_Seclusion from the literary world--Notice from the Prince
Regent--Correspondence with Mr. Clarke--Suggestions to alter her style of
writing_.
Jane Austen lived in entire seclusion from the literary world: neither by
correspondence, nor by personal intercourse was she known to any
contemporary authors. It is probable that she never was in company with
any person whose talents or whose celebrity equalled her own; so that her
powers never could have been sharpened by collision with superior
intellects, nor her imagination aided by their casual suggestions.
Whatever she produced was a genuine home-made article. Even during the
last two or three years of her life, when her works were rising in the
estimation of the public, they did not enlarge the circle of her
acquaintance. Few of her readers knew even her name, and none knew more
of her than her name. I doubt whether it would be possible to mention
any other author of note, whose personal obscurity was so complete. I
can think of none like her, but of many to contrast with her in that
respect. Fanny Burney, afterwards Madame D'Arblay, was at an early age
petted by Dr. Johnson, and introduced to the wits and scholars of the day
at the tables of Mrs. Thrale and Sir Joshua Reynolds. Anna Seward, in
her self-constituted shrine at Lichfield, would have been miserable, had
she not trusted that the eyes of all lovers of poetry were devoutly fixed
on her. Joanna Baillie and Maria Edgeworth were indeed far from courting
publicity; they loved the privacy of their own families, one with her
brother and sister in their Hampstead villa, the other in her more
distant retreat in Ireland; but fame pursued them, and they were the
favourite correspondents of Sir Walter Scott. Crabbe, who was usually
buried in a country parish, yet sometimes visited London, and dined at
Holland House, and was received as a fellow-poet by Campbell, Moore, and
Rogers; and on one memorable occasion he was Scott's guest at Edinburgh,
and gazed with wondering eyes on the incongruous pageantry with which
George IV. was entertained in that city. Even those great writers who
hid themselves amongst lakes and mountains associated with each other;
and though little seen by the world were so much in its thoughts that a
new term, 'Lakers,' was coined to designate them. The chief part of
Charlotte Bronte's life was spent in a wild solitude compared with which
Steventon and Chawton might be considered to be in the gay world; and yet
she attained to personal distinction which never fell to Jane's lot. When
she visited her kind publisher in London, literary men and women were
invited purposely to meet her: Thackeray bestowed upon her the honour of
his notice; and once in Willis's Rooms, {117} she had to walk shy and
trembling through an avenue of lords and ladies, drawn up for the purpose
of gazing at the author of 'Jane Eyre.' Miss Mitford, too, lived quietly
in 'Our Village,' devoting her time and talents to the benefit of a
father scarcely worthy of her; but she did not live there unknown. Her
tragedies gave her a name in London. She numbered Milman and Talfourd
amongst her correspondents; and her works were a passport to the society
of many who would not otherwise have sought her. Hundreds admired Miss
Mitford on account of her writings for one who ever connected the idea of
Miss Austen with the press. A few years ago, a gentleman visiting
Winchester Cathedral desired to be shown Miss Austen's grave. The
verger, as he pointed it out, asked, 'Pray, sir, can you tell me whether
there was anything particular about that lady; so many people want to
know where she was buried?' During her life the ignorance of the verger
was shared by most people; few knew that 'there was anything particular
about that lady.'
It was not till towards the close of her life, when the last of the works
that she saw published was in the press, that she received the only mark
of distinction ever bestowed upon her; and that was remarkable for the
high quarter whence it emanated rather than for any actual increase of
fame that it conferred. It happened thus. In the autumn of 1815 she
nursed her brother Henry through a dangerous fever and slow convalescence
at his house in Hans Place. He was attended by one of the Prince
Regent's physicians. All attempts to keep her name secret had at this
time ceased, and though it had never appeared on a title-page, all who
cared to know might easily learn it: and the friendly physician was aware
that his patient's nurse was the author of 'Pride and Prejudice.'
Accordingly he informed her one day that the Prince was a great admirer
of her novels; that he read them often, and kept a set in every one of
his residences; that he himself therefore had thought it right to inform
his Royal Highness that Miss Austen was staying in London, and that the
Prince had desired Mr. Clarke, the librarian of Carlton House, to wait
upon her. The next day Mr. Clarke made his appearance, and invited her
to Carlton House, saying that he had the Prince's instructions to show
her the library and other apartments, and to pay her every possible
attention. The invitation was of course accepted, and during the visit
to Carlton House Mr. Clarke declared himself commissioned to say that if
Miss Austen had any other novel forthcoming she was at liberty to
dedicate it to the Prince. Accordingly such a dedication was immediately
prefixed to 'Emma,' which was at that time in the press.
