Page:Jane Austen (Sarah Fanny Malden 1889).djvu/220

 but that I was determined I would see the last, and, therefore, was upon the listen, I should not have known when they left the house. I watched the little mournful procession the length o£ the street, and when it turned from my sight, and I had lost her for ever, even then I was not overpowered, nor so much agitated as I am now in writing of it. Never was human being more sincerely mourned by those who attended her remains than was this dear creature. May the sorrow with which she is parted with on earth be a prognostic of the joy with which she is hailed in heaven."

In these last sentences Cassandra Austen expresses what were her feelings through life, and hardly more hers than those of the rest of the family. Although she was Jane's special companion, the brothers had all loved and treasured the bright unselfish sister, who was always ready to mourn in their sorrows and rejoice with their happiness; whose talents were winning the admiration of the world, while her heart remained simple as that of a child. In the feeling words of her nephew, "They were very fond and very proud of her. They were attached to her by her talents, her virtues, and her engaging manners; and each loved afterwards to fancy a resemblance in some niece or daughter of his own to the dear sister Jane, whose perfect equal they yet never expected to see."

Jane Austen's remains were laid near the middle of the north aisle of Winchester Cathedral, almost opposite the well-known tomb of William of Wykeham. The taste of the day was for full and somewhat minute epitaphs, and on a large slab of black marble which marks the spot was placed the following inscription:—