Part 3 (1/2)

CHAPTER III

WARREN HASTINGS AND THE HANcockS

1752-1794

The title of this chapter ht to remove it far from the life of Jane Austen; but Mrs Hancock (who had been Philadelphia Austen) was her aunt, and Eliza Hancock not only a cousin but also a close friend; and both were alelco fortunes of these ladies would therefore be an object of constant thought and discussion at the Rectory, and Jane had an early opportunity of beco interested in the affairs both of India and of France

How the acquaintance of the faan, we cannot exactly say; but it certainly lasted long, and resulted on their side in an adenius and his kindness, and a readiness to defend him when he was attacked

In one of Jane's early unpublished sketches occurs the following passage:--

The eldest daughter had been obliged to accept the offer of one of her cousins to equip her for the East Indies, and tho' infinitely against her inclinations, had been necessitated to embrace the only possibility that was offered to her of a maintenance; yet it was one so opposite to all her ideas of propriety, so contrary to her wishes, so repugnant to her feelings, that she would almost have preferred servitude to it, had choice been allowed her Her personal attractions had gained her a husband as soon as she had arrived at Bengal, and she had now been married nearly a twelvemonth--splendidly, yet unhappily e, whose disposition was not ah his character was respectable

When Jane wrote this sheof her father's sister, Philadelphia, whose fate is described not very incorrectly, though with a certain ae That Philadelphia Austen went to seek her fortune in India is certain, and that she did so reluctantly is extree been left an orphan without ht her up may have settled the matter for her Who those friends were, we do not know; but froh life--not only with her brother, George Austen, but also, in a less degree, with her half-brother, William Walter--it is probable that she had spent much of her youth with herman, was poor, and had no home to offer her; but the banishment which threatened entirely to separate the brother and sister proved in the end to have a contrary effect

Philadelphia did in tiland, as a wife and as the hter, and her husband's subsequent return to India caused her to depend lish relations

At Steventon little Betsy would find playfellows, soer than herself, in the elder Austen children, while herthe last news from India with the heads of the family

Our first definite information about Philadelphia is, that in November 1751 she petitioned the Court of East India Directors for leave to go to friends at Fort St David by the _Bombay Castle_; but who these friends were, or what induced her to take so adventurous a journey in search of them, we cannot say Her sureties were also sureties for a certain Mary Elliott, so they ether

But, according to Sydney Grier's conjecture, Mary Elliott did not, after all, sail in the _Bombay Castle_, but re with hi year Captain Buchanan lost his life in the Black Hole, and his hether she was Mary Elliott or not) s By her second husband she had two children, a son, George, born about 1758, and a daughter born about 1759 who lived only three weeks The short history of the boy we have already told Mrs Hastings died on July 11, 1759, at Cossinbazar[25]

Philadelphia reached Madras on August 4, 1752 It is probable that in those days no girl was long in India without receiving offers oftwenty years later, to deprecate his daughter's co out to India, says to Philadelphia 'You know very well that no girl, tho' but fourteen years old, can arrive in India without attracting the notice of every coxcomb in the place; you yourself kno i attached to a young handsoreeable to her' If there _was_ any handso man in Philadelphia's case, it was probably not Mr Hancock, who must have been forty or more when he married her at Cuddalore on February 22, 1753 The name of Tysoe Saul Hancock appears in the list of European inhabitants at Fort St David for 1753, as surgeon, at 36 per annum; and at Fort St David he and Philadelphia ree Where the Hancocks were during the troublous ti of 1762 they were certainly in Calcutta, for their daughter Elizabeth--better known as Betsy--was born there in Deces, at this time resident at Murshi+dabad, was Godfather to Elizabeth, who received the nahter The origin of the close intis is uncertain; but if Mary Elliott really became the wife of the latter, the friendshi+p of the toation under which Hastings describes hi to Philadelphia

The news of the death of his little son was the first thing Hastings heard on landing in England in 1765, and we are told it left a shadow on his face for years He seems always to have been especially fond of children, and his intireater pleasure than by infor s froust 15, 1765, sends his kisses and salaareat_” I believe I should say) Betsy Hancock,' and a 'good hearty shake by the hand to George; I suppose if I were to go to kiss hiive me a box on the ears--Write o'

It sees for England in the _Medway_ in 1764-5; but, whenever they went, we learn from Hancock's letters that the journey hoe suht that he had a, or from private practice, for it can hardly have been from his official income--in India to enable him to end his days comfortably at home But either his Indian investood style in England cost much more than he had anticipated; and after three years he found hireeable necessity of a second residence in Bengal, in order to secure a fresh provision for his wife and daughter

So low, indeed, were his finances at the tis to pay for his passage out He reached Calcutta in 1769, but did not prosper on this second visit His health was bad, his trading ventures turned out a s evidently foresa ave a su at first to 5000, and increased later to 10,000, in trust for Hancock and his wife during their lives, and, on the death of the survivor, to Betsy

