LAST DAYS
The evening of Jane’s life had set in, but yet it had not occurred
even to those who loved her best that they must inevitably lose her.
She was in her forty-first year; recognition from the public had just
begun to be accorded to her; in the novels she had lately written
no sign of decay could be detected. It is true that in both _Emma_
and _Persuasion_ there is a particular maturity of rendering, and a
kindlier tone that marks perhaps a difference, but not degeneracy.
If the word seriousness can ever be used of such clear-cut, brilliant
work as hers, we might say that a certain sweet seriousness pervaded
these two, which are more alike in tone than any of the other
novels. _Persuasion_ has been called the “most beautiful of all the
novels”; it has many excellencies, not the least among which is the
character of the heroine, whose girlish weakness develops into a
loyal steadfastness. She has also that endearingness that perhaps
certain others of the heroines lack. In fact, of all the principal
female characters that of Anne Elliot has most of that nameless and
indefinable charm, which comes from a combination of qualities such as
firmness, gentleness, unselfishness, sympathy and sweetness, a charm
which is more lovable than any number of stereotyped graces. Though
Anne was at one time weak, we feel that she outgrows it, that it was
the weakness of immaturity, not of character, and that her loyalty
fully redeems it.
Jane herself says of Anne Elliot, “You may perhaps like the heroine
as she is almost too good for me,” yet the too-good note seems less
obtrusive with Anne than with Fanny Price, whose exceeding surface
meekness does sometimes produce a little exasperation. Anne and Fanny
have the most in common among the heroines of the novels, yet what a
difference is there! Fanny has many virtues, but her intense nervous
sensitiveness makes one feel her self-consciousness, and underlying all
her shrinking there was a quality of obstinacy that is felt without
being insisted upon. It is just the subtle difference that Jane knew
so well how to make, the feeling perhaps is that Fanny is not quite a
gentlewoman, that she would be difficult to get on with, however meek
and self-effacing on the surface, while Anne could never be anything
but a delightful companion.
Incidentally some parts of _Persuasion_ have already been referred to,
Louisa Musgrove’s fall on the Cobb, the scenes that take place in Bath,
the touching words of Anne when she feels that she has hopelessly lost
her lover, which strike a deeper note of feeling than any other in the
whole range of the novels. It remains therefore but to say that there
is no secondary character to equal those of Miss Bates or Mr. Collins,
that the secondary characters are in all cases less sharply defined
than those usually depicted by Jane, but that Captain Wentworth is
equal to his good fortune, and that as a pair of lovers he and Anne
stand unrivalled.
_Persuasion_ was finished in July 1816, but Jane was not satisfied with
it, perhaps her own failing health and the sense of tiredness that
went with it, had made her lose that grip of the action that she had
hitherto held so well; she felt the story did not end satisfactorily,
that it wanted bringing together and clinching so to speak; Mr.
Austen-Leigh says: “This weighed upon her mind, the more so probably on
account of her weak state of health, so that one night she retired to
rest in very low spirits. But such depression was little in accordance
with her nature, and was soon shaken off. The next morning she woke
to more cheerful views and brighter inspirations; the sense of power
revived and imagination resumed its course. She cancelled the condemned
chapter and wrote two others, entirely different, in its stead.”
These were the tenth and eleventh chapters, and contained the scene in
which Anne so touchingly expresses her ideas on the theme of woman’s
love. There is no question that the story as it now stands is improved
by the change, and that her instinct was true. Mr. Austen-Leigh gives
the cancelled chapter in his _Memoir_, and it certainly is “tame and
flat” compared with the others, and had she not made the substitution
it might justly have been said that _Persuasion_, however charming, did
show signs of failing power.
This book was not published until after her death, when it appeared
in one volume with _Northanger Abbey_, the first to which her name was
prefixed, this came out in 1818 with a Memoir by her brother Henry. Up
to the time of her death she had received nearly seven hundred pounds
for the published books, which, considering her anonymity, and entire
lack of publicity and influence, must have appeared to her, and indeed
was, wonderful, though in comparison with the true value of the work
very little indeed.
In December 1816 her brothers, Henry and Charles, were both at Chawton,
and she speaks of their being in good health and spirits. She got
through the winter well, and wrote to a friend in January, “Such mild
weather is, you know, delightful to us, and though we have a great many
ponds and a fine running stream through the meadows on the other side
of the road, it is nothing but what beautifies us and does to talk
of. I have certainly gained strength through the winter, and am not
far from being well. And I think I understand my own case now so much
better than I did, as to be able by care to keep off any serious return
of illness.”
She had taken to using a donkey-carriage in good weather, and doubtless
this was a great boon, though she was able to walk one way either to
or from Alton without over-fatigue, and hoped to be able to manage
both ways when the summer came. In January also she mentions that her
brother Henry, who was now ordained, was coming down to preach. “It
will be a nervous hour for our pew, though we hear that he acquits
himself with as much ease and collectedness as if he had been used to
it all his life.”
Her last completed book _Persuasion_ was not her last work, even in
declining strength the motive power was unabated.
“Upon a fitful revival of her strength, at the beginning of 1817, she
fell eagerly to work at a story, of which she wrote twelve chapters.
It has no name, and the plot and purpose are undeveloped. But some of
the personages sketched have more than promise. There is a Mr. Parker
with fixed theories as to the fashionable watering place he hopes to
evolve out of a Sussex fishing village; there is a rich and vulgar Lady
Denham, who will certainly disappoint her relatives by the testamentary
disposition of her property, and there are two maiden ladies who
thoroughly ‘enjoy’ bad health, and quack themselves to their heart’s
content. Whatever the plot to be unravelled, there is no sign that the
writer’s hand had lost its cunning.” (Mr. Austin Dobson’s preface to
Macmillan’s edition of _Northanger Abbey_.)
