Letter Fourteen, Post Twelve

Tuesday 25 February 2014
To Cassandra, from Steventon, "We dine now at half after Three, & have done dinner I suppose before you begin-We drink tea at half after six.-I am afraid you will despise us.-My father reads Cowper to us in the evening, to which I listen when I can. How do you spend your Evenings?-I guess that Eliz:th works, that you read to her, & that Edward goes to sleep.-", Jane Austen, Tuesday 18-Wednesday 19 December 1798

This is such a sweet insight into her daily life... life in the country.

I have loved the hymn, There Is A Fountain, for so many years. It may not be one of the most popular hymns, but it brings tears to my eyes. I did a Google search and discovered that it was written by William Cowper not long before his death on 25 April 1800.

Jane Austen was a big fan of William Cowper. She quoted him in Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Emma, and Sanditon. He was her favorite poetical moralist.

William Cowper, himself, is interesting. He sometimes suffered from melancholia and depression and spent some time in an asylum. But, Romans 8:28 came into play in his life. He moved into a little house in Olney, England who's backyard connected with the parsonage backyard. And, guess who was the reverend of the parish; it was John Newton, the man who wrote Amazing Grace!

William Cowper and John Newton became very close friends. They worked together to write poetry for the services at the parish and collaborated to write a book called Olney Hymns. This book contains 349 hymns and became one of the most important contributions to musical worship in Evangelical Christianity.

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." - Romans 8:28

William Cowper had bouts of doubt about his salvation and God's love for him, but one day while sitting alone at his desk after reading Zechariah 13:1-"In that day a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for impurity." the Holy Spirit inspired him to write these words:

There is a fountain filled with blood
drawn from Immanuel's veins
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains

The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day;
and there may I, though vile as he
Wash all my sins away

Dear dying Lamb, thy precious blood
Shall never lose it's power
Till all the ransomed church of God
Are saved, to sin no more

For since by faith I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply
Redeeming love has been my theme
and shall be till I die

When this poor lisping,
stammering tongue
Lies silent in the grave
Then in a nobler, sweeter song

I'll sing thy power to save

There is a Fountain by Selah - a beautiful song...

I hope you enjoy your day today!
Terrie

Letter Fourteen, Post Eleven

Monday 24 February 2014
To Cassandra, from Steventon, "Earle Harwood & his friend Mr Bailey came to Deane yesterday, but are not to stay above a day or two.-Earle has got the ap: [p. 3] :pointment to a Prison ship at Portsmouth, which he has been for some time desirous of having; & he & his wife are to live on board for the future.-" - Jane Austen, Tuesday 18-Wednesday 19 December 1798

The Harwood family had lived at Deane House for generations. Earle Harwood (1773-1811) was the son of John Harwood VI and his wife, Anne, who lived at Deane House at this time.

What a great picture of Deane House from Rachel French!

Earle had married Sarah Scott on 2 August 1797. For some reason the Harwood family did not take to Sarah well, not really sure why. Here is a link to a post we covered on this subject before:

http://allthings-jane-austen.blogspot.com/search?q=earle+harwood

Earle served as a Lieutenant on the HMS Prothee, which was a French ship captured in 1780 and commissioned as a prison ship in 1799. It was moored at Portsmouth. Here is a little information about the HMS Prothee:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_ship_Prot%C3%A9e_(1772)

Mr. Bailey was a Lieutenant in the Royal Marines. He was perhaps a member of the Bailey family at Dummer.

I hope you enjoyed your day today!
Terrie

Letter Fourteen, Post Ten

Sunday 23 February 2014
To Cassandra, from Steventon, "Charles Powlett has been very ill, but is getting well again;-his wife is discovered to be everything that the Neighbourhood could wish her, silly & cross as well as extravagant." - Jane Austen, Tuesday 18-Wednesday 19 December 1798

We have covered Charles Powlett a few times; here is a link.
http://allthings-jane-austen.blogspot.com/search?q=charles+powlett

Charles Powlett's wife was Anne (Nancy) Temple. They married in November 1796. She was from the Temple family of St. Gluvias, Cornwall. Her father was Reverend William-Johnston Temple.

St. Gluvias Church, Cornwall

Reverend William-Johnston Temple has his own Wikipedia page and not because his son-in-law was a close neighbor to Jane Austen, but because he was a college classmate, close friend, and correspondent to James Boswell.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Johnson_Temple

The same James Boswell who wrote The Journal of a Tour of the Hebrides and the Life of Johnson.
http://www.jamesboswell.info/aboutjb

Jane Austen wrote to Cassandra about their father purchasing James Boswell's books in Letter Twelve, Post Nine. Here is a link:
http://allthings-jane-austen.blogspot.com/search?q=life+of+johnson

The letter's James Boswell wrote to Reverend Temple have been published and can be read at this link:
https://archive.org/stream/lettersofjamesbo00bosw/lettersofjamesbo00bosw_djvu.txt

How cool is that?

It is interesting how small a world we live in. It does not seem that Jane Austen cared for the Reverend's daughter Anne very much, but she just might have enjoyed a conversation with the Reverend himself, and I would guess he would have been quite entertained.

I hope you enjoyed your day today!
Terrie

Letter Fourteen, Post Nine

Sunday 9 February 2014
To Cassandra, from Steventon, "I enjoyed the hard black Frosts of last week very much, & one day while they lasted walked to Deane by myself.-I do not know that I ever did such a thing in my life before." - Tuesday 18-Wednesday 19 December 1798

A hard black frost according to the Free Dictionary is a "frost without snow or rime that is severe enough to blacken vegetation."

Frost on trees in Hampshire from this post,
https://janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/tag/18th-century-fashion/

I am not sure if this is a hard black frost or not, but it is a beautiful scene of a frost in Hampshire.

Jane Austen's comment, "I do not know that I ever did such a thing in my life before" is just such a reminder of how secluded, but sweet their lives were. Also, this seems an insight into her personality, that she took the walk. She did not stay home because she likely did not have anyone to walk with. Good for her!

I hope you enjoyed your day today!
Terrie