Jane Eyre , by Charlotte Bronte 4
My thanks are due in three quarters .
To the Public , for the indulgent ear it has inclined to a plain tale with few pretensions .
To the Press , for the fair field its honest suffrage has opened to an obscure aspirant .
To my Publishers , for the aid their tact , their energy , their practical sense and frank liberality have afforded an unknown and unrecommended Author .
The Press and the Public are but vague personifications for me , and I must thank them in vague terms ; but my Publishers are definite : so are certain generous critics who have encouraged me as only large-hearted and high-minded men know how to encourage a struggling stranger ; to them , i . e ., to my Publishers and the select Reviewers , I say cordially , Gentlemen , I thank you from my heart .
Having thus acknowledged what I owe those who have aided and approved me , I turn to another class ; a small one , so far as I know , but not , therefore , to be overlooked . I mean the timorous or carping few who doubt the tendency of such books as " Jane Eyre :" in whose eyes whatever is unusual is wrong ; whose ears detect in each protest against bigotry -- that parent of crime -- an insult to piety , that regent of God on earth . I would suggest to such doubters certain obvious distinctions ; I would remind them of certain simple truths .
Conventionality is not morality . Self-righteousness is not religion . To attack the first is not to assail the last . To pluck the mask from the face of the Pharisee , is not to lift an impious hand to the Crown of Thorns .
These things and deeds are diametrically opposed : they are as distinct as is vice from virtue . Men too often confound them : they should not be confounded : appearance should not be mistaken for truth ; narrow human doctrines , that only tend to elate and magnify a few , should not be