Austen Said:

Patterns of Diction in Jane Austen's Major Novels

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the limited remnant of the earliest patents;
the blessing of beauty as inferior only to the blessing of a baronetcy;
remaining single for his dear daughters' sake.
His two other children were of very inferior value. Mary had acquired a little artificial importance, by becoming Mrs Charles Musgrove;
Anne,
was nobody
ever reading her name in any other page of his favourite work.
All equality of alliance must rest with Elizabeth, for Mary had merely connected herself with an old country family of respectability and large fortune, and had therefore given all the honour and received none: Elizabeth would, one day or other, marry suitably.
himself and Elizabeth as blooming as ever, amidst the wreck of the good looks of everybody else;
how old all the rest of his family and acquaintance were growing. Anne haggard, Mary coarse, every face in the neighbourhood worsting,
the modest drawing-back of youth;
he ought to have been consulted, especially after taking the young man so publicly by the hand;
"For they must have been seen together,"
"once at Tattersall's, and twice in the lobby of the House of Commons."
It had not been possible for him to spend less; he had done nothing but what Sir Walter Elliot was imperiously called on to do;
"Can we retrench? Does it occur to you that there is any one article in which we can retrench?"
No; he would never disgrace his name so far. The Kellynch estate should be transmitted whole and entire, as he had received it.
could not be put up with, were not to be borne.
"What! every comfort of life knocked off! Journeys, London, servants, horses, table--contractions and restrictions every where! To live no longer with the decencies even of a private gentleman! No, he would sooner quit Kellynch Hall at once, than remain in it on such disgraceful terms."
spurned the idea of its being offered in any manner; forbad the slightest hint being dropped of his having such an intention; and it was only on the supposition of his being spontaneously solicited by some most unexceptionable applicant, on his own terms, and as a great favour, that he would let it at all.
"He would be a very lucky man, Shepherd,"
"that's all I have to remark. A prize indeed would Kellynch Hall be to him; rather the greatest prize of all, let him have taken ever so many before; hey, Shepherd?"
"There are few among the gentlemen of the navy, I imagine, who would not be surprised to find themselves in a house of this description."
"As to all that,"
"supposing I were induced to let my house, I have by no means made up my mind as to the privileges to be annexed to it. I am not particularly disposed to favour a tenant. The park would be open to him of course, and few navy officers, or men of any other description, can have had such a range; but what restrictions I might impose on the use of the pleasure-grounds, is another thing. I am not fond of the idea of my shrubberies being always approachable; and I should recommend Miss Elliot to be on her guard with respect to her flower garden. I am very little disposed to grant a tenant of Kellynch Hall any extraordinary favour, I assure you, be he sailor or soldier."
"The profession has its utility, but I should be sorry to see any friend of mine belonging to it."
"Yes; it is in two points offensive to me; I have two strong grounds of objection to it. First, as being the means of bringing persons of obscure birth into undue distinction, and raising men to honours which their fathers and grandfathers never dreamt of; and secondly, as it cuts up a man's youth and vigour most horribly; a sailor grows old sooner than any other man. I have observed it all my life. A man is in greater danger in the navy of being insulted by the rise of one whose father, his father might have disdained to speak to, and of becoming prematurely an object of disgust himself, than in any other line. One day last spring, in town, I was in company with two men, striking instances of what I am talking of; Lord St Ives, whose father we all know to have been a country curate, without bread to eat; I was to give place to Lord St Ives, and a certain Admiral Baldwin, the most deplorable-looking personage you can imagine; his face the colour of mahogany, rough and rugged to the last degree; all lines and wrinkles, nine grey hairs of a side, and nothing but a dab of powder at top. 'In the name of heaven, who is that old fellow?' said I to a friend of mine who was standing near, (Sir Basil Morley).
cried Sir Basil,
'Sixty,' said I, 'or perhaps sixty-two.'
replied Sir Basil,
Picture to yourselves my amazement; I shall not easily forget Admiral Baldwin. I never saw quite so wretched an example of what a sea-faring life can do; but to a degree, I know it is the same with them all: they are all knocked about, and exposed to every climate, and every weather, till they are not fit to be seen. It is a pity they are not knocked on the head at once, before they reach Admiral Baldwin's age."
"And who is Admiral Croft?"
"Then I take it for granted,"
"that his face is about as orange as the cuffs and capes of my livery."
"I have no conception whom you can mean, Shepherd; I remember no gentleman resident at Monkford since the time of old Governor Trent."
"Wentworth? Oh! ay -- Mr Wentworth, the curate of Monkford. You misled me by the term gentleman. I thought you were speaking of some man of property: Mr Wentworth was nobody, I remember; quite unconnected; nothing to do with the Strafford family. One wonders how the names of many of our nobility become so common."
a more unobjectionable tenant, in all essentials, than Admiral Croft bid fair to be, could hardly offer.
"I have let my house to Admiral Croft," would sound extremely well; very much better than to any mere Mr -- a Mr (save, perhaps, some half dozen in the nation,) always needs a note of explanation. An admiral speaks his own consequence, and, at the same time, can never make a baronet look small. In all their dealings and intercourse, Sir Walter Elliot must ever have the precedence.
a very degrading alliance;
the Admiral to be the best-looking sailor he had ever met with,
if his own man might have had the arranging of his hair, he should not be ashamed of being seen with him any where;
He had never had an idea of throwing himself off; he had feared that he was thrown off, but knew not why, and delicacy had kept him silent.
  • Novel: Persuasion
  • Character: Narrator as Sir Walter Elliott and Elizabeth Elliott as Mr. Elliot
  • Link to text in chapter 15
  • Text ID: 01579
He, who had ever boasted of being an Elliot, and whose feelings, as to connection, were only too strict to suit the unfeudal tone of the present day. He was astonished, indeed, but his character and general conduct must refute it. He could refer Sir Walter to all who knew him;
  • Novel: Persuasion
  • Character: Narrator as Sir Walter Elliott and Elizabeth Elliott as Mr. Elliot
  • Link to text in chapter 15
  • Text ID: 01582
(and not an ill-looking man,
A very fine woman with a large fortune, in love with him!
his very gentlemanlike appearance, his air of elegance and fashion, his good shaped face, his sensible eye; but, at the same time,
"must lament his being very much under-hung, a defect which time seemed to have increased; nor could he pretend to say that ten years had not altered almost every feature for the worse. Mr Elliot appeared to think that he (Sir Walter) was looking exactly as he had done when they last parted;"
but Sir Walter had
"not been able to return the compliment entirely, which had embarrassed him. He did not mean to complain, however. Mr Elliot was better to look at than most men, and he had no objection to being seen with him anywhere."
"a most charming woman, quite worthy of being known in Camden Place,"