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Jane Austen: Complete Works
+ Extras - 83 titles
(Annotated and illustrated)
by Jane Austen.
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–EXTRAS: Biographical–
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BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE (by Henry Austen) (1816)
JANE AUSTEN (by Samuel Stillman Conant) (1870)
MEMOIR OF JANE AUSTEN (by James Edward Austen-Leigh) (1871)
MORE VIEWS OF JANE AUSTEN (by George Barnett Smith) (1895)
JANE AUSTEN AND HER TIMES (by Geraldine Edith Mitton) (1905)
JANE AUSTEN (by William Lyon Phelps) (1906)
JANE AUSTEN, HER LIFE AND LETTERS: A Family Record (by W. Austen-Leigh and R. A. Austen-Leigh) (1913)
JANE AUSTEN by O.W. Firkins (1823)
AUSTEN, JANE from Encyclopaedia Britannica (1910-1911)
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BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE (by Henry Austen) (1816)
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Jane Austen: BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE;
(by Henry Austen) (1816).
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"The very first biographical work on Jane Austen.", says a subtitle. Of course. It was written as a notice, shortly after her funeral, by one of the brothers, one who had encouraged her reading, writing, and publishing.
It's what one would expect from someone close, loving, and mindful of her privacy, and so on. Still, it's invaluable, in a first-hand description and a tribute to someone who was known and read exponentially more over centuries after her time.
One does get first-hand information from reading thus, of course, however closely guarded her privacy, and however sweet and soft her description, well deserved as it must have been - for not even those close and loving can completely cover or falsify the person and the relationships.
So one gets a picture of the youngest daughter of a clergyman in the small village of Steventon, growing up in a large family with five brothers - one younger to her - and a sister, who remained close to the author through her life. The picture is soft, but definite, and corresponds well enough with the impressions we get through her work and her letters.
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"Jane Austen was born on the 16th of December, 1775, at Steventon, in the county of Hampshire. Her father was Rector of the parish upwards of forty years. There he resided, in the conscientious and unassisted discharge of his ministerial duties, until he was turned of seventy years. Then he retired with his wife, our authoress, and her sister, to Bath, for the remainder of his life, a period of about four years. ... "
The place names are familiar to those who have read her letters, of course.
"On the death of her father she removed, with her mother and sister, for a short time, to Southampton, and finally, in 1809, to the pleasant village of Chawton, in the same county. From this place she sent into the world those novels, which by many have been placed on the same shelf as the works of a D'Arblay and an Edgeworth. Some of these novels had been the gradual performances of her previous life. For though in composition she was equally rapid and correct, yet an invincible distrust of her own judgement induced her to withhold her works from the public, till time and many perusals had satisfied her that the charm of recent composition was dissolved."
And to think most of us, familiar with her work betweenover a century to two centuries later after she was gone, have never heard of "... a D'Arblay and an Edgeworth" whom the brother values as he writes this, perhaps not personally as much, but definitely as those then very well established as esteemed autjors. Jane Austen we all have heard of, and most of us read, if at all familiar with English language and literature, and millions who are not, at that, for her work is translated in other languages too - and transcends her time just as it does her country.
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"But the symptoms of a decay, deep and incurable, began to show themselves in the commencement of 1816. Her decline was at first deceitfully slow; and until the spring of this present year, those who knew their happiness to be involved in her existence could not endure to despair. But in the month of May, 1817, it was found advisable that she should be removed to Winchester for the benefit of constant medical aid, which none even then dared to hope would be permanently beneficial. She supported, during two months, all the varying pain, irksomeness, and tedium, attendant on decaying nature, with more than resignation, with a truly elastic cheerfulness. She retained her faculties, her memory, her fancy, her temper, and her affections, warm, clear, and unimpaired, to the last. ... She wrote whilst she could hold a pen, and with a pencil when a pen was become too laborious. The day preceding her death she composed some stanzas replete with fancy and vigour. Her last voluntary speech conveyed thanks to her medical attendant; and to the final question asked of her, purporting to know her wants, she replied, 'I want nothing but death.'
"She expired shortly after, on Friday the 18th of July, 1817, in the arms of her sister, who, as well as the relator of these events, feels too surely that they shall never look upon her like again.
"Jane Austen was buried on the 24th of July, 1817, in the cathedral church of Winchester, which, in the whole catalogue of its mighty dead, does not contain the ashes of a brighter genius or a sincerer Christian."
While one does not question, much less doubt, her values, if one has read anything she wrote, one has to wonder why her brother felt he needed to assert those, to reassure people who might have not known her personally.
Was it doe to the prevailing atmosphere of lingering memories of inquisition not yet a distant memory, coupled with the then still fresh new breezes of renaissance helped by the French revolution, scientific inquiry newly freed from shackles of church, and women being not burnt at stake if suspected of having a mind at all a phenomenon not yet old enough in Europe- or U.S. - to be reassuring enough?
Henry Austen himself, cryptically for those unaware of why, says
"In the present age it is hazardous to mention accomplishments."
He does not elaborate - he was writing a notice of her having passed on, and not expecting posterity to read it, centuries later, unfamiliar with reasons, with the prevalent atmosphere as he wrote. He expected those that read to know and understand, as a matter of course.
