Trust it is unnecessary to say that I dis claim all responsibility for the Bronte acts, opinions, and sentiments recorded in this book. As no one living could lay claim to Bronte genius, even in its less-cultured condition, no one should be held responsible for the eccentricities of that genius. It is right, however, that I should express my indebtedness to many for generous encouragement and unstinted assistance in setting in order these fragments of an almost forgotten past.