We are told by Mr. Austen-Leigh that the date on the last chapter of
this MS. was March 17, which, “as the watch of a drowned man denotes
the time of his death, so does this final date seem to fix the period
when her mind could no longer pursue its accustomed course.”
It was in March that her own family began to think seriously of the
malady that was so insidiously making inroads on her vitality. Her
niece Caroline, Anna’s half-sister, and sister of the Mr. Austen-Leigh
to whose _Memoir_ the world is so much indebted, was then a child of
twelve; she came about the end of March to stay at Chawton, but found
her aunt so ill that she could not be taken in, so she was sent on
to her half-sister Anna Lefroy; in her private records she gives the
following account from recollection: “The next day we walked over to
Chawton to make enquiries after our aunt, she was then keeping her
room, but said she would see us and we went up to her. She was in her
dressing-gown, and was sitting quite like an invalid in an arm-chair,
but she got up and kindly greeted us, and then pointing to seats which
had been arranged for us by the fire, ‘There is a chair for the married
lady, and a little stool for you, Caroline.’... I was struck by the
alteration in herself. She was very pale, her voice was weak and low,
and there was about her a general appearance of debility and suffering,
but I have been told that she never had much acute pain. She was not
equal to the exertion of talking to us, and our visit to the sick
room was a very short one, aunt Cassandra soon taking us away. I do
not suppose we stayed a quarter of an hour, and I never saw aunt Jane
again.”
It was in May that Jane was persuaded to go with her sister to lodgings
in Winchester for the sake of further medical advice, and she never
returned to Chawton, though probably that was the last thought that
would have occurred to her on leaving it, for she was never inclined to
be analytical or valetudinarian, and certainly she was one of the last
to affect illness, or become an invalid for fancy. Cassandra cannot
have known how soon she was to be bereaved of that dear sister whose
life had run in such harmony with her own, and though anxiety must have
darkened her heart, Jane’s own sanguineness would buoy her with fresh
hope, and the weeks the sisters passed together in Winchester must have
been singularly peaceful.
The house in which Jane stayed still stands, it is in College Street,
close to the great archway that marks the entrance to the College
precincts. She says of it herself, “Our lodgings are very comfortable,
we have a neat little drawing-room with a bow window overlooking Dr.
Gabell’s garden.”
Here her life and strength slowly ebbed away; day by day she was longer
chained to her sofa from increasing weakness. The elementary medical
knowledge of her day was powerless to help her, though her life,
humanly speaking, could probably have been prolonged if medical science
had then known what it knows now.
Day by day through the bow window overlooking the street, would come
the sound of boyish voices, the clatter of boyish feet, and she could
see the greenery of the trees in the garden beyond the wall. She had
plenty of companionship, Cassandra was ever with her, and Mrs. James
Austen helped in the nursing.
The slight sharpness arising from unusual penetration, which had
sometimes marked Jane’s comments in earlier days, had all died down,
she said gratefully to her sister-in-law, “You have always been a
kind sister to me, Mary,” and of her own dear Cassandra she said, “I
will only say further that my dearest sister, my tender, watchful,
indefatigable nurse, has not been made ill by her exertions. As to what
I owe her, and the anxious affection of all my beloved family on this
occasion, I can only cry over it, and pray God to bless them more and
more.”
And on July 18, when all the trees were at their greenest, and the
bright sunshine lighted up the walls of the hoary abbey, she passed
away. We can add nothing to her sister’s account, written in the agony
of the first bereavement, to her who was now closest to her heart, her
niece, Fanny Knight.
“My dearest Fanny,—Doubly dear to me now for her dear sake whom we have
lost. She did love you most sincerely.... Since Tuesday evening when
her complaint returned, there was a visible change, she slept more, and
much more comfortably; indeed during the last eight and forty hours she
was more asleep than awake. Her looks altered and she fell away, but I
perceived no material diminution of strength, and, though I was then
hopeless of her recovery, I had no suspicion how rapidly my loss was
approaching.
“I have lost a treasure, such a sister, such a friend as never can
have been surpassed. She was the sun of my life, the gilder of every
pleasure, the soother of every sorrow, I had not a thought concealed
from her, and it is as if I had lost a part of myself.
“... She felt herself to be dying about half an hour before she became
tranquil and apparently unconscious. During that half hour was her
struggle, poor soul! She said she could not tell us what she suffered,
though she complained of little fixed pain. When I asked her if there
was anything she wanted, her answer was she wanted nothing but death,
and some of her words were, ‘God grant me patience; pray for me, oh,
pray for me!’ Her voice was affected, but as long as she spoke she was
intelligible.
“I hope I do not break your heart, my dearest Fanny, by these
particulars, I mean to afford you gratification while I am relieving
my own feelings. I could not write so to anybody else.... On Thursday,
when the clock struck six, she was talking quietly to me. I cannot
say how soon afterwards she was seized again with faintness, which
was followed by the sufferings which she could not describe, but Mr.
Lyford who had been sent for, had applied something to give her ease,
and she was in a state of quiet insensibility by seven o’clock at the
latest. From that time till half past four when she ceased to breathe,
she scarcely moved a limb, so that we have every reason to think with
gratitude to the Almighty, that her sufferings were over. A slight
motion of the head with every breath remained till almost the last. I
sat close to her with a pillow in my lap to assist in supporting her
head which was almost off the bed, for six hours; fatigue made me then
resign my place to Mrs. J. A. for two hours and a half, when I took it
again, and in about an hour more she breathed her last.
“... There was nothing convulsed which gave the idea of pain in her
look; on the contrary, but for the continual motion of the head, she
gave one the idea of a beautiful statue, and even now in her coffin,
there is such a sweet serene air over her countenance as is quite
pleasant to contemplate.”
