1305. EBB to John Kenyon
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 7, 211–212.
[London]
June 30th 1843
Thank you my dear Mr Kenyon for the Camden society books, [1] & also for these which I return; & also for the hope of seeing you which I kept through yesterday. I honor Mrs Coleridge for the readiness of reasoning & integrity in reasoning, for the learning, energy & impartiality which she has brought to her purpose—and I agree with her in many of her objects; & disagree, by opposing her opponents with a fuller front than she is always inclined to do– In truth, I can never see anything in these sacramental ordinances except a prospective sign in one (Baptism) & a memorial sign in the other .. the Lord’s supper; & could not recognize either under any modification as a peculiar instrument of grace, mystery, or the like. The tendencies we have towards making mysteries of God’s symplicities, are as marked & sure as our missing the actual mystery upon occasion. God’s love is the true mystery—& the sacraments are only too simple for us to understand. So you see I have read the book in spite of prophecies. After all I shd like to cut it in two—it wd be better for being shorter—and it might be clearer also. There is in fact some dulness & perplexity .. a few passages which are, to my impression, contradictory of the general purpose—something which is not generous, about non-conformity—& what I cannot help considering a superfluous tenderness for Puseyism. Moreover she is certainly wrong in imagining that the ante-Nicene fathers did not as a body teach regeneration by baptism—even Gregory Nazianzen the most spiritual of many did, & in the fourth century.– But—after all, .. as a work of theological controversy it is very un-bitter, & well-poised, gentle & modest, .. & as the work of a woman, you must admire it, & we, be proud of it—that remains certain at last!– [2]
Poor Mr Haydon! I am so sorry for his reverses in the cartoons. It is a thunderbolt to him!– [3] I wonder, in the pauses of my regret, whether Mr Selous is your friend, … whether “Boadicea visiting the Druids,” suggested by you I think as a subject, is this victorious ‘Boadicea’ down for a hundred pound’s prize. [4] You will tell me when you come.
I have just heard an uncertain rumour of the arrival of your brother. If it is not all air, I congratulate you heartily upon a happiness only not past my appreciation.
Ever affectionately yours
EBB–
I send the copy of Orion for yourself, which you asked for. It is in the fourth edition.
Publication: LEBB, I, 145–146.
Manuscript: Wellesley College.
1. The Camden Society, named after the historian William Camden (1551–1623), was founded in 1838 for the purpose of publishing historical and state papers. Of its recent titles, those most likely to have been of interest to EBB were Three Early English Metrical Romances (1842) and Original Letters of Eminent Literary Men of the Sixteenth, Seventeenth, and Eighteenth Centuries (1843).
2. EBB refers to a long essay by Mrs. Coleridge, entitled “On Rationalism,” appearing as Appendix C (pp. 335–556) to the 5th edition (1843) of Coleridge’s Aids to Reflection, originally published in 1825.
3. Haydon’s disappointment was all the keener because the concept of decorating the new Houses of Parliament with historical scenes arose largely through his own initiative.
4. No. 78, “Boadicea Haranguing the Iceni,” by Henry Courtney Selous (1811–90), was one of five cartoons awarded £100.
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