Part 1 (1/2)

Jane Austen, Her Life and Letters

by Williah

PREFACE

Since 1870-1, when J E Austen Leigh[1] published his _Memoir of Jane Austen_, considerable additions have been raphers Of these fresh sources of knowledge the set of letters from Jane to Cassandra, edited by Lord Brabourne, has been by far the most important These letters are invaluable as _h they cover only the comparatively rare periods when the two sisters were separated, and although Cassandra purposely destroyed , from a distaste for publicity

Some further correspondence, and many incidents in the careers of two of her brothers, may be read in _Jane Austen's Sailor Brothers_, by J H

Hubback and Edith C Hubback; while Miss Constance Hill has been able to add several faraphical information embodied in her _Jane Austen: Her Hoet the careful research shown in other biographies of the author, especially that by Mr Oscar Fay Ada the last few years, we have been fortunate enough to be able to add to this store; and every existing MS or tradition preserved by the fae, has been placed at our disposal

It seemed, therefore, to us that the tiical account of the novelist's life ht be laid before the public, whose interest in Jane Austen (as we readily acknowledge) has shown no signs of diland or in America

The _Memoir_on the authority of a nepheho knew her intimately and that of his two sisters We could not compete with its vivid personal recollections; and the last thing we should wish to do, even were it possible, would be to supersede it We believe, however, that it needs to be supplemented, not only because so ht since its publication, but also because the account given of their aunt by her nephew and nieces could be given only from their own point of viehile the incidents and characters fall into a soreater distance Their knowledge of their aunt was during the last portion of her life, and they knew her best of all in her last year, when her health was failing and she was living in much seclusion; and they were not likely to be the recipients of her inmost confidences on the events and sentiments of her youth

Hence the emotional and romantic side of her nature--a very real one--has not been dwelt upon No doubt the Austens were, as a fas, and the sad end of Jane's one romance would naturally tend to intensify this dislike of expression; but the feeling was there, and it finally found utterance in her latest work, when, through Anne Elliot, she claiest when existence or when hope is gone'

Then, again, her nephew and nieces hardly kne one into society, or how much, with a certain characteristic aloofness, she had enjoyed it Bath, either when she was the guest of her uncle and aunt or when she was a resident; London, with her brother Henry and his wife, and the rather miscellaneous society which they enjoyed; Godhbours in East Kent;--these had all given herthe particular types which she blended into her own creations

A third point is the uneventful nature of the author's life, which, as we think, has been a good deal exaggerated Quiet it certainly was; but the quiet life of a land of that date was co, if not to herself, at all events to those ere nearest to her, and who commanded her deepest sympathies

We hope therefore that our narrative, with all its imperfections and its inevitable repetition of much that has already been published, will at least be of use in re so others in a fresh light It is intended as a narrative, and not as a piece of literary criticism; for we should not care to eraphers and essayists who have a better claim to be heard

Both in the plan and in the execution of our e have received much valuable help froh[2]

An arrangeht has procured for us a free and ample use of the Letters as edited by Lord Brabourne[3]; while the kindness of Mr J G Nicholson of Castlefield House, Sturton-by-Scawby, Lincolnshi+re, has opened a completely new source of information in the letters which passed between the Austens and their kinsmen of the half-blood--Walters of Kent and afterwards of Lincolnshi+re Miss Jane Austen, granddaughter of Adranddaughter of Jaood as to allow us to make a fuller use of their family documents than was found possible by the author of the _Memoir_; while Mr J H

Hubback permits us to draw freely upon the _Sailor Brothers_, and Captain E L Austen, RN, upon his MSS Finally, e to Adraph taken, from which the reproduction of his Zoffany portrait is made into a frontispiece for this volume We hope that any other friends who have helped us will accept this general expression of our gratitude

W A L

R A A L

_April 1913_

In the notes to the text, the folloorks are referred to under the shortened foriven:--

_Meh: quoted from second edition, 1871 As _Memoir_

_Letters of Jane Austen_, edited by Edward Lord Brabourne, 1884 As _Brabourne_

_Jane Austen's Sailor Brothers_, by J H Hubback and Edith C Hubback, 1906 As _Sailor Brothers_

_Jane Austen: Her Homes and her Friends_ Constance Hill, 1902 As _Miss Hill_