A Memoir of Jane Austen

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Mr. Clarke 95
only her own mother tongue, and has read little in that, would be
totally without the power of giving. A classical education, or at
any rate a very extensive acquaintance with English literature,
ancient and modern, appears to me quite indispensable for the
person who would do any justice to your clergyman; and I think I
may boast myself to be, with all possible vanity, the most unlearned
and uninformed female who ever dared to be an authoress.
‘Believe me, dear Sir,
‘Your obliged and faithful hum bl Ser t .
‘JANE AUSTEN.’ 1
Mr. Clarke, however, was not to be discouraged from proposing
another subject. He had recently been appointed chaplain and
private English secretary to Prince Leopold, who was then about
to be united to the Princess Charlotte;° and when he again wrote
to express the gracious thanks of the Prince Regent for the copy
of ‘Emma’ which had been presented, he suggests that ‘an historical
romance illustrative of the august House of Cobourg would
just now be very interesting,’° and might very properly be dedicated
to Prince Leopold. This was much as if Sir William Ross°
had been set to paint a great battle-piece; and it is amusing to see
with what grave civility she declined a proposal which must have
struck her as ludicrous, in the following letter:––
‘MY DEAR SIR,–– I am honoured° by the Prince’s thanks and
very much obliged to yourself for the kind manner in which you
mention the work. I have also to acknowledge a former letter
forwarded to me from Hans Place. I assure you I felt very grateful
for the friendly tenor of it, and hope my silence will have been
considered, as it was truly meant, to proceed only from an
unwillingness to tax your time with idle thanks. Under every
interesting circumstance which your own talents and literary
labours have placed you in, or the favour of the Regent bestowed,
you have my best wishes. Your recent appointments I hope are a
1 It was her pleasure to boast of greater ignorance than she had any just claim to. She
knew more than her mother tongue, for she knew a good deal of French and a little of
Italian. [See pp. 70–1 above.]