We will now have two minutes of silence in memory of the finest author of the Napoleonic/Regency era, Jane Austen. However, since most people read in silence, it will be unnessecary for me to pause in any way. Yes, today, on the eighteenth of July, the one thousandth, eight hundredth and seventeenth year of Our Lord, that genius of wit, romance, and sheer delight passed aay, with no children fo her own but her sweet writings, who are alive and well even now.
In honour of this great author, I wish to post a couple of excerpts from her juvenilia. Jane wrote "The History of England" at the age of fifteen, for her own amusement and that of her family, completeing it November, 1791. One can see her sense of humour was alive long before she put it to work in her adult works. Beneath, if one scrolls down, one will find an exceedingly short play, "The Mystery - An Unfinished Comedy", which, I believe, she wrote when she was twelve. Enjoy! (Please note that in the interest of space, I have posted only exceprts from "The History".
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Exceprts from
Exceprts from
"The History of England From the Reign fo Henry the 4th to the Death of Charles the 1st"
By a partial, prejudiced, & ignorant Historian.To Miss Austen, eldest daughter of the Revd. George Austen, this Work is inscribed with all due respect by
The Author
The Author
N.B. There will be very few Dates in this History.
Henry the 4th
HENRY the 4th ascended the throne of England much to his own satisfaction in the year 1399, after having prevailed on his cousin & predecessor Richard the 2d to resign it to him, & to retire for the rest of his Life to Pomfret Castle, where he happened to be murdered. It is to be supposed that Henry was married, since he had certainly four sons, but it is not in my power to inform the Reader who was his Wife. Be this as it may, he did not live for ever, but falling ill, his son the Prince of Wales came and took away the crown; whereupon the King made a long speech, for which I must refer the Reader to Shakespear's Plays, & the Prince made a still longer. Things being thus settled between them, the King died, & was succeeded by his son Henry who had previously beat Sir William Gascoigne.
Henry the 5th
THIS Prince, after he succeeded to the throne, grew quite reformed & Amiable, forsaking all his dissipated Companions, & never thrashing Sir William again. During his reign, Lord Cobham was burnt alive, but I forget what for. His Majesty then turned his thoughts to France, where he went & fought the famous Battle of Agincourt. He afterwards married the King's daughter Catherine, a very agreable Woman by Shakespear's account. In spite of all this, however, he died, and was succeeded by his son Henry.
Henry the 6th
I CANNOT say much for this Monarch's Sense -- Nor would I if I could, for he was a Lancastrian. I suppose you know all about the Wars between him and & The Duke of York, who was of the right side; If you do not, you had better read some other History, for I shall not be very diffuse in this, meaning by it only to vent my Spleen against, & shew my hatred to all those people whose parties or principles do not suit with mine, and not to give information. [...] There were several Battles between the Yorkists & Lancastrians, in which the former (as they ought) usually conquered. [...]
Edward the 4th
THIS Monarch was famous only for his Beauty & his Courage, of which the Picture we have here given of him, & his undaunted Behaviour in marrying one Woman while he was engaged to another, are sufficient proofs. [...] One of Edward's Mistresses was Jane Shore, who has had a play written about her, but it is a tragedy & therefore not worth reading. [...]
Henry the 7th
[...] His Majesty died, & was succeeded by his son Henry, whose only merit was his not being quite so bad as his daughter Elizabeth.
IT would be an affront to my Readers were I to suppose that they were not as well acquainted with the particulars of this King's reign as I am myself. It will therefore be saving them the task of reading again what they have read before, & myself the trouble of writing what I do not perfectly recollect, by giving only a slight sketch of the principal Events which marked his reign. Among these may be ranked Cardinal Wolsey's telling the father Abbott of Leicester Abbey that "he was come to lay his bones among them", the reformation in Religion, & the King's riding through the Streets of London with Anna Bullen. It is however but Justice, & my Duty to declare that this amiable Woman was entirely innocent of the Crimes with which she was accused, of which her Beauty, her Elegance, & her Sprightliness were sufficient proofs, not to mention her solemn protestations of Innocence, the weakness of the Charges against her, and the king's Character; all of which add some confirmation, tho' perhaps but slight ones when in comparison with those before alledged in her favour. Tho' I do not profess giving many dates, yet as I think it proper to give some & shall of course make choice of those which it is most necessary for the Reader to know, I think it right to inform him that her letter to the King was dated on the 6th of May. The Crimes & Cruelties of this Prince were too numerous to be mentioned (as this history I trust has fully shown); & nothing can be said in his vindication, but that his abolishing Religious Houses & leaving them to the ruinous depredations of time has been of infinite use to the landscape of England in general, which probably was a principal motive for his doing it, since otherwise why should a Man who was of no Religion himself be at so much trouble to abolish one which had for Ages been established in the Kingdom? His Majesty's 5th wife was the Duke of Norfolk's Neice who, tho' universally acquitted of the crimes for which she was beheaded, has been by many people supposed to have led an abandoned Life before her Marriage -- of this, however, I have many doubts, since she was a relation of that noble Duke of Norfolk who was so warm in the Queen of Scotland's cause, & who at last fell a victim to it. The king's last wife contrived to survive him, but with difficulty effected it. He was succeeded by his only son Edward.
