Jane Austen's Letters
IV. General Topics Index

This index was entered and augmented from the older Chapman edition of the Letters by Eugene McDonnell. References are in the form "x n" where "x" is the number of a letter in bold type and "n" is a page number in ordinary type, in the Dierdre LeFaye edition of Jane Austen's letters. If the letter is included in the Brabourne edition, then the bold letter number is a link to the beginning of the letter (not to the exact place in the letter where the quote occurs) in the on-line version of the Brabourne edition of the letters. For example, "15 29" refers to LeFaye letter 15, page 29, and contains a link to the beginning of the corresponding letter XIV in the Brabourne edition.

SUMMARY

• Balls
• Carriages
• Charities
• Dress
• Duelling
• Food and Drink (see also Meals)
• French
• Games and Pastimes
• Hair and Hairdressing
• Handshaking
• Handwriting (see also Letters)
• Houses
• Jewelry and Plate
• LETTERS (see also Handwriting)
• LITERATURE (see also Indexes II and III)
• Meals (see also Food)
• Music
• Names
• Nature, Gardens, Weather
• Newspapers
• OPINIONS
  • Beauty
  • Children
  • Clergy
  • Death
  • Education
  • Explanations
  • Family ties
  • Likenesses
  • Liking
  • Liveliness
  • Luxury
  • Marriage
  • Match-making
  • Money
  • Mothering
  • Old Age
  • Public Affairs (see also Newspapers)
  • Religion
  • Virtues and Vices
  • Youth
• Painting
• Prices
• Races
• Remedies
• Schools
• Shooting
• Spelling
• Teeth and Dentists
• Tips
• Transport
• Travel (see also Carriages)
• Visits
• Work
• [Miscellaneous quotes chosen by Eugene McDonnell]

Index

• Balls:
  • the early letters passim;
  • 1 1 `sitting down',
  • 2 4 `draw for partners',
  • 5 8 `the Boulangeries' (cf. P. P. ch. 3),
  • 11 20, 27 61, Basingstoke assemblies,
  • 15 30, 45 108 Ashford balls
  • 17 33 `a partner' for Charles A.,
  • 17 33 Hackwood,
  • 17 33 34 Kempshot Ball,
  • 17 35 `not very much in request',
  • 27 60 `I called the last'
  • 27 62 Faversham,
  • 28 65 Canterbury,
  • 31 72 Chilham Castle,
  • 33 79 Newbury Assembly,
  • 36 85 Upper Rooms, Bath,
  • 39 94 Lyme,
  • 46 109 Deal,
  • 64 165 Manydown,
  • 65 168, 66 170 Southampton,
  • 91 234 Ashford,
  • 151 330 Quadrilles and Cotillions
• Charities:
  • 10 17 Baby Cloathes,
  • 15 31 `my charities to the poor' enumerated,
  • 54 135 `If she wants sugar, I sh^d like to supply her with it',
  • 78 200 `an old Shift &...a set of our Linen'
• Duelling
  • 25 56
• French words and phrases:
  • entrée
    • 13 23
  • en Mysteré
    • 22 48
  • adeiu
    • 22 48
  • en attendant
    • 24 52
  • come-cá
    • 29 66
  • est a lui
    • 31 73
  • et voila tout
    • 34 81
  • coup de grace
    • 37 87
  • en penitence
    • 43 99
  • contretems
    • 50 120
  • tete-a-tete
    • 52 126
  • a la Godmersham
    • 52 127
  • mais la moyen
    • 70 181
  • sans peur et sans reproche
    • 82 208
  • a l'ordinaire
    • 85 212
  • en avance
    • 91 234
  • partout
    • 91 235
  • eh! bien tout est dit
    • 94 245
  • Bru of feu the Archbishop
    • 95 249
  • jeu du violon
    • 144 319
• GAMES and other pastimes:
  • backgammon
    • 89 226
  • battledore and shuttlecock
    • 45 107
  • bilbocatch
    • 60 150
  • billiards
    • 92 239,
    • 94 246
  • brag
    • 64 163,
    • 65 167 (J. A.'s verses on b. and speculation )
  • casino
    • 27 62
  • cards
    • 60 150
  • charades
    • 79 202
  • commerce
    • 27 62,
