An abundant shower of curates has fallen upon the north of England.

Brontë’s image likens the sudden proliferation of curates (junior Anglican clergymen) to a rainstorm, suggesting they have appeared in great numbers and perhaps with an air of inconvenience or comic excess. The phrasing carries a dry, observational wit: “abundant shower” implies both quantity and a kind of indiscriminate scattering, as if the region has been “doused” with clergy. Read socially, it hints at the Church of England’s staffing patterns and the visibility of clerical culture in northern communities, while also reflecting Brontë’s sharp eye for the way institutions populate and shape local life. The metaphor’s mild satire may also imply skepticism about clerical usefulness or individuality when they arrive en masse.