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Northanger Abbey

Jane Austen

ADVERTISEMENT BY THE AUTHORESS, TO NORTHANGER ABBEY

THIS little work was finished in the year 1803, and intended

for immediate publication. It was disposed of to a bookseller,

it was even advertised, and why the business proceeded

no farther, the author has never been able to learn.

That any bookseller should think it worth-while to

purchase what he did not think it worth-while to publish

seems extraordinary. But with this, neither the author

nor the public have any other concern than as some

observation is necessary upon those parts of the work

which thirteen years have made comparatively obsolete.

The public are entreated to bear in mind that thirteen

years have passed since it was finished, many more

since it was begun, and that during that period,

places, manners, books, and opinions have undergone

considerable changes.

CHAPTER 1

No one who had ever seen Catherine Morland in her

infancy would have supposed her born to be an heroine.

Her situation in life, the character of her father and mother,

her own person and disposition, were all equally against her.

Her father was a clergyman, without being neglected,

or poor, and a very respectable man, though his name

was Richard--and he had never been handsome. He had a

considerable independence besides two good livings--and he

was not in the least addicted to locking up his daughters.

Her mother was a woman of useful plain sense, with a

good temper, and, what is more remarkable, with a

good constitution. She had three sons before Catherine

was born; and instead of dying in bringing the latter

into the world, as anybody might expect, she still lived

on--lived to have six children more--to see them growing

up around her, and to enjoy excellent health herself.

A family of ten children will be always called a fine family,

where there are heads and arms and legs enough for the number;

but the Morlands had little other right to the word,

for they were in general very plain, and Catherine,

for many years of her life, as plain as any. She had

a thin awkward figure, a sallow skin without colour,

dark lank hair, and strong features--so much for her person;

and not less unpropiteous for heroism seemed her mind.

She was fond of all boy`s plays, and greatly preferred

cricket not merely to dolls, but to the more heroic

enjoyments of infancy, nursing a dormouse, feeding a

canary-bird, or watering a rose-bush. Indeed she had no

taste for a garden; and if she gathered flowers at all,

it was chiefly for the pleasure of mischief--at least so it

was conjectured from her always preferring those which she

was forbidden to take. Such were her propensities--her

abilities were quite as extraordinary. She never could

learn or understand anything before she was taught;

and sometimes not even then, for she was often inattentive,

and occasionally stupid. Her mother was three months

in teaching her only to repeat the " Beggar`s Petition";

and after all, her next sister, Sally, could say it

better than she did. Not that Catherine was always

stupid--by no means; she learnt the fable of " The Hare

and Many Friends" as quickly as any girl in England.

Her mother wished her to learn music; and Catherine was

sure she should like it, for she was very fond of tinkling

the keys of the old forlorn spinner; so, at eight years

old she began. She learnt a year, and could not bear it;

and Mrs. Morland, who did not insist on her daughters

being accomplished in spite of incapacity or distaste,

allowed her to leave off. The day which dismissed the

music-master was one of the happiest of Catherine`s life.

Her taste for drawing was not superior; though whenever

she could obtain the outside of a letter from her mother

or seize upon any other odd piece of paper, she did

what she could in that way, by drawing houses and trees,

hens and chickens, all very much like one another.

Writing and accounts she was taught by her father; French by

her mother: her proficiency in either was not remarkable,

and she shirked her lessons in both whenever she could.

What a strange, unaccountable character! --for with all

these symptoms of profligacy at ten years old, she had

neither a bad heart nor a bad temper, was seldom stubborn,

scarcely ever quarrelsome, and very kind to the little ones,

with few interruptions of tyranny; she was moreover noisy

and wild, hated confinement and cleanliness, and loved nothing

so well in the world as rolling down the green slope at the

back of the house.

Such was Catherine Morland at ten. At fifteen,

appearances were mending; she began to curl her hair

and long for balls; her complexion improved, her features

were softened by plumpness and colour, her eyes gained

more animation, and her figure more consequence.