And later on after the funeral she wrote again, “Thursday was not
so dreadful a day to me as you imagined.... Everything was conducted
with the greatest tranquillity, and but that I was determined that I
would see the last, and therefore was upon the listen, I should not
have known when they left the house. I watched the little mournful
procession the length of the street, and when it turned from my sight,
and I had lost her for ever, even then I was not over-powered, nor so
much agitated as I am now in writing of it. Never was a human being
more sincerely mourned by those who attended her remains than was this
dear creature. May the sorrow with which she is parted with on earth be
a prognostic of the joy with which she is hailed in heaven!... Oh, if
I may one day be reunited to her there!”
Cassandra herself survived for twenty-eight years, and spent her last
days in the cottage at Chawton endeared to her by recollections of her
mother and beloved sister.
Jane’s resting-place in the Cathedral is almost opposite the tomb
of the founder, William of Wykeham. A large black slab of marble let
into the pavement marks the spot, it bears an inscription including
the following words: “The benevolence of her heart, the sweetness
of her temper, and the extraordinary endowments of her mind obtained
the regard of all who knew her, and the warmest love of her immediate
connexions.”
Subsequently her nephew Mr. Austen-Leigh inserted a brass on the wall
near with an inscription which runs as follows: “Jane Austen, known
to many by her writing, endeared to her family by the varied charms of
her character, and ennobled by Christian faith and piety, was born at
Steventon in the county of Hampshire Dec. 16, 1775, and buried in this
cathedral July 24, 1817. ‘She openeth her mouth with wisdom and in her
tongue is the law of kindness.’”
In 1900 a memorial window was inserted as the result of a public
subscription; it was designed and executed by C. E. Kemp. In the
head of the window is a figure of St. Augustine whose name in its
abbreviated form is St. Austin. In the centre of the upper row of
lights is David with his harp. Below his figure, in Latin, are the
words, “Remember in the Lord Jane Austen who died July 18, A.D. 1817.”
In the centre of the bottom row is the figure of St. John, and the
remaining figures are those of the sons of Korah carrying scrolls, with
sentences in Latin, indicative of the religious side of Jane Austen’s
character, namely, “Come ye children, hearken unto me; I will teach you
the fear of the Lord.” “Them that are meek shall He guide in judgement,
and such as are gentle them shall He teach His way.” “My mouth shall
speak of wisdom and my heart shall muse on understanding.” “My mouth
shall daily speak of Thy righteousness and Thy salvation.”
That Jane was so deeply and dearly loved by her own people speaks
much for her worth. She and Cassandra, especially Cassandra, were very
reticent in their expression of feeling, but seldom has heart been knit
to heart as were theirs. The love of sisters has not often formed the
theme of song or romance; we hear of a mother’s love for her son, of
a brother for a brother, but the love of sisters is, when it exists in
perfection, as strong as these, as pure in its spring, and more full of
feeling. Sisters whose hearts are open to one another, who have shared
the same experiences, look on the world from a similar standpoint,
and the breaking of such ties is severe agony. At only forty-one Jane
had passed away still in the highest maturity of her powers, leaving
behind her but six completed books, all short, but each one perfect in
itself. This is what will be said of her—She did what she attempted to
do perfectly. The books are all instinct with the same qualities, the
precision of word and phrase, the genius for knowing what to select and
what to leave unsaid, but not one is a repetition of another, in the
whole gallery of characters each one is distinct.
She was a real artist. Her work lay apart from and outside of herself.
We do not find a picture of herself under different names playing
heroine in different sets of circumstances; each heroine stands by
herself, and in her women’s portraits she reaches her high-water
mark—Elizabeth Bennet, Emma Woodhouse, Fanny Price, Anne Elliot,
Catherine Morland, Elinor Dashwood, we know each one as a friend, and
each one is completely differentiated.
So brilliant, so perfect, so stamped with its own individuality is each
of the books, that one wonders what she could possibly have produced
next to take rank with its forerunners. Within so small a compass, with
such a narrow stage on which to set the _dramatis personæ_, how did she
manage to make so great a variety?
It is in keeping with her character and work that there should be no
decline, no falling off, that all should be good; it is true that some
of the novels are preferred by one, some by another; some are stronger
in one point, some in another, but neither decay nor improvement can
justly be found between first and last. This is genius. Genius cannot
grow nor can it be cultivated, it is there, and its work is done
without effort and without labour. If Jane had not died at so early an
age, her life would not have seemed so complete, so rounded as it did.
Her dying in the full plenitude and maturity of power is in keeping
with the level excellence of her work.
Her life had been a happy one, free from mind worries, free from great
sorrows, her affections had wide play, her tastes full development;
she was happy in the love of one very near and dear, and if she missed
great ecstasies, she at least had no hideous sorrows to endure in the
sin or vice of those near to her. Her one great sorrow was perhaps the
death of her father, but he was not young, and in the natural course
of events his death cannot be called unexpected. Sunny, well-occupied,
surrounded with the refinements that a sensitive mind appreciates, she
lived out a life on a high uniform level. Her books supplied a motive
and mainspring that otherwise might have been felt to be lacking by
one so energetic. If, as has been said, happiness on earth demands
“someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for,” she had
all these, and much more.
