Jane Austen

“ Oh! my dear Mary, merely a Joke of his. He pretends to advise me to make a Hospital of it. He pretends to laugh at my Improvements. Sidney says any thing you know. He has always said what he chose of & to us, all. Most Families have such a member among them I beleive Miss Heywood.—There is a someone in most families privileged by superior abilities or spirits to say anything.—In ours, it is Sidney; who is a very clever Young Man,—and with great powers of pleasing.—He lives too much in the World to be settled ”

“ Ah! young Ladies that have no Money are very much to be pitied!—But—after a short pause—if Miss Esther thinks to talk me into inviting them to come & stay at Sanditon House, she will find herself mistaken.—Matters are altered with me since last Summer you know—.I have Miss Clara with me now, which makes a great difference." She spoke this so seriously that Charlotte instantly saw in it the evidence of real penetration & prepared for some fuller remarks—but it was followed only by—"I have no fancy for having my House as full as an Hotel. ”

“ Where People can be found with Money or Time to go to them!—Bad things for a Country;—sure to raise the price of Provisions & make the Poor good for nothing—as I dare say you find, Sir." "Not at all Sir, not at all—cried Mr Parker eagerly. ”

“ Every Neighbourhood should have a great Lady.—The great Lady of Sanditon, was Lady Denham; ”

“ Such Poverty & Dependance joined to such Beauty & Merit, seemed to leave no choice in the business.—These feelings were not the result of any spirit of Romance in Charlotte herself. No, she was a very sober-minded young Lady, sufficiently well-read in Novels to supply her Imagination with amusement, but not at all unreasonably influenced by them ”

“ With him, such Conduct was Genius, Fire & Feeling.—It interested & inflamed him; & he was always more anxious for its Success & mourned over its Discomfitures with more Tenderness than cd ever have been contemplated by the Authors.—Though he owed many of his ideas to this sort of reading, it were unjust to say that he read nothing else, or that his Language were not formed on a more general Knowledge of modern Literature.—He read all the Essays, Letters, Tours & Criticisms of the day—& with the same ill-luck which made him derive only false Principles from Lessons of Morality, & incentives to Vice from the History of it's Overthrow, he gathered only hard words & involved sentences from the style of our most approved Writers.—
Sir Edw:'s great object in life was to be seductive.—With such personal advantages as he knew himself to possess, & such Talents as he did also give himself credit for, he regarded it as his Duty.—He felt that he was formed to be a dangerous Man—quite in the line of the Lovelaces.—The very name of Sir Edward he thought, carried some degree of fascination with it.—To be generally gallant & assiduous about the fair, to make fine speeches to every pretty Girl, was but the inferior part of the Character he had to play.—* Miss Heywood, or any other young Woman with any pretensions to Beauty, he was entitled ”

“ We have entirely done with the whole Medical Tribe. We have consulted Physician after Phyn in vain, till we are quite convinced that they can do nothing for us & that we must trust to our own knowledge of our own wretched Constitutions for any releif.—But if you think it advisable for the interest of the Place, to get a Medical Man there, I will undertake the commission with pleasure, & have no doubt of succeeding.—I could soon put the necessary Irons in the fire.—As for getting to Sanditon myself, it is quite an Impossibility. ”

“ It was not a week, since Miss Diana Parker had been told by her feelings, that the Sea Air wd probably in her present state, be the death of her, and now she was at Sanditon, intending to make some Stay, & without appearing to have the slightest recollection of having written or felt any such thing.—It was impossible for Charlotte not to suspect a good deal of fancy in such an extraordinary state of health.—Disorders & Recoveries so very much out of the common way, seemed more like the amusement of eager Minds in want of employment than of actual afflictions & releif. ”

“ She liked him.—Sober-minded as she was, she thought him agreable, & did not quarrel with the suspicion of his finding her equally so, which would arise from his evidently disregarding his Sister's motion to go, & persisting in his station & his discourse.—I make no apologies-for my Heroine's vanity.—If there are young Ladies in the World at her time of Life, more dull of Fancy & more careless of pleasing, I know them not, & never wish to know them.—At last, from the low French windows of the Drawing room which commanded the road & all the Paths across the Down, Charlotte & Sir Edw: ”

“ I have read several of Burn's Poems with great delight, said Charlotte as soon as she had time to speak, but I am not poetic enough to separate a Man's Poetry entirely from his Character;—& poor Burns's known Irregularities, greatly interrupt my enjoyment of his Lines.—I have difficulty, in depending on the Truth of his Feelings as a Lover. I have not faith in the sincerity of the affections of a Man of his Description. ”