Mr Hancock himself died in Noveretted' (in the words of a young man whom he had befriended), 'the patron of theand the fatherless'[26] He seems indeed to have been a ly attached to his wife and daughter; but the last part of his life was passed away from them amid difficulties and disappointh to enable hiainst unequal fortune He alludes in his letters, with expressions of regard, to his brother-in-law, George Austen; but characteristically deplores his growing fa that he will not be able to put them out in the world--a difficulty which did not eventually prove to be insuperable

When the news of his death reached England--which would be in about six e Austen and his ere, fortunately, present to cos She and Betsy had now been living in England for ten years, and had seen, no doubt, s's loyal attached, and they lived on terms of inti as Hancock lived he wrote constantly to wife and child, and gave advice--occasionally, perhaps, of a rather e kind--about the education of the latter He discouraged, however, an idea of his wife's that she should bring Betsy out to India at the age of twelve At last Mrs Hancock, who, though a really good wohter, was able to fulfil the chief desire of her own heart, and to take her abroad to finish her studies, and later to seek an entry into the great world in Paris Her husband's affairs had been left in ift of 10,000 put the woer Abbey_, 'will reach the age of sixteen without altering her nareat move was made In years to come, her connexion with her Steventon cousins was destined to be a close one; at the present tiirl, fond of a her own ihly But she had been carefully educated, and was capable of disinterested attachments She seee Austen, and one of her earliest letters fro to hi 'It is reckoned like what I am at present The dress is quite the present fashi+on of what I usually wear' This , fresh young girl, in a lohite dress edged with light blue ribbon, the hair turned up and powdered, with a ribbon of the sae of her character at this time is principally derived from a series of letters written by her to her cousin, Phila Walter--letters singularly frank and gossipy, and of especial interest to us frohts they throw on the fa letters froirl as Eliza was not likely to pass unnoticed in any society; and in August 1781 Mr Woods that she is on the point of e with a French officer, and that 'Mr Austen isup all their friends, their country, and he fears their religion'[27] The intended husband was Jean Capotte, Coed thirty, an officer in the Queen's Regioons, and owner of an estate called Le Marais, near Gaboret, in Guyenne TheMarch, Eliza, now Co the Comte and his devotion to herself

The iven my hand is everyways amiable both in mind and person It is too little to say he loves me, since he literally adores uide of all his actions, the whole study of his life seems to be to contribute to the happiness of reeable, certain of never being separated fro I enjoy, equally sure of my husband's affection, mistress of an easy fortune with the prospect of a very aes of rank and title, and a nust whom I can flatter myself I have so I have reason to be thankful to Providence for the lot fallen towhich can make me uneasy is the distance I am from my relations and country, but this is what I trust I shall not always have to coland, and even to make it his residence a part of the year We shall certainly make you a visit as soon as possible after the peace takes place

In the saay the season has been, on account of the birth of the Dauphin, and of the fetes which accompanied that event Neither she nor her 'numerous and brilliant acquaintance' had any prevision of the terrible days that awaited all their order, nor any knowledge of the existence of the irresistible forces which were soon to overwhelical end to every hope cherished by the bride, except that of rejoining her English friends For the present, she led a life of pleasure and gaiety; but that it did not etful of Steventon is shown by another letter to Phila, dated May 7, 1784:--

I experienced ave me of my Uncle Geo: Austen's fa their parents could wish theiven me the completest satisfaction had it not been accompanied by the melancholy news of the death of the valuable Mrs Cooper I sincerely larief it must have occasioned Both Mama and myself were very apprehensive of the influence of this event on my aunt's health, but fortunately the last accounts from Steventon assure us that the whole faain writes on the subject of a visit to England, about which she hesitates, partly because of the state of her health, and partly because she was expecting a long visit froe Austen)--a young raduate residence at Oxford, was spending soland, however, she ca to see much of the Austen family

'I mean,' she writes, 'to spend a very few days in London, and, if my health allows me, immediately to pay a visit to Steventon, because my uncle informs us that Midsummer and Christmas are the only seasons when hishis friends' The rectory was certainly too small a 'mansion' to contain the Coe family party and various pupils; so it is to be hoped that Eliza carried out her project in June, before she was otherwise engaged She settled for a time in London, at 3 Orchard Street, and there it must be supposed her one child--a little boy--was born in the autus after her own Godfather The Comte, as himself detained by business in France, had, for soht be born in England Whether she went again to Steventon at Christmas is uncertain, for her next letter is dated April 9, 1787 Eliza was then in town and expecting a visit from her cousin, Henry Austen--by this tio into residence at Oxford She had been indulging in such gaieties as London had to offer her