Mr. Clarke was the brother of Dr. Clarke, the traveller and mineralogist,
whose life has been written by Bishop Otter. Jane found in him not only
a very courteous gentleman, but also a warm admirer of her talents;
though it will be seen by his letters that he did not clearly apprehend
the limits of her powers, or the proper field for their exercise. The
following correspondence took place between them.
Feeling some apprehension lest she should make a mistake in acting on the
verbal permission which she had received from the Prince, Jane addressed
the following letter to Mr. Clarke:--
'Nov. 15, 1815.
'SIR,--I must take the liberty of asking you a question. Among the
many flattering attentions which I received from you at Carlton House
on Monday last was the information of my being at liberty to dedicate
any future work to His Royal Highness the Prince Regent, without the
necessity of any solicitation on my part. Such, at least, I believed
to be your words; but as I am very anxious to be quite certain of what
was intended, I entreat you to have the goodness to inform me how such
a permission is to be understood, and whether it is incumbent on me to
show my sense of the honour, by inscribing the work now in the press
to His Royal Highness; I should be equally concerned to appear either
presumptuous or ungrateful.'
The following gracious answer was returned by Mr. Clarke, together with a
suggestion which must have been received with some surprise:--
'Carlton House, Nov. 16, 1815.
'DEAR MADAM,--It is certainly not _incumbent_ on you to dedicate your
work now in the press to His Royal Highness; but if you wish to do the
Regent that honour either now or at any future period I am happy to
send you that permission, which need not require any more trouble or
solicitation on your part.
'Your late works, Madam, and in particular "Mansfield Park," reflect
the highest honour on your genius and your principles. In every new
work your mind seems to increase its energy and power of
discrimination. The Regent has read and admired all your
publications.
'Accept my best thanks for the pleasure your volumes have given me. In
the perusal of them I felt a great inclination to write and say so.
And I also, dear Madam, wished to be allowed to ask you to delineate
in some future work the habits of life, and character, and enthusiasm
of a clergyman, who should pass his time between the metropolis and
the country, who should be something like Beattie's Minstrel--
Silent when glad, affectionate tho' shy,
And in his looks was most demurely sad;
And now he laughed aloud, yet none knew why.
Neither Goldsmith, nor La Fontaine in his "Tableau de Famille," have
in my mind quite delineated an English clergyman, at least of the
present day, fond of and entirely engaged in literature, no man's
enemy but his own. Pray, dear Madam, think of these things.
'Believe me at all times with sincerity
and respect, your faithful and obliged servant,
'J. S. CLARKE, Librarian.'
The following letter, written in reply, will show how unequal the author
of 'Pride and Prejudice' felt herself to delineating an enthusiastic
clergyman of the present day, who should resemble Beattie's Minstrel:--
'Dec. 11.
'DEAR SIR,--My "Emma" is now so near publication that I feel it right
to assure you of my not having forgotten your kind recommendation of
an early copy for Carlton House, and that I have Mr. Murray's promise
of its being sent to His Royal Highness, under cover to you, three
days previous to the work being really out. I must make use of this
opportunity to thank you, dear Sir, for the very high praise you
bestow on my other novels. I am too vain to wish to convince you that
you have praised them beyond their merits. My greatest anxiety at
present is that this fourth work should not disgrace what was good in
the others. But on this point I will do myself the justice to declare
that, whatever may be my wishes for its success, I am strongly haunted
with the idea that to those readers who have preferred "Pride and
Prejudice" it will appear inferior in wit, and to those who have
preferred "Mansfield Park" inferior in good sense. Such as it is,
however, I hope you will do me the favour of accepting a copy. Mr.
Murray will have directions for sending one. I am quite honoured by
your thinking me capable of drawing such a clergyman as you gave the
sketch of in your note of Nov. 16th. But I assure you I am _not_. The
comic part of the character I might be equal to, but not the good, the
enthusiastic, the literary. Such a man's conversation must at times
be on subjects of science and philosophy, of which I know nothing; or
at least be occasionally abundant in quotations and allusions which a
woman who, like me, knows only her own mother tongue, and has read
little in that, would be totally without the power of giving. A
classical education, or at any rate a very extensive acquaintance with
English literature, ancient and modern, appears to me quite
indispensable for the person who would do any justice to your
clergyman; and I think I may boast myself to be, with all possible
vanity, the most unlearned and uninformed female who ever dared to be
an authoress.