Her love of dirt gave way to an inclination for finery,

and she grew clean as she grew smart; she had now the

pleasure of sometimes hearing her father and mother

remark on her personal improvement. " Catherine grows

quite a good-looking girl--she is almost pretty today, "

were words which caught her ears now and then;

and how welcome were the sounds! To look almost pretty

is an acquisition of higher delight to a girl who has

been looking plain the first fifteen years of her life

than a beauty from her cradle can ever receive.

Mrs. Morland was a very good woman, and wished

to see her children everything they ought to be;

but her time was so much occupied in lying-in and teaching

the little ones, that her elder daughters were inevitably

left to shift for themselves; and it was not very wonderful

that Catherine, who had by nature nothing heroic about her,

should prefer cricket, baseball, riding on horseback,

and running about the country at the age of fourteen,

to books--or at least books of information--for, provided

that nothing like useful knowledge could be gained

from them, provided they were all story and no reflection,

she had never any objection to books at all. But from

fifteen to seventeen she was in training for a heroine;

she read all such works as heroines must read to supply

their memories with those quotations which are so serviceable

and so soothing in the vicissitudes of their eventful lives.

From Pope, she learnt to censure those who

" bear about the mockery of woe. "

From Gray, that

" Many a flower is born to blush unseen,

" And waste its fragrance on the desert air. "

From Thompson, that

--" It is a delightful task

" To teach the young idea how to shoot. "

And from Shakespeare she gained a great store of information--

amongst the rest, that

--" Trifles light as air,

" Are, to the jealous, confirmation strong,

" As proofs of Holy Writ. "

That

" The poor beetle, which we tread upon,

" In corporal sufferance feels a pang as great

" As when a giant dies. "

And that a young woman in love always looks

--" like Patience on a monument

" Smiling at Grief. "

So far her improvement was sufficient--and in many

other points she came on exceedingly well; for though she

could not write sonnets, she brought herself to read them;

and though there seemed no chance of her throwing a whole

party into raptures by a prelude on the pianoforte,

of her own composition, she could listen to other people`s

performance with very little fatigue. Her greatest

deficiency was in the pencil--she had no notion of

drawing--not enough even to attempt a sketch of her

lover`s profile, that she might be detected in the design.

There she fell miserably short of the true heroic height.

At present she did not know her own poverty, for she had no

lover to portray. She had reached the age of seventeen,

without having seen one amiable youth who could call forth

her sensibility, without having inspired one real passion,

and without having excited even any admiration but what

was very moderate and very transient. This was strange

indeed! But strange things may be generally accounted

for if their cause be fairly searched out. There was not

one lord in the neighbourhood; no--not even a baronet.

There was not one family among their acquaintance who

had reared and supported a boy accidentally found at

their door--not one young man whose origin was unknown.

Her father had no ward, and the squire of the parish

no children.

But when a young lady is to be a heroine, the perverseness

of forty surrounding families cannot prevent her.

Something must and will happen to throw a hero in her way.

Mr. Allen, who owned the chief of the property

about Fullerton, the village in Wiltshire where the

Morlands lived, was ordered to Bath for the benefit of a

gouty constitution--and his lady, a good-humoured woman,

fond of Miss Morland, and probably aware that if adventures

will not befall a young lady in her own village,

she must seek them abroad, invited her to go with them.

Mr. and Mrs. Morland were all compliance, and Catherine

all happiness.

CHAPTER 2

In addition to what has been already said of

Catherine Morlands personal and mental endowments,

when about to be launched into all the difficulties

and dangers of a six weeks` residence in Bath, it may

be stated, for the reader`s more certain information,

lest the following pages should otherwise fail of

giving any idea of what her character is meant to be,

that her heart was affectionate; her disposition cheerful

and open, without conceit or affectation of any kind--her

manners just removed from the awkwardness and shyness

of a girl; her person pleasing, and, when in good looks,

pretty--and her mind about as ignorant and uninformed

as the female mind at seventeen usually is.

When the hour of departure drew near, the maternal

anxiety of Mrs. Morland will be naturally supposed to be

most severe. A thousand alarming presentiments of evil

to her beloved Catherine from this terrific separation

must oppress her heart with sadness, and drown her in

tears for the last day or two of their being together;

and advice of the most important and applicable nature

must of course flow from her wise lips in their parting

conference in her closet. Cautions against the violence

of such noblemen and baronets as delight in forcing

young ladies away to some remote farm-house, must,

at such a moment, relieve the fulness of her heart.