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"If there be an opinion current in the world, that perfect placidity of temper is not reconcilable to the most lively imagination, and the keenest relish for wit, such an opinion will be rejected for ever by those who have had the happiness of knowing the authoress of the following works. Though the frailties, foibles, and follies of others could not escape her immediate detection, yet even on their vices did she never trust herself to comment with unkindness. The affectation of candour is not uncommon; but she had no affectation. Faultless herself, as nearly as human nature could be, she always sought, in the faults of others, something to excuse, to forgive or forget. Where extenuation was impossible, she had a sure refuge in silence. She never uttered either a hasty, a silly, or a severe expression. In short, her temper was as polished as her wit. Nor were her manners inferior to her temper. They were of the happiest kind. No one could be often in her company without feeling a strong desire of obtaining her friendship, and cherishing a hope of having obtained it. She was tranquil without reserve or stiffness; and communicative without intrusion or self-sufficiency. She became an authoress entirely from taste and inclination. Neither the hope of fame nor profit mixed with her early motives. Most of her works, as before observed, were composed many years previous to their publication. It was with extreme difficulty that her friends, whose partiality she suspected whilst she honoured their judgement, could prevail on her to publish her first work. Nay, so persuaded was she that its sale would not repay the expense of publication, that she actually made a reserve from her very moderate income to meet the expected loss. She could scarcely believe what she termed her great good fortune when "Sense and Sensibility" produced a clear profit of about £150. Few so gifted were so truly unpretending. She regarded the above sum as a prodigious recompense for that which had cost her nothing. Her readers, perhaps, will wonder that such a work produced so little at a time when some authors have received more guineas than they have written lines. The works of our authoress, however, may live as long as those which have burst on the world with more éclat. But the public has not been unjust; and our authoress was far from thinking it so. Most gratifying to her was the applause which from time to time reached her ears from those who were competent to discriminate. Still, in spite of such applause, so much did she shrink from notoriety, that no accumulation of fame would have induced her, had she lived, to affix her name to any productions of her pen. ... "
That last sentence is puzzling. While many women then wrote and publ8shed under pen names - male names, since women doing things other than housework, or lowly manual work, if done elsewhere for a living, was seen as abhorrent at worst, or impossible at best, despite Queens having ruled Britain successfully enough, and one in particular (Queen Elizabeth I) having eclipsed most monarchs in her success, still - this author isn't known to have published under any name other than her own! Did she?
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Curiously, he says -
"Her power of inventing characters seems to have been intuitive, and almost unlimited. She drew from nature; but, whatever may have been surmised to the contrary, never from individuals."
One somehow had the impression on the whole that her characters, being so diverse, so very alive, and true across time and space and cultures, were from general observations of society, until one reads her letters. Then two or three things emerge, however veiled by mist.
One, the loving and close relationship between her best known character Elizabeth Bennet and her sister Jane, might have been the unconscious if not conscious regard that Jane Austen paid her own sister Cassandra and the close, loving relationship they shared.
Two, her Northanger Abbey might have been inspired from a small episode in her niece Fanny's life, although the resolution thereof was different - we read the author advise her to forget the excellent young man without independent means, whose father objected to the young woman on grounds of her pecuniary circumstances being not up to the expectations the father had of women he considered eligible for the son.
And finally, the person if not the story, of Mansfield Park, of the loved character of Fanny Price, being probably named after the niece Jane Austen loved and was close to - their being semi-orphaned, for one, and living with close relatives, is somewhat similar, although it's the very righteous, despite her modesty, character of Fanny Price that is now, after reading the letters of Jane Austen, is explained by the love of the author for her niece.
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August 26, 2021 - August 27, 2021.
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JANE AUSTEN
(by Samuel Stillman Conant) (1870)
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JANE AUSTEN (by Samuel Stillman Conant) (1870)
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This title produces no results when searched for on Goodreads or even Amazon, but does when searched on Google; there seem several sites, beginning with one called Holland's, familiar with the title.
But the author of this biographical work on Jane Austen, Samuel Stillman Conant, must have been a known name in his time. How Time obliterated temporary names, while others little known in their time, rise as Himaalayan ranges rising through the ocean now stand taller than the world, still rising!
Or so one thought, before reading the next work included in this collection,
MEMOIR OF JANE AUSTEN
(by James Edward Austen-Leigh) (1871)
Then it became clear, to one's surprise, that this piece by Conant seems to be extracted, almost entirely, from various chapters of the memoir by her nephew!
Almost the only original contribution made by Conant to this collection of excerpts, not necessarily following the order from the original book, is the observation he makes about the brothers being all married - some more than once - and having children, while the two sisters never married.
The memoir he draws from, on the other hand - and the one previous to this one (in this collection of works of Jane Austen), BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE (by Henry Austen) (1816), for that matter - assert the devout, religious, specifically, Christian values, and firm faith, of the sisters, repeatedly.
Since the father and two of the brothers were clergymen, it all makes one wonder, did that affect the daughters into remaining unmarried, and was it their being virginal through their lives that made the brothers retain respect for them, in addition to which they - the sisters - being the ones to care for the parents? And if so, what does that say about their attitude towards women who married, and had large families, such as their mother and wives? Or were those women supposed, firmly, to be merely carrying a duty, unpleasant to them since they were virtuous, Christian women, who couldn't possibly be imagined to feel anything but suffering in course of such duty?
Did this free them, and others like them, to have comfort in their roles in empire building as merely carrying out an unpleasant duty, in not only killings of hapless "natives", but very associating with them, in any way?
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Conant gives interesting facts, interesting especially to those unfamiliar with them.
"A few years ago, a gentleman visiting the beautiful cathedral of Winchester, England, desired to be shown the grave of Jane Austen. 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?" We fancy the ignorance of the honest verger is shared by most American readers of the present day, respecting the life and character of a lady whose novels commanded the admiration of Scott, of Mackintosh, of Macaulay, of Coleridge, of Southey, and others of equal eminence in the world of letters. Even during her lifetime she was known only through her novels. Unlike her gifted contemporary, Miss Mitford, she 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. 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. ... "
Does bring a smile. But then he says
"Few of her readers knew even her name, and none knew more of her than her name. It would scarcely he possible to mention any other author of note, whose personal obscurity was so complete."
