Jane Austen Quote of the Week 265

We have in the past on this blog quoted from the letter Jane wrote to Cassandra on November 17, 1798 where she said:

 

"...I was too proud to make any inquiries..."

 

Also, we have discussed the Jane and Tom connection.  I ran across the following post made by my late friend, Ashton Dennis on the Male Voices in Praise of Jane Austen web site that I have preserved.  The post is titled:  "I was too proud to make any inquiries" Jane Austen's Eleventh Letter."  In this post he discussed the question "Was Jane Austen ever in love?"  Ashton says this in the second paragraph:

 

Let me begin with an observation: If Goethe himself or even if one of the Russians had written this letter for a fictional character, he would have been very proud of himself—and for good reason. I find the letter to be very interesting and very affecting and I suspect that you will as well. Several biographers point to the most important passages in the letter, the ones dealing with her meeting with Madame Lefroy, but I want to do something more. I will discuss those in the context of other passages in the letter because only in that way can the full impact be felt.

 

Now, if that piques your interest, you may read his most interesting thoughts on this subject here:  Was Jane Austen ever in love?  I highly recommend it.

Yrs aff'ly,

Linda the Librarian

Pic: Anne Hathaway as Jane Austen

Jane Austen Quote of the Week 264

This early 19th CE Dutch milk lady seemed to be enjoying what she was doing. Painter: Wybrand Hendriks

Breaking my recent tradition of being late in quotes (gasp!), I am posting the weekend quote earlier this week (well, it's Friday afternoon in Australia, so it starts to count...). I just realised that we had not done a quote from Sense & Sensibility for a while, so it's good that I found one from the said book just now. 


From Chapter 19 of Sense & Sensibility:  

"I think, Edward," said Mrs. Dashwood, as they were at breakfast the last morning, "you would be a happier man if you had any profession to engage your time and give an interest of your plans and actions. Some inconvenience to your friends, indeed, might result from it -- you would not be able to give them so much of your time. But" (with a smile) "you would be materially benefited in one particular at least -- you would know where to go when you left them." 

Indeed, I agree with what Mrs Dashwood said. It is a grand feeling indeed if we have a profession that interests us. That keeps us vibrant and alive in our hearts.

And if we are lucky enough to have such jobs, know this: keep it. There may be annoying people in your department, or they're just around to whine about their lives. But let them not discourage you. For you are doing what you love the most, and we can ignore hiccups like that.

Enjoy the weekend, and all the best for next week!

Tom Lefroy Quote of the Week 38

Since March 17th is St. Patrick's Day around the world (according to Wikipedia), I thought it appropriate to investigate Tom's Irish connections, especially because he is referred to by Jane as "my Irish friend". I, therefore, quote from the "Memoir of Chief Justice Lefroy", Chapter 1:

Thomas Langlois Lefroy was born on the 8th of January, 1776. He was the eldest son of Anthony Lefroy, Lieut.-Colonel of the 9th Light Dragoons the descendant of a Huguenot family, who were obliged to fly from Cambray, at the period of the Duke of Alva's persecution in the Netherlands and took refuge in England. .... Lieut.-Colonel Lefroy, the father of the subject of this memoir, entered the army in 1763 as Ensign in the 33rd Regiment, then quartered in Ireland, and at the early age of twenty-three married Anna, daughter of Thomas George Gardner, Esq,, of Doonass in the County of Claire; ...

Colonel Lefroy sold out of the army in 1791, and having previously purchased landed property in the County Limerick, he resolved not to return to England, and settled in Limerick, where he resided till his death in 1819.

So Tom was indeed "Irish" in that he was born in Ireland, however, his paternal ancestry is from European origin (Cambray, and Netherlands are mentioned). His maternal ancestry is Irish. So in reality, his 'blood' is half Irish.

Over here in the U.S. we have a St. Patrick's Day custom thusly:  if you see your friends NOT wearing something green, you must give them a pinch.  It is fun to catch them unawares.  So, does anyone else have such customs?

 

I salute our Irish Friend "Tom Lefroy" on this coming St. Patrick's Day, March 17.

 

Yrs aff'ly,

Linda the Librarian

Pic: St Patricks Day emblem

Jane Austen Quote of the Week 263

I wish to continue my quote from last week in The Loiterer Issue No. 29.  I got side tracked with the new discoveries from 200 years ago, so now I want to address the discussion as stated in the title of that issue "Absurdity of marrying from Affection."

 

The very next paragraph says:

 

Between two opinions so warmly urged and so strongly supported, it is not easy to fix any decision; but I must confess that however, in other respects, I may lean to the side of the young, (well knowing that their experience and coolness must nine times out of ten give them the advantage over their adversaries) yet in this one instance I must revolt to the other party; and shall in this paper endeavour to prove, that marrying from motives of affection is a very improper and absurd action, injurious to our own happiness as individuals, and detrimental to the interests of the community.

 

The writer goes on the "prove" his point which is interesting, but as a Southern American, I must admit that I had never thought about 'marriage' in this light.  So I hope to continue this series on "affection" in marriage, and see what happens.  As dear Jane says, "I leave it for you to determine."

 

Yrs aff'ly,

Linda the Librarian

Pic: holding hands