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1"Madam, allow me an instant. You are aware that my plan in bringing up these girls is, not to accustom them to habits of
2luxury and indulgence, but to render them hardy, patient, self-denying. Should any little accidental disappointment of
3the appetite occur, such as the spoiling of a meal, the under or the over dressing of a dish, the incident ought not to
4be neutralised by replacing with something more delicate the comfort lost, thus pampering the body and obviating the aim
5of this institution; it ought to be improved to the spiritual edification of the pupils, by encouraging them to evince
6fortitude under the temporary privation. A brief address on those occasions would not be mistimed, wherein a judicious
7instructor would take the opportunity of referring to the sufferings of the primitive Christians; to the torments of
8martyrs; to the exhortations of our blessed Lord Himself, calling upon His disciples to take up their cross and follow
9Him; to His warnings that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God;
10to His divine consolations, 'If ye suffer hunger or thirst for My sake, happy are ye.' Oh, madam, when you put bread and
11cheese, instead of burnt porridge, into these children's mouths, you may indeed feed their vile bodies, but you little
12think how you starve their immortal souls!" Mr. Brocklehurst again paused--perhaps overcome by his feelings. Miss Temple
13had looked down when he first began to speak to her; but she now gazed straight before her, and her face, naturally pale
14as marble, appeared to be assuming also the coldness and fixity of that material; especially her mouth, closed as if it
15would have required a sculptor's chisel to open it, and her brow settled gradually into petrified severity. Meantime,
16Mr. Brocklehurst, standing on the hearth with his hands behind his back, majestically surveyed the whole school.
17Suddenly his eye gave a blink, as if it had met something that either dazzled or shocked its pupil; turning, he said in
18more rapid accents than he had hitherto used-- "Miss Temple, Miss Temple, what--what is that girl with curled hair? Red
19hair, ma'am, curled--curled all over?" And extending his cane he pointed to the awful object, his hand shaking as he did
20so. "It is Julia Severn," replied Miss Temple, very quietly. "Julia Severn, ma'am! And why has she, or any other, curled
21hair? Why, in defiance of every precept and principle of this house, does she conform to the world so openly--here in an
22evangelical, charitable establishment--as to wear her hair one mass of curls?" "Julia's hair curls naturally," returned
23Miss Temple, still more quietly. "Naturally! Yes, but we are not to conform to nature; I wish these girls to be the
24children of Grace: and why that abundance? I have again and again intimated that I desire the hair to be arranged
25closely, modestly, plainly. Miss Temple, that girl's hair must be cut off entirely; I will send a barber to-morrow: and
26I see others who have far too much of the excrescence--that tall girl, tell her to turn round. Tell all the first form
27to rise up and direct their faces to the wall." Miss Temple passed her handkerchief over her lips, as if to smooth away
28the involuntary smile that curled them; she gave the order, however, and when the first class could take in what was
29required of them, they obeyed. Leaning a little back on my bench, I could see the looks and grimaces with which they
30commented on this manoeuvre: it was a pity Mr. Brocklehurst could not see them too; he would perhaps have felt that,
31whatever he might do with the outside of the cup and platter, the inside was further beyond his interference than he
32imagined. He scrutinised the reverse of these living medals some five minutes, then pronounced sentence. These words
33fell like the knell of doom-- "All those top-knots must be cut off." Miss Temple seemed to remonstrate. "Madam," he
34pursued, "I have a Master to serve whose kingdom is not of this world: my mission is to mortify in these girls the lusts
35of the flesh; to teach them to clothe themselves with shame-facedness and sobriety, not with braided hair and costly
36apparel; and each of the young persons before us has a string of hair twisted in plaits which vanity itself might have
37woven; these, I repeat, must be cut off; think of the time wasted, of--" Mr. Brocklehurst was here interrupted: three
38other visitors, ladies, now entered the room. They ought to have come a little sooner to have heard his lecture on
39dress, for they were splendidly attired in velvet, silk, and furs. The two younger of the trio (fine girls of sixteen
40and seventeen) had grey beaver hats, then in fashion, shaded with ostrich plumes, and from under the brim of this
41graceful head-dress fell a profusion of light tresses, elaborately curled; the elder lady was enveloped in a costly
42velvet shawl, trimmed with ermine, and she wore a false front of French curls. These ladies were deferentially received
43by Miss Temple, as Mrs. and the Misses Brocklehurst, and conducted to seats of honour at the top of the room. It seems
44they had come in the carriage with their reverend relative, and had been conducting a rummaging scrutiny of the room
45upstairs, while he transacted business with the housekeeper, questioned the laundress, and lectured the superintendent.
46They now proceeded to address divers remarks and reproofs to Miss Smith, who was charged with the care of the linen and
47the inspection of the dormitories: but I had no time to listen to what they said; other matters called off and enchanted
48my attention. Hitherto, while gathering up the discourse of Mr. Brocklehurst and Miss Temple, I had not, at the same
49time, neglected precautions to secure my personal safety; which I thought would be effected, if I could only elude
50observation. To this end, I had sat well back on the form, and while seeming to be busy with my sum, had held my slate
51in such a manner as to conceal my face: I might have escaped notice, had not my treacherous slate somehow happened to
52slip from my hand, and falling with an obtrusive crash, directly drawn every eye upon me; I knew it was all over now,
53and, as I stooped to pick up the two fragments of slate, I rallied my forces for the worst. It came. "A careless girl!"
54said Mr. Brocklehurst, and immediately after--"It is the new pupil, I perceive." And before I could draw breath, "I must
55not forget I have a word to say respecting her." Then aloud: how loud it seemed to me! "Let the child who broke her
56slate come forward!" Of my own accord I could not have stirred; I was paralysed: but the two great girls who sat on each
57side of me, set me on my legs and pushed me towards the dread judge, and then Miss Temple gently assisted me to his very
58feet, and I caught her whispered counsel-- "Don't be afraid, Jane, I saw it was an accident; you shall not be punished."
59The kind whisper went to my heart like a dagger. "Another minute, and she will despise me for a hypocrite," thought I;
60and an impulse of fury against Reed, Brocklehurst, and Co. bounded in my pulses at the conviction. I was no Helen Burns.
61"Fetch that stool," said Mr. Brocklehurst, pointing to a very high one from which a monitor had just risen: it was
62brought. "Place the child upon it." And I was placed there, by whom I don't know: I was in no condition to note
63particulars; I was only aware that they had hoisted me up to the height of Mr. Brocklehurst's nose, that he was within a
64yard of me, and that a spread of shot orange and purple silk pelisses and a cloud of silvery plumage extended and waved
65below me. Mr. Brocklehurst hemmed. "Ladies," said he, turning to his family, "Miss Temple, teachers, and children, you
66all see this girl?" Of course they did; for I felt their eyes directed like burning-glasses against my scorched skin.
67"You see she is yet young; you observe she possesses the ordinary form of childhood; God has graciously given her the
68shape that He has given to all of us; no signal deformity points her out as a marked character. Who would think that the
69Evil One had already found a servant and agent in her? Yet such, I grieve to say, is the case." A pause--in which I
70began to steady the palsy of my nerves, and to feel that the Rubicon was passed; and that the trial, no longer to be
71shirked, must be firmly sustained.
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