    • 39 93,
    • 56 140,
    • 57 143
  • conundrums
    • 60 150
  • cribbage
    • 35 83,
    • 45 107,
    • 81 205
  • nines
    • 155 336
  • paper ships
    • 60 150
  • quadrille
    • 57 143
  • riddles
    • 60 150
  • speculation
    • 60 152,
    • 63 162,
    • 64 163-4,
    • 65 167 (JA's verses on)
  • spillikins, -ens,
    • 50 120,
    • 56 140,
    • 60 150
  • transparencies
    • 23 50
  • turning
    • 4 6,
    • 4 7
  • vingt-un
    • 33 78,
    • 149 325
  • whist
    • 27 62,
    • 89 226
• Hair and hairdressing:
  • 18 37 powder
  • 18 38 `a crop'
  • 35 75 cut too short
  • 45 108 Mr. Hall, `5s. for every time'
  • 52 128 Anna A.'s cut off
  • 84 211 Charlotte Craven's does `credit to any education'
  • 87 220 Mr. Hall `curled me out at a great rate'
  • 88 223 `my hair was dressing'
• Handshaking:
  • 37 87,
  • 44 105
• Handwriting (see also Letters):
  • 10 17 `sprawly'
  • 32 76 `sprawling lines'
  • 38 89 `compliments on my writing' (?)
  • 53 131 `every page...has more lines...every line more words'
  • 53 131 `sick of myself and my bad pens'
  • 60 151 `ashamed of my wide lines'
  • 67 172 `no insult toward your handwriting'
  • 77 196 `I must learn to make a better K'
  • 87 218 `I must get a softer pen'
  • 90 229 `you write so even, so clear in ... Penmanship'
  • 95 248 `The day seems to improve. I wish my pen would too.'
  • 95 249 `it is really a very pretty hand'
• Jewelry and Plate:
  • `gold chains & Topaze crosses' 38 91;
  • the family silver 63 161;
  • Cassandra's locket 85 212;
  • silver knife 55 136;
  • broches 43 102, 55 136, 57 145
• LETTERS (These references are for the most part noteworthy only as they illustrate the normal epistolary practice of the day).
  • Consequences of the expense of postage and of limitation of an unfranked letter to a single sheet:
    • a long sheet 10 15;
    • writing as closely as possible 15 30;
    • materials to fill a sheet 28 63-4;
    • `very clever to write such long Letters' (i.e. so closely-written) 53 131, cf 33 79, 92 236;
    • `ashamed of my wide lines' 60 151;
    • `not filling my sheet' 17 36, cf 28 63-4;
    • `my paper will be my own' 25 55;
    • `will hardly hold it all' 62 156,
    • `will put my lines very close together' 95 247,
    • `I have not time or paper for half that I want to say' 96 253;
    • foolscap 30 69;
    • crossing ?? ??,
    • 'obliged to write down the whole of this page' 78 200;
    • gratitude to Cassandra for `Such a long Letter! Two & forty lines in the 2<sup>d</sup> Page' 91 234;
    • counting the lines 77 195
  • Envelope (the word is not in the Letters, but see P. and P. ch. 35):
    • 78 200 `something in a cover' no doubt implies that the letter went by hand and cost the recipient nothing
  • Franking:
    • 24 52,
    • 25 55,
    • 30 69,
    • 72 185,
    • 78 198,
    • 92 236
  • Seal and Wafer:
    • 17 34,
    • 22 46,
    • 92 236
  • Direction:
    • 34 80,
    • 39 94,
    • 155 337
  • Cost:
    • 16 32 `letter expences',
    • 31 74 overcharge,
    • 90 229,
    • 129 304,
    • 97 255 two-penny post (London)
  • Local arrangements:
    • 44 103 Newbury,
    • 155 337 Canterbury,
    • 59 148 `by the coach'
  • Foreign letters:
    • 27 63 `open'd at Vienna';
    • 45 108 numbered outside (to check losses -- a practice repeated in the War of 1914-18)
  • Literary aspects:
    • 29 68 `the true art of letter-writing';
    • 50 121 `want of Materials', cf.