'Believe me, dear Sir,
'Your obliged and faithful humbl Sert.
'JANE AUSTEN.' {122}
Mr. Clarke, however, was not to be discouraged from proposing another
subject. He had recently been appointed chaplain and private English
secretary to Prince Leopold, who was then about to be united to the
Princess Charlotte; and when he again wrote to express the gracious
thanks of the Prince Regent for the copy of 'Emma' which had been
presented, he suggests that 'an historical romance illustrative of the
august House of Cobourg would just now be very interesting,' and might
very properly be dedicated to Prince Leopold. This was much as if Sir
William Ross had been set to paint a great battle-piece; and it is
amusing to see with what grave civility she declined a proposal which
must have struck her as ludicrous, in the following letter:--
'MY DEAR SIR,--I am honoured by the Prince's thanks and very much
obliged to yourself for the kind manner in which you mention the work.
I have also to acknowledge a former letter forwarded to me from Hans
Place. I assure you I felt very grateful for the friendly tenor of
it, and hope my silence will have been considered, as it was truly
meant, to proceed only from an unwillingness to tax your time with
idle thanks. Under every interesting circumstance which your own
talents and literary labours have placed you in, or the favour of the
Regent bestowed, you have my best wishes. Your recent appointments I
hope are a step to something still better. In my opinion, the service
of a court can hardly be too well paid, for immense must be the
sacrifice of time and feeling required by it.
'You are very kind in your hints as to the sort of composition which
might recommend me at present, and I am fully sensible that an
historical romance, founded on the House of Saxe Cobourg, might be
much more to the purpose of profit or popularity than such pictures of
domestic life in country villages as I deal in. But I could no more
write a romance than an epic poem. I could not sit seriously down to
write a serious romance under any other motive than to save my life;
and if it were indispensable for me to keep it up and never relax into
laughing at myself or at other people, I am sure I should be hung
before I had finished the first chapter. No, I must keep to my own
style and go on in my own way; and though I may never succeed again in
that, I am convinced that I should totally fail in any other.
'I remain, my dear Sir,
'Your very much obliged, and sincere friend,
'J. AUSTEN.
'Chawton, near Alton, April 1, 1816.'
Mr. Clarke should have recollected the warning of the wise man, 'Force
not the course of the river.' If you divert it from the channel in which
nature taught it to flow, and force it into one arbitrarily cut by
yourself, you will lose its grace and beauty.
But when his free course is not hindered,
He makes sweet music with the enamelled stones,
Giving a gentle kiss to every sedge
He overtaketh in his pilgrimage:
And so by many winding nooks he strays
With willing sport.
All writers of fiction, who have genius strong enough to work out a
course of their own, resist every attempt to interfere with its
direction. No two writers could be more unlike each other than Jane
Austen and Charlotte Bronte; so much so that the latter was unable to
understand why the former was admired, and confessed that she herself
'should hardly like to live with her ladies and gentlemen, in their
elegant but confined houses;' but each writer equally resisted
interference with her own natural style of composition. Miss Bronte, in
reply to a friendly critic, who had warned her against being too
melodramatic, and had ventured to propose Miss Austen's works to her as a
study, writes thus:--
'Whenever I _do_ write another book, I think I will have nothing of
what you call "melodrama." I _think_ so, but I am not sure. I
_think_, too, I will endeavour to follow the counsel which shines out
of Miss Austen's "mild eyes," to finish more, and be more subdued; but
neither am I sure of that. When authors write best, or, at least,
when they write most fluently, an influence seems to waken in them
which becomes their master--which will have its way--putting out of
view all behests but its own, dictating certain words, and insisting
on their being used, whether vehement or measured in their nature, new
moulding characters, giving unthought of turns to incidents, rejecting
carefully elaborated old ideas, and suddenly creating and adopting new
ones. Is it not so? And should we try to counteract this influence?
Can we indeed counteract it?' {126}
The playful raillery with which the one parries an attack on her liberty,
and the vehement eloquence of the other in pleading the same cause and
maintaining the independence of genius, are very characteristic of the
minds of the respective writers.