TABULAR STATEMENT OF DATES OF NOVELS
+-------------------------+--------------+-----------+---------------+
| Name. | Begun. | Finished. | Published. |
+-------------------------+--------------+-----------+---------------+
| Pride and Prejudice | Oct. 1796 | Aug. 1797 | Early in 1813 |
| (First Impressions) | | | |
| | | | |
| Sense and Sensibility | Nov. 1797 | 1798 | June 1811 |
| (Elinor and Marianne) | | | |
| | | | |
| Northanger Abbey | 1798 | 1803 | 1818 |
| | | | |
| Mansfield Park | 1812 | Mar. 1814 | July 1814 |
| | | | |
| Emma | 1814 or 1815 | 1815 | Dec. 1815 |
| | | | |
| Persuasion | 1815 or 1816 | Aug. 1816 | 1818 |
+-------------------------+--------------+-----------+---------------+
RECORD OF JANE AUSTEN’S RESIDENCES
+-------------------------+--------------------+--------------------+
| | From | To |
+-------------------------+--------------------+--------------------+
| Steventon, Hants | _b._ Dec. 16, 1775 | Spring 1801 |
| | | |
| Bath— | | |
| 4 Sydney Terrace | Spring 1801 | Autumn 1804 |
| Green Park Buildings | Autumn 1804 | 1805 |
| 25 Gay Street | March 1805 | |
| | | |
| Southampton | End of 1805 | 1809 |
| | | |
| Chawton, Hants | Autumn 1809 | _d._ July 18, 1817 |
+-------------------------+--------------------+--------------------+
TABLE OF NEAR RELATIONS MENTIONED IN THE BOOK
(Rev.) GEORGE AUSTEN=CASSANDRA LEIGH
|
+--------------+-------+----+------------------+-----+
| | | | |
Anne Matthew=James=Mary Lloyd | Eliza de=Henry=Eleanor Cassandra |
| | | Feuillade Jackson |
B. Lefroy=Anna | | |
+---+------+ | |
| | | |
Edward Austen- Caroline | |
Leigh | |
Edward Knight=Elizabeth Bridges |
| |
+-------+-+---------+------------+ |
| | | | |
Sir E. Knatchbull=Fanny Edward George Other sons |
Bart. | and daughters |
| |
Lord Brabourne, |
and others +-----------------------------+
|
+--------------+-----+-------+
| | |
Mary=Francis=Martha | Fanny=Charles=Harriet
Gibson (Admiral Lloyd | Palmer | Palmer
of Fleet) | |
| Cassy, etc.
|
JANE
INDEX
Acting, 291-295.
Alexander, Emperor, 272.
Alexandria, Battle of, 253.
Alger, J. G., on travel, 10-11.
Allen, Ralph, 111.
Amiens, Treaty of, 254.
Art of the period, 8-9.
Ashton, John, on the press-gang, 206-207;
on feminine costume, 240.
Austen family—
Connections, 16.
Genealogical table of, 326.
Austen, Anna (niece), _see_ Lefroy.
Austen, Caroline (niece), on Jane’s illness, 317.
Austen, Cassandra (sister), Jane’s attachment to, 18, 19, 31,
116, 322;
engagement of, 19;
Jane’s letters destroyed by, 20;
visits to Goodnestone and Godmersham, 253, 258, 262-263;
at Winchester, 317-319;
letters after Jane’s death, 319-321;
last days of, 321;
_cited_—on the sea-side romance, 131-132;
otherwise mentioned, 166-167, 303.
Austen, Cassy (niece), 297.
Austen, Adm. Charles John (brother), marriages of, 19, 297;
naval career of, 19, 197, 199, 208;
at Godmersham, 296;
at Chawton (1816), 315;
mentioned, 107.
Austen, Mrs. Charles (Fanny Palmer), 19, 297.
Austen, Edward (brother), _see_ Knight.
Austen, Adm. of the Fleet Francis (brother), marriages of, 19, 256;
naval career of, 151, 196-199;
shares the home at Southampton, 256;
otherwise mentioned, 148, 149.
Austen, Mrs. Francis (Mary Gibson), 256, 258.
Austen, Mrs. Francis (Martha Lloyd), popularity of, with the Austens,
17, 256-257, 263;
marriage of, 19, 256;
at Bath, 254;
at Southampton, 256-257.
Austen, Rev. George (father), career of, 15-16;
retirement to Bath, 212-213;
hobbies, 213;
income, 215;
death, 133, 213, 223;
characteristics, 41, 62;
otherwise mentioned, 59, 177.
Austen, Mrs. (mother), health of, 59-60;
income of, 255, 256;
at Chawton, 269;
mentioned, 184.
Austen, Rev. Henry (brother), marriages of, 18, 288;
Jane’s literary affairs managed by, 18, 193, 272;
Memoir by, prefixed to _Northanger Abbey_, 57-58, 194, 315;
sponsor to Edward Cooper (junior), 118;
Jane’s visits to, 278, 288, 298, 303;
illness of, 303-304;
at Chawton (1816), 315;
in Orders, 316;
career of, 149;
estimate of, 278;
_cited_—on _Mansfield Park_, 273, 276;
otherwise mentioned, 148, 293.
Austen, Mrs. Henry (Eliza de Feuillade), 18, 112, 278, 288.
Austen, Mrs. Henry (Eleanor Jackson), 18, 288.
Austen, Rev. James (brother), marriages of, 17;
at Steventon, 212-213;
visit to Southampton, 258;
visit to Godmersham (1808), 260-262;
otherwise mentioned, 194, 214.
Austen, Mrs. James (Mary Lloyd), Jane’s attitude towards, 214, 258,
261, 318-319;
on Harriet Moore, 262.