Who would not think so? But Mrs. Morland knew so little

of lords and baronets, that she entertained no notion of

their general mischievousness, and was wholly unsuspicious

of danger to her daughter from their machinations.

Her cautions were confined to the following points.

" I beg, Catherine, you will always wrap yourself up

very warm about the throat, when you come from the rooms

at night; and I wish you would try to keep some account

of the money you spend; I will give you this little book

on purpose.

Sally, or rather Sarah (for what young lady of common

gentility will reach the age of sixteen without altering

her name as far as she can? ), must from situation be at this

time the intimate friend and confidante of her sister.

It is remarkable, however, that she neither insisted on

Catherine`s writing by every post, nor exacted her promise

of transmitting the character of every new acquaintance,

nor a detail of every interesting conversation that Bath

might produce. Everything indeed relative to this

important journey was done, on the part of the Morlands,

with a degree of moderation and composure, which seemed

rather consistent with the common feelings of common life,

than with the refined susceptibilities, the tender

emotions which the first separation of a heroine

from her family ought always to excite. Her father,

instead of giving her an unlimited order on his banker,

or even putting an hundred pounds bank-bill into her hands,

gave her only ten guineas, and promosed her more when she

wanted it.

Under these unpromising auspices, the parting

took place, and the journey began. It was performed

with suitable quietness and uneventful safety.

Neither robbers nor tempests befriended them, nor one lucky

overturn to introduce them to the hero. Nothing more

alarming occurred than a fear, on Mrs. Allen`s side,

of having once left her clogs behind her at an inn,

and that fortunately proved to be groundless.

They arrived at Bath. Catherine was all eager

delight--her eyes were here, there, everywhere, as they

approached its fine and striking environs, and afterwards drove

through those streets which conducted them to the hotel.

She was come to be happy, and she felt happy already.

They were soon settled in comfortable lodgings

in Pulteney Street.

It is now expedient to give some description of

Mrs. Allen, that the reader may be able to judge in what

manner her actions will hereafter tend to promote the

general distress of the work, and how she will, probably,

contribute to reduce poor Catherine to all the desperate

wretchedness of which a last volume is capable--whether by

her imprudence, vulgarity, or jealousy--whether by intercepting

her letters, ruining her character, or turning her out of doors.

Mrs. Allen was one of that numerous class of females,

whose society can raise no other emotion than surprise

at there being any men in the world who could like them

well enough to marry them. She had neither beauty,

genius, accomplishment, nor manner. The air of a gentlewoman,

a great deal of quiet, inactive good temper, and a trifling

turn of mind were all that could account for her being

the choice of a sensible, intelligent man like Mr. Allen.

In one respect she was admirably fitted to introduce a

young lady into public, being as fond of going everywhere

and seeing everything herself as any young lady could be.

Dress was her passion. She had a most harmless delight

in being fine; and our heroine`s entree into life could

not take place till after three or four days had been

spent in learning what was mostly worn, and her chaperone

was provided with a dress of the newest fashion.

Catherine too made some purchases herself, and when all

these matters were arranged, the important evening came

which was to usher her into the Upper Rooms. Her hair

was cut and dressed by the best hand, her clothes put on

with care, and both Mrs. Allen and her maid declared she

looked quite as she should do. With such encouragement,

Catherine hoped at least to pass uncensured through the crowd.

As for admiration, it was always very welcome when it came,

but she did not depend on it.

Mrs. Allen was so long in dressing that they did not enter

the ballroom till late. The season was full, the room crowded,

and the two ladies squeezed in as well as they could.

As for Mr. Allen, he repaired directly to the card-room,

and left them to enjoy a mob by themselves. With more

care for the safety of her new gown than for the comfort

of her protegee, Mrs. Allen made her way through the throng

of men by the door, as swiftly as the necessary caution

would allow; Catherine, however, kept close at her side,

and linked her arm too firmly within her friend`s to be torn

asunder by any common effort of a struggling assembly.

