A Memoir of Jane Austen

More oxford books @ www.OxfordeBook.com
Fore more urdu books visit www.4Urdu.com
76
Character and Tastes
I believe that all this nonsense was nearly extempore, and that
the fancy of drawing the images from America arose at the
moment from the obvious rhyme which presented itself in the
first stanza.
The following extracts are from letters addressed to a niece
who was at that time amusing herself by attempting a novel,°
probably never finished, certainly never published, and of which I
know nothing but what these extracts tell. They show the goodnatured
sympathy and encouragement which the aunt, then herself
occupied in writing ‘Emma,’ could give to the less matured
powers of the niece. They bring out incidentally some of her
opinions concerning compositions of that kind:––
Extracts
‘Chawton, Aug. 10, 1814.°
‘Your aunt C. does not like desultory novels, and is rather
fearful that yours will be too much so; that there will be too
frequent a change from one set of people to another, and that
circumstances will be sometimes introduced, of apparent consequence,
which will lead to nothing. It will not be so great an
objection to me. I allow much more latitude than she does, and
think nature and spirit cover many sins of a wandering story. And
people in general do not care much about it, for your comfort. . . .’
‘Sept. 9.°
‘You are now collecting your people delightfully, getting them
exactly into such a spot as is the delight of my life. Three or four
families in a country village is the very thing to work on; and I
hope you will write a great deal more, and make full use of them
while they are so very favourably arranged.’
‘Sept. 28.°
‘Devereux Forrester being ruined by his vanity is very good:
but I wish you would not let him plunge into a “vortex of dissipation.”
I do not object to the thing, but I cannot bear the