Austen, Jane—
_Career_—parentage and family, 15-19;
childhood, 23, 26, 31;
school days, 31, 32;
home life, 71;
early writings, 77-78;
visits to relatives, 19, 66, 105, 119, 133, 148-151;
offers of marriage, 129, 131;
romance, 131, 262, 268;
_Pride and Prejudice_, 176, 184-185;
_Sense and Sensibility_, 185, 188-189;
_Northanger Abbey_, 189, 193-194;
removal to Bath, 212-213, 215-218;
Green Park Buildings and Gay Street, 223;
at Lyme, 249-251;
visit to Godmersham (1805), 251;
move to Southampton, 251, 254;
visits to Eastwell and Goodnestone, 253;
at Southampton, 257-258;
at Chawton, 267-270;
visits to London, 278-279, 286-288;
theatre-going, 290, 293-295;
at Godmersham (1813), 296;
nursing Henry (1815), 298, 303-304;
interview with Prince Regent’s librarian, 304-305;
failing health, 314-319;
last work, 316-317;
at Winchester, 318;
death, 319-320;
tomb and memorials, 321-322.
_Characteristics_—
Appearance, 58.
Asperity, 129.
Cheerfulness, 58, 129, 324.
Critical faculty, 185.
Fastidiousness, 129, 132.
Health, 58-59.
Humour, 1, 181.
Narrowness of vision, 50, 254.
Penetration and grasp of detail, 1, 9, 49, 81, 95, 129, 132, 318.
Practicality, 58.
Selective faculty, 311.
Superficiality, 58.
Vivacity and wit, 123, 129.
Comparison of, with Fanny Burney, 87, 97;
with George Eliot, 100-101;
with Charlotte Brontë, 103-104;
with Maria Edgeworth, 181-182.
Estimates of, unfavourable, 128.
Portrait of, at 15, 32;
later, 57.
Austen-Leigh, James Edward (nephew), birth of, 194;
name of Leigh assumed by, 17, 216;
_Memoir_ of Jane Austen by, 17;
memorial brass inserted by, 321;
_quoted_—on Steventon, 13, 14;
on Jane’s popularity with children, 23;
on Jane’s accomplishments, 32-33;
on furniture, 63;
on Jane’s early writings, 78;
on the Coopers, 118;
on minuets, 126;
on the sea-side romance, 131-132;
on the home at Southampton, 255;
on Henry Austen, 278;
on _Persuasion_, 314-315, 317;
_cited_—on minuet-dancing, 223;
letters in the _Memoir_, 249, 276;
_The Watsons_ in the _Memoir_, 251;
cancelled chapter of _Persuasion_ in the _Memoir_, 315.
Baillie, Joanna, 172.
Balls—
Bath, at, 222-225.
Country, 119-120.
Dances at, 121 (_see also_ Dancing).
Dress at, 124-127;
masculine, 126.
Etiquette of, 121-123.
_Evelina_, account in, 121-123.
Formality of, 121.
Partners at, 121-123.
Bateson, Mary, _cited_, 238.
Bath—
Abbey, 219.
Assembly Rooms, 220-221.
Austens’ removal to, 212-213, 215-218;
house in Sydney Place, 219;
table of residences, 325.
Balls at, 222-225.
Characteristics of the town, 219.
House-hunting in, 215-218.
Nash’s renovation of, 220-221, 247-248.
_New Guide_ on, 224.
Pump Room, 219-220.
Society of, reproduced in _Northanger Abbey_, 189-190.
Besant, Sir Walter, _quoted_—on eighteenth-century morals, 95;
on franking of letters, 113-114;
on wigs, 235-236.
“Blue-stocking,” origin of epithet, 7.
Boothby, Capt. Charles, _quoted_, 156-157.
Brabourne, Lord, family of, 18, 301;
_cited_—on the Coopers, 117-118;
on Fanny Knight, 270;
_quoted_—on Godmersham, 251-252, 261.
Brasbridge, Joseph, _cited_, 114.
Bridges, Harriet, _see_ Moore.
Bridges, Louisa, 148, 149.
Bridges, Marianne, 253.
Brontë, Charlotte, compared with George Eliot, 100-102;
with Jane Austen, 103-104.
Brydges, Sir Egerton, on Jane’s appearance, 57.
Burnet, Bishop, _quoted_, 47.
Burney, Fanny, works of, 86-87, 97;
Macaulay’s criticism of, 164-165;
Walpole’s criticism of, 165;
lively environment of, 164;
_cited_—on the Court, 305-306.
Byron, 173.
Cage, Lewis, 148, 149.
_Camilla_, 165.
Campbell, Thomas, 173.
Caps, 230-232.
Card games, 5, 127.
_Cecilia_, 86, 87, 97, 165, 176.
Charades, 264.
Chawton Cottage, Austens’ home at, 266-270.
Chawton House—
Acquisition of, by Edward Knight, 17.
Lawsuit concerning, 128, 297.
Value of, 255, 297.
_Cheverels of Cheverel Manor, The_, 8, 65, 67, 77;
travelling described in, 154-155.
Children—
Books for, 28.
Jane’s attitude towards, 23-24;
her popularity with, 23;
her delineation of, 24-27.
Treatment of, 22, 27.
Churches, 38-39.
Clarence, Duke of (William IV.), 307.
_Clarentine_, 168.
Clarke, Mr., 304-305.
Clergy—
Examination of, for Orders, 46-47.
Jane’s references to, 43.
Livings of, 42.
Position of, 34-37, 44-45.
Types of, 40-43.
Coaches, 156-158, 282.
Coals and coal mines, 64-65.
_Cœlebs in Search of a Wife_, estimate of, 167;
_quoted_, 27, 30;
_cited_, 96.
Coleridge, 173.
Comedy of Jane Austen, character of, 1, 88.
Cooper, Dr., 117, 119.
Cooper, Edward, 117-118.
Cooper, Jane (Lady Williams), 118.
_Country Clergyman_—_cited_, 40.
Country gentlemen, 91.
Cowper, William, Jane’s partiality for, 14, 58, 169, 170, 258;
_quoted_—on the clergy, 37, 40;
on condition of labourers, 74.
Crabbe, 170-171, 293.