    • 64 162,
    • 51 124,
    • 52 125 `important nothings'
  • Various:
    • 21 45,
    • 22 46,
    • 22 48 letters for children;
    • 51 124 forced to be abusive for want of subject;
    • 88 222 Sunday post;
    • 157 339 mourning
  • Family letters for general consumption:
    • 60 150 `we all saw what she wrote';
    • 84 210 `I hope somebody cares for these minutiæ';
    • 89 226 `I read him the cheif of your Letter';
    • 91 233 `we had all the reading of it of course';
    • 114 287 `write something that may do to be read or told';
    • 145 319 a letter from Charles to Cassandra opened by J. A. and not forwarded. See on the other hand 39 93
• LITERATURE (see also Index V, Literary Allusions, Index VI, Jane Austen's Novels, and the letters to Anna, Nos. 103, 104, 107, 108, 113, passim)
  • Anonymity:
    • precautions and risks 80 203;
    • `if I am a wild Beast, I cannot help it. It is not my own fault' 85 212-3;
    • regrets at disclosure 87 218;
    • `I am trying to harden myself. After all, what a trifle it is ...' 90 231;
    • `perhaps I may marry young Mr. D'arblay' 95 250
  • Classical Allusions:
    • `Homer and Virgil, Ovid and Propria que Maribus' 66 170
    • `her sister in Lucina' 89 224
  • Composition:
    • `an artist cannot do any thing slovenly' (1798, of another art-form) 11 20;
    • at work (Jan. 1809) `could my Ideas flow as fast as the rain in the Store closet it would be charming' 66 169;
    • `wish other people of my acquaintance could compose as rapidly' 113 284;
    • `Impossible, with a head full of Joints of Mutton & doses of rhubarb' 145 321;
    • `the little bit (two inches wide) of Ivory . . .' 146 323
  • Fancy and Imagination:
    • 91 235
  • Libraries:
    • Mrs. Martin's subscription l. (at Basingstoke?) opened 1799, 14 26;
    • the `particularly pitiful' l. at Dawlish 104 267
  • Names and Titles:
    • `I will compliment her by naming a Heroine after her' 91 235;
    • `Enthusiasm was something so very superior that every common title must appear to disadvantage' 104 267
  • Novels:
    • the A. family `great Novel-readers & not ashamed of being so' 14 26;
    • Cassandra's dislike of desultory n. 104 269;
    • `novel slang' 108 277
  • Octavos and Quartos:
    • 81 206 `I detest a quarto'
  • Parody: of Mrs Piozzi
    • 62 156,
    • and perhaps 38 89, lines 26-7
  • Puns:
    • 37 88,
    • 89 228
  • Reading in general:
    • `I come to be talked to, not to read or hear reading, I can do that at home' 26 59;
    • `very little variety of Books or Gowns' 28 64
  • Reading Aloud:
    • `My father reads Cowper to us in the evening' 14 27;
    • `to read or hear reading' 26 59;
    • `the "Female Quixotte" ... now makes our evening amusement' 49 116;
    • `James reads [Marmion] aloud in the even<sup>g</sup>' 53 131;
    • `I read [Espriella's Letters] aloud by candlelight' 56 141;
    • `Our second evening's reading to Miss Benn' 80 203
  • Reading Clubs: the Chawton Book Society, its rival in the Steventon district, and its imitator elsewhere
    • 78 199,
    • 81 206
  • Subject:
    • `my preference for Men & Women, always inclines me to attend more to the company than the sight' 70 179;
    • excuses herself to Mr. Clarke, `the comic part of the character I might be equal to, but not the good, the enthusiastic, the literary'; ignorance of science, of philosophy, of languages and literature, &c. 132D 306, and see 138D 312;
    • Pictures of Perfection make me sick and wicked 155 335;
    • `the dirty Shaving Rag was exquisite! Such a circumstance ought to be in print' 109 282;
    • fears of having `overwritten' herself 134D 309, 138D 312;
    • digressions might have improved Pride and Prejudice; Cassandra's `starched notions' on this 80 203
  • Style:
    • solicitude about 66 169;
    • use of third person in dialogue 103 267,
    • Charles A.'s (naively revealing) 128 302
  • Verses:
    • on Brag and Spec. 65 167;
    • `I am in a Dilemma' 72 186;
    • on the Weald of kent Canal Bill 72 186;
    • lines on Miss W. 77 196
• MEALS (see also Food):
  • Breakfast:
    • visiting before b. 10 16;
    • shopping before b. 87 219;
    • at 10 A. M. 52 126, 55 137, cf. 88 223;
    • coffee at 21 45
  • Luncheon:
    • 94 246;
    • Noonshine: 53 130, 60 151;
    • The Tray: 95 249
  • Dinner:
    • 14 27 (1798, at 3.30);
    • 46 109 (1805, at 5, but delayed till 6);
    • 46 110 (at 4, `that we may walk afterwards);
    • 62 157 (1808, `we never dine now till five');
    • 78 198-9 (1813, no fixed places);
    • 81 205 (at 3, to suit children);
    • 37 218 (London, soon after 5);
    • 94 244 (Godmersham, at 6.30);
    • 105 271 (London, at 4.30, `that our Visitors may go to the Play')
  • Tea:
    • at 6.30 (after dinner at 3.30) 14 27
  • Supper:
    • 46 110 (1805, after dinner at 6);
    • 53 131 (1808, ? 10.30);
    • 63 160 (1808, `the tray' at 10 or 10.30);
    • 74 191 (1811, hot supper);
    • 80 203 `at Longbourn')
• Music:
  • 4 7 `I practice every day',
  • 17 33 `writing music',
  • 20 43 Concert in Sydney Gardens,
  • 31 74 singing Duetts,
  • 36 84 `my Pianoforte' sold (1801) for 8 guineas,
  • 37 88 `no taste for music' a recommendation,
  • 44 103 Concert,
  • 63 161 `we will have a pianoforte' (1808, to cost 30 guineas),
  • 71 183 Mrs. Henry A.'s party, `Lessons on the Harp',
  • 73 189 pleasure in another's playing,
  • 96 251 Concert,
  • 99 261 no pleasure in singing, `being what Nature made me on that article',
  • 109 281 F. Knight learning the Harp cf. 128 301,
  • 114 285 Anna Lefroy's Instrument (24 guineas),
  • 123 294 `my instrument',
  • 127 300 resists Mr. Haden's doctrine `that a person not musical is fit for every sort of Wickedness',
  • 129 303 music masters
• Names:
  • Caroline 49 115, 51 123;
  • Charlcombe `in a little green Valley, as a Village with such a name ought to be' 20 43;
  • Diana `my name is D.' 73 189 (see note);
  • Emma 28 65,
  • `it went to my heart that the Miss Lances (one of them too named Emma!) should have partners only for two' dances 62 157;
  • Henry 92 237 `a proof how unequally the gifts of Fortune are bestowed. I have seen many a John & Thomas much more agreeable';
  • Lesley `is a noble name' 107 275;
  • Newton Priors `is really a Nonpareil. Milton w<sup>d</sup> have given his eyes to have thought of it' 107 276, cf. 113 284;
  • Rachael `as much as I can bear' 107 276;
  • Richard 6 10 `till he has got a Better Christian name', cf. the first page of Northanger Abbey;
  • Robert 61 153 `his name shall be R., if you please;
  • `no taste in names' 1 2;
  • surnames of young men used without prefix: 1 1 (Warren), 2 5 (Buller), 27 62 (Rice)
• NATURE, GARDENS, WEATHER:
  • `a little green Valley' 20 43;
  • a beautiful walk 38 89-90;
  • beauty of Kent 52 126,
  • of Surrey 84 210,
  • of Roxburghshire 90 230;
  • envies the wives of sailors and soldiers (the power of spending their summers where they choose) 29 68;
  • the Sea 29 68, 33 78, 43 102;
  • Wales 29 68
  • The Picturesque:
    • `prospective view' 19 41;
    • view of Bath criticized 35 82 (cf. Northanger Abbey);
    • question if certain ladies had `any right to Taste or Feeling to go their late Tour' 56 140;
  • Gardens:
    • `improvements' at Steventon 23 51;
    • at Chawton ('I could not do without a Syringa') 50 119, 51 122, 73 188, 74 191-2;
    • trees in London 71 184
  • Weather:
    • `what the 5^th and 6^th of October should always be' 57 145;
    • `a Prince of days' (in November), `did not know how to turn back' 61 155;