Once again - for her brother Henry said something similar, in her biographical notice - why didn't her readers know her name? Weren't names of authors mentioned on their published works? And she wasn't, isn't, known to have hidden her own, as did more than one of women writers of the times, using a male pen name! Or did she, too, use one, perforce?
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Interesting, about fame!
"Fanny Burney, afterward 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 Litchfield, 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 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."
And now, tables have turned and how! How many know those names now?
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"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 Miss Austen'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, 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.""
Conant doesn't mention the now known bit about the same Thackeray - or was it another great man of letters of the day? - who said to her publisher, when referring to the work of her then much less known, not so much esteemed sister Emily Bronte, that as time goes, Emily would rise in esteem and her work be far more known, dwarfing that of the then more famous Charlotte and her far more copious work.
" ... 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 among 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."
Again, how times change! Atlantis become mythical, once long ago known and now so completely unknown; Himaalayan ranges rising changes landscapes of continents, and one ocean expands at the ridge in middle even as the ring of fire surrounding the other brings tsunamis threatening to drown lands.
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"It was not till toward 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 that was 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, yet it was pretty well known; and the friendly physician was aware that his patient's nurse was the author of "Pride and Prejudice." ... "
Her name "had never appeared on a title-page"??? Didn't authors' names appear on title page, then, generally?
How then was the doctor, incidentally, aware of her being the author?
"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."
This would be before Queen Victoria.
" ... After a long period of undeserved neglect her novels are again coming into vogue with readers of quiet and refined tastes; and many may take an interest in a delineation of her mind and character. Many may care to know whether the moral rectitude, the correct taste, and the warm affections with which she invested her ideal characters were really existing in the native source whence those ideas flowed, and were actually exhibited by her in the various relations of life. "I can indeed hear witness," writes her nephew, "that there was scarcely a charm in her most delightful characters that was not a true reflection of her own sweet temper and loving heart. I was young when we lost her; but the impressions made on the young are deep, and though in the course of fifty years I have forgotten much, I have not forgotten that 'Aunt Jane' was the delight of all her nephews and nieces. We did not think of her as being clever, still less as being famous; but we valued her as one always kind, sympathizing, and amusing.""
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"Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775, at the parsonage house of Steventon, in Hampshire, England. Her father, the Rev. George Austen, was of an old family. At the time of his daughter's birth he held the two adjoining rectories of Deane and Steventon. The two villages were little more than a mile apart, and their united populations scarcely amounted to three hundred, so that this was not considered a very gross case of plurality. At this time the grandfather of Mary Russell Mitford, Dr. Russell, was rector of the adjoining parish of Ashe; so that the parents of two popular female authors must have been intimately acquainted with each other."
Was this the same Milford family who were known for society glamour in early twentieth century, until one daughter, and a son-in-law Mosley, brought infamy due to their adherence to an infamous cause, even in face of war, so much so the said daughter attempted suicide rather than return from Germany when England declared war, even though she was alone in Germany and could only hope to see the object of her worship once in a while?
" ... Cassandra's was the colder and calmer disposition; she was always prudent and well judging, but with less outward demonstration of feeling and less sunniness of temper than Jane possessed. It was remarked in her family that "Cassandra had the merit of having her temper always under command, but that Jane had the happiness of a temper that never required to be commanded.""
" ... She was always very careful not to meddle with matters which she did not thoroughly understand. She never touched upon politics, law, or medicine; but with ships and sailors she felt herself at home, or at least could always trust to a brotherly critic to keep her right. It is said that no flaw has ever been found in her seamanship either in "Mansfield Park" or in "Persuasion.""
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In describing the family life at Steventon, Conant says-
" ... Their situation had some peculiar advantages beyond those of ordinary rectories. Steventon was a family living. Mr. Knight, the patron, was also proprietor of nearly the whole parish. He never resided there, and consequently the rector and his children came to be regarded in the neighbourhood as in some sort representatives of the family. They shared with the principal tenant the command of an excellent manor, and enjoyed, in this reflected way, some of the consideration usually awarded to landed proprietors. They were not rich, but, aided by Mr. Austen's powers of teaching, they had enough to afford a good education to their sons and daughters, to mix in the best society of the neighbourhood, and to exercise a liberal hospitality to their own relations and friends. ... "
It's unclear what exactly "They shared with the principal tenant the command of an excellent manor" means - did they live in the manor? Also, what does "they had enough to afford a good education to their sons and daughters" mean, other than possibly the sons being sent to good public schools, possibly also universities? Did the daughters have governesses, or more?
" ... A carriage and a pair of horses were kept. This might imply a higher style of living in our days than it did in theirs. There were then no assessed taxes. The carriage, once bought, entailed little further expense; and the horses, probably, were often employed in farm work. Moreover, it should be remembered that a pair of horses in those days was almost necessary, if ladies were to move about at all; for neither the condition of the roads nor the style of carriage-building admitted of any comfortable vehicle being drawn by a single horse. When one looks at the few specimens still remaining of coach-building in the last century, it strikes one that the chief object of the builders must have been to combine the greatest possible weight with the least possible amount of accommodation."
Perhaps that was necessary to keep the carriage steady despite the bad roads?
" ... Potatoes were used, but not so abundantly as now; and there was an idea that they were to be eaten only with roast meat. They were novelties to a tenant's wife who was entertained at Steventon parsonage, certainly less than a hundred years ago; when Mrs. Austen advised her to plant them in her own garden she replied, "No, no; they are very well for you gentry, but they must be terribly costly to raise.""
How times change! Chief example of German grievances post WWI has always been summed up in having to survive on potatoes!
