Absentee , livre ebook

Pub One Info - Maria Edgeworth

Découvre YouScribe en t'inscrivant gratuitement

Je m'inscris

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

175 pages

English

Vous pourrez modifier la taille du texte de cet ouvrage

Obtenez un accès à la bibliothèque pour le consulter en ligne
En savoir plus

A propos
Informations
Extrait

Description

pubOne.info present you this new edition. In August 1811, we are told, she wrote a little play about landlords and tenants for the children of her sister, Mrs. Beddoes. Mr. Edgeworth tried to get the play produced on the London boards. Writing to her aunt, Mrs. Ruxton, Maria says, 'Sheridan has answered as I foresaw he must, that in the present state of this country the Lord Chamberlain would not license THE ABSENTEE; besides there would be a difficulty in finding actors for so many Irish characters. ' The little drama was then turned into a story, by Mr. Edgeworth's advice. Patronage was laid aside for the moment, and THE ABSENTEE appeared in its place in the second part of TALES OF FASHIONABLE LIFE. We all know Lord Macaulay's verdict upon this favourite story of his, the last scene of which he specially admired and compared to the ODYSSEY. [Lord Macaulay was not the only notable admirer of THE ABSENTEE. The present writer remembers hearing Professor Ruskin on one occasion break out in praise and admiration of the book. 'You can learn more by reading it of Irish politics, ' he said, 'than from a thousand columns out of blue-books

Informations

Publié par	Pub One Info
Date de parution	06 novembre 2010
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9782819932543
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0100€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

