nearest the great master, we have no hesitation in placing Jane Austen
as a woman of whom England may justly be proud. She has given us a
multitude of characters, all, in a certain sense, commonplace, all such
as we meet every day. Yet they are all as perfectly discriminated from
each other as if they were the most eccentric of human beings.... And
all this is done by touches so delicate that they elude analysis, that
they defy the powers of description, and that we know them to exist only
by the general effect to which they have contributed." And a new
generation had almost forgotten her name before the exacting Lewes
wrote:--"To make our meaning precise, we would say that Fielding and
Jane Austen are the greatest novelists in the English language.... We
would rather have written 'Pride and Prejudice' or 'Tom Jones,' than
any of the Waverley novels.... The greatness of Miss Austen (her
marvelous dramatic power) seems more than anything in Scott akin to
Shakespeare."

The six novels which have made so great a reputation for their author
relate the least sensational of histories in the least sensational way.
'Sense and Sensibility' might be called a novel with a purpose, that
purpose being to portray the dangerous haste with which sentiment
degenerates into sentimentality; and because of its purpose, the story
discloses a less excellent art than its fellows. 'Pride and Prejudice'
finds its motive in the crass pride of birth and place that characterize
the really generous and high-minded hero, Darcy, and the fierce
resentment of his claims to love and respect on the part of the clever,
high-tempered, and chivalrous heroine, Elizabeth Bennet. 'Northanger
Abbey' is a laughing skit at the school of Mrs. Radcliffe; 'Persuasion,'
a simple story of upper middle-class society, of which the most charming
of her charming girls, Anne Elliot, is the heroine; 'Mansfield Park' a
new and fun-loving version of 'Cinderella'; and finally 'Emma,'--the