"It is observable that Matthew Arnold, the eldest son, and the author of the volume of poems to which you allude, inherits his mother's defect. Striking and prepossessing in appearance, his manner displeased from its seeming foppery. I own it caused me at first to regard him with regretful surprise; the shade of Dr. Arnold seemed to me to frown on his young representative. I was told, however, that "Mr. Arnold improved upon acquaintance." So it was: ere long a real modesty appeared under his assumed conceit, and some genuine intellectual aspirations, as well as high educational acquirements, displaced superficial affectations. I was given to understand that his theological opinions were very vague and unsettled, and indeed he betrayed as much in the course of conversation."
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Academics from EnglandEssayists from EnglandRomantic poetsPoets from EnglandJournalists from England
Original Language: English
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Charlotte Brontë to James Taylor (15 January 1851), quoted in Clement K. Shorter, Charlotte Brontë and Her Circle (1896), pp. 458-459
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Matthew_Arnold
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Matthew Arnold
Matthew Arnold (24 December 1822 – 15 April 1888) was an English poet, essayist and cultural critic. He also pursued a career as an inspector of schools.
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