"But a still greater difference would be found in the furniture of the rooms, which would appear to us lamentably scanty. There was a general deficiency of carpeting in sitting-rooms, bedrooms, and passages. A piano-forte, or rather a spinnet or harpsichord, was by no means a necessary appendage. It was to be found only where there was a decided taste for music, not so common then as now, or in such great houses as would probably contain a billiard-table. There would often be but one sofa in the house, and that a stiff, angular, uncomfortable article. There were no deep easy-chairs, nor other appliances for lounging; for to lie down, or even to lie back, was a luxury permitted only to old persons or invalids. ... "
And yet, as Jane Austen describes social life in her work, and her letters as well, people visited one another copiously, had tea or lunch or dinner together often enough with visitors, and balls were very common centre of social life. They must have sat together, in drawing rooms, a great deal.
" ... But perhaps we should he most struck with the total absence of those elegant little articles which now embellish and encumber our drawing-room tables. We should miss the sliding book-cases and picture-stands, the letter-weighing machines and envelope-cases, the periodicals and illustrated newspapers—above all, the countless swarm of photograph books which now threaten to swallow up all space. ... "
Most of which tells much more about the times of thus author, Conant.
" ... A small writing-desk, with a smaller work-box or netting-case, was all that each young lady contributed to occupy the table; for the large family work-basket, though often produced in the parlour, lived in the closet."
Which changed long before the electronics and internet era!
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"It was, however, at Steventon that the real foundations of her fame were laid. There some of her most successful writing was composed, at such an early age as to make it surprising that so young a woman could have acquired the insight into character and the nice observation of manners which they display. "Pride and Prejudice," which some consider the most brilliant of her novels, was the first finished, if not the first begun. She began it in October, 1796, before she was twenty-one years old, and completed it in about ten months, in August, 1897. The title then intended for it was "First Impressions." "Sense and Sensibility" was begun, in its present form, immediately after the completion of the former, in November, 1797; but something similar in story and character had been written earlier under the title of "Elinor and Marianne ;" and if as is probable, a good deal of this earlier production was retained, it must form the earliest specimen of her writing that has been given to the world. "Northanger Abbey," though not prepared for the press till 1803, was certainly first composed in 1798."
Wasn't "Sense and Sensibility"published first?
"At the time of her removal to Chawton Cottage, Jane Austen was very attractive in person: her figure was rather tall and slender, her step light and firm, and her whole appearance expressive of health and animation. In complexion she was a clear brunette with a rich colour; she had full round cheeks, with mouth and nose small and well formed, bright hazel eyes, and brown hair forming natural curls close round her face. If not so regularly handsome as her sister, yet her countenance had a peculiar charm of its own to the eyes of most beholders. ... "
This supports the impression about the two elder Bennet sisters, of Pride and Prejudice, being modelled after Jane Austen's sister and herself, with perhaps an unconscious desire about wishing she was the more beautiful elder sister, reflected in choice of names.
" ... She was not highly accomplished according to the present standard. Her sister drew well, and it is from a drawing of hers that the likeness prefixed to this article has been taken. ... "
That must be the source of the image used on most of the Jane Austen works.
" ... Jane herself was fond of music, and had a sweet voice, both in singing and in conversation; in her youth she had received some instruction on the piano-forte; and at Chawton she practiced daily, chiefly before breakfast. In the evening she would sometimes sing, to her own accompaniment, some simple old songs, the words and airs of which, now rarely heard, still linger in the memory of old people. ... "
That has gone into the Elizabeth Bennet image, certainly.
" ... She read French with facility, and knew something of Italian. ... "
Reminds of the scene in the Bingley drawing room, where Miss Bingley provokes Darcy to speak regarding his expectations of a young woman's accomplishments before he could call her accomplished.
" ... In those days German was no more thought of than Hindostanee, as part of a lady's education. ... "
On one hand, that tells us of the disdain of an ignorant Brit, and most Europeans at that, about the treasure they were looting and attempting destruction thereof - India. On the other, one has to wonder if any of them, including those enamoured of India due to realising just how rich and enormous the treasure India was and is, could quite learn an Indian language, much less be good at it? Including Goethe or Maxmuller or a Hesse? Brits would, of course, have a problem of attitude, although the missionaries had to let go of one attitude to support another, in attemptin learning a local language in India so as to be able to convert people, thus remaining blind to the far deeper, far faster treasure.
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"The fascination which she exercised over children cannot be better described than by quoting the words of one of her nieces. She says:
""As a very little girl I was always creeping up to Aunt Jane and following her whenever I could, in the house and out of it. I might not have remembered this but for the recollection of my mother's telling me privately that I must not be troublesome to my aunt. Her first charm to children was great sweetness of manner. She seemed to love you, and you loved her in return. This, as well as I can now recollect, was what I felt in my early days before I was old enough to be amused by her cleverness. But soon came the delight of her playful talk. She could make everything amusing to a child. Then, as I got older, when cousins came to share the entertainment, she would tell us the most delightful stories, chiefly of Fairy-land, and her fairies had all characters of their own. The tale was invented, I am sure, at the moment, and was continued for two or three days if occasion served.""
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"The first year of Jane Austen's residence at Chawton seems to have been devoted to revising and preparing for the press "Sense and Sensibility" and "Pride and Prejudice;" but between February, 1811, and August, 1816, she began and completed "Mansfield Park." "Emma," and "Persuasion," so that the last five years of her life produced the same number of novels with those which had been written in her early youth. How she was able to effect all this is surprising; for she had no separate study to retire to, and most of the work must have been done in the general sitting-room, subject to all kinds of casual interruptions. So much having been prepared beforehand, when once she began to publish, her works came out in quick succession. "Sense and Sensibility" was published in 1811, "Pride and Prejudice" at the beginning of 1813, "Mansfield Park" in 1814, "Emma" early in 1816; "Northanger Abbey" and "Persuasion" did not appear till after her death, in 1818. The profits of those which had been printed before her death had not at that time amounted to seven hundred pounds. Her first attempts at publication were discouraging. The manuscript of "Pride and Prejudice" was declined without a reading; and that of "Northanger Abbey," after being sold for ten pounds, lay for many years in the publisher's drawer, until it was gladly relinquished for the original purchase-money."
