t
is a truth universally acknowledged
that a single man in possession of a good
fortune must be in want of a wife.However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.
ir Walter Elliot
of Kellynch Hall
in Somersetshire
was a man who
for his own amusement
never took up any book but the Baronetage;
there he found occupation for an idle hour
and consolation in a
distressed one; there his faculties were roused into admiration and
respect
by contemplating the limited remnant of the earliest patents;
there any unwelcome sensations
arising from domestic affairs
changed naturally into pity and contempt as he turned over
the almost endless creations of the last century; and there
if every other leaf were powerless
he could read his own history
with an interest which never failed. This was the page at which
the favorite volume always opened:
ELLIOT OF KELLYNCH HALL.
Walter Elliot born March 1 1760 married July 15 1784 Elizabeth daughter of James Stevenson Esq. of South Park in the county of Gloucester by which lady (who died 1800) he has issue Elizabeth born June 1 1785 Anne born August 9 1787 a still-born son November 5 1789 Mary born November 20 1791
he family of Dashwood had long been settled in Sussex.
Their estate was large
and their residence was at Norland Park
in the centre of their property
where
for many generations
they had lived in so respectable a manner as to engage
the general good opinion of their surrounding acquaintance.
The late owner of this estate was a single man
who lived
to a very advanced age
and who for many years of his life
had a constant companion and housekeeper in his sister.
But her death
which happened ten years before his own
produced a great alteration in his home; for to supply
her loss
he invited and received into his house the family
of his nephew Mr. Henry Dashwood
the legal inheritor
of the Norland estate
and the person to whom he intended
to bequeath it. In the society of his nephew and niece
and their children
the old Gentleman's days were
comfortably spent. His attachment to them all increased.
The constant attention of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Dashwood
to his wishes
which proceeded not merely from interest
but from goodness of heart
gave him every degree of solid
comfort which his age could receive; and the cheerfulness
of the children added a relish to his existence.
mma Woodhouse
handsome
clever
and rich
with a comfortable home
and happy disposition
seemed to unite some of the best blessings
of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world
with very little to distress or vex her.
She was the youngest of the two daughters of a most affectionate indulgent father; and had in consequence of her sister's marriage been mistress of his house from a very early period. Her mother had died too long ago for her to have more than an indistinct remembrance of her caresses; and her place had been supplied by an excellent woman as governess who had fallen little short of a mother in affection.
o 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.