by Jane Austen
36. In earlier times the local church was often near the “Great House,” whose owner would frequently be its main patron. Grand houses constructed more recently were often farther away because of the desire to surround the house with a large landscaped park. The change also indicated a decline in strict piety. Maria’s dislike of the church bells, which would be rung as part of daily routine as well as for special occasions, marks her lack of piety. At this time, when religion and morality were considered to be inextricably intertwined, this lack could also portend moral weakness.
37. Almshouses are residences for poor people, especially the elderly. Wealthy landowners often built them for the poor in their area. Limited public assistance made such types of private charity critical, and helping the poor was considered an essential duty of those in the higher ranks.
38. Here “respectable” means worthy and decent, but not genteel.
39. The lodge gates mark the entrance to the park surrounding the house. The lodge, sometimes known as the gatehouse, would be staffed and inhabited by a porter, who controlled entry. A lodge could also impress visitors and thus had become more common as visiting grand houses increased in popularity (see this page, note 8); many lodges were fairly grand in appearance. For an example, see this page.
40. Maria, like Mr. Rushworth earlier, expresses prevailing taste in wishing for an elevated situation, i.e., position, and an impressive approach.
41. fronts: faces.
42. Oak trees were, and are, the most common trees in England. Maria may mention them because they had a particular prestige in this period, since oak’s hardness made it the material for building the warships of the all-important British navy. “Heart of Oak,” composed in the eighteenth century, was one of the navy’s most popular songs.
43. Grand houses often had an impressive set of stone steps leading to the main entrance. For examples, see this page and this page.
VOLUME I, CHAPTER IX
1. collation: light meal.
2. A curricle is a small open carriage drawn by two horses (unlike the similar gig, which used one horse). This made it fast; moreover, it was a very fashionable carriage, usually owned by the wealthy. For a picture, see this page.
3. He may not wish to spend all his time with Rushworth alone; he also may be thinking of spending more time with Maria or Julia.
4. He presumably owns a chaise also. It would convey three more people, but its enclosed nature means they could not see much.
5. These are all prominent features of interior decor of fifty years earlier, around 1765. By Austen’s time there was much greater use of wallpaper and of carpets, including wall-to-wall carpets in some cases, due to manufacturing advances that lowered their cost. This meant less emphasis on beautiful flooring and on ornamenting the walls with gilding and carving or with marble. (Marble had become popular during the eighteenth century, but its expense and weight led many to substitute scagliola, a plaster made to resemble marble, on the surfaces of walls, doorways, and columns; it is possible the author is thinking as much of that as of real marble.) Manufacturing advances also led to a preference for less expensive and more easily washable cotton fabrics over damask—a fabric of silk, linen, or wool woven in a manner that allowed elaborate decorative patterns, which was widely used in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries for furniture coverings, table linens, and wall and bed hangings. Mahogany, the most prized wood for furniture in the eighteenth century, continued to be popular but in the years preceding this novel had begun to be superseded by lighter woods, such as satinwood.
This description, along with other features of Sotherton Court, suggest that Jane Austen used as her model an actual house, Stoneleigh Abbey in Warwickshire (a Midlands county adjacent to the Northamptonshire of the novel). In 1806, while she, her sister, and her mother were visiting their first cousin Thomas Leigh in nearby Gloucestershire, a very distant cousin who owned Stoneleigh Abbey died. Because of the lack of direct descendants and uncertainty regarding the inheritance of the property, Thomas Leigh, a possible heir, was advised by his lawyer to take immediate possession to strengthen his claim. The three Austen women accompanied him and stayed for a brief visit, giving Jane an intimate look at a house of this grandeur. The house still stands, is open for tours (including a special Jane Austen tour at certain times), and looks very much as it did during her day.
6. The long-standing practice in wealthy families was for the reigning master and mistress, as well as sometimes other family members, to have their portraits painted. These would be preserved in the house, so that families like the Rushworths that had been prominent for many generations would have a large collection. Such families would usually also collect other works of art, both to beautify the home and to display their wealth and taste. The pictures could vary greatly in quality.
7. The housekeeper was the principal female servant and normally showed the house to visitors; hence, she would know best its history and its objects. Mrs. Rushworth is taking over her functions now because of the special nature of the guests.
8. She could have seen such houses on previous visits to acquaintances or relatives, or while touring England with others; the heroine of Pride and Prejudice visits several houses while touring with her aunt and uncle. During the eighteenth century tourism became a common activity among the minority who could afford it, and grand houses were a popular destination, often featured in the many travel guidebooks that appeared to cater to this new taste. Houses did not charge admission; traditions of upper-class hospitality along with an interest in displaying their magnificence led families to allow such visitors. But visitors were expected to tip the housekeeper (as well as the gardener, if they toured the grounds), giving the housekeeper a strong incentive to develop extensive knowledge of the house.