Dancing, 121, 123-124, 126-128;
the waltz, 121;
the minuet, 126, 223;
the quadrille, 127-128, 149;
the Boulangeries, 149.
Deportment, 121.
Dobson, Austin, _cited_, 186, 189;
_quoted_, 316.
Dockwra, William, 109-111.
Dress—
Academic, 239.
Ball, 125-127.
Caps, 230-232.
Cloaks, 240.
Excesses in, 229-230.
Fabrics, 241-242;
cost of, 242-243.
Feminine costumes, 73, 239-241.
Fruit-wearing, 229.
Headgear, 230-234;
feathers, 125, 232, 234, 283;
wigs, 235-236, 239.
Hoops, 244.
Jane Austen’s lack of reference to, in the novels, 4;
particular description of, in a letter, 243.
Masculine, 126, 245-247.
Mamaloucs, 231.
Night-caps, 232-233.
Nomenclature of, 243.
Pelisses, 241.
Pockets, absence of, 244.
Scantiness of, 240.
Edgeworth, Maria, works of, 87;
_Emma_ presented to, 172;
Jane Austen compared with, 181-182.
Education of girls, 29-31.
Eighteenth-century period, scope of, 3.
Eliot, George, Charlotte Brontë and Jane Austen compared
with, 100, 101.
_Emma_—
Characters of, 308-310;
children, 24, 26;
clerical character, 43, 48;
Mrs. Bennet, 61;
Harriet, 139-142.
Date of, 98.
Dedication of, 163, 305, 307.
Length of, 80.
Love depicted in, 136.
Personal appearance of heroine in, 57.
_Persuasion_ compared with, 313.
_Pride and Prejudice_ compared with, 99, 308-310.
Scott’s review of, 134-135, 310-311.
Otherwise mentioned, 69-70, 83-84, 91, 97, 115, 135.
Entertainments, 120.
_Evelina_, 87, 164, 186;
_cited_, 121-122.
_Fairchild Family, The_—_cited_, 28-29.
Fashion (_see also_ Dress)—
Bare necks, 220, 240.
Excesses of, 229-230, 240, 244.
Hair-dressing, 233-236, 239.
Ferrier, Miss, 82, 98, 174.
_First Impressions_, see _Pride and Prejudice_.
Flirtation, 119, 129-130.
Food, prices of, 70-71, 77.
Foreign affairs, outline of, 49-56, 253-254, 259-260, 270-272,
297-298.
Fox, George, 247, 259.
French Revolution and Reign of Terror, 50-53.
Furniture, 63.
Gardening, 71-72.
Garrick, David, 161, 291, 292.
Gas, 284-285.
Geography of the period, 6-7.
George III., King, 94, 235, 305-306.
Gibson, Mary (Mrs. F. Austen), 256, 258.
Gloucester, Duke of, 253.
Godmersham—
Acquisition of, by Edward Knight, 17, 148.
Description of, 251-252.
Temple Plantation, 261.
Goodnestone, visits to, 253.
Gordon, Duchess of (1791), 56.
Gosse, Edmund, on eighteenth-century literature, 169.
Grosley, M., _quoted_—on English breakfasts, 66;
on wages, 72;
on coaching, 157-158;
on King George III., 235;
on London, 280-281, 283-286;
on the stage, 291-292.
Hair-dressing, 231, 233-234;
feathers, 125, 232, 234, 283;
wigs, 235-236, 239;
powder, 237-239.
Hastings, Warren, 56.
Hats and bonnets, 234.
Hatton, George, 253.
Highwaymen, 158-160.
Hill, Constance, _cited_, 46.
Hill, Rowland, 109, 111.
Housekeeping, 65.
Inchbald, Mrs., 172.
India, affairs of, 55-56.
Ireland, union of, with England, 55.
Jackson, Eleanor (Mrs. H. Austen), 18, 288.
_Jane Austen and Her Contemporaries_—_quoted_, 92.
Johnson, Dr. Samuel, Jane’s partiality for, 58, 169;
Fanny Burney influenced by, 164-165;
wigs of, 236;
otherwise mentioned, 164, 171.
Kean, Charles, 294-295.
Kemble, 291.
Kensington Gardens, 288-289.
Kent, Duke of, 307;
letter of, to Mr. Creevy, 94.
_Kentish Country House, A_—_cited_, 182-183.
Knatchbull, Lady (Fanny Catherine Knight) (niece), Jane’s attachment
to, 18, 252, 270, 288;
shopping with, 287;
letter to, on marriage, etc., 298-301;
Cassandra’s letters to, after Jane’s death, 319-321;
estimate of, 260-261, 263;
marriage and family of, 18, 301;
mentioned, 19.
Knight, Mr., presents Steventon to George Austen, 16;
adopts Edward Austen, 17, 148;
mentioned, 59.
Knight, Mrs., 17, 148, 261.
Knight, Edward (brother), adopted by his cousin, 17, 148;
marriage of, 18;
Jane’s visits to (1796), 148-151;
(1805), 251-252;
(1808), 260-261;
lawsuit concerning Chawton, 128, 297;
family of, 252;
offers Chawton Cottage to his mother, 266;
otherwise mentioned, 133, 255, 287, 293, 303.
Knight, Mrs. E. (Elizabeth Bridges), 133, 148;
death of, 260, 262-263.
Knight, Edward (nephew), 150, 263-264, 296.
Knight, Fanny (niece), _see_ Knatchbull.
Knight, George (nephew), 263-264, 296.
Labourers—
Condition of, 73-75.
Wages of, 76.
Lackington (bookseller), 114.
_Lady Susan_, 99.
Landor, W. S., 239.
Langdale, Lord, _quoted_—on travel, 10;
on night-caps, 233.
Latournelle, Mrs., 31.
