys all our food and all our clothes." "Does he live here?" "No--two
68miles off, at a large hall." "Is he a good man?" "He is a clergyman, and is said to do a great deal of good." "Did you
69say that tall lady was called Miss Temple?" "Yes." "And what are the other teachers called?"
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