Correspondence

470.  EBB to Julia Martin

As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 3, 64–68.

Sidmouth

Decr 14th 1832.

My dearest Mrs Martin,

I hope you are very angry indeed with us for not writing. We are as penitent as we ought to be: that is, I am,—for I believe I am the idle person,—yet not altogether idle, but procrastinating & waiting for news rather more worthy of being read in Rome than any which even now I can send you. Is it not true, dear Mrs Martin, that you dont think quite as much of us as I know you used to do at Colwall? If you dont, I shall sit patiently & could not upbraid you for the world. Rome must be a kind of stone Lethe, calculated to make you forget everything except itself; and yet I am very certain that the Coliseum cannot shut us out always & that we walk in sometimes, shoes & all, to profane the sacred ground. You will accuse me of walking in with wooden shoes, if I begin to tell you, as I assure you I shall do, all that we are doing & being done to, at Sidmouth. I like it not only quite as well but much better than I did; as Mr Boyd arrived here three days ago, & is going to settle himself close to us. Neither Bathhampton nor Bath agreed with him & altho’ his house in the former place is on his hands for six months, he has left it behind, & seems to be quite satisfied with the Sidmouth air & the sound of the sea, & Mr Russel’s rolls. [1] Mrs Boyd is not satisfied in the same degree, but I have no compassion for her. You may suppose how astonished I was to hear of their arrival: not having an idea of its probability. It was a plan to astonish me: and I had received a letter the very same day from Bath which did not contain a word on the subject. We are all quite well. I am much better & stronger & scarcely ever do such a thing as cough,—and I am able to go out every day without the donkey. Our dear Papa, I am afraid is obliged to go to London on account of his West India supplies; and we are expecting every day & indeed hour, to hear of his leaving us. But it is my hope that he will not stay very long, for we shall miss him: he walks out with us, & goes with us to pay whatever visits we have to pay: and he is more to be missed out of the red armchair in our drawing room here, than when he used to spend almost all his hours with the cows & sheep. I think he is very well & in good spirits: and he & I like Mr Hunter’s preaching extremely, & he likes Mr Hunter, [2] —& Sidmouth besides. His only complaint is an odd one for a sea side place: he complains of not having fish enough. There is not certainly a superabundance of fish here: and now to make matters worse, what they call a dogfish has barked away all the herrings; “and left us alone with our dorys”: [3] not quite alone, but in rather a desolate condition. Speaking of our fish society puts me in mind of the humans. About eleven families have called upon us; but we are not intimate with anybody. They call upon us, & we call upon them; & then we bow when we meet them, or walk the other way when bowing is too much trouble. There are the Jenkins’s (Rector) [4] and the Lees & Massingberds [5] & Hobsons (relations of Mrs Cliffe) & Connels Gutares’s, & a Polish Count, Krasinski, [6] a very intelligent & interesting person; & I might mention other names. We know much more of the names than we do of the people. There is no one, I believe, whom I am particularly likely to like particularly: but as Mr Boyd is close by, & always ready to be talked to & read with, I have no reason for complaining. Henrietta has not been out much,—but she went to a ball of Mrs James’s, the other night & met ninety people, & was danced into a fever by a most animated German, & came home at a quarter to three in the morning. Arabel bathes regularly—and this is the fourteenth of December. Indeed we have had the most summery weather I ever felt in winter; but the climate of Sidmouth is bepraised by the residents as being equal to that of the South of France. The air is very soft & agreable,—but after all, our boating excursions seem to be at an end until the Spring—and we never managed to row to Dawlish, as I told you we should do. We set off one morning for Exmouth, & the tide would not let us pass the bar & put us all dreadfully out of humour. We hear often from Eliza Cliffe & Charlotte Peyton, [7] & have heard once from Miss Katharine Biddulph. They all complain of your being in Rome. Mr Davis of Cradley has taken to himself (by common report) three hundred thousand pounds in Miss Hart daughter of the Irish Sir Anthony, [8] —has set off with his bride to Brighton, & left Cradley to Mr Allen Cliffe [9] who takes possession at Christmas, for three months certain. Eliza Cliffe is busy with her painting, & is taking lessons from a painter in Worcester, who settled there because he had formed a Pylades & Orestes [10] kind of friendship with a music master & ne pouvoit plus se separer de lui. [11] I wonder if he gives lessons in friendship too!——

