Some Notes on the Art and Life of Patrick Branwell Bronte

For an artist to express himself in words is always difficult; and when I was asked to do so by Mrs. Edgerley, the Secretary of the Brontë Society, I felt more than alarm at the task allotted to me. If I fail, I crave the indulgence of the worshippers at the shrine of the Brontë family; indeed, it is only because I, who am also a painter, feel so strongly about poor Branwell Brontë—the way his work and the manner of his life have been treated—that I consented to attempt a vindication of his position in the Brontë scheme.So much pure nonsense has been written; there has been, in the opinion of many, too much of this Greek Tragedy played against the background of a rain-washed sky.