THE ABSENTEE
by Maria Edgeworth
NOTES ON 'THE ABSENTEE'
In August 1811, we are told, she wrote a little playabout landlords and tenants for the children of her sister, Mrs.Beddoes. Mr. Edgeworth tried to get the play produced on the Londonboards. Writing to her aunt, Mrs. Ruxton, Maria says, 'Sheridan hasanswered as I foresaw he must, that in the present state of thiscountry the Lord Chamberlain would not license THE ABSENTEE;besides there would be a difficulty in finding actors for so manyIrish characters. ' The little drama was then turned into a story,by Mr. Edgeworth's advice. Patronage was laid aside for the moment,and THE ABSENTEE appeared in its place in the second part of TALESOF FASHIONABLE LIFE. We all know Lord Macaulay's verdict upon thisfavourite story of his, the last scene of which he speciallyadmired and compared to the ODYSSEY. [Lord Macaulay was notthe only notable admirer of THE ABSENTEE. The present writerremembers hearing Professor Ruskin on one occasion break out inpraise and admiration of the book. 'You can learn more by readingit of Irish politics, ' he said, 'than from a thousand columns outof blue-books. '] Mrs. Edgeworth tells us that much of itwas written while Maria was suffering a misery of toothache.
Miss Edgeworth's own letters all about this time aremuch more concerned with sociabilities than with literature. Weread of a pleasant dance at Mrs. Burke's; of philosophers at sportin Connemara; of cribbage, and company, and country houses, andLord Longford's merry anecdotes during her visit to him. MissEdgeworth, who scarcely mentions her own works, seems muchinterested at this time in a book called MARY AND HER CAT, whichshe is reading with some of the children.
Little scraps of news (I cannot resist quoting oneor two of them) come in oddly mixed with these personal records ofwork and family talk. 'There is news of the Empress (Marie Louise),who is liked not at all by the Parisians; she is too haughty, andsits back in her carriage when she goes through the streets. 'OfJosephine, who is living very happily, amusing herself with hergardens and her shrubberies. ' This ci-devant Empress and Kennedyand Co. , the seedsmen, are in partnership, says Miss Edgeworth.And then among the lists of all the grand people Maria meets inLondon in 1813 (Madame de Stael is mentioned as expected), shegives an interesting account of an actual visitor, Peggy Langan,who was grand-daughter to Thady in CASTLE RACKRENT. Peggy went toEngland with Mrs. Beddoes, and was for thirty years in the serviceof Mrs. Haldimand we are told, and was own sister to SimpleSusan.
The story of THE ABSENTEE is a very simple one, andconcerns Irish landlords living in England, who ignore theirnatural duties and station in life, and whose chief ambition is totake their place in the English fashionable world. The grandEnglish ladies are talking of Lady Clonbrony.
'“If you knew all she endures to look, speak, move,breathe like an Englishwoman, you would pity her, ”' said LadyLangdale.
'“Yes, and you CAWNT conceive the PEENS she TEEKESto talk of the TEEBLES and CHEERS, and to thank Q, and, with somuch TEESTE, to speak pure English, ”' said Mrs. Dareville.
'“Pure cockney, you mean, ” said Lady Langdale.'
Lord Colambre, the son of the lady in question, herewalks across the room, not wishing to listen to any more stricturesupon his mother. He is the very most charming of walking gentlemen,and when stung by conscience he goes off to Ireland, disguised in abig cloak, to visit his father's tenantry and to judge for himselfof the state of affairs, all our sympathies go with him. On his wayhe stops at Tusculum, scarcely less well known than its classicalnamesake. He is entertained by Mrs. Raffarty, that esthetical ladywho is determined to have a little 'taste' of everything atTusculum. She leads the way into a little conservatory, and alittle pinery, and a little grapery, and a little aviary, and alittle pheasantry, and a little dairy for show, and a littlecottage for ditto, with a grotto full of shells, and a littlehermitage full of earwigs, and a little ruin full of looking-glass,to enlarge and multiply the effect of the Gothic. . . . But youcould only put your head in, because it was just fresh painted, andthough there had been a fire ordered in the ruin all night, it hadonly smoked.
'As they proceeded and walked through the grounds,from which Mrs. Raffarty, though she had done her best, could nottake that which nature had given, she pointed out to my lord “ahappy moving termination, ” consisting of a Chinese bridge, with afisherman leaning over the rails. On a sudden, the fisherman wasseen to tumble over the bridge into the water. The gentlemen ran toextricate the poor fellow, while they heard Mrs. Raffarty bawlingto his lordship to beg he would never mind, and not troublehimself.
'When they arrived at the bridge, they saw the manhanging from part of the bridge, and apparently struggling in thewater; but when they attempted to pull him up, they found it wasonly a stuffed figure which had been pulled into the stream by areal fish, which had seized hold of the bait. '
The dinner-party is too long to quote, but it iswritten in Miss Edgeworth's most racy and delightful vein offun.
One more little fact should not be omitted in anymention of THE ABSENTEE. One of the heroines is Miss Broadhurst,the heiress. The Edgeworth family were much interested, soon afterthe book appeared, to hear that a real living Miss Broadhurst, anheiress, had appeared upon the scenes, and was, moreover, engagedto be married to Sneyd Edgeworth, one of the eldest sons of thefamily. In the story, says Mrs. Edgeworth, Miss Broadhurst selectsfrom her lovers one who 'unites worth and wit, ' and then she goeson to quote an old epigram of Mr. Edgeworth's on himself, whichconcluded with, 'There's an Edge to his wit and there's worth inhis heart. '
Mr. Edgeworth, who was as usual busy building churchspires for himself and other people, abandoned his engineering fora time to criticise his daughter's story, and he advised that theconclusion of THE ABSENTEE should be a letter from Larry thepostilion. 'He wrote one, she wrote another, ' says Mrs. Edgeworth.'He much preferred hers, which is the admirable finale of THEABSENTEE. ' And just about this time Lord Ross is applied to, tofrank the Edgeworth manuscripts.
'I cannot by any form of words express how delightedI am that you are none of you angry with me, ' writes modest Mariato her cousin, Miss Ruxton, 'and that my uncle and aunt are pleasedwith what they have read of THE ABSENTEE. I long to hear whethertheir favour continues to the end, and extends to the catastrophe,that dangerous rock upon which poor authors are wrecked. '
THE ABSENTEE
CHAPTER I
'Are you to be at Lady Clonbrony's gala next week? 'said Lady Langdale to Mrs. Dareville, whilst they were waiting fortheir carriages in the crush-room of the opera house.
'Oh yes! everybody's to be there, I hear, ' repliedMrs. Dareville. 'Your ladyship, of course? '
'Why, I don't know— if I possibly can. LadyClonbrony makes it such a point with me, that I believe I must lookin upon her for a few minutes. They are going to a prodigiousexpense on this occasion. Soho tells me the reception rooms are allto be new furnished, and in the most magnificent style. '
'At what a famous rate those Clonbronies are dashingon, ' said Colonel Heathcock. 'Up to anything. '
'Who are they? — these Clonbronies, that one hearsof so much of late' said her Grace of Torcaster. 'Irish absentees Iknow. But how do they support all this enormous expense? '
'The son WILL have a prodigiously fine estate whensome Mr. Quin dies, ' said Mrs. Dareville.
'Yes, everybody who comes from Ireland WILL have afine estate when somebody dies, ' said her grace. 'But what havethey at present? '
'Twenty thousand a year, they say, ' replied Mrs.Dareville.
'Ten thousand, I believe, ' cried Lady Langdale.'Make it a rule, you know, to believe only half the world says.'
'Ten thousand, have they? — possibly, ' said hergrace. 'I know nothing about them— have no acquaintance among theIrish. Torcaster knows something of Lady Clonbrony; she hasfastened herself, by some means, upon him: but I charge him not toCOMMIT me. Positively, I could not for anybody— and much less forthat sort of person— extend the circle of my acquaintance. '
'Now that is so cruel of your grace, ' said Mrs.Dareville, laughing, 'when poor Lady Clonbrony works so hard, andpays so high, to get into certain circles. '
'If you knew all she endures, to look, speak, move,breathe like an Englishwoman, you would pity her, ' said LadyLangdale.
'Yes, and you CAWNT conceive the PEENS she TEEKES totalk of the TEEBLES and CHEERS, and to thank Q, and, with so muchTEESTE, to speak pure English, ' said Mrs. Dareville.
'Pure cockney, you mean, ' said Lady Langdale.
'But why does Lady Clonbrony want to pass forEnglish? ' said the duchess.
'Oh! because she is not quite Irish. BRED AND BORN—only bred, not born, ' said Mrs. Dareville. 'And she could not befive minutes in your grace's company before she would tell you,that she was HENGLISH, born in HOXFORDSHIRE. '
'She must be a vastly amusing personage. I shouldlike to meet her, if one could see and hear her incog. , ' said theduchess. 'And Lord Clonbrony, what is he? '
'Nothing, nobody, ' said Mrs. Dareville; 'one nevereven hears of him. '
'A tribe of daughters, too, I suppose? '
'No, no, ' said Lady Langdale, 'daughters would bepast all endurance. '
'There's a cousin, though, a Grace Nugent, ' saidMrs. Dareville, 'that Lady Clonbrony has with her. '
'Best part of her, too, ' said Colonel Heathcock;'d-d fine girl! — never saw her look better than at the operato-night! '
'Fine COMPLEXION! as Lady Clonbrony says, when shemeans a high colour, ' said Lady Langdale.
'Grace Nugent is not a lady's beauty, ' said Mrs.Dareville. 'Has she any fortune, colonel? '
''Pon h