“ Charlotte had been 10 days at Sanditon without seeing Sanditon House, every attempt at calling on Lady D. having been defeated by meeting with her beforehand. But now it was to be more resolutely undertaken, at a more early hour, that nothing might be neglected of attention to Lady D. or amusement to Charlotte.—"And if you should find a favourable opening my Love, said Mr P. (who did not mean to go with them) —I think you had better mention the poor Mullins's situation, & sound her Ladyship as to a Subscription for them. ”

“ But she is a goodnatured Woman, a very goodnatured Woman,—a very obliging, friendly Neighbour; a chearful, independant, valuable character.—and her faults may be entirely imputed to her want of Education. She has good natural Sense, but quite uncultivated.—She has a fine active mind, as well as a fine healthy frame for a Woman of 70, & enters into the improvement of Sanditon with a spirit truly admirable—though now & then, a Littleness will appear. ”

“ All that he understood of himself, he readily told, for he was very openhearted;—& where he might be himself in the dark, his conversation was still giving information, to such of the Heywoods as could observe.—By such he was perceived to be an Enthusiast;—on the subject of Sanditon, a complete Enthusiast.—Sanditon,—the success of Sanditon as a small, fashionable Bathing Place was the object, for which he seemed to live. ”

“ It took us half an hour to climb your Hill.—Well Sir—I dare say it is as you say, & I have made an abominably stupid Blunder.—All done in a moment;—the advertisements did not catch my eye till the last half hour of our being in Town;—when everything was in the hurry & confusion which always attend a short stay there—One is never able to complete anything in the way of Business you know till the Carriage is at the door—and accordingly satisfying myself with a breif enquiry, & finding we were actually to pass within a mile or two of a Willingden, I sought no farther . ”

“ Denham, said Charlotte, with such personal Advantages may be almost sure of getting a Woman of fortune, if he chuses it."—This glorious sentiment seemed quite to remove suspicion. "Aye my Dear—That's very sensibly said cried Lady D—And if we cd but get a young Heiress to S! But Heiresses are monstrous scarce! I do not think we have had an Heiress here, or even a Co—since Sanditon has been a public place. Families come after Families, but as far as I can learn, it is not one in an hundred of them that have any real Property, Landed or Funded.—An Income perhaps, but no Property. ”

“ Though I dare say Sidney might find something extremely entertaining in this Letter & make us laugh for half an hour together I declare I by myself, can see nothing in it but what is either very pitiable or very creditable.—With all their sufferings, you perceive how much they are occupied in promoting the Good of others!—So anxious for Sanditon! Two large Families—One, for Prospect House probably, the other, for No 2. ”

“ Well?"—"The reason of this hesitation, was her having no connections in the place, & no means of ascertaining that she should have good accomodations on arriving there;—and she was particularly careful & scrupulous on all those matters more on account of a certain Miss Lambe a young Lady (probably a Neice) under her care, than on her own account or her Daughters.—Miss Lambe has an immense fortune—richer than all the rest—& very delicate health.—One sees clearly enough by all this, the sort of Woman Mrs G. must be—as helpless & indolent, as Wealth & a Hot Climate are apt to make us. ”

“ Many a respectable Family, many a careful Mother, many a pretty Daughter, might it secure us, to the prejudice of E. Bourne & Hastings."—They were now approaching the Church & neat village of Sanditon, which stood at the foot of the Hill they were afterwards to ascend—a Hill, whose side was covered with the Woods & enclosures of Sanditon House and whose Height ended in an open Down where the new Buildgs might soon be looked for. ”

“ Susan never eats I grant you—& just at present I shall want nothing; I never eat for about a week after a Journey—but as for Arthur, he is only too much disposed for Food. We are often obliged to check him."—"But you have not told me any thing of the other Family coming to Sanditon, said Mr P. as he walked with her to the door of the House—the Camberwell Seminary; have we a good chance of them?" "Oh! Certain—quite certain.—I had forgotten them for the moment, but I had a letter 3 days ago from my friend Mrs Charles Dupuis which assured me of Camberwell. ”

“ Can you conceive any thing more subduing, more melting, more fraught with the deep Sublime than that Line?—But Burns—I confess my sence of his Pre-eminence Miss H.—If Scott has a fault, it is the want of Passion.—Tender, Elegant, Descriptive—but Tame.—The Man who cannot do justice to the attributes of Woman is my contempt.—Sometimes indeed a flash of feeling seems to irradiate him—as in the Lines, we were speaking of—"Oh! Woman in our hours of Ease"—. ”

