Love and Friendship, and Other Early Works, Jane Austen [bts books to read txt] 📗

a kind to require the most inviolable Secrecy from you. Last

Monday se’night Matilda and I accompanied Lady Lesley to a Rout

at the Honourable Mrs Kickabout’s; we were escorted by Mr

Fitzgerald who is a very amiable young Man in the main, tho’

perhaps a little singular in his Taste—He is in love with

Matilda—. We had scarcely paid our Compliments to the Lady of

the House and curtseyed to half a score different people when my

Attention was attracted by the appearance of a Young Man the most

lovely of his Sex, who at that moment entered the Room with

another Gentleman and Lady. From the first moment I beheld him,

I was certain that on him depended the future Happiness of my

Life. Imagine my surprise when he was introduced to me by the

name of Cleveland—I instantly recognised him as the Brother of

Mrs Marlowe, and the acquaintance of my Charlotte at Bristol. Mr

and Mrs M. were the gentleman and Lady who accompanied him. (You

do not think Mrs Marlowe handsome?) The elegant address of Mr

Cleveland, his polished Manners and Delightful Bow, at once

confirmed my attachment. He did not speak; but I can imagine

everything he would have said, had he opened his Mouth. I can

picture to myself the cultivated Understanding, the Noble

sentiments, and elegant Language which would have shone so

conspicuous in the conversation of Mr Cleveland. The approach of

Sir James Gower (one of my too numerous admirers) prevented the

Discovery of any such Powers, by putting an end to a Conversation

we had never commenced, and by attracting my attention to

himself. But oh! how inferior are the accomplishments of Sir

James to those of his so greatly envied Rival! Sir James is one

of the most frequent of our Visitors, and is almost always of our

Parties. We have since often met Mr and Mrs Marlowe but no

Cleveland—he is always engaged some where else. Mrs Marlowe

fatigues me to Death every time I see her by her tiresome

Conversations about you and Eloisa. She is so stupid! I live in

the hope of seeing her irrisistable Brother to night, as we are

going to Lady Flambeaus, who is I know intimate with the

Marlowes. Our party will be Lady Lesley, Matilda, Fitzgerald,

Sir James Gower, and myself. We see little of Sir George, who is

almost always at the gaming-table. Ah! my poor Fortune where art

thou by this time? We see more of Lady L. who always makes her

appearance (highly rouged) at Dinner-time. Alas! what Delightful

Jewels will she be decked in this evening at Lady Flambeau’s!

Yet I wonder how she can herself delight in wearing them; surely

she must be sensible of the ridiculous impropriety of loading her

little diminutive figure with such superfluous ornaments; is it

possible that she can not know how greatly superior an elegant

simplicity is to the most studied apparel? Would she but Present

them to Matilda and me, how greatly should we be obliged to her,

How becoming would Diamonds be on our fine majestic figures! And

how surprising it is that such an Idea should never have occurred

to HER. I am sure if I have reflected in this manner once, I

have fifty times. Whenever I see Lady Lesley dressed in them

such reflections immediately come across me. My own Mother’s

Jewels too! But I will say no more on so melancholy a subject

—let me entertain you with something more pleasing—Matilda had

a letter this morning from Lesley, by which we have the pleasure

of finding that he is at Naples has turned Roman-Catholic,

obtained one of the Pope’s Bulls for annulling his 1st Marriage

and has since actually married a Neapolitan Lady of great Rank

and Fortune. He tells us moreover that much the same sort of

affair has befallen his first wife the worthless Louisa who is

likewise at Naples had turned Roman-catholic, and is soon to be

married to a Neapolitan Nobleman of great and Distinguished

merit. He says, that they are at present very good Freinds, have

quite forgiven all past errors and intend in future to be very

good Neighbours. He invites Matilda and me to pay him a visit to

Italy and to bring him his little Louisa whom both her Mother,

Step-mother, and himself are equally desirous of beholding. As

to our accepting his invitation, it is at Present very uncertain;

Lady Lesley advises us to go without loss of time; Fitzgerald

offers to escort us there, but Matilda has some doubts of the

Propriety of such a scheme—she owns it would be very agreable.

I am certain she likes the Fellow. My Father desires us not to

be in a hurry, as perhaps if we wait a few months both he and

Lady Lesley will do themselves the pleasure of attending us.

