Page:Jane Austen (Sarah Fanny Malden 1889).djvu/22

 born, and christened Cassandra, and after an interval of nearly four years, on December 16th, 1775, came Jane, and with her the Austen family closed.

The early life of all the young Austens was much the same. Like all her brothers and her sister, Jane was sent to a neighbouring farmer's wife as soon as possible after her birth, and remained there until of a convenient age to return home. This curious custom was then almost universal both in England and in France; most English writers of the day mention it as a matter of course, and both Richardson and Miss Edgeworth strongly uphold it. In France it was so systematized that the parents frequently sent with their infant a blank death certificate for the foster parents to fill up in case the child died while under their care! I do not know if this odd piece of foresight ever existed in England, at all events it was never needed for any of the young Austens, nor were they really banished from their parents, for both the father and mother visited the children almost daily until their return home. As far as health went the plan answered well, for all the children were healthy, and several lived to extreme old age, though Jane, alas! was not among these.

Except for occasional short absences from home, Jane's birthplace was also her dwelling-place for twenty-five years, considerably more than the half of her short life, and some of her best writing was accomplished while there, so that a description of the quiet country parsonage cannot be without some interest for her readers.

Steventon, Stephington, or Stivetune—for the place has borne all these names—is not situated in a strikingly picturesque or beautiful country; in fact, there is a family tradition that Mrs. George Austen