Lefroy, Mrs. Benjamin (Anna Austen) (niece), at Chawton, 269;
novel-writing by, 301-302;
marriage of, 302;
_cited_, 131-133;
mentioned, 17.
Lefroy, Tom, 107, 119, 129-130.
Leigh, Rev. Thomas (grandfather), 16, 118.
Leigh-Perrot, Mrs., 119, 216.
Letters of Jane Austen—
Contemporary events, lack of reference to, 5, 9.
Date of earliest published, 106, 117.
Pettiness in, 214-215.
Style of, 107.
Letters of the period—
Carriage of, 109-111.
Cost of transmission of, 109, 111, 114, 116.
Fetching of, 115-116.
Form of, 108.
Franking of, 112-115.
Importance of, as news-carriers, 6.
Style of, 106-107.
Liston, 293, 294.
Literature of the period—
Leading works of, classified, 171-174.
Novels, _see that title_.
Lloyd, Martha, _see_ Austen, Mrs. F.
London of the period—
Coaches in, 282.
Dangers of, 283-284.
Dirt of, 281-282.
Extent of, 279-280.
Fogs of, 285.
Kensington Gardens, 288-289.
Lighting of, 284-285.
Paving in, 280-282.
Postage arrangements in, 109-110.
Press-gang in, 207.
Rent, etc., in, 286.
Shops in, 286.
Streets in, 285.
Theatres in, 290-292;
private, 193,
Watchmen in, 284.
Love, 135-139, 146-147.
Lyme, 249-251.
Macaulay, Lord, _quoted_—on Jane Austen’s art, 84;
on novels previous to Miss Burney’s, 86;
on Miss Burney’s environment, 164;
on her work, 164-165.
Mail-coaches, 111-112.
_Mansfield Park_—
Characters of, 210-211, 273-275;
children, 26-27;
clerical characters, 43-46;
Fanny Price, 314.
Date of, 98.
Education described in, 29-30.
Minuet described in, 126.
Publication of, 277.
Scene of, 257, 275.
Second edition of, 311.
Writing of, 270, 273.
Otherwise mentioned, 4, 62, 82-83, 104, 145, 256, 310.
Marriage—
Jane Austen’s view of, 137, 144-146.
Modern attitude towards, 139.
_Marriage_, 82, 98, 174.
Matches, sulphur, 64.
Mathews, Charles, 293, 294.
Meal times, 65-67, 162.
Meals, 68.
Mitford, Miss, description of Jane Austen given to, 128;
list of books read by, 168-169;
publication of _Our Village_ by, 174;
_quoted_—on M. St. Quintin’s, 31-32;
on the waltz, 121;
on morning calls, 162;
on _Waverley_, 173;
on _Pride and Prejudice_, 181-182;
on Kean, 295;
_cited_—on _Self Control_, 167;
on the Chawton lawsuit, 297.
Mitford, Mrs., recollections of Jane Austen by, 128.
Montagu, Mrs., 7.
Moore, Mrs. (Harriet Bridges), at Godmersham, 261-262;
mentioned, 148, 149, 253.
Moore, Sir J., 265.
Moore, Thomas, 173.
Morals, 94-95.
More, Hannah, fêting of, 161;
popular estimate of, 172;
plays by, 162-163;
_quoted_—on Mrs. Montagu, 7;
on children, 27;
on mail-coaches, 112;
on abolition of letter-franking, 114-115;
on dress, 243;
_cited_—on fruit-wearing, 229-230;
_Cœlebs in Search of a Wife_, see that title.
Morning calls, 162.
Mothers as depicted by Jane Austen, 60-62, 89-90, 188.
Mourning, 253.
Murray, Mr., 310-312.
Names, female, 90.
Napoleon Bonaparte, 53-54, 253-254, 259-260, 271, 297, 298.
Nash, Beau, 220-223, 247-248.
Navy—
Bounties, system of, 206.
Captains accompanied by their families, custom of, 296.
Corruption in, 204.
Hardships of, 201-205.
Interest, abuse of, 208-209.
Mutiny in, 209-210.
Officers’ careers in, 201.
Press for, 206-207.
Prize-money in, 207-208.
Victories of, 199-200.
_New Guide, The_—_quoted_, 224, 246-247.
Night-caps, 232-233.
_Northanger Abbey_—
Ball described in, 225-226.
Biographical Memoir prefixed to, 58, 90, 194.
Date of, 98.
Estimates of, 189, 193.
Local colour in, 227.
Preface to, by Jane Austen, 194.
Publication of, 315.
Publisher’s neglect of, 193, 251.
Scene and characters of, 189-193.
Otherwise mentioned, 4, 13, 43, 47, 82, 88, 119, 124, 145,
224-225, 247.
Novelists prior to Jane Austen, 85.
Novels of Jane Austen (_see also separate titles_)—
Character the main feature of, 4, 102.
Characters of, 91-92;
children, 24-27;
mothers, 60-62, 89-90, 188;
male characters, 186, 210-211;
secondary characters, 308.
Comedy of, 1, 88.
Humanity of, 81, 84.
Humour of, 81.
Individuality of, 323.
Modernity of, 5.
Refinement of, 94-95.
Religion, lack of mention of, 90.
Scenery ignored in, 14.
Selective art exhibited in, 82, 95, 311.
Style of, 97.
Tabular list of, 325.
Novels of the period—
Character of, 85-86, 168.
Gosse’s classification of, 169.
Jane Austen’s reading of, 166.
Omnibuses, 282.
_Our Village_, 174.
Palmer, Fanny, _see_ Austen, Mrs. C.
Papendick, Mrs., _quoted_—on plate and services, 69;
on hair-powder, 238;
on dress, 231, 241.
Parish visiting, 73.
Perrot, _see_ Leigh-Perrot.
_Persuasion_—
Characters in, 210-211;
Anne Elliot, 314.