The suggestions which Jane received as to the sort of story that she
ought to write were, however, an amusement to her, though they were not
likely to prove useful; and she has left amongst her papers one entitled,
'Plan of a novel according to hints from various quarters.' The names of
some of those advisers are written on the margin of the manuscript
opposite to their respective suggestions.
'Heroine to be the daughter of a clergyman, who after having lived
much in the world had retired from it, and settled on a curacy with a
very small fortune of his own. The most excellent man that can be
imagined, perfect in character, temper, and manner, without the
smallest drawback or peculiarity to prevent his being the most
delightful companion to his daughter from one year's end to the other.
Heroine faultless in character, beautiful in person, and possessing
every possible accomplishment. Book to open with father and daughter
conversing in long speeches, elegant language, and a tone of high
serious sentiment. The father induced, at his daughter's earnest
request, to relate to her the past events of his life. Narrative to
reach through the greater part of the first volume; as besides all the
circumstances of his attachment to her mother, and their marriage, it
will comprehend his going to sea as chaplain to a distinguished naval
character about the court; and his going afterwards to court himself,
which involved him in many interesting situations, concluding with his
opinion of the benefits of tithes being done away with . . . . From
this outset the story will proceed, and contain a striking variety of
adventures. Father an exemplary parish priest, and devoted to
literature; but heroine and father never above a fortnight in one
place: he being driven from his curacy by the vile arts of some
totally unprincipled and heartless young man, desperately in love with
the heroine, and pursuing her with unrelenting passion. No sooner
settled in one country of Europe, than they are compelled to quit it,
and retire to another, always making new acquaintance, and always
obliged to leave them. This will of course exhibit a wide variety of
character. The scene will be for ever shifting from one set of people
to another, but there will be no mixture, all the good will be
unexceptionable in every respect. There will be no foibles or
weaknesses but with the wicked, who will be completely depraved and
infamous, hardly a resemblance of humanity left in them. Early in her
career, the heroine must meet with the hero: all perfection, of
course, and only prevented from paying his addresses to her by some
excess of refinement. Wherever she goes, somebody falls in love with
her, and she receives repeated offers of marriage, which she refers
wholly to her father, exceedingly angry that he should not be the
first applied to. Often carried away by the anti-hero, but rescued
either by her father or the hero. Often reduced to support herself
and her father by her talents, and work for her bread; continually
cheated, and defrauded of her hire; worn down to a skeleton, and now
and then starved to death. At last, hunted out of civilised society,
denied the poor shelter of the humblest cottage, they are compelled to
retreat into Kamtschatka, where the poor father quite worn down,
finding his end approaching, throws himself on the ground, and after
four or five hours of tender advice and parental admonition to his
miserable child, expires in a fine burst of literary enthusiasm,
intermingled with invectives against the holders of tithes. Heroine
inconsolable for some time, but afterwards crawls back towards her
former country, having at least twenty narrow escapes of falling into
the hands of anti-hero; and at last, in the very nick of time, turning
a corner to avoid him, runs into the arms of the hero himself, who,
having just shaken off the scruples which fettered him before, was at
the very moment setting off in pursuit of her. The tenderest and
completest _eclaircissement_ takes place, and they are happily united.
Throughout the whole work heroine to be in the most elegant society,
and living in high style.'
Since the first publication of this memoir, Mr. Murray of Albemarle
Street has very kindly sent to me copies of the following letters, which
his father received from Jane Austen, when engaged in the publication of
'Emma.' The increasing cordiality of the letters shows that the author
felt that her interests were duly cared for, and was glad to find herself
in the hands of a publisher whom she could consider as a friend.
Her brother had addressed to Mr. Murray a strong complaint of the
tardiness of a printer:--
'23 Hans Place, Thursday, November 23 (1815).
'SIR,--My brother's note last Monday has been so fruitless, that I am
afraid there can be but little chance of my writing to any good
effect; but yet I am so very much disappointed and vexed by the delays
of the printers, that I cannot help begging to know whether there is
no hope of their being quickened. Instead of the work being ready by
the end of the present month, it will hardly, at the rate we now
proceed, be finished by the end of the next; and as I expect to leave
London early in December, it is of consequence that no more time
should be lost. Is it likely that the printers will be influenced to
greater dispatch and punctuality by knowing that the work is to be
dedicated, by permission, to the Prince Regent? If you can make that
circumstance operate, I shall be very glad. My brother returns
"Waterloo" with many thanks for the loan of it. We have heard much of
Scott's account of Paris. {130} If it be not incompatible with other
arrangements, would you favour us with it, supposing you have any set
already opened? You may depend upon its being in careful hands.