    • `like an old Feb<sup>y</sup> come back again' 80 203;
    • `nice unwholesome, Unseasonable, relaxing, close, muggy weather' 129 303
  • Walking:
    • 14 26,
    • 20 43,
    • 28 64 `desperate walkers',
    • 38 89-90,
    • 43 102,
    • 47 112,
    • 61 155,
    • 75 193,
    • 78 200,
    • 80 203,
    • 145 320
• Newspapers:
  • 6 10 `the Papers say',
  • 19 41 the Bath paper,
  • 25 57 `Mr. Holder's paper', the Sun,
  • 32 75,
  • 39 95 `the Pinckards newspaper' (Lyme),
  • 43 101 `in the papers' (Bath),
  • 53 131 `yesterday's Courier',
  • 60 151 `the Salisbury paper' (Southampton),
  • 64 164 `your newspaper' (to Cassandra at Godmersham),
  • 68 171 `the Portsmouth paper' (Southampton),
  • 71 185 `this morning's paper' (London),
  • 72 186 `as I have just had the pleasure of reading',
  • 73 187 `the papers say' (Chawton),
  • 79 201 `our paper' (Chawton)
• OPINIONS on various topics
  • Beauty:
    • `whose eyes are as handsome as ever' 1 2;
    • `those beautiful dark eyes' 25 57;
    • `he must write a great deal better than those eyes indicate . . .' 33 78;
    • `pleased with his black eyes' 62 157;
    • `a pleasing looking young woman' (i.e. J. A.) 72 186;
    • `those large dark eyes' 91 235;
    • `Lady B. found me handsomer than she expected' 96 252;
    • `her fine dark eyes' 151 329
  • Children:
    • the change from beauty and `interesting manners' to `an ungovernable, ungracious fellow' 10 17;
    • `what is become of all the Shyness in the World?' 50 119;
    • praise of `the best Children in the present day' (1807) `so unlike anything that I was myself at her age' 50 120
  • Clergy:
    • wisdom of residence 18 37;
    • residence the only means of ejecting a bad curate 90 231;
    • eagerness in delivery preferred to want of animation, in preaching 90 231
  • Death:
    • `not even Death itself can fix the friendship of the World 32 76
  • Education:
    • humorously defined (music, drawing and astronomy) 17 34
  • Explanations:
    • `Heaven forbid that I should ever offer such encouragement to Explanations, as to give a clear one on any occasion myself.' 20 42-3
  • Family Ties:
    • `could not have supposed that a neice would ever have been so much to me' 57 144;
    • `I like first Cousins to be first Cousins' 112 283;
    • `neices seldom chosen but in compliment to some Aunt or other' 113 284;
    • `now that you are become an Aunt, you are a person of some consequence . . . I have always maintained the importance of Aunts' 123 294;
    • `blessed in the tenderness of such a Family, & before I had survived either them or their affection' 159 341
  • Likenesses:
    • 47 112;
    • `I wish she were not so very Palmery' 92 240
  • Liking:
    • `trouble of liking' people 15 29;
    • merit in not liking 17 35;
    • `cannot anyhow continue to find people agreable' 36 86;
    • `seems to like people rather too easily' 39 94
  • Liveliness
    • defined: `the proper selection of adverbs, & due scraps of Italian & French' 38 90
  • Luxury:
    • `to sit in idleness over a good fire in a well-proportioned room' 25 56;
    • `pleasures of friendship . . . make good amends for Orange Wine' 55 139;
    • `these two Boys who are out with the Fox-hounds will come home & disgust me again by some habit of Luxury or some proof of sporting Mania' 91 234
  • Marriage:
    • `a great Improver' 61 153;
    • every body has `a right to marry once in their lives for love' 63 159;
    • `anything to be preferred or endured rather than marrying without affection' 109 280;
    • `parade of happiness' in young married women 109 281;
    • `nothing can be compared to the misery of being bound without love' 114 286;
    • poverty of single women an argument for marriage 153 332
  • Match-making:
    • 18 39;