Date of, 98.
Estimate of, 313.
Local colour in, 227-228.
Love depicted in, 137-138.
Publication of, 315.
Scene of, 249-250, 314.
Writing of, 312, 314-315.
Otherwise mentioned, 24, 62, 90, 208, 224-225, 296.
_Petrel_ (ship sloop), 198-199.
Plate and services, 68-69.
Pollock, Mr., _cited_, 92, 310.
Porter, Jane, 166.
Post office, development of, 109-111, 115.
Post-boys, 111.
Powys, Mrs. Philip Lybbe (Caroline Girle), 117, 119;
_quoted_—on Steventon inn, 12;
on Holkham, 67;
on an evening party, 127;
on highway robbery, 160;
on boy officers, 209;
on Bath balls, 223-224;
on Southampton, 257;
on Wedgwood’s, 287;
on medical treatment, 303.
_Pride and Prejudice_—
Characters of—Mr. Collins, 35-36, 183-184;
Elizabeth, 58, 81, 95-96, 123, 178-180, 182;
Darcy, 179-181;
Jane Bingley, 288.
Date of, 98.
_Emma_ compared with, 308-310.
_First Impressions_ the original title of, 99, 176.
Improbability in, 187.
Opinions on—by Sir W. Scott, 182;
by Miss Mitford, 181-182;
by Jane Austen, 184-185.
Publication of, 276-277.
Publisher’s refusal of, 177.
Social caste in, 92-93.
Otherwise mentioned, 58, 81-82, 124, 128, 145.
Prince Regent, _Emma_ dedicated to, 163, 305, 307;
librarian of, 304-305;
character of, 306-307;
home of, 286.
Radcliffe, Mrs., 88, 172, 189.
Residences of Jane Austen, table of, 325.
Roads, state of, 75, 116, 151-154.
Rogers, Samuel, _Pleasures of Memory_ published by, 173;
omnibus story of, 282;
_quoted_—on novels, 168;
on hair-powdering, 239;
_cited_—on head-dresses, 234;
on Fox, 247;
on executions, 284.
Romance, Scott’s plea for, 134-135.
Rowling, life at, 148-150.
St. Vincent, Battle of, 200.
Scott, Sir W., review of _Emma_ by, 134-135, 310-311;
authorship of _Waverley_ imputed to, 173;
_cited_—on _Pride and Prejudice_, 182.
Secker, Archbishop, cited, 35, 38.
Sedan chairs, 282-283.
_Self Control_, opinions on, 167-168.
Selwyn, George, _cited_, 283-284.
_Sense and Sensibility_—
Anonymous issue of, 163.
Characters of—children, 24-26;
Elinor, 136;
male characters, 86-187;
minor characters, 188.
Date of, 98.
Estimate of, 189.
Improbability in, 187.
Letter form of, 185.
Marriage, views on, depicted in, 142-144.
Origin of, 78.
Publication of, 268, 272-273.
Revision of, 270.
Title of, 177.
Otherwise mentioned, 26, 43, 47, 61-62, 83, 89, 91, 135, 136, 308.
Servants, wages of, 72-73.
Seward, Anna, 172.
Sheridan, R. B., old age of, 164;
plays of, 172.
Sherwood, Mrs., 28, 31.
Shopping, 286-287.
Siddons, Mrs., 292.
Sloane, Sir Hans, 279.
_Social England_—_cited_, 238.
Society of the period, entrée of, 161.
Southampton, 251, 254.
Southey, Robert, 173.
Stephens, Miss, 293, 294.
Steventon Rectory—
Description of, 12.
Sale of furniture of, 218.
Situation of, 12-14.
Style of the eighteenth century, 97, 258.
Swords, wearing of, 124-125, 282.
Tea, price of, 77.
_Téméraire_, mutineers on, 209.
Theatres, 290-292;
private, 293.
Thompson, Capt. Edward, on the navy, 202-203
Thomson, Richard, _quoted_, 156.
Tilsit, Peace of, 259.
_Times_ of the period—
“Baby officers” satirised in, 209.
Dress fashions satirised in, 125, 244.
Form of, 107-108.
Kensington Gardens exit advocated by, 288-289.
Press-gang’s activities described in, 206-207.
Private theatres mentioned in, 293.
Tips, 150-151.
Trafalgar, Battle of, 257.
Travel—
Conditions of, 9-11.
Ladies, by, 159.
Methods of—post, 151, 158-159;
by waggon, 153-154;
by private chaise, 154-155;
by coach, 155-158.
United States of America, secession of, 56.
_Vicar of Wakefield, The_—_cited_, 34.
Walpole, Horace, letters of, 108, 113;
death of, 171;
_quoted_—on churchgoing, 39;
on the French Revolution, 51;
on village merry-makings, 75-76;
on highway robbery, 160;
on Fanny Burney, 165;
on the Duke of Clarence, 307;
_cited_—on Twickenham, 115;
on dress, 245.
_Watsons, The_, 66, 99, 251;
child character in, 26.
Wedgwood, 287.
Whateley, Archbishop, _quoted_, 84, 87, 189.
Wigs, 235-236, 239.
Winchester, 78, 317-319, 321.
Women, advancement in position of, 7.
Wordsworth, William, 173.
York, Duke of, post office the monopoly of, 109-110;
robbed by highwaymen, 160;
character of, 306.
Young, Arthur, _quoted_—on French clergy, 37;
on roads, 152;
_cited_—on food prices, 70;
on wages, 73, 76.
_Printed by_ MORRISON & GIBB LIMITED, _Edinburgh_
Transcriber's Note
Original punctuation and spelling (including spelling variants such
as near-sighted/nearsighted) have been preserved as much as possible,
correcting minor typographical errors without note.