9. Monarchs, when visiting an area where no royal residence existed, would stay in the home of a prominent person; this had been especially common in earlier centuries when monarchs and their courts spent a good part of the year traveling around the kingdom. Such visits were great sources of pride and prestige, and to encourage them, great houses frequently had a special set of rooms, grander than any other, set aside solely to be used by visiting royalty. “Loyal efforts” most likely refers to support given by the family to the monarchy when it was challenged by rebellion. A number of such rebellions had occurred over the centuries, most notably during the 1640s, when the monarchy was temporarily overthrown. The Leighs of Stoneleigh Abbey had been ardent supporters of the deposed king, Charles I, and at one point in 1642 he took refuge at the house, an event remembered and retold with pride by the family.
10. He is probably disappointed both because of the intrinsic disadvantage of a poor view and because it prevents him from surveying the grounds in order to suggest improvements.
11. An iron palisade is a fence made of iron.
12. The British government imposed a tax on homes according to the number of windows they contained. During their visit to Stoneleigh Abbey, Jane Austen’s mother was sufficiently impressed by the windows that she counted the number in front and related it in a letter—her total, forty-five, is still accurate today. She also declares that “there are 26 Bed Chambers in the new part of the house, & a great many…in the Old” (quoted in Wilson, At Home with Jane Austen, p. 72). Housemaids would be responsible for keeping the rooms clean and well aired.
13. Traditionally grand houses had a chapel that the inhabitants could use for daily prayers. They would still attend a regular church for Sunday services.
14. Mahogany is what the pews and other fixtures are made of.
15. The “family gallery above” is a special room overlooking the chapel, entered separately from the floor above, for the family to worship in; the servants would use the main part of the chapel where the visitors are now standing. Wealthy families would normally worship separately from others, including in regular churches, and such places would naturally tend to have more luxurious furnishings (the main part of the ch
apel presumably lacks velvet cushions). All the features mentioned here, including the mahogany and the cushions, are found in the chapel at Stoneleigh Abbey.
16. awful: impressive, solemn, worthy of awe.
17. These would all be features of older and larger chapels. Arches, in particular pointed ones, were a central feature of medieval churches; Austen’s period witnessed a strong revival of interest in the Gothic architecture characterizing such churches, linked to the prevailing cultural Romanticism of the time. Inscriptions on tombs and monuments for the dead would be found throughout churches (Winchester Cathedral, where Jane Austen is buried, contains lengthy inscriptions for her both on the stone under which she lies and on a commemorative monument on the adjacent wall). Banners, which were widely used in the Middle Ages, including on the battlefield, in ceremonies, and in religious processions, were common features of older churches. All these, particularly the inscriptions, were also likely to be found in the aisles, a term used then almost exclusively for areas of a church, especially those on its sides. The chapel at Stoneleigh Abbey has only a simple aisle in the middle, and none of these other elements.
18. These lines are both quotations, a little garbled, from Sir Walter Scott’s The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805). It was the first of his long narrative poems that, along with his later novels, made him by far the best-selling author of the age. Two other highly popular poems, Marmion and The Lady of the Lake, are the subject of enthusiastic discussion between the heroine and a young man in Jane Austen’s Persuasion. Stories of love and war in sixteenth-century Scotland, all three poems express an interest in earlier times and in melancholy or awe-inspiring events, which were also basic features of Romanticism and have inspired Fanny’s regrets regarding the chapel.
The two lines appear in a passage in which a monk and another man explore Melrose Abbey (which Scott, in a footnote, calls “the finest specimen of Gothic architecture and Gothic sculpture which Scotland can boast”), and the features of the abbey are evocatively described. The first line appears as they enter the area around the altar: “Full many a scutcheon and banner riven, / Shook to the cold night-wind of heaven.” The second line comes soon after: “They sate them down on a marble stone, / (A Scottish monarch slept below).”
19. Monasteries as well as medieval castles, which were built to withstand sieges and could contain an entire community, often included a regular church.
20. relation: account, narrative.
21. James II reigned from 1685 to 1688. Such a dating poses a serious challenge for a chapel full of mahogany, which did not come into general use in England until the early 1700s. In the late 1600s it was extremely rare. Jane Austen may intend to signal how wealthy the Rushworths are, but it is also possible that she simply erred in assuming mahogany was used regularly before the eighteenth century. The Stoneleigh Abbey chapel, with all its mahogany, was built in the early 1700s.
22. wainscot: a high-quality imported oak.
23. It had long been customary for wealthy families to employ domestic chaplains to perform religious duties in their homes. In her letter from Stoneleigh Abbey Mrs. Austen mentions everyone gathering each morning in the chapel to say prayers, though she says nothing about a chaplain. She also uses “handsome” to describe the chapel. The century preceding this novel witnessed a steady decrease in the percentage of grand houses employing a domestic chaplain, and many newly built houses no longer contained a chapel. One reason was a general decline in piety; another was the growing emphasis on private rather than communal religious devotion.
24. family: household.
25. Footmen were lower-ranking servants who would deliver messages, wait on table, or answer doors. In a large house they were the most numerous male servants, just as housemaids were the most numerous female servants.
26. gape: yawn.
