21 JUNE 1913, Page 15

MISS AUSTEN'S LITTLE IRONIES . . [To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR. "]

SIR,—I read with much interest the article "Miss Austen's Village and Ours" in your issue of February 15th. May I venture to ask if your contributor, or the writer of the letter commenting on the article in a later issue, will elucidate a sentence in the opening chapter of " Northanger Abbey ": " Her father was a clergyman . . . and a very respectable man, though his name was Richard (?) . . . and he was not in the least addicted to locking up his daughters" ! Had Miss Austen any particular personage in mind when she wrote