VOLUME I
CHAPTER I
THE
family of Dashwood had been long settled in Sussex. Their estate was large, and
their residence was at Norland
Park, in the centre of their
property, where, for many generations, they had lived in so respectable a manner,
as to engage the general good opinion of their surrounding acquaintance. The late
owner of this estate was a single man, who lived to a very advanced age, and who
for many years of his life, had a constant companion and housekeeper in his sister.
But her death, which happened ten years before his own, produced a great alteration
in his home; for to supply her loss, he invited and received into his house the
family of his nephew Mr. Henry Dashwood, the legal inheritor of the Norland estate,
and the person to whom he intended to bequeath it. In the society of his nephew
and niece, and their children, the old Gentleman''s days were comfortably spent.
His attachment to them all increased. The constant attention of Mr. and Mrs. Henry
Dashwood to his wishes, which proceeded not merely from interest, but from goodness
of heart, gave him every degree of solid comfort which his age could receive; and
the cheerfulness of the children added a relish to his existence.
By a former
marriage, Mr. Henry Dashwood had one son： by his present lady, three daughters.
The son, a steady respectable young man, was amply provided for by the fortune of
his mother, which had been large, and half of which devolved on him on his coming
of age. By his own marriage, likewise, which happened soon afterwards, headed to
his wealth. To him therefore the succession to the Norland estate was not so really
important as to his sisters; for their fortune, independent of what might arise
to them from their father''s inheriting that property, could be but small. Their
mother had nothing, and their father only seven thousand pounds in his own disposal;
for the remaining moiety of his first wife''s fortune was also secured to her child,
and he had only a life interest in it.
The old
Gentleman died; his will was read, and like almost every other will, gave as much
disappointment as pleasure. He was neither so unjust, nor so ungrateful, as to leave
his estate from his nephew;but he left it to him on such terms as destroyed half
the value of the bequest. Mr. Dashwood had wished for it more for the sake of his
wife and daughters than for himself or his son：but to his son, and his son''s son,
a child of four years old, it was secured, in such a way, as to leave to himself
no power of providing for those who were most dear to him, and who most needed a
provision, by any charge on the estate, or by any sale of its valuable woods. The
whole was tied up for the benefit of this child, who, in occasional visits with
his father and mother at Norland, had so far gained on the affections of his uncle,
by such attractions as are by no means unusual in children of two or three years
old; an imperfect articulation, an earnest desire of having his own way, many cunning
tricks, and a great deal of noise, as to outweigh all the value of all the attention
which, for years, he had received from his niece and her daughters. He meant not
to be unkind however, and, as a mark of his affection for the three girls, he left
them a thousand pounds a-piece.
Mr. Dashwood''s
disappointment was, at first, severe; but his temper was cheerful and sanguine,
and he might reasonably hope to live many years, and by living economically, lay
by a considerable sum from the produce of an estate already large, and capable of
almost immediate improvement. But the fortune, which had been so tardy in coming,
was his only one twelve month. He survived his uncle no longer; and ten thousand
pounds, including the late legacies, was all that remained for his widow and daughters.
His son
was sent for, as soon as his danger was known, and to him Mr. Dashwood recommended,
with all the strength and urgency which illness could command, the interest of his
mother-in-law and sisters.
Mr. John
Dashwood had not the strong feelings of the rest of the family; but he was affected
by a recommendation of such a nature at such a time, and he promised to do every
thing in his power to make them comfortable. His father was rendered easy by such
an assurance, and Mr. John Dashwood had then leisure to consider how much there
might prudently be in his power to do for them.
He was
not an ill-disposed young man, unless to be rather cold hearted, and rather selfish,
is to be ill-disposed： but he was, in general, well respected; for he conducted
himself with propriety in the discharge of his ordinary duties. Had he married a
more amiable woman, he might have been made still more respectable than he was：he
might even have been made amiable himself; for he was very young when he married,
and very fond of his wife. But Mrs. John Dashwood was a strong caricature of himself;more
narrow-minded and selfish.
When he
gave his promise to his father, he meditated within himself to increase the fortunes
of his sisters by the present of a thousand pounds a-piece. He then really thought
himself equal to it. The prospect of four thousand a-year, in addition to his present
income, besides the remaining half of his own mother''s fortune, warmed his heart
and made him feel capable of generosity.''Yes, he would give them three thousand
pounds： it would be liberal and handsome! It would be enough to make them completely
easy. Three thousand pounds! He could spare so considerable a sum with little inconvenience.''He
thought of it all day long, and for many days successively, and he did not repent.
No sooner
was his father''s funeral over, than Mrs. John Dashwood, without sending any notice
of her intention to her mother-in-law, arrived with her child and their attendants.
No one could dispute her right to come; the house was her husband''s from the moment
of his father''s decease; but the indelicacy of her conduct was so much the greater,
and to a woman in Mrs. Dashwood''s situation, with only common feelings, must have
been highly unpleasing;but in her mind
there was a sense of honour so keen, a generosity so romantic, that any offence
of the kind, by whomsoever given or received, was to her a source of immoveable
disgust. Mrs. John Dashwood had never been a favourite with any of her husband''s
family; but she had had no opportunity, till the present, of shewing them with how
little attention to the comfort of other people she could act when occasion required
it.
So acutely
did Mrs. Dashwood feel this ungracious behaviour, and so earnestly did she despise
her daughter-in-law for it, that, on the arrival of the latter, she would have quitted
the house forever, had not the entreaty of her eldest girl induced her first to
reflect on the propriety of going, and her own tender love for all her three children
determined her afterwards to stay, and for their sakes avoid a breach with their
brother.
Elinor,
this eldest daughter whose advice was so effectual, possessed a strength of understanding,
and coolness of judgment, which qualified her, though only nineteen, to be the counsellor
of her mother, and enabled her frequently to counter act, to the advantage of the
mall, that eagerness of mind in Mrs. Dashwood which must generally have led to imprudence.
She had an excellent heart;her disposition was affectionate, and her feelings were
strong; but she knew how to govern them： it was a knowledge which her mother had
yet to learn, and which one of her sisters had resolved never to be taught.
Marianne''s
abilities were, in many respects, quite equal to Elinor''s. She was sensible and
clever; but eager in every thing; her sorrows, her joys, could have no moderation.
She was generous, amiable, interesting： she was every thing but prudent. The resemblance
between her and her mother was strikingly great. Elinor saw, with concern, the excess
of her sister''s sensibility; but by Mrs. Dashwood it was valued and cherished. They
encouraged each other now in the violence of their affliction. The agony of grief
which over powered them at first, was voluntarily renewed, was sought for, was created
again and again. They gave themselves up wholly to their sorrow, seeking increase
of wretchedness in every reflection that could afford it, and resolved against ever
admitting consolation in future. Elinor, too, was deeply afflicted; but still she
could struggle, she could exert herself. She could consult with her brother, could
receive her sister-in-law on her arrival, and treat her with proper attention; and
could strive to rouse her mother to similar exertion, and encourage her to similar
forbearance.
Margaret,
the other sister, was a good-humoured well-disposed girl; but as she had already
imbibed a good deal of Marianne''s romance, without having much of her sense, she
did not, at thirteen, bid fair to equal her sisters at a more advanced period of
life.
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