'I remain, Sir, your obt. humble Set.
'J. AUSTEN.'
'Hans Place, December 11 (1815).
'DEAR SIR,--As I find that "Emma" is advertised for publication as
early as Saturday next, I think it best to lose no time in settling
all that remains to be settled on the subject, and adopt this method
as involving the smallest tax on your time.
'In the first place, I beg you to understand that I leave the terms on
which the trade should be supplied with the work entirely to your
judgment, entreating you to be guided in every such arrangement by
your own experience of what is most likely to clear off the edition
rapidly. I shall be satisfied with whatever you feel to be best. The
title-page must be "Emma, dedicated by permission to H.R.H. the Prince
Regent." And it is my particular wish that one set should be
completed and sent to H.R.H. two or three days before the work is
generally public. It should be sent under cover to the Rev. J. S.
Clarke, Librarian, Carlton House. I shall subjoin a list of those
persons to whom I must trouble you to forward also a set each, when
the work is out; all unbound, with "From the Authoress" in the first
page.
'I return you, with very many thanks, the books you have so obligingly
supplied me with. I am very sensible, I assure you, of the attention
you have paid to my convenience and amusement. I return also
"Mansfield Park," as ready for a second edition, I believe, as I can
make it. I am in Hans Place till the 16th. From that day inclusive,
my direction will be Chawton, Alton, Hants.
'I remain, dear Sir,
'Yr faithful humb. Servt.
'J. AUSTEN.
'I wish you would have the goodness to send a line by the bearer,
stating _the day_ on which the set will be ready for the Prince
Regent.'
'Hans Place, December 11 (1815).
'DEAR SIR,--I am much obliged by yours, and very happy to feel
everything arranged to our mutual satisfaction. As to my direction
about the title-page, it was arising from my ignorance only, and from
my having never noticed the proper place for a dedication. I thank
you for putting me right. Any deviation from what is usually done in
such cases is the last thing I should wish for. I feel happy in
having a friend to save me from the ill effect of my own blunder.
'Yours, dear Sir, &c.
'J. AUSTEN.'
'Chawton, April 1, 1816.
'DEAR SIR,--I return you the "Quarterly Review" with many thanks. The
Authoress of "Emma" has no reason, I think, to complain of her
treatment in it, except in the total omission of "Mansfield Park." I
cannot but be sorry that so clever a man as the Reviewer of "Emma"
should consider it as unworthy of being noticed. You will be pleased
to hear that I have received the Prince's thanks for the _handsome_
copy I sent him of "Emma." Whatever he may think of _my_ share of the
work, yours seems to have been quite right.
'In consequence of the late event in Henrietta Street, I must request
that if you should at any time have anything to communicate by letter,
you will be so good as to write by the post, directing to me (Miss J.
Austen), Chawton, near Alton; and that for anything of a larger bulk,
you will add to the same direction, by _Collier's Southampton coach_.
'I remain, dear Sir,
'Yours very faithfully,
'J. AUSTEN.'
About the same time the following letters passed between the Countess of
Morley and the writer of 'Emma.' I do not know whether they were
personally acquainted with each other, nor in what this interchange of
civilities originated:--
_The Countess of Morley to Miss J. Austen_.
'Saltram, December 27 (1815).
'MADAM,--I have been most anxiously waiting for an introduction to
"Emma," and am infinitely obliged to you for your kind recollection of
me, which will procure me the pleasure of her acquaintance some days
sooner than I should otherwise have had it. I am already become
intimate with the Woodhouse family, and feel that they will not amuse
and interest me less than the Bennetts, Bertrams, Norrises, and all
their admirable predecessors. I can give them no higher praise.
'I am, Madam, your much obliged
'F. MORLEY.'
_Miss J. Austen to the Countess of Morley_.
'MADAM,--Accept my thanks for the honour of your note, and for your
kind disposition in favour of "Emma." In my present state of doubt as
to her reception in the world, it is particularly gratifying to me to
receive so early an assurance of your Ladyship's approbation. It
encourages me to depend on the same share of general good opinion
which "Emma's" predecessors have experienced, and to believe that I
have not yet, as almost every writer of fancy does sooner or later,
overwritten myself.
'I am, Madam,
'Your obliged and faithful Servt.
'J. AUSTEN.'
'December 31, 1815.'