ntion of bets made by him on politics and other
subjects, and his own particular pair of bowls still survive. He was
tutor in 1811, when a great fire occurred in the College, and took his
share in appealing for funds with which to rebuild it, application being
chiefly made to those who agreed with the college politics in Church and
State. He seems to have been one of a large family of brothers; another
being John Blackall, of Balliol College, Oxford, for many years a
distinguished Exeter physician, who did not die until 1860.

[67] Mr. Heathcote and Miss Elizabeth Bigg were married in 1798.

[68] Miss Hill (following a family MS.) calls _him_ 'Blackall'; but it
seems from what has been said above that the MS. confused two different
men. Certainly Cassandra, in telling the story to her niece Caroline,
did not give her that, or any other, name; for Caroline speaks of the
tale as being--so far as she knew it--'nameless and dateless.' A
possible alternative suggestion is that there were two Blackalls
concerned: one being the Sam Blackall mentioned above, the other Jane
Austen's admirer in the west of England.

[69] The author of the _Memoir_ describes this gentleman as one who had
the recommendations of good character and connexions and position in
life--of everything, in fact, except the subtle power of touching her
heart.

CHAPTER VII

AUTHORSHIP AND CORRESPONDENCE

1796-1798

The appearance of Jane Austen's name among the list of subscribers to
Madame d'Arblay's _Camilla_, in 1796, marks the beginning of her
literary career. Her father must have paid the necessary subscription
for her: and he probably did so believing that his daughter's talent
deserved encouragement. Jane's cousins, the Cookes of Bookham, were some
of Madame d'Arblay's closest friends while the latter was living in that
neighbourhood, from 1793 to 1797, and it is quite likely that they were
active in getting subscribers. One likes to think that--as Miss Hill has
suggested[70]--Jane may have met Madame d'Arblay when paying a visit to
Bookham.

Jane was destined to have two periods of active authorship: periods of
unequal length, and divided from each other by eight or ten nearly
barren years. This unfruitful time has been accounted for in several
different ways: as arising from personal griefs, literary
disappointment, or want of a settled home. These disturbing causes all
existed, and it is probable that each contributed its share to h