    • `so natural that I have no ingenuity in planning it' 56 140;
    • `a Southampton Match . . . I . . . like it, because I had made it before' 61 154
  • Money:
    • `so horridly poor & economical' 14 28;
    • `they live in a handsome style and are rich, and she seemed to like to be rich' 49 117;
    • `legacies are very wholesome diet' 52 126;
    • `the rich are always respectable' 53 130;
    • `As to Money, that will come you may be sure, because they cannot do without it' 61 153;
    • `I had thought with delight of saving you the postage, but money is dirt' 94 245;
    • `you are much above caring about money' 109 281;
    • `Pewter' 114 287
  • Mothering:
    • `poor Woman! how can she be honestly breeding again?' 56 140;
    • `the simple regimen of separate rooms' 151 330;
    • `poor Animal, she will be worn out before she is thirty' 155 336;
    • `by not beginning the business of Mothering quite so early in life, you will be young . . . when . . . is growing old by confinements & nursing' 153 332;
    • 155 336
  • Old Age:
    • `perhaps in time we may come to be M<sup>rs</sup> Stents ourselves, unequal to anything & unwelcome to everybody' (1805) 44 103;
    • `at her age, perhaps, one may be as friendless oneself, and in similar circumstances quite as captious' (1808) 63 161;
    • `her age & feebleness considered, one's fears cannot but preponderate' 64 163;
    • `if I live to be an old Woman, I must expect to wish I had died now' (1817) 159 341
  • Public Affairs: (see also Newspapers);
    • `critical state' of `our poor army' (Jan. 1809) 64 163;
    • `my most political correspondents' say nothing of the (rumoured, Jan. 1809) Regency 64 163;
    • death of Sir John Moore; `thank Heaven! we have had no one to care for particularly among the Troops' 67 173
    • `This is greivous news from Spain' (Jan. 1809) 66 171;
    • `How horrible it is to have so many people killed! -- And what a blessing that one cares for none of them!' (May 1811) 74 191;
    • `What weather! & what news! -- We have enough to do to admire them both' (Nov 1813) 96 252;
    • letters from abroad (1817) `would not be satisfactory to me, I confess, unless they breathed a strong spirit of regret for not being in England' 150 328, cf. 56 141, Espriella's Letters `horribly anti-english';
    • state of France (1816) 145 321
  • Religion:
    • `her solid principles, her true devotion' 58 147;
    • `letters of cruel comfort' 59 148;
    • `I do not like the Evangelicals' (1809) 66 170;
    • `I am by no means convinced that we ought not all to be Evangelicals' (1814) 109 280, cf. 114 287;
    • `I wish Sir John [Moore] had united something of the Christian with the Hero in his death' 67 173;
    • `We do not much like Mr. Cooper's new Sermons; they are fuller of Regeneration & Conversion than ever -- with the addition of his zeal in the cause of the Bible Society' (1816) 145 322;
    • `Religious Principle' 153 334;
    • humility 159 341;
    • `If ever you are ill, may you . . . possess . . . the greatest blessing of all, in the consciousness of not being unworthy of their [i.e. friends'] Love. I could not feel this' (1817) 160 342;
    • the Sacrament 53 131, 91 234
  • Virtues and Vices:
    • selfishness and unselfishness:
      • `as you are happy, all this is selfishness, of which here is enough for one page' 51 122;
      • `for one's own dear self, one ascertains & remembers every thing' 67 173;
      • `While she gives happiness to those about her, she is pretty sure of her own share' 66 169
    • ill-nature:
      • `This is an ill-natured sentiment to send all over the Baltic!' 90 231
    • narrow-mindedness:
      • difficulty of persuading `a perverse and narrow-minded woman to oblige those whom she does not love' 33 78, cf. 159 341
    • vanity:
