A Memoir of Jane Austen

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Persuasion 125
been brought to an end in July;° and the re-engagement of the hero
and heroine effected in a totally different manner in a scene laid at
Admiral Croft’s lodgings. But her performance did not satisfy
her. She thought it tame and flat, and was desirous of producing
something better. This weighed upon her mind, the more so
probably on account of the weak state of her health; so that one
night she retired to rest in very low spirits. But such depression
was little in accordance with her nature, and was soon shaken off.
The next morning she awoke to more cheerful views and brighter
inspirations: the sense of power revived; and imagination
resumed its course. She cancelled the condemned chapter, and
wrote two others, entirely different, in its stead.° The result is that
we possess the visit of the Musgrove party to Bath; the crowded
and animated scenes at the White Hart Hotel; and the charming
conversation between Capt. Harville and Anne Elliot, overheard
by Capt. Wentworth, by which the two faithful lovers were at last
led to understand each other’s feelings. The tenth and eleventh
chapters of ‘Persuasion’ then, rather than the actual winding-up
of the story, contain the latest of her printed compositions, her
last contribution to the entertainment of the public. Perhaps it
may be thought that she has seldom written anything more brilliant;
and that, independent of the original manner in which the
dénouement is brought about, the pictures of Charles Musgrove’s
goodnatured boyishness and of his wife’s jealous selfishness
would have been incomplete without these finishing strokes. The
cancelled chapter exists in manuscript. It is certainly inferior to
the two which were substituted for it: but it was such as some
writers and some readers might have been contented with; and it
contained touches which scarcely any other hand could have
given, the suppression of which may be almost a matter of
regret. 1
The following letter° was addressed to her friend Miss Bigg,
then staying at Streatham with her sister, the wife of the Reverend
Herbert Hill, uncle of Robert Southey.° It appears to have
been written three days before she began her last work,° which will
1 This cancelled chapter is now printed, in compliance with the requests addressed to
me from several quarters. [Not included here.]