BRONTÉ, CHARLOTTE (1816-1855).--Novelist, _dau._ of the Rev. Patrick B., a clergyman of Irish descent and of eccentric habits who embittered the lives of his children by his peculiar theories of education. Brought up in a small parsonage close to the graveyard of a bleak, windswept village on the Yorkshire moors, and left motherless in early childhood, she was "the motherly friend and guardian of her younger sisters," of whom two, Emily and Anne, shared, but in a less degree, her talents. After various efforts as schoolmistresses and governesses, the sisters took to literature and _pub._ a vol. of poems under the names of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell, which, however, fell flat. Charlotte then wrote her first novel, _The Professor_, which did not appear until after her death, and began _Jane Eyre_, which, appearing in 1847, took the public by storm. It was followed by _Shirley_ in 1849, and _Villette_ in 1852. In 1854 she was married to her father's curate, the Rev. A. Nicholls, but after a short though happy married life she _d._ in 1855. EMILY B. (1818-1848).--a woman of remarkable force of character, reserved and taciturn, _pub._ in 1848 _Wuthering Heights_, a powerful, but somewhat unpleasing, novel, and some striking poems; and ANNE (1820-1849), was the authoress of _The Tenant of Wildfell Hall_ and _Agnes Grey_ (1848). She had not the intellectual force of her sisters. The novels of Charlotte especially created a strong impression from the first, and the _pub._ of _Jane Eyre_ gave rise to much curiosity and speculation as to its authorship. Their strength and originality have retained for them a high place in English fiction which is likely to prove permanent. There is a biography of Charlotte by Mrs. Gaskell (_q.v._). Complete ed. of the works of Charlotte B. have been issued by Mrs. Humphrey Ward (7 vols. 1899-1900), and by Sir W.R. Nicoll, LL.D. (1903). _Note on Charlotte Bronté_, A.C. Swinburne, 1877. A short _Life_ in Great Writers Series by A. Birrell. BROOKE, FULKE GREVILLE, LORD (1554-1628).--Poet and statesman, _b._ at Beauchamp Court, Warwickshire, and _ed._ at Shrewsbury and Camb., was a Privy Councillor, and held various important offices of state, including that of Chancellor of the Exchequer (1614-21). In the latter year he was created a peer. He was murdered by a servant. His works, which were chiefly _pub._ after his death, consist of tragedies and sonnets, and poems on political and moral subjects, including _Cælica_ (109 sonnets). He also wrote a Life of Sir P. Sidney, whose friend he was. His style is grave and sententious. He is buried in the church at Warwick, and the inscription on his tomb, written by himself, is a compendious biography. It runs: "Fulke Greville, servant to Queen Elizabeth, counsellor to King James, friend to Sir Philip Sidney."