"The most interesting as well as the most hearty testimony to the merits of Miss Austen's novels came from the pen of Sir Walter Scott, who wrote as follows, in his diary for March 14, 1826:
""Read again, for the third time at least, Miss Austen's finely written novel of 'Pride and Prejudice.' That young lady had a talent for describing the involvements and feelings and characters of ordinary life which is to me the most wonderful I ever met with. The big bow-wow strain I can do myself like any now going; but the exquisite touch which renders ordinary commonplace things and characters interesting, from the truth of the description and the sentiment, is denied to me. What a pity such a gifted creature died so early!""
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August 28, 2021 - August 28, 2021.
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MEMOIR OF JANE AUSTEN
(by James Edward Austen-Leigh) (1871)
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https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4205241760
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MEMOIR OF JANE AUSTEN
(by James Edward Austen-Leigh) (1871)
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This is a most satisfactory account to read of life and memories of Jane Austen, written and compiled as it is by a loving nephew with memories of his aunt, her home, and intimate knowledge of the family, with painstaking compilation that reminds one of perfection of her own writings.
The previous biographical work, JANE AUSTEN (by Samuel Stillman Conant) (1870), included in thi compilation
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" ... Sometimes a friend or neighbour, who chanced to know of our connection with the author, would condescend to speak with moderate approbation of 'Sense and Sensibility,' or 'Pride and Prejudice'; but if they had known that we, in our secret thoughts, classed her with Madame d'Arblay or Miss Edgeworth, or even with some other novel writers of the day whose names are now scarcely remembered, they would have considered it an amusing instance of family conceit. To the multitude her works appeared tame and commonplace,[78] poor in colouring, and sadly deficient in incident and interest. It is true that we were sometimes cheered by hearing that a different verdict had been pronounced by more competent judges: we were told how some great statesman or distinguished poet held these works in high estimation; we had the satisfaction of believing that they were most admired by the best judges, and comforted ourselves with Horace's 'satis est Equitem mihi plaudere.' So much was this the case, that one of the ablest men of my acquaintance[79] said, in that kind of jest which has much earnest in it, that he had established it in his own mind, as a new test of ability, whether people could or could not appreciate Miss Austen's merits.
"But though such golden opinions were now and then gathered in, yet the wide field of public taste yielded no adequate return either in praise or profit. Her reward was not to be the quick return of the cornfield, but the slow growth of the tree which is to endure to another generation. Her first attempts at publication were very discouraging. In November, 1797, her father wrote ... to Mr. Cadell "
"This proposal was declined by return of post! The work thus summarily rejected must have been 'Pride and Prejudice.'
"The fate of 'Northanger Abbey' was still more humiliating. It was sold, in 1803, to a publisher in Bath, for ten pounds, but it found so little favour in his eyes, that he chose to abide by his first loss rather than risk farther expense by publishing such a work. It seems to have lain for many years unnoticed in his drawers; somewhat as the first chapters of 'Waverley' lurked forgotten amongst the old fishing-tackle in Scott's cabinet. Tilneys, Thorpes, and Morlands consigned apparently to eternal oblivion! But when four novels of steadily increasing success had given the writer some confidence in herself, she wished to recover the copyright of this early work. One of her brothers undertook the negotiation. He found the purchaser very willing to receive back his money, and to resign all claim to the copyright. When the bargain was concluded and the money paid, but not till then, the negotiator had the satisfaction of informing him that the work which had been so lightly esteemed was by the author of 'Pride and Prejudice.' I do not think that she was herself much mortified by the want of early success. She wrote for her own amusement. Money, though acceptable, was not necessary for the moderate expenses of her quiet home. Above all, she was blessed with a cheerful contented disposition, and an humble mind; and so lowly did she esteem her own claims, that when she received 150l. from the sale of 'Sense and Sensibility,' she considered it a prodigious recompense for that which had cost her nothing. It cannot be supposed, however, that she was altogether insensible to the superiority of her own workmanship over that of some contemporaries who were then enjoying a brief popularity. Indeed a few touches in the following extracts from two of her letters show that she was as quick sighted to absurdities in composition as to those in living persons.
"'Mr. C.'s opinion is gone down in my list; but as my paper relates only to "Mansfield Park," I may fortunately excuse myself from entering Mr. D's. I will redeem my credit with him by writing a close imitation of "Self-Control," as soon as I can. I will improve upon it. My heroine shall not only be wafted down an American river in a boat by herself. She shall cross the Atlantic in the same way; and never stop till she reaches Gravesend.'"
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Author describes two reviews, one by "Whately, afterwards Archbishop of Dublin."
" ... One can scarcely be satisfied with the critical acumen of the former writer, who, in treating of 'Sense and Sensibility,' takes no notice whatever of the vigour with which many of the characters are drawn, but declares that 'the interest and merit of the piece depends altogether upon the behaviour of the elder sister!' Nor is he fair when, in 'Pride and Prejudice,' he represents Elizabeth's change of sentiments towards Darcy as caused by the sight of his house and grounds. ... "
This is a mistake very commonly made, and perhaps is a key separating a common mind from a finer one that can discern Jane Austen's writing.
