Mansfield Park
by Jane Austen

First Paragraph

About thirty years ago Miss Maria Ward, of Huntingdon, with only seven thousand pounds, had the good luck to captivate Sir Thomas Bertram, of Mansfield Park, in the county of Northampton, and to be thereby raised to the rank of a baronet's lady, with all the comforts and consequences of an handsome house and large income. All Huntingdon exclaimed on the greatness of the match, and her uncle, the lawyer, himself, allowed her to be at least three thousand pounds short of any equitable claim to it. She had two sisters to be benefited by her elevation; and such of their acquaintance as thought Miss Ward and Miss Frances quite as handsome as Miss Maria, did not scruple to predict their marrying with almost equal advantage. But there certainly are not so many men of large fortune in the world as there are pretty women to deserve them. Miss Ward, at the end of half a dozen years, found herself obliged to be attached to the Rev. Mr. Norris, a friend of her brother-in-law, with scarcely any private fortune, and Miss Frances fared yet worse. Miss Ward's match, indeed, when it came to the point, was not contemptible: Sir Thomas being happily able to give his friend an income in the living of Mansfield; and Mr. and Mrs. Norris began their career of conjugal felicity with very little less than a thousand a year. But Miss Frances married, in the common phrase, to disoblige her family, and by fixing on a lieutenant of marines, without education, fortune, or connections, did it very thoroughly. She could hardly have made a more untoward choice. Sir Thomas Bertram had interest, which, from principle as well as pride-from a general wish of doing right, and a desire of seeing all that were connected with him in situations of respectability, he would have been glad to exert for the advantage of Lady Bertram's sister; but her husband's profession was such as no interest could reach; and before he had time to devise any other method of assisting them, an absolute breach between the sisters had taken place. It was the natural result of the conduct of each party, and such as a very imprudent marriage almost always produces. To save herself from useless remonstrance, Mrs. Price never wrote to her family on the subject till actually married. Lady Bertram, who was a woman of very tranquil feelings, and a temper remarkably easy and indolent, would have contented herself with merely giving up her sister, and thinking no more of the matter; but Mrs. Norris had a spirit of activity, which could not be satisfied till she had written a long and angry letter to Fanny, to point out the folly of her conduct, and threaten her with all its possible ill consequences. Mrs. Price, in her turn, was injured and angry; and an answer, which comprehended each sister in its bitterness, and bestowed such very disrespectful reflections on the pride of Sir Thomas as Mrs. Norris could not possibly keep to herself, put an end to all intercourse between them for a considerable period.

Jane Austen at Amazon

First Paragraphs of Books (Index)

Memorable Quotations:
German Writers of the Past (Kindle Book)

Memorable Quotations:
Great American Writers (Kindle Book)

Memorable Quotations:
Historians of the Past (Kindle Book)

Memorable Quotations:
Journalists of the Past (Kindle Book)

Memorable Quotations:
Novelists of the Past (Kindle Book)

Memorable Quotations:
Playwrights of the Past (Kindle Book)

Memorable Quotations:
Poets of the Past (Kindle Book)

Memorable Quotations:
Polish Writers of the Past (Kindle Book)

Memorable Quotations:
Screenwriters (Kindle Book)

Memorable Quotations:
Short Story Writers of the Past (Kindle Book)

Memorable Quotations:
Victorian Writers (Kindle Book)

Memorable Quotations:
Women Novelists of the Past (Kindle Book)

MemorableQuotations.com

Memorable Quotations: African-American Writers

Memorable Quotations:
American Women Writers (A)

Memorable Quotations:
American Women Writers (B)

Memorable Quotations:
American Women Writers (C)

Memorable Quotations:
American Women Writers (D - E)

Memorable Quotations:
American Women Writers (F - G)

Memorable Quotations:
American Women Writers (H - I)

Memorable Quotations:
American Women Writers (J - K)

Memorable Quotations:
American Women Writers (L - M)

Memorable Quotations:
American Women Writers (N - O)

Memorable Quotations:
American Women Writers (P - Q)

Memorable Quotations:
American Women Writers (R - S)

Memorable Quotations:
American Women Writers (T - V)

Memorable Quotations:
American Women Writers (W - Z)

Memorable Quotations: Australian Writers

Memorable Quotations: Austrian Writers

Memorable Quotations: British Women Writers

Memorable Quotations: Canadian Writers

Memorable Quotations: Danish Writers

Memorable Quotations: Diarists

Memorable Quotations: Edwardian Writers

Memorable Quotations: Elizabethan Writers

Memorable Quotations:
English Writers (A - B)

Memorable Quotations:
English Writers (C - F)

Memorable Quotations:
English Writers (G - K)

Memorable Quotations:
English Writers (L - O)

Memorable Quotations:
English Writers (P - Z)

Memorable Quotations: French Writers (A - L)

Memorable Quotations: French Writers (M - Z)

Memorable Quotations: German Writers

Memorable Quotations: Irish Writers (A - L)

Memorable Quotations: Irish Writers (M - Z)

Memorable Quotations: Italian Writers

Memorable Quotations: Jewish Women Writers

Memorable Quotations: Jewish Writers

Memorable Quotations: Latin American Writers

Memorable Quotations: Letter Writers

Memorable Quotations: Massachusetts Writers

Memorable Quotations: Norwegian Writers

Memorable Quotations: Polish Writers

Memorable Quotations: Russian Writers

Memorable Quotations: Science Fiction Writers

Memorable Quotations: Scottish Writers

Memorable Quotations: Screenwriters

Memorable Quotations: Short Story Writers (A - L)

Memorable Quotations: Short Story Writers (M - Z)

Memorable Quotations: Spanish Writers

Memorable Quotations: Speechwriters

Memorable Quotations: Swedish Writers

Memorable Quotations: Victorian Writers

Memorable Quotations: Women Writers

Memorable Quotations: American Women Writers

Memorable Quotations: British Women Writers

Memorable Quotations: Jewish Women Writers

Memorable Quotations: Women Short Story Writers

VietnamWar.net

IntelligentsiaNetwork.com

MemorableQuotations.com
http://www.memorablequotations.com