The opinions of another gentleman about 'Emma' were so bad that they
could not be reported to the author.
'Quot homines, tot sententiae.'
Thirty-five years after her death there came also a voice of praise from
across the Atlantic. In 1852 the following letter was received by her
brother Sir Francis Austen:--
'Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
6th Jan. 1852.
'Since high critical authority has pronounced the delineations of
character in the works of Jane Austen second only to those of
Shakspeare, transatlantic admiration appears superfluous; yet it may
not be uninteresting to her family to receive an assurance that the
influence of her genius is extensively recognised in the American
Republic, even by the highest judicial authorities. The late Mr.
Chief Justice Marshall, of the supreme Court of the United States, and
his associate Mr. Justice Story, highly estimated and admired Miss
Austen, and to them we owe our introduction to her society. For many
years her talents have brightened our daily path, and her name and
those of her characters are familiar to us as "household words.
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