27. It is only ten minutes because daily prayers were short.
28. repair: proceed, make their way.
29. Mary is consciously evoking an earlier age by using archaic language—in the phrase “did many a time”; in the names Bridget and Eleanor, both of which were regarded as somewhat old-fashioned, though they were still used; and, most of all, in the use of “Mrs.” for the “belles,” i.e., young ladies. “Mistress,” or “Mrs.” (its abbreviation), had long been used to refer to all women, but during the eighteenth century both were replaced for young, unmarried women by “Miss” (also derived from “Mistress” and first appearing in the late seventeenth century).
30. starched up: made rigid or formal.
31. Mary’s ridicule of religious piety and the clergy, found almost nowhere else in Austen’s novels (even among characters who do not seem at all pious), indicates her background in fashionable London society, many of whose members had adopted such an attitude. This disrespect is also seen in her calling clergymen “parsons,” a term often used by those who wished to disparage the clergy. Mary’s uses of the word, here and once later, represent two of its only three appearances in Austen’s novels; Austen never employs it in her other writings or her letters. As we soon discover, Mary is unaware that Edmund intends to become a clergyman.
32. recollection: recovery of composure.
33. lively: merry, lighthearted.
34. “Serious” sometimes referred particularly to religious subjects, and that is undoubtedly at least part of Edmund’s meaning here.
35. closet: a secluded, private room.
36. stretch: strain.
37. The primary function of Oxford, and Cambridge, at this time was to train clergy for the Church of England, and only members of the Church were admitted to the university. One of its features was daily morning chapel, at which attendance was mandatory.
38. going to be: about to be.
39. Just as Julia’s mention of the upcoming marriage is intended to direct Henry’s attention away from Maria and toward herself, his expression of distaste for the possibility signals to Maria his interest in her, regardless of her engagement. But he must do it covertly, since open flirtation with a woman engaged to another man would be a gross breach of propriety.
40. Maria’s initial discomposure indicates she is stirred by Henry’s declaration, the most explicit he has yet made of his affection. Her reply once she recovers is meant to make her appear indifferent to him, because propriety demands it and because, not knowing if Henry is serious in his intentions, she does not wish to break her engagement to Rushworth. At the same time, her remark gives Henry a chance, through his negative reply, to confirm her hopes.
41. A proper license means one that is legally valid. By law a marriage required either the prior public reading of banns, a procedure mainly used by the poor, or the procuring of an ecclesiastical license. The standard license allowed the couple to marry only in a parish church, not in a private home. But very wealthy and prominent families could obtain a special license from the Archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the Church of England, that allowed a marriage to be performed anywhere.
42. snug: comfortable.
43. All valid marriages had to be conducted by an ordained clergyman of the Church of England (except in the case of Quakers and Jews, who were allowed to conduct separate ceremonies).
44. Mary’s reply gives a sense of her values, which would be shared by many of her social set. She is irreverent toward religion, so she makes no apologies for the substance of her remarks. But she believes strongly in good manners, which would dictate not expressing such irreverence before a clergyman, and she does express regret for that.
45. turned: changed.
46. Grand houses normally had a large and impressive staircase, often with ornate carvings, near the entrance.
47. pleasure-grounds: areas of ornamental plantings near a house, such as shrubberies and flower gardens. They contrast with the park, which was dominated by extensive lawns and woods.
48. Wealthy landowners often cultivated a great variety of plants in their gardens and greenhouses; many would then be transplant
ed onto the estate grounds. That variety had increased greatly in recent times due to the importation of plant species from around the world, especially from North America. A similar spirit of inquiry and experimentation inspired the procurement or breeding of new strains of animals.
49. Walls near the house, often around gardens, were a common feature of older houses, and they formed a popular target of demolition for those improving grounds in the latest fashion, which usually centered around providing more open and spectacular views. Hence for Henry the walls are “of great promise” as an object to be removed.
50. A wilderness is an area of trees or shrubs that has pathways arranged in an elaborate pattern. Wildernesses had been very popular in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries but had been superseded by shrubberies. The latter, in keeping with newer tastes in landscaping, tended to have winding and irregular paths, while the former were more geometric. Hence the author, reflecting the newer taste, will shortly describe this wilderness as “laid out with too much regularity,” another feature that reflects the old-fashioned nature of Sotherton Court.
51. Stoneleigh Abbey had a bowling green. It was a feature more common in the grounds of older houses, for lawn bowling, while still played, had declined in popularity among the wealthy.
52. fallen in with: encountered.
53. The gardener is the principal servant taking care of the grounds, and thus the one most likely to possess the key to locked sections.
54. These trees provide more shade than an open space, though not a lot. Larches at this time were small trees, described by a leading writer on nature as “the puny inhabitant of a garden” (William Gilpin, Remarks on Forest Scenery, vol. I, p. 76). Laurels were mostly used for shrubberies; their being evergreens made them popular, but their limbs did not stretch wide. In contrast, beeches are tall deciduous trees, but these have been cut down, perhaps to harmonize with the other species.