      • `The pleasures of Vanity are more within your comprehension' 109 281
    • wisdom:
      • better than Wit 109 280
  • Youth:
    • `she goes on now as young ladies of seventeen ought to do, admired and admiring' (1798) 15 31;
    • `like other young ladies she is considerably genteeler than her parents' 39 94;
    • `one of the sweet taxes of Youth to chuse in a hurry & make bad bargains' 89 225
• Painting:
  • rouge 36 85;
  • `employed about my lady's face' 50 119
• Remedies:
  • Bleeding 96 254 (Dr. Parry of Bath), 121 292;
  • Calomel 89 228;
  • Cupping 40 96, 89 228;
  • Electricity 20 42;
  • Hartshorn 47 113;
  • Huxham (Dr. H.'s tincture of bark) 52 127;
  • Laudanum 10 16,18;
  • Leeches 88 222, 102 264;
  • Magnesia 37 88;
  • Mercury 155 336;
  • Oil of sweet almonds 56 140;
  • Physic 44 106;
  • Plaister, strengthening, 129 303;
  • Rhubarb 145 321;
  • Steele's Lavender Water 31 72;
  • Waters 21 44, 92 237, 145 318
• Schools:
  • `I could die of laughter . . . , as they used to say at school' (1796) 4 5;
  • `the ignorant class of school mistresses' 43 101;
  • a fashionable London school 84 211
• Shooting:
  • 6 10,
  • 93 243
• Spelling:
  • final e 66 169;
  • `adding a vowel' 67 172; (note J. A.'s own spelling of e.g. Plumtre)
• Tips:
  • `half a guinea or only five shillings' 5 8,
  • `ten shillings for Sackree' 45 108
• Transport (of goods):
  • 10 16 `our trunk nearly slipped off';
  • 19 40 a trunk too heavy for the coach, to be sent by waggon;
  • 29 68 cost of moving heavy furniture prohibitive;
  • 32 77 `an opportunity of sending';
  • 85 213 trunk to be sent by coach
• Travel (see also Carriages):
  • 6 11 `I want to go in a Stage Coach, but Frank will not let me' (1796);
  • 18 36 `both the coaches were full'; the night coach to Deal, `the unpleasantness of returning by myself deters me' (1799);
  • 18 38 the London coach;
  • 29 66 `the Mail for London';
  • 34 80 `Henry would send you in his carriage a stage or two, where you might be met';
  • 52 128 a visit impracticable from `the nature of the road' (because no coach, cf. 145 320);
  • 54 135 prohibitive cost of travelling;
  • 60 149 `travelled on the outside';
  • 64 163 `these plans depend of course on the weather, but I hope there will be no settled cold to delay us';
  • 87 218 `delayed for horses' in travelling post;
  • 90 229 journey from Chawton to Godmersham; five in and on the barouche, eight in two post chaises, two in the chair, two on horseback and the rest by coach;
  • 96 253 an early start `as Edward takes his own horses all the way';
  • 98 259 Henry A. desires Cassandra `to come post at his expense, & added something of the Carriage meeting you at Kingston';
  • 105 270 J. A. travels from Chawton to Sloane St. by coach, `Yalden', 4 in the kitchen part, 15 on top, (changing coaches at Farnham) and so to Hans Place by hackney coach;
  • 105 270 `my own [imaginary] Coach between Edinburgh & Sterling'
  • 105 271 Henry A. rides daily from Hans Place to Covent Garden; Edward Knight and his son arrive from Canterbury, `c^d not get places the day before';
  • 129 303 the Chelsea Coach
• Visits (duration of):
  • 33 79,
  • 52 126, cf. 54 133,
  • 74 190,
  • 90 229
• Work (i.e. needle &c. w.):
  • 4 6,
  • 17 34,
  • 56 140;
  • cross-stitch 64 163;
  • dressing dolls 24 54;
  • glove knitting 78 198;
  • netting 91 234;
  • notting 10 16,
  • 18 38;
  • patchwork 74 191;
  • rugs 50 118;
  • sattin-stitch 65 165;
  • spinning-wheel 74 190;
  • `unpicking' 57 144
• Miscellaneous quotes: (chosen by Eugene McDonnell)
  • 14 25 Your letter came quite as soon as I expected, and so your letters will always do, because I have made it a rule not to expect them till they come, in which I think I consult the ease of us both.