Lady Lesley says no, that nothing will ever tempt her to forego

the Amusements of Brighthelmstone for a Journey to Italy merely

to see our Brother. “No (says the disagreable Woman) I have once

in my life been fool enough to travel I dont know how many

hundred Miles to see two of the Family, and I found it did not

answer, so Deuce take me, if ever I am so foolish again.“So says

her Ladyship, but Sir George still Perseveres in saying that

perhaps in a month or two, they may accompany us.

Adeiu my Dear Charlotte

Yrs faithful Margaret Lesley.

*

THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND

FROM THE REIGN OF HENRY THE 4TH TO THE DEATH OF CHARLES THE 1ST

 

BY A PARTIAL, PREJUDICED, AND IGNORANT HISTORIAN.

*

To Miss Austen, eldest daughter of the Rev. George Austen, this

work is inscribed with all due respect by

THE AUTHOR.

 

N.B. There will be very few Dates in this History.

THE HISTORY OF ENGLAND

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 and predecessor Richard the 2nd, to resign it to him, and

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, and the Prince made a still longer. Things being thus

settled between them the King died, and 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

and amiable, forsaking all his dissipated companions, and 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 and 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, and shew my Hatred TO all those people whose

parties or principles do not suit with mine, and not to give

information. This King married Margaret of Anjou, a Woman whose

distresses and misfortunes were so great as almost to make me who

hate her, pity her. It was in this reign that Joan of Arc lived

and made such a ROW among the English. They should not have

burnt her —but they did. There were several Battles between the

Yorkists and Lancastrians, in which the former (as they ought)

usually conquered. At length they were entirely overcome; The

King was murdered—The Queen was sent home—and Edward the 4th

ascended the Throne.

 

EDWARD the 4th

 

This Monarch was famous only for his Beauty and his Courage, of

which the Picture we have here given of him, and his undaunted

Behaviour in marrying one Woman while he was engaged to another,

are sufficient proofs. His Wife was Elizabeth Woodville, a Widow

who, poor Woman! was afterwards confined in a Convent by that

Monster of Iniquity and Avarice Henry the 7th. One of Edward’s

Mistresses was Jane Shore, who has had a play written about her,

but it is a tragedy and therefore not worth reading. Having

performed all these noble actions, his Majesty died, and was

succeeded by his son.

 

EDWARD the 5th

 

This unfortunate Prince lived so little a while that nobody had

him to draw his picture. He was murdered by his Uncle’s

Contrivance, whose name was Richard the 3rd.

 

RICHARD the 3rd

 

The Character of this Prince has been in general very severely

treated by Historians, but as he was a YORK, I am rather inclined

to suppose him a very respectable Man. It has indeed been

confidently asserted that he killed his two Nephews and his Wife,

but it has also been declared that he did not kill his two

Nephews, which I am inclined to beleive true; and if this is the

case, it may also be affirmed that he did not kill his Wife, for

if Perkin Warbeck was really the Duke of York, why might not

Lambert Simnel be the Widow of Richard. Whether innocent or

guilty, he did not reign long in peace, for Henry Tudor E. of

Richmond as great a villain as ever lived, made a great fuss

about getting the Crown and having killed the King at the battle

of Bosworth, he succeeded to it.

 

HENRY the 7th

 

This Monarch soon after his accession married the Princess

Elizabeth of York, by which alliance he plainly proved that he

thought his own right inferior to hers, tho’ he pretended to the

contrary. By this Marriage he had two sons and two daughters,

the elder of which Daughters was married to the King of Scotland

and had the happiness of being grandmother to one of the first

Characters in the World. But of HER, I shall have occasion to

speak more at large in future. The youngest, Mary, married first

the King of France and secondly the D. of Suffolk, by whom she

had one daughter, afterwards the Mother of Lady Jane Grey, who

tho’ inferior to her lovely Cousin the Queen of Scots, was yet an

amiable young woman and famous for reading Greek while other

people were hunting. It was in the reign of Henry the 7th that

Perkin Warbeck and Lambert Simnel before mentioned made their

appearance, the former of whom was set in the stocks, took

shelter in Beaulieu Abbey, and was beheaded with the Earl of

Warwick, and the latter was taken into the Kings kitchen. His

Majesty died and was succeeded by his son Henry whose only merit

was his not being quite so bad as his daughter Elizabeth.

 

HENRY the 8th

 

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, and MYSELF the

trouble of writing what I do not perfectly recollect,