The elections are going on triumphantly, thirty to five on the whig side,—but that we should feel a little humanly, Mr Babbage is turned out, [12] & Mr Lubbock has withdrawn himself before Mr Manners Sutton militant. [13] Hobhouse’s triumph [14] has wiped away the reproach of ingratitude from Westminster. I am very glad of it, tho’ I have rather an affection for the republican radicals. Your good news from Tewskbury, [15] you will certainly hear without my telling you. Mr. Biddulph’s prospects in Hereford [16] have a far better aspect than we had hoped. Now I wish I could think of some more politicks; but to confess a melancholy truth, I have scarcely looked at a newspaper since we have been here. I am subject to fits of politics, & to states of reaction. When Parliament meets, & if I live to write another letter to you, I will try to bring on a fit on purpose for you, which is certainly much more than others among your most disinterested & devoted friends would promise. The business in Holland is going on, whether well or ill appears doubtful: tho’ the popularity of the present ministry is dependant upon its results. [17] Daisy picked up a bullet on the sand the other day, which he & Sette & Occyta decided in full council, upon having come hot from Antwerp. This, as Sette says on other occasions, is “going too far”. They play with the young Gutares[’]s, & O’Briens, [18] & seem to be very happy. And now my dear Mrs Martin, I mean to thank you as I ought to have done long ago for your kindness in offering to procure for me the Archbishop of Dublin’s valuable opinion upon my Prometheus. I am sure that if you have not thought me very ungrateful, you must be very indulgent. My mind was at one time so crowded by painful thoughts, that they shut out many others which are interesting to me; and among other things, I forgot once or twice, when I had an opportunity, to thank you dear Mrs Martin. I believe I should have taken advantage of your proposal: but Papa said to me—“If he criticises your manuscript in a manner which does not satisfy you, you wont be easy without defending yourself,—and he might be drawn in to taking more trouble than you have now any idea of giving him.” I sighed a little at losing such an opportunity of gaining a great advantage but there seemed to be some reason in what Papa said. I have completed a preface & notes to my translation,—& since doing so, a work of exactly the same character by a Mr Medwin has been published, & commended in Bulwer’s magazine. [19] Therefore it is pro[ba]ble enough that my trouble, excepting as far as my own amusement went, has been in vain. But Papa means to try Mr Valpy, I believe. He left us since I began to write this letter, with a promise of returning before Christmas Day. We do miss him!—— Mr Boyd has made me quite angry by publishing his translations by Rotation in numbers of the Wesleyan Magazine, instead of making them up into a separate publication as I had persuaded him to do. There is the effect, you see, of going even for a time, out of my reach!– The readers of the Wesleyan Magazine are pious people but not cultivated nor for the most part, capable of estimating either the talents of Gregory or his translator’s. I have begun already, to insist upon another publication in a separate form, & shall gain my point I dare say. I have been reading Bulwer’s novels & Mrs Trollope’s libels, & Dr Parr’s works. I am sure you are not an admirer of Mrs Trollope’s!! [20] She has neither the delicacy nor the candour which constitute true nobility of mind: and her extent of talent forms but a scanty veil to shadow her other defects. Bulwer has quite delighted me: he has all the dramatic talent which Scott has: & all the passion which Scott has not—and he appears to me to be besides a far profounder discriminator of character. There are very fine things in his Denounced. [21] We subscribe to the best library here: but the best is not a good one. I have however a table load of my own books, & with them I can always be satisfied. Do you know that Mr Curzon has left Ledbury? We were glad to receive your letter from Dover, altho’ it told us that you were removing so far from us. Do let us hear of your enjoying Italy. Is there much English society in Rome, & is it like English society here? I can scarcely fancy an invitation card, Mrs Huggin-muggin at home; carried thro’ the Via Sacra. I am sure my “little hand” has done its duty to-day: altho’ my want of news has not enabled me to write a letter worthy of going so much farther than even Daisy’s bullet. I shall leave the corners to Henrietta. Give our kindest regards to Mr Martin,—& ever believe me, my dear Mrs Martin

Yours affectly

Ba

Do write as soon & particularly as you can—& say how you are.

We have good accounts of our dear Bummy, who seems to be amusing herself very well, in the north[.]

What has Ba’s little hand left my big one to say? Not much I think-but if you were near me my dearest Mrs Martin I should have plenty to say to you. I sometimes like to shut my eyes & fancy that we are at the same happy distance from each other that we used to be-but we shall not pass all our lives so far separated. I have presentiments sometimes that we shall some time or other be as happy as we used to be. We should be very discontent were we not content with Sidmouth, for indeed it is doing Ba a great deal of good, & that you know was what we wanted more than anything. I know she has told you all about Mr Boyd, if that does not cure her, I dont know what will- There is nobody here that I like very much, or that I am inclined to like very much. The boys are all still at home. You have not got your wish yet about them- Uncle Sam wrote very urgently by the last packet to Bro to beg him to go out to him. Bro himself was anxious to go, but Papa did not think it a desirable plan for him-I trust they may find something to do before long. Charlotte is still with Bummy. I am afraid her health does not improve much. Jane I suppose is by this time somewhere in the South of France they went from home last week in a great hurry, Uncle Hedley has had something the matter with his throat, he was recommended to go immediately to Torbay or France the latter I suppose they have chosen, as we have not heard from them-the Biddulphs are in London now. They said a few weeks ago that Louisa was quite well but looking rather melancholy- Tell Mr Martin we hope he keeps a Journal don’t you remember how he amused us one night at Old Colwall with his last. It was so kind of you to write from Dover- Dont let Rome make you forget us.

Your ever affectionate,

Henrietta.

I do not think we shall stay at Sidmouth after April, our house is up on the 2d of that month. I am only afraid that now Mr Boyd is here Ba may not like going away. Perhaps you may like to know that poor Mrs Barker is settled & I hope comfortably at Mathews’- We had a very <nice> letter from her the other day. God bless you.

Address, on integral page: Mrs James Martin / Posta restante / à Roma / Italy.

Publication: LEBB, I, 16–17 (in part).

Manuscript: Wellesley College.

1. William Russell, baker, of Church Street.

2. For details of EBB’s friendship with Hunter, see pp. 315–316.

3. A dory was a flat-bottomed fishing-boat (OED).

4. William Jenkins (ca. 1784–1856) was Vicar of St. Nicholas’ Church. His brother Thomas was Lord of the Manor of Sidmouth.

5. The following letter identifies the Massingberds as the family of the Rev. Charles B. Massingberd, Rector of Kettlethorpe, Lincolnshire, since 1806. Edward Lee was one of the Sidmouth magistrates; EBB presumably refers to his family.

6. Count Walerian Skorobohