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This seems to me exactly right.  One additional reason comes from my discussion with my former colleague who served in the merchant marine in the Pacific.  His captain had a complete set of Austen in his cabin and explained that the pleasure he took in them had to do with the orderliness and the insistence on rules of conduct that characterize Austen's depicted social world.
One other note: but for Walter Scott, Austen and Kipling, there are very few sustained and sympathetic portrayals of military men
in canonical British fiction.
 
Miriam Bailin
On Mon, Oct 12, 2009 at 5:09 AM, Alastair Wilson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Dear Lizzy,

            One reason is because Jane Austen had a personal knowledge of the Royal Navy – which is why her portraits of Naval officers, in particular in Persuasion and Mansfield Park, are very realistic.  (You probably know that she had two Naval officer brothers, one of whom rose to be an Admiral of the Fleet – that was Sir Francis Austen, GCB (1774-1865).)  She had less personal contact with the Army, but, writing as she did, in the middle of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, her acquaintance included regular and Militia officers.

            Above all else, she wrote of an England, and a home life, which reminded them, when they were in the East Indies, or campaigning in Portugal and Spain, of all the things they held dear, and in a manner so realistic yet relaxing, that one could forget that one was living in a draughty Spanish shepherd’s hut, with no fire, and little more than a candle-end for light.  And like Kipling’s  Janeites, all Jane’s characters were recognisable about them – if not in the breech of one of the battery’s guns, then a fussy Adjutant might be Miss Bates, and so on.  If you were reading while recovering from a wound, then no doubt you had a Lady Catherine de Burgh, and a Mr. Collins, among the hospital visitors.

            Yours,

            Alastair Wilson

----- Original Message -----
From: [log in to unmask]" href="mailto:[log in to unmask]" target="_blank">Bruno Bouric
To: [log in to unmask]" href="mailto:[log in to unmask]" target="_blank">[log in to unmask]
Sent: Monday, October 12, 2009 11:27 AM
Subject: Re: Jane Austen and Shell-Shock

I'm interested in why Jane Austen was a favourite among military men and merchant marine - any thoughts would be fascinating and most welcome.

Lizzy Welby


On 11 Oct 2009, at 15:40, Miriam Bailin wrote:

This is really fascinating!  I can't tell if it is a compliment to Austen or a suggestion that her novels are anodyne.  My question is: do you think it is possible to find Brett-Smith's whole list of novels and poetry with their assigned places on the Fever-Chart? That would be well worth having! 

As for the question at hand, I suspect that Kipling knew that Austen was a favorite among military men (as she was with officers in the American merchant marine according to a colleague of mine).

Miriam Bailin

On Sun, Oct 11, 2009 at 12:23 AM, George Simmers <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
In a letter to the Times Literary Supplement (3 February 1984), Fr Martin Jarrett-Kerr reported that during the First World War the Oxford don H.F. Brett-Smith was employed by military hospitals to advise on reading matter for the war wounded. 'His job was to grade novels and poetry according to the "Fever-Chart". For the severely shell-shocked he selected Jane Austen'.

Considering the effectiveness of Jane Austen in palliating Humberstall's psychological damage in 'The Janeites', I'm wondering whether Kipling might have known of Brett-Smith's advisory work. Any ideas?

George Simmers
--
George Simmers's research blog is at
http://greatwarfiction.wordpress.com

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