Journal

Feby.23d. 1838.
Dear Sir,
You are aware, that I have been looking out, during some time, in order to
procure a respectable situation, for my Son Branwell. As yet, however, I have not
succeeded, according to my wishes, or his. I once thought that he might get into
the Mercantile line – but there seem to be many and great difficulties in reference
to this. I then, turned my thoughts to a University Education, but this would
require great expense, and four or five years from hence, ere he could, in a
pecuniary way, do Any thing for himself…I am now, of the opinion, that it
might be, the most prudent of all plans…to endeavour to procure for him, a
Situation as Clerk, in a Bank….I think it would be to his advantage to go farther
from home, And to see a little more of the World. …On these grounds I have
taken the liberty of applying to You, as the most likely of any Gentleman…
Trusting, that you will kindly excuse, this trouble, with our joint regards, to You
and Your Brother, I remain, Dear Sir,
Yours, very respectfully,
And truly,
P. Brontë16 This letter clearly indicates that Patrick was looking for alternative careers for
Branwell, preferably as a bank clerk rather than a portrait artist in Bradford. A
probable reason for his caution can be detected in Branwell’s 1835 letter to
William Robinson: his noticeable lack of self-discipline. ‘After repeated delays,
for which I am ashamed to apologise I have at length nearly completed my
picture …’ Branwell wrote. It would appear that even in these early days
Branwell was having difficulty following a strict, training routine. In fact,
despite lessons from Robinson, Branwell never fully mastered the technique
of mixing and applying pigments and making subtle gradations of light and
shade. 17 Also, his portfolio lacked examples of careful, disciplined studies of
anatomy, ‘the grammar of painting’ as Patrick so rightly said, and of classical
sculpture which usually meant drawings of the Elgin Marbles in the British
Museum. Why Branwell did not avail himself of opportunities to study
anatomy and copy plaster casts of classical sculptures during this time was
perhaps due to a growing self-doubt in his artistic ability combined with a
long-standing, ever increasing tendency towards self indulgence and his
propensity for wild mood swings. This instability ultimately overcame him so
that on his deathbed, the 31- year-old Branwell was to say so tragically to the
same John Brown whose portrait he had painted over ten years earlier, ‘In all
my past life I have done nothing either great or good’. 18
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