this statement is intended for all readers who would have a statement to make about the author being a women and the unconventionality of her novel. these critics would be mostly men and also religious men, hence the religious reference to not lifting an impious hand to the crown of thorns. this makes it clear to critics that Bronte has no intent of sacrilege in her novel, and just because it is unconventional it is not necessarily wrong. this statement is there for the purpose of insulating Bronte from this criticism. This preface was not published until the second printing when Bronte took credit for writing the novel. To avoid criticism of her book and to help people to look at the book in a broader sense, she kept the alias Currer Bell to write a preface to the book explaining to the readers that while the novel portrays new and unconventional ideas, they are not wrong or sacrilegious, they are simply ideas