Edward the 6th
As this prince was only nine years old at the time of his Father's death, he was considered by many people as too young to govern, & the late King happening to be of the same opinion, his mother's Brother, the Duke of Somerset, was chosen Protector of the realm during his minority. [...] He was beheaded, of which he might with reason have been proud, had he known that such was [to be] the death of Mary Queen of Scotland; but as it was impossible that He should be conscious of what had never happened, it does not appear that he felt particularly delighted with the manner of it. [...]
[...] His Majesty was of that amiable disposition which inclines to Freindships, & in such points was possessed of a keener perception in Discovering Merit than many other people. I once heard an excellent Sharade on a Carpet, of which the subject I am now on reminds me, and as I think it may afford my Readers some Amusement to find it out, I shall here take the liberty of presenting it to them:
SHARADE [sic]
My first is what my second was to King James the 1st, and you tread on my whole.
The principal favourites of his Majesty were Car, who was afterwards created Earl of Somerset and whose name may have some share in the above mentioned Sharade, & George Villiers, afterwards Duke of Buckingham. On his Majesty's death he was succeeded by his son Charles.
Charles the 1st
[...] The Events of this Monarch's reign are too numerous for my pen, and indeed the recital of any Events (except what I make myself) is uninteresting to me; my principal reason for undertaking the History of England being to prove the innocence of the Queen of Scotland, which I flatter myself with having effectually done, and to abuse Elizabeth, tho' I am rather fearful of having fallen short in the latter part of my Scheme. -- As therefore it is not my intention to give any particular account of the distresses into which this King was involved through the misconduct & Cruelty of his Parliament, I shall satisfy myself with vindicating him from the Reproach of Arbitrary & tyrannical Government with which he has often been Charged. This, I feel, is not difficult to be done, for with one argument I am certain of satisfying every sensible & well disposed person whose opinions have been properly guided by a good Education -- & this Argument is that he was a Stuart.
Finis
Saturday Nov: 26th 1791
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THE MYSTERY
An Unfinished Comedy
DEDICATION
To the Rev'd George Austen
Sir, I humbly solicit your patronage to the following comedy, which tho' an unfinished one, I flatter my self as complete a mystery as any of its kind.
I am, Sir, your most Humble Servant,
The Author
ACT THE FIRST
Scene the first - A Garden
Enter CORYDON
CORY.: But hush! I am interrupted! (Exit CORYDON. Enter OLD HUMBUG and his son, talking.)
OLD HUM.: It is for this reason I wish you to follow my advice. Are you convinced of it propriety?
YOUNG HUM.: I am, sir, and will certainly act in the manner you have pointed out to me.
OLD HUM.: Then let us return to the house.( (Exeunt)
Scene the second - A Parlor in the Humbugs' House
MRS. HUMBUG and FANNY discovered at work.
MRS. HUM.: You understand me, my love?
FANNY: Perfectly, Madam. Pray continue your narrative.
MRS. HUM.: Alas, it is nearly concluded, for I have nothing more to say on the subject.
FANNY: Ah! Here's DAPHNE.
DAPHNE: My dear Mrs. Humbug how d'ye do? Oh! Fanny, 'tis all over!
FANNY: Is it indeed!
MRS. HUM.: I'm very sorry to hear it.
FANNY: Then t'was to no purpose that I...
DAPHNE: None upon Earth.
MRS. HUM.: What's to become of...?
DAPHNE: Oh! That's all settled. (Whispers Mrs. HUMBUG)
FANNY: And how is it determined?
DAPHNE: I'll tell you. (Whispers FANNY)
MRS. HUM.: And he is to...?
DAPHNE: I'll tell you all I know fo the matter. (Whispers MRS. HUMBUG and FANNY)
FANNY: Well, now I know everything about it, I'll go away. (Exit)
MRS. HUMBUG and DAPHNE: And so will I. (Exeunt)
Scene the third
The curtain rises and discovers Sir Edward Spangle, reclined in an elegant attitude on a sofa, fast asleep.
Enter COLONEL ELLIOT.
COL: My daughter is not here, I see. There lies Sir Edward. Shall I tell him the secret? No, he'll certainly blab it. But he is asleep, and won't hear me. So I'll e'en venture. (Goes up to SIR EDWARD, whispers him, and exit)
END OF THE FIRST ACT
FINIS
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