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1865), Sir Francis, Admiral of the Fleet, and a personal friend of

Nelson, whose somswhat autocratic bearing never really concealed his

strong family affections. Jane (1775-1817). Charles (1779-1852),

rear-admiral, the sisters' 'own particular little brother,' who was a

general favourite in the fleet and almost as distinguished as Sir Francis

in his profession.

As all the men married, four of them twice, and tbirtyfour grand'

children arrived among them in due course, it will be readily seen that

the family could scarcely avoid being practically sufficient unto thenv

selves, fornung a happy and busy clan, with abundance of interests,

anxieties, and events to occupy the daily round.

In 1 80 1 the rector gave up his pupils, handed over the living to James,

and removed his family -- very little, it would seem, to Jane's satisfaction

-- to Bath. Within four years 'an illness of only eight and forty hours

carried off' George Austen, other troubles followed, and in the

early part of 1807 Mrs. Austen, Cassandra, and Jane were settled in

Southampton with the newly married Francis and his wife. This,

however, in reality amounted to little more than a very pleasant visit;

and it was not until the hospitable squire Edward had installed his

mother and sisters in his steward's cottage at Chawton, near the 'Great

House,' that they had ever felt themselves to be in possession of a 'home'

since leaving Steventon.

It is her own life that Jane Austen has drawn for us in the novels;

not even approaching autobiography outside a few, isolated characters

and events, but very precisely re-creating -- with infinite wit, tenderness,

and humour -- the dear humanity she knew and loved so well; not

seeking wider fields, more adventurous drama, or more varied characters,

than any ordinary country parish would provide. The pleasures, the

preoccupations, the problems of her heroines were no less Jane's own;

she wrote of nothing she did not know, she experienced nothing of

which she has not written; it is the perfect union between the author and

her books by which her genius achieved artistic beauty and truth.

Births, marriages, and deaths formed the groundwork of her personal

experience; tragedy touched her most nearly perhaps through the death

of Thomas Fowle, so happily engaged to Cassandra for two years; and

she is believed to have been herself disappointed in love, though what

Little we know of the matter does not suggest that its effects were deeply

felt or prolonged. Her enjoyment of life, in its trivial or more serious

aspects, like her strong affections and keen interest in her family, neigh'

bours, and friends, was entirely natural and spontaneous. She was a

favourite aunt, expert at storytelling and games, fond of dancing in her

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