"The world, I think, has endorsed the opinion of the later writer; but it would not be fair to set down the discrepancy between the two entirely to the discredit of the former. The fact is that, in the course of the intervening five years, these works had been read and reread by many leaders in the literary world. The public taste was forming itself all this time, and 'grew by what it fed on.' These novels belong to a class which gain rather than lose by frequent perusals, and it is probable that each reviewer represented fairly enough the prevailing opinions of readers in the year when each wrote."
................................................................................................"The admiration felt by Lord Macaulay would probably have taken a very practical form, if his life had been prolonged. I have the authority of his sister, Lady Trevelyan, for stating that he had intended to undertake the task upon which I have ventured. He purposed to write a memoir of Miss Austen, with criticisms on her works, to prefix it to a new edition of her novels, and from the proceeds of the sale to erect a monument to her memory in Winchester Cathedral. Oh! that such an idea had been realised! That portion of the plan in which Lord Macaulay's success would have been most certain might have been almost sufficient for his object. A memoir written by him would have been a monument."
Would, could, this be the Macaulay who wrote up the explicit policy of how to butcher India so as to break her spirit, enslave her people and loot her successfully, using lies about anything that was good about India, and breaking down anything that helped her live?
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" ... remarkable words of Sir Walter Scott, taken from his diary for March 14, 1826:[84] 'Read again, for the third time at least, Miss Austen's finely written novel of "Pride and Prejudice." That young lady had a talent for describing the involvements and feelings and characters of ordinary life, which is to me the most wonderful I ever met with. The big bow-wow strain I can do myself like any now going; but the exquisite touch which renders ordinary common-place things and characters interesting from the truth of the description and the sentiment is denied to me. What a pity such a gifted creature died so early!' The well-worn condition of Scott's own copy of these works attests that they were much read in his family. When I visited Abbotsford, a few years after Scott's death, I was permitted, as an unusual favour, to take one of these volumes in my hands. One cannot suppress the wish that she had lived to know what such men thought of her powers, and how gladly they would have cultivated a personal acquaintance with her. I do not think that it would at all have impaired the modest simplicity of her character; or that we should have lost our own dear 'Aunt Jane' in the blaze of literary fame."
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"It is not the object of these memoirs to attempt a criticism on Jane Austen's novels. Those particulars only have been noticed which could be illustrated by the circumstances of her own life; but I now desire to offer a few observations on them, and especially on one point, on which my age renders me a competent witness —the fidelity with which they represent the opinions and manners of the class of society in which the author lived early in this century. They do this the more faithfully on account of the very deficiency with which they have been sometimes charged —namely, that they make no attempt to raise the standard of human life, but merely represent it as it was. They certainly were not written to support any theory or inculcate any particular moral, except indeed the great moral which is to be equally gathered from an observation of the course of actual life —namely, the superiority of high over low principles, and of greatness over littleness of mind. These writings are like photographs, in which no feature is softened; no ideal expression is introduced, all is the unadorned reflection of the natural object; and the value of such a faithful likeness must increase as time gradually works more and more changes in the face of society itself. ... "
" ... It is indeed true, both of the writer and of the painter, that he can use only such lineaments as exist, and as he has observed to exist, in living objects; otherwise he would produce monsters instead of human beings; but in both it is the office of high art to mould these features into new combinations, and to place them in the attitudes, and impart to them the expressions which may suit the purposes of the artist; so that they are nature, but not exactly the same nature which had come before his eyes; just as honey can be obtained only from the natural flowers which the bee has sucked; yet it is not a reproduction of the odour or flavour of any particular flower, but becomes something different when it has gone through the process of transformation which that little insect is able to effect. Hence, in the case of painters, arises the superiority of original compositions over portrait painting."
" ... She herself, when questioned on the subject by a friend, expressed a dread of what she called such an 'invasion of social proprieties.' She said that she thought it quite fair to note peculiarities and weaknesses, but that it was her desire to create, not to reproduce; 'besides,' she added, 'I am too proud of my gentlemen to admit that they were only Mr. A. or Colonel B.'"
"She certainly took a kind of parental interest in the beings whom she had created, and did not dismiss them from her thoughts when she had finished her last chapter. We have seen, in one of her letters, her personal affection for Darcy and Elizabeth; and when sending a copy of 'Emma' to a friend whose daughter had been lately born, she wrote thus: 'I trust you will be as glad to see my "Emma," as I shall be to see your Jemima.' She was very fond of Emma, but did not reckon on her being a general favourite; for, when commencing that work, she said, 'I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like.' She would, if asked, tell us many little particulars about the subsequent career of some of her people. In this traditionary way we learned that Miss Steele never succeeded in catching the doctor; that Kitty Bennet was satisfactorily married to a clergyman near Pemberley, while Mary obtained nothing higher than one of her uncle Philip's clerks, and was content to be considered a star in the society of Meryton; that the 'considerable sum' given by Mrs. Norris to William Price was one pound; that Mr. Woodhouse survived his daughter's marriage, and kept her and Mr. Knightley from settling at Donwell, about two years; and that the letters placed by Frank Churchill before Jane Fairfax, which she swept away unread, contained the word 'pardon.' Of the good people in 'Northanger Abbey' and 'Persuasion' we know nothing more than what is written: for before those works were published their author had been taken away from us, and all such amusing communications had ceased for ever."
Wonder why she disliked Mary Bennet so! It could have been perfect for Mary to have caught the clerical cousin on rebound after Elizabeth Bennet had rejected him, and have the family reassured of their home, to begin with; but surely she didn't deserve the disdain, just for being immersed in books and music, even if she wasn't intellectual enough!