But to her utter amazement she found that to proceed

along the room was by no means the way to disengage

themselves from the crowd; it seemed rather to increase

as they went on, whereas she had imagined that when once

fairly within the door, they should easily find seats

and be able to watch the dances with perfect convenience.

But this was far from being the case, and though by

unwearied diligence they gained even the top of the room,

their situation was just the same; they saw nothing of

the dancers but the high feathers of some of the ladies.

Still they moved on--something better was yet in view;

and by a continued exertion of strength and ingenuity

they found themselves at last in the passage behind

the highest bench. Here there was something less

of crowd than below; and hence Miss Morland had a

comprehensive view of all the company beneath her,

and of all the dangers of her late passage through them.

It was a splendid sight, and she began, for the first

time that evening, to feel herself at a ball: she longed

to dance, but she had not an acquaintance in the room.

Mrs. Allen did all that she could do in such a case

by saying very placidly, every now and then, " I wish you

could dance, my dear--I wish you could get a partner. "

For some time her young friend felt obliged to her for

these wishes; but they were repeated so often, and proved

so totally ineffectual, that Catherine grew tired at last,

and would thank her no more.

They were not long able, however, to enjoy the

repose of the eminence they had so laboriously gained.

Everybody was shortly in motion for tea, and they must

squeeze out like the rest. Catherine began to feel

something of disappointment--she was tired of being

continually pressed against by people, the generality

of whose faces possessed nothing to interest, and with

all of whom she was so wholly unacquainted that she

could not relieve the irksomeness of imprisonment by the

exchange of a syllable with any of her fellow captives;

and when at last arrived in the tea-room, she felt

yet more the awkwardness of having no party to join,

no acquaintance to claim, no gentleman to assist them.

They saw nothing of Mr. Allen; and after looking about

them in vain for a more eligible situation, were obliged

to sit down at the end of a table, at which a large party

were already placed, without having anything to do there,

or anybody to speak to, except each other.

Mrs. Allen congratulated herself, as soon as they

were seated, on having preserved her gown from injury.

" It would have been very shocking to have it torn, " said she,

" would not it? It is such a delicate muslin. For my part

I have not seen anything I like so well in the whole room,

I assure you. "

" How uncomfortable it is, " whispered Catherine,

" not to have a single acquaintance here! "

" Yes, my dear, " replied Mrs. Allen, with perfect

serenity, " it is very uncomfortable indeed. "

" What shall we do? The gentlemen and ladies at this

table look as if they wondered why we came here--we seem

forcing ourselves into their party. "

" Aye, so we do. That is very disagreeable.

I wish we had a large acquaintance here. "

" I wish we had any--it would be somebody to go to. "

" Very true, my dear; and if we knew anybody we would

join them directly. The Skinners were here last year--I

wish they were here now. "

" Had not we better go away as it is? Here are no

tea-things for us, you see. "

" No more there are, indeed. How very provoking! But

I think we had better sit still, for one gets so tumbled

in such a crowd! How is my head, my dear? Somebody gave

me a push that has hurt it, I am afraid. "

" No, indeed, it looks very nice. But, dear Mrs. Allen,

are you sure there is nobody you know in all this multitude

of people? I think you must know somebody. "

" I don`t, upon my word--I wish I did. I wish I had a

large acquaintance here with all my heart, and then I should

get you a partner. I should be so glad to have you dance.

There goes a strange-looking woman! What an odd gown

she has got on! How old-fashioned it is! Look at the back. "

After some time they received an offer of tea from

one of their neighbours; it was thankfully accepted,

and this introduced a light conversation with the gentleman

who offered it, which was the only time that anybody spoke

to them during the evening, till they were discovered

and joined by Mr. Allen when the dance was over.

" Well, Miss Morland, " said he, directly, " I hope

you have had an agreeable ball. "

" Very agreeable indeed, " she replied,

vainly endeavouring to hide a great yawn.

" I wish she had been able to dance, " said his wife;

" I wish we could have got a partner for her. I have been

saying how glad I should be if the Skinners were here this

winter instead of last; or if the Parrys had come, as they

talked of once, she might have danced with George Parry.

