Abstract The names of Mrs. Gaskell and Charlotte Bronte must needs be inseparable, because Mrs. Gaskell's Life of her friend has done so much to keep the memories of both before the public. Next year we are to celebrate the centenary of Charlotte Bronte's birth, if, indeed, the war is over; if, alas | this be not the case, the less we write about centenaries the better. In any case Charlotte Bronte's novels have had a constant stream of readers for more than half-a-century. With Mrs. Gaskell there was a lull of many years, when perhaps only “Cranford” held a place in the public esteem.