Page:Essays and studies; by members of the English Association, volume 2.djvu/11



speaking to you of Jane Austen I must assume, not only that you are familiar with her novels, but that, like myself, you belong to the faithful. That does not bind us to rank her with the very greatest novel-writers, or to prefer her works to others more ambitious and more faulty. But it does imply a perception and enjoyment of her surpassing excellence within that comparatively narrow sphere whose limits she never tried to- overpass—an excellence which, we may perhaps venture to say, gives her in that sphere the position held by Shakespeare in his. Those who lack this perception or dispute its truth may possibly be in the right; but attempts to prove that they are wrong are perfectly futile, since all the proofs rest 'on the perception itself. I must therefore assume that you belong to the faithful. And, if you do, you will not wish me to add another to the estimates of Jane Austen's genius; nor, on the other hand, will you ask me whether I have anything new to say. I do not know enough of Austen criticism to answer the question; nor does it matter. The faithful enjoy comparing notes; and I offer you some of mine, and wish that you could give me yours in return.

I begin by referring to two matters which seem to be unknown to many readers of Jane Austen, and which all her readers would certainly like to know. The first is the fact that the six novels fall into two distinct groups, separated by a considerable interval of time. She came of age in December, 126. In that year and the two following she wrote Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Northanger Abbey.