I am so sorry she has not had a partner! "

" We shall do better another evening I hope, "

was Mr. Allen`s consolation.

The company began to disperse when the dancing was

over--enough to leave space for the remainder to walk

about in some comfort; and now was the time for a heroine,

who had not yet played a very distinguished part in

the events of the evening, to be noticed and admired.

Every five minutes, by removing some of the crowd,

gave greater openings for her charms. She was now seen

by many young men who had not been near her before.

Not one, however, started with rapturous wonder on

beholding her, no whisper of eager inquiry ran round

the room, nor was she once called a divinity by anybody.

Yet Catherine was in very good looks, and had the company

only seen her three years before, they would now have thought

her exceedingly handsome.

She was looked at, however, and with some admiration;

for, in her own hearing, two gentlemen pronounced her

to be a pretty girl. Such words had their due effect;

she immediately thought the evening pleasanter than she

had found it before--her humble vanity was contented--she

felt more obliged to the two young men for this simple

praise than a true-quality heroine would have been

for fifteen sonnets in celebration of her charms,

and went to her chair in good humour with everybody,

and perfectly satisfied with her share of public attention.

CHAPTER 3

Every morning now brought its regular duties--shops were

to be visited; some new part of the town to be looked at;

and the pump-room to be attended, where they paraded up

and down for an hour, looking at everybody and speaking

to no one. The wish of a numerous acquaintance in Bath

was still uppermost with Mrs. Allen, and she repeated it

after every fresh proof, which every morning brought,

of her knowing nobody at all.

They made their appearance in the Lower Rooms;

and here fortune was more favourable to our heroine.

The master of the ceremonies introduced to her a very

gentlemanlike young man as a partner; his name was Tilney.

He seemed to be about four or five and twenty, was rather tall,

had a pleasing countenance, a very intelligent and

lively eye, and, if not quite handsome, was very near it.

His address was good, and Catherine felt herself in high luck.

There was little leisure for speaking while they danced;

but when they were seated at tea, she found him as

agreeable as she had already given him credit for being.

He talked with fluency and spirit--and there was an archness

and pleasantry in his manner which interested, though it

was hardly understood by her. After chatting some time

on such matters as naturally arose from the objects

around them, he suddenly addressed her with--" I have

hitherto been very remiss, madam, in the proper attentions

of a partner here; I have not yet asked you how long you

have been in Bath; whether you were ever here before;

whether you have been at the Upper Rooms, the theatre,

and the concert; and how you like the place altogether.

I have been very negligent--but are you now at leisure

to satisfy me in these particulars? If you are I will

begin directly. "

" You need not give yourself that trouble, sir. "

" No trouble, I assure you, madam. " Then forming

his features into a set smile, and affectedly softening

his voice, he added, with a simpering air, " Have you

been long in Bath, madam? "

" About a week, sir, " replied Catherine, trying not

to laugh.

" Really! " with affected astonishment.

" Why should you be surprised, sir? "

" Why, indeed! " said he, in his natural tone.

" But some emotion must appear to be raised by your reply,

and surprise is more easily assumed, and not less

reasonable than any other. Now let us go on. Were you

never here before, madam? "

" Never, sir. "

" Indeed! Have you yet honoured the Upper Rooms? "

" Yes, sir, I was there last Monday. "

" Have you been to the theatre? "

" Yes, sir, I was at the play on Tuesday. "

" To the concert? "

" Yes, sir, on Wednesday. "

" And are you altogether pleased with Bath? "

" Yes--I like it very well. "

" Now I must give one smirk, and then we may be

rational again. " Catherine turned away her head,

not knowing whether she might venture to laugh.

" I see what you think of me, " said he gravely--" I

shall make but a poor figure in your journal tomorrow. "

" My journal! " " Yes, I know exactly what you will

say: Friday, went to the Lower Rooms; wore my sprigged

muslin robe with blue trimmings--plain black shoes--appeared

to much advantage; but was strangely harassed by a queer,

half-witted man, who would make me dance with him,

and distressed me by his nonsense. "

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