  • 15 29 But I will not torment myself with Conjectures & suppositions; Facts shall satisfy me.
  • 15 29 I do not want People to be very agreable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal.
  • 15 31 She goes on now as young ladies of 17 ought to do; admired and admiring.
  • 15 31 It is my unhappy fate seldom to treat people so well as they deserve.
  • 17 34 You express so little anxiety about my being murdered under Ash Park Copse by Mrs Hulbert's servant, that I have a great mind not to tell you whether I was or not...
  • 17 34 I have nothing to do, but to invent a few hard names for the Stars.
  • 17 34 I am delighted to hear that he has such an inventive Genius as to face-making.
  • 18 37 ... fine, jolly, handsome, ignorant girls.
  • 18 38 I do not think it worth while to wait for enjoyment until there is some real opportunity for it.
  • 18 38 I have not much compassion for colds in the head without fever or sore throat.
  • 27 61 I was as civil to them as their bad breath would allow me.
  • 27 61 She appeared exactly as she did in September, with the same broad face, diamond bandeau, white shoes, pink husband, & fat neck.
  • 29 66 We plan having a steady Cook, & a young giddy Housemaid, with a sedate, middle aged Man, who is to undertake the double office of Husband to the former & sweetheart to the latter.
  • 30 71 You are very kind in planning presents for me to make, & my Mother has shewn me exactly the same attention -- but as I do not chuse to have Generosity dictated to me, I shall not resolve on giving my Cabinet to Anna till the first thought of it has been my own.
  • 32 74 Expect a most agreable Letter; for not being overburdened with subject -- (having nothing at all to say) -- I shall have no check to my Genius from beginning to end.
  • 37 86 To make long sentences upon unpleasant subjects is very odious.
  • 49 115 She is a funny one.
  • 49 115 I have answered her letter, and have endeavoured to give something like the truth with as little incivility as I could...
  • 49 115 I cannot yet satisfy Fanny as to Mrs Foote's baby's name, and I must not encourage her to expect a very good one, as Captain Foote is a professed adversary to all but the plainest; he likes only Mary, Elizabeth, Anne, &c.
  • 52 125 Where shall I begin? Which of all my important nothings shall I tell you first?
  • 52 126 She looks remarkably well (legacies are very wholesome diet).
  • 66 169 You used me scandalously by not mentioning Ed. Cooper's Sermons; -- I tell you everything, & it is unknown the Mysteries you conceal from me.
  • 66 170 Of course I shall be delighted when I read it, like other people, but till I do, I dislike it.
  • 72 186 It gives me sincere pleasure to hear of M^rs Knight's having had a tolerable night at last -- but upon this occasion I wish she had another name, for the two Nights jingle very much.
  • 75 193 She..., I doubt not, has had plenty of the miscellaneous, unsettled sort of unhappiness which seems to suit her best,
  • 78 198 Handsome is as Handsome does; he is therefore a very ill-looking man.
  • 78 198 The first soldier I ever sighed for.
  • 78 200 I had a very agreable walk; if she had not, more shame for her, for I was quite as entertaining as she was.
  • 78 198 I learn from Sir J. Carr that there is no Government House at Gibraltar. - I must alter it to the Commissioners.
  • 89 225 one of the sweet taxes of Youth to chuse in a hurry & make bad bargains.
  • 89 225 I am still a Cat if I see a Mouse.
  • 89 226 There is nobody Brilliant nowadays.

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