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"'Chawton, Monday, Dec. 16th (1816). 'MY DEAR E., —One reason for my writing to you now is, that I may have the pleasure of directing to you Esqre. I give you joy of having left Winchester. Now you may own how miserable you were there; now it will gradually all come out, your crimes and your miseries —how often you went up by the mail to London and threw away fifty guineas at a tavern, and how often you were on the point of hanging yourself, restrained only, as some ill-natured aspersion upon poor old Winton has it, by the want of a tree within some miles of the city. ... "
"Uncle Henry writes very superior sermons. You and I must try to get hold of one or two, and put them into our novels; it would be a fine help to a volume; and we could make our heroine read it aloud on a Sunday evening, just as well as Isabella Wardour, in the "Antiquary," is made to read the "History of the Hartz Demon" in the ruins of St. Ruth, though I believe, on recollection, Lovell is the reader. By the bye, my dear E., I am quite concerned for the loss your mother mentions in her letter. Two chapters and a half to be missing is monstrous! It is well that I have not been at Steventon lately, and therefore cannot be suspected of purloining them: two strong twigs and a half towards a nest of my own would have been something. I do not think, however, that any theft of that sort would be really very useful to me. What should I do with your strong, manly, vigorous sketches, full of variety and glow? How could I possibly join them on to the little bit (two inches wide) of ivory on which I work with so fine a brush, as produces little effect after much labour?
"'You will hear from Uncle Henry how well Anna is. She seems perfectly recovered. Ben was here on Saturday, to ask uncle Charles and me to dine with them, as tomorrow, but I was forced to decline it, the walk is beyond my strength (though I am otherwise very well), and this is not a season for donkey-carriages; and as we do not like to spare uncle Charles, he has declined it too.
"Tuesday. Ah, ah! Mr. E. I doubt your seeing Uncle Henry at Steventon today. The weather will prevent your expecting him, I think. Tell your father, with Aunt Cass's love and mine, that the pickled cucumbers are extremely good, and tell him also —"tell him what you will." No, don't tell him what you will, but tell him that grandmamma begs him to make Joseph Hall pay his rent, if he can.
"'You must not be tired of reading the word uncle, for I have not done with it. Uncle Charles thanks your mother for her letter; it was a great pleasure to him to know that the parcel was received and gave so much satisfaction, and he begs her to be so good as to give three shillings for him to Dame Staples, which shall be allowed for in the payment of her debt here.
"'Adieu, Amiable! I hope Caroline behaves well to you.
"Yours affecly,
"'J. AUSTEN.'"
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" ... The usual walk was at first shortened, and then discontinued; and air was sought in a donkey-carriage. Gradually, too, her habits of activity within the house ceased, and she was obliged to lie down much. The sitting-room contained only one sofa, which was frequently occupied by her mother, who was more than seventy years old. Jane would never use it, even in her mother's absence; but she contrived a sort of couch for herself with two or three chairs, and was pleased to say that this arrangement was more comfortable to her than a real sofa. Her reasons for this might have been left to be guessed, but for the importunities of a little niece, which obliged her to explain that if she herself had shown any inclination to use the sofa, her mother might have scrupled being on it so much as was good for her.
"It is certain, however, that the mind did not share in this decay of the bodily strength. 'Persuasion' was not finished before the middle of August in that year; and the manner in which it was then completed affords proof that neither the critical nor the creative powers of the author were at all impaired. The book had been brought to an end in July; and the re-engagement of the hero and heroine effected in a totally different manner in a scene laid at Admiral Croft's lodgings. But her performance did not satisfy her. She thought it tame and flat, and was desirous of producing something better. This weighed upon her mind, the more so probably on account of the weak state of her 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 awoke 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. The result is that we possess the visit of the Musgrove party to Bath; the crowded and animated scenes at the White Hart Hotel; and the charming conversation between Capt. Harville and Anne Elliot, overheard by Capt. Wentworth, by which the two faithful lovers were at last led to understand each other's feelings. ... "
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" ... 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. I am convinced that bile is at the bottom of all I have suffered, which makes it easy to know how to treat myself. ... This is not a time of year for donkey-carriages, and our donkeys are necessarily having so long a run of luxurious idleness that I suppose we shall find they have forgotten much of their education when we use them again. We do not use two at once however; don't imagine such excesses..."
....
"'Yours affly, 'J. AUSTEN.
"'The real object of this letter is to ask you for a receipt, but I thought it genteel not to let it appear early. We remember some excellent orange wine at Manydown, made from Seville oranges, entirely or chiefly. I should be very much obliged to you for the receipt, if you can command it within a few weeks.'"
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"Alas! summer came to her only on her deathbed. March 17th is the last date to be found in the manuscript on which she was engaged; and as the watch of the drowned man indicates 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."
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"'Mrs. David's, College St., Winton,
"'Tuesday, May 27th.
"'There is no better way, my dearest E., of thanking you for your affectionate concern for me during my illness than by telling you myself, as soon as possible, that I continue to get better. I will not boast of my handwriting; neither that nor my face have yet recovered their proper beauty, but in other respects I gain strength very fast. I am now out of bed from 9 in the morning to 10 at night; upon the sofa, it is true, but I eat my meals with Aunt Cassandra in a rational way, and can employ myself, and walk from one room to another. Mr. Lyford says he will cure me, and if he fails, I shall draw up a memorial and lay it before the dean and chapter, and have no doubt of redress from that pious, learned, and disinterested body. Our lodgings are very comfortable. We have a neat little drawing-room with a bow window overlooking Dr. Gabell's garden.[94] Thanks to the kindness of your father and mother in sending me their carriage, my journey hither on Saturday was performed with very little fatigue, and had it been a fine day, I think I should have felt none; but it distressed me to see uncle Henry and Wm. Knight, who kindly attended us on horseback, riding in the rain almost the whole way. We expect a visit from them tomorrow, and hope they will stay the night; and on Thursday, which is a confirmation and a holiday, we are to get Charles out to breakfast. We have had but one visit from him, poor fellow, as he is in sick-room, but he hopes to be out tonight. We see Mrs. Heathcote every day, and William is to call upon us soon. God bless you, my dear E. If ever you are ill, may you be as tenderly nursed as I have been. May the same blessed alleviations of anxious, sympathising friends be yours: and may you possess, as I dare say you will, the greatest blessing of all in the consciousness of not being unworthy of their love. I could not feel this.
