ased on the fact that
she never used them as 'copy.' Nothing could be further from the truth.
She was of course quite ignorant of the conditions of life in the great
towns, and she had but little money to give, but work, teaching, and
sympathy were freely bestowed on rustic neighbours. A very good
criterion of her attitude towards her own characters is often furnished
by their relations with the poor around them. Instances of this may be
found in Darcy's care of his tenants and servants, in Anne Elliot's
farewell visits to nearly all the inhabitants of Kellynch, and in Emma's
benevolence and good sense when assisting her poorer neighbours.

So began the Austens' life at Chawton--probably a quieter life than any
they had yet led; their nearest neighbours being the Middletons (who
rented the 'Great House' for five years and were still its inmates), the
Benns at Faringdon, the Harry Digweeds, Mr. Papillon the Rector (a
bachelor living with his sister), and the Clements and Prowting
families.

The ladies took possession of their cottage on July 7, and the first
news that we have of them is in a letter from Mrs. Knight, dated October
26, 1809: 'I heard of the Chawton party looking very comfortable at
breakfast from a gentleman who was travelling by their door in a
post-chaise about ten days ago.'

After this the curtain falls again, and we have no letters and no
information for a year and a half from this time. We are sure, however,
that Jane settled down to her writing very soon, for by April 1811
_Sense and Sensibility_ was in the printers' hands, and _Pride and
Prejudice_ far advanced.

Since her fit of youthful enthusiasm, when she had composed three
stories in little more than three years, she had had much experience of
life to sober and strengthen her. Three changes of residence, the loss
of her father, the friendship of Mrs. Lefroy and the shock of her
death,[212] her own and her sister's sad love stories, the crisis in the
Leigh Perrot history, and her literary disappointments--all these must
have made her take up her two old works with a chastened spirit, and a
more mature judgment. We cannot doubt that extensive alterations were
made: in fact, we know that this was the case with _Pride and
Prejudice_. We feel equally certain that, of the two works, _Sense and
Sensibility_ was essentially the earlier, both in conception and in
composition, and that no one could have sat down to write that work who
had already w