“ For a whole fortnight the Travellors were fixed at Willingden; Mr. P.'s sprain proving too serious for him to move sooner.—He had fallen into very good hands. The Heywoods were a thoroughly respectable family, & every possible attention was paid in the kindest & most unpretending manner, to both Husband & wife. ”

“ I never burn my Toasts—I never put them too near the Fire at first—& yet, you see, there is not a Corner but what is well browned.—I hope you like dry Toast."—"With a reasonable quantity of Butter spread over it, very much—said Charlotte—but not otherwise.—" "No more do I—said he exceedingly pleased—We think quite alike there.—So far from dry Toast being wholesome, I think it a very bad thing for the Stomach. Without a little butter to soften it, it hurts the Coats of the Stomach. ”

“ I shall not know what to say."—"My dear Mary, cried he, it is impossible you can be really at a loss. Nothing can be more simple. You have only to state the present afflicted situation of the family, their earnest application to me, & my being willing to promote a little subscription for their releif, provided it meet with her approbation.—" "The easiest thing in the World—cried Miss Diana Parker who happened to be calling on them at the moment—. ”

“ Nobody could catch cold by the Sea, Nobody wanted appetite by the Sea, Nobody wanted Spirits, Nobody wanted Strength.—They were healing, softing, relaxing—fortifying & bracing—seemingly just as was wanted—sometimes one, sometimes the other.—If the Sea breeze failed, the Sea-Bath was the certain corrective;—& where Bathing disagreed, the Sea Breeze alone was evidently designed by Nature for the cure.—His eloquence however could not prevail. ”

“ The difference in Miss Denham's countenance, the change from Miss Denham sitting in cold Grandeur in Mrs Parker's Drawg-room to be kept from silence by the efforts of others, to Miss D. at Lady D.'s Elbow, listening & talking with smiling attention or solicitous eagerness, was very striking—and very amusing—or very melancholy, just as Satire or Morality might prevail.— Miss Denham's Character was pretty well decided with Charlotte. ”

“ They are more likely to want a second.—I shall take only one however, & that, but for a week certain.—Miss Heywood, I astonish you.—You hardly know what to make of me.—I see by your Looks, that you are not used to such quick measures."—The words "Unaccountable Officiousness—Activity run mad!"—had just passed through Charlotte's mind—but a civil answer was easy. ”

“ It is now only 1/2 past 4.—As to seeing me again today—I cannot answer for it; the others will be at the Hotel all the Eveng, & delighted to see you at any time, but as soon as I get back I shall hear what Arthur has done about our own Lodgings, & probably the moment Dinner is over, shall be out again on business relative to them, for we hope to get into some Lodgings or other & be settled after breakfast tomorrow.—I have not much confidence in poor Arthur's skill for Lodging-taking, but he seemed to like the commission.—" "I think you are doing too much, said Mr P. You will knock yourself up. ”

“ A Gentleman & Lady travelling from Tunbridge towards that part of the Sussex Coast which lies between Hastings & E. Bourne, being induced by Business to quit the high road, & attempt a very rough Lane, were overturned in toiling up it's long ascent half rock, half sand.—The accident happened just beyond the only Gentleman's House near the Lane—a House, which their Driver on being first required to take that direction, had conceived to be necessarily their object, & had with most unwilling Looks been constrained to pass by—. ”

“ She talked however, the whole Evening as incessantly as Diana—& excepting that she sat with salts in her hand, took Drops two or three times from one, out of the several Phials already at home on the Mantlepeice,—& made a great many odd faces & contortions, Charlotte could perceive no symptoms of illness which she, in the boldness of her own good health, wd not have undertaken to cure, by putting out the fire, opening the Window, & disposing of the Drops & the salts by means of one or the other. She had had considerable curiosity to see Mr Arthur Parker ”

“ I have given it up you know to the Man who occupies the cheif of my Land. He gets a better House by it—& I, a rather better situation!—one other Hill brings us to Sanditon—modern Sanditon—a beautiful Spot.—Our Ancestors, you know always built in a hole.—Here were we, pent down in this little contracted Nook, without Air or Veiw, only one mile & 3 qrs from the noblest expanse of Ocean between the South foreland & the Land's end, & without the smallest advantage from it. ”

“ She can only speak in a whisper—and fainted away twice this morning on poor Arthur's trying to suppress a cough. He, I am happy to say is tolerably well—tho' more languid than I like—& I fear for his Liver.—I have heard nothing of Sidney since your being together in Town, but conclude his scheme to the I. of Wight has not taken place, or we should have seen him in his way.—Most sincerely do we wish you a good Season at Sanditon, & though we cannot contribute to your Beau Monde in person, we are doing our utmost to send you Company worth having ”