"'Your very affecte Aunt, 'J. A.'"
"Throughout her illness she was nursed by her sister, often assisted by her sister-in-law, my mother. Both were with her when she died. Two of her brothers, who were clergymen, lived near enough to Winchester to be in frequent attendance, and to administer the services suitable for a Christian's death-bed. While she used the language of hope to her correspondents, she was fully aware of her danger, though not appalled by it. It is true that there was much to attach her to life. She was happy in her family; she was just beginning to feel confidence in her own success; and, no doubt, the exercise of her great talents was an enjoyment in itself. We may well believe that she would gladly have lived longer; but she was enabled without dismay or complaint to prepare for death. She was a humble, believing Christian. Her life had been passed in the performance of home duties, and the cultivation of domestic affections, without any self-seeking or craving after applause. She had always sought, as it were by instinct, to promote the happiness of all who came within her influence, and doubtless she had her reward in the peace of mind which was granted her in her last days. Her sweetness of temper never failed. She was ever considerate and grateful to those who attended on her. At times, when she felt rather better, her playfulness of spirit revived, and she amused them even in their sadness. Once, when she thought herself near her end, she said what she imagined might be her last words to those around her, and particularly thanked her sister-in-law for being with her, saying: 'You have always been a kind sister to me, Mary.' When the end at last came, she sank rapidly, and on being asked by her attendants whether there was anything that she wanted, her reply was, 'Nothing but death.' These were her last words. In quietness and peace she breathed her last on the morning of July 18, 1817."
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The next chapter, chapter 12 of this memoir by her nephew, consists of the original ending chapter of Persuasion that Jane Austen rewrote to her satisfaction, even as she was close to death.
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Chapter 13 begins with author describing her final days.
"'Persuasion' had been finished in August 1816; some time was probably given to correcting it for the press; but on the 27th of the following January, according to the date on her own manuscript, she began a new novel, and worked at it up to the 17th of March. The chief part of this manuscript is written in her usual firm and neat hand, but some of the latter pages seem to have been first traced in pencil, probably when she was too weak to sit long at her desk, and written over in ink afterwards. The quantity produced does not indicate any decline of power or industry, for in those seven weeks twelve chapters had been completed. It is more difficult to judge of the quality of a work so little advanced. It had received no name; there was scarcely any indication what the course of the story was to be, nor was any heroine yet perceptible, who, like Fanny Price, or Anne Elliot, might draw round her the sympathies of the reader. Such an unfinished fragment cannot be presented to the public; but I am persuaded that some of Jane Austen's admirers will be glad to learn something about the latest creations which were forming themselves in her mind; and therefore, as some of the principal characters were already sketched in with a vigorous hand, I will try to give an idea of them, illustrated by extracts from the work.
"The scene is laid at Sanditon, a village on the Sussex coast, just struggling into notoriety as a bathing-place, under the patronage of the two principal proprietors of the parish, Mr. Parker and Lady Denham."
Certainly Sanditon is quite promising, coming from Jane Austen, and one could see the budding story when Charlotte meets Sir Edward and later sees the couple talking together, obviously thinking they had complete privacy. It was disappointing it's cut at this point, almost as soon as it began.
"If the author had lived to complete her work, it is probable that these personages might have grown into as mature an individuality of character, and have taken as permanent a place amongst our familiar acquaintance, as Mr. Bennet, or John Thorp, Mary Musgrove, or Aunt Norris herself."
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"When first I was asked to put together a memoir of my aunt, I saw reasons for declining the attempt. It was not only that, having passed the three score years and ten usually allotted to man's strength, and being unaccustomed to write for publication, I might well distrust my ability to complete the work, but that I also knew the extreme scantiness of the materials out of which it must be constructed. The grave closed over my aunt fifty-two years ago; and during that long period no idea of writing her life had been entertained by any of her family. Her nearest relatives, far from making provision for such a purpose, had actually destroyed many of the letters and papers by which it might have been facilitated. They were influenced, I believe, partly by an extreme dislike to publishing private details, and partly by never having assumed that the world would take so strong and abiding an interest in her works as to claim her name as public property. It was therefore necessary for me to draw upon recollections rather than on written documents for my materials; while the subject itself supplied me with nothing striking or prominent with which to arrest the attention of the reader. It has been said that the happiest individuals, like nations during their happiest periods, have no history. In the case of my aunt, it was not only that her course of life was unvaried, but that her own disposition was remarkably calm and even. There was in her nothing eccentric or angular; no ruggedness of temper; no singularity of manner; none of the morbid sensibility or exaggeration of feeling, which not unfrequently accompanies great talents, to be worked up into a picture. Hers was a mind well balanced on a basis of good sense, sweetened by an affectionate heart, and regulated by fixed principles; so that she was to be distinguished from many other amiable and sensible women only by that peculiar genius which shines out clearly enough in her works, but of which a biographer can make little use. The motive which at last induced me to make the attempt is exactly expressed in the passage prefixed to these pages. I thought that I saw something to be done: knew of no one who could do it but myself, and so was driven to the enterprise. I am glad that I have been able to finish my work. ... "
"BRAY VICARAGE:
"Sept. 7, 1869."
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