FOOTNOTES:

[311] The article would, of course, have been an impossibility had the
_Review_ been published punctually, _Emma_ not appearing till late in
December 1815.

[312] From information kindly supplied by Mr. John Murray.

[313] After a short mention of _Sense and Sensibility_ and _Pride and
Prejudice_ (in which Sir Walter unkindly suggests that Lizzie Bennet in
refusing Darcy 'does not perceive that she has done a foolish thing
until she accidentally visits a very handsome seat and grounds belonging
to her admirer'), the critic devotes considerable space, including a
long quotation, to _Emma_. Summing up, he declares as follows:--

'Perhaps the reader may collect, from the preceding
specimen, both the merits and faults of the author.
The former consist much in the force of a
narrative, conducted with much neatness and point,
and a quiet yet comic dialogue, in which the
characters of the speakers evolve themselves with
dramatic effect. The faults, on the contrary, arise
from the minute detail which the author's plan
comprehends. Characters of folly or simplicity,
such as those of old Woodhouse and Miss Bates, are
ridiculous when first presented, but if too often
brought forward or too long dwelt upon, their
prosing is apt to become as tiresome in fiction as
in real society.'

Had not Sir Walter found it necessary to be somewhat apologetic in
commending in public anything so frivolous as a novel, his praise would
probably have been more whole-hearted, as in the well-known passage in
his diary, under date March 14, 1826:--

'Read again, for the third time at least, Miss
Austen's finely written novel of _Pride and
Prejudice_. That young lady has a talent for
describing the involvements and feelings and
characters of ordinary life, which is to me the
most wonderful I ever met with. The big Bow-Wow
strain I can do myself like any now going; but the
exquisite touch which renders ordinary commonplace
things and characters interesting from the truth of
the description and the sentiment is denied to me.
What a pity such a gifted creature died so early!'

[314] No division or bitterness seems to have been caused in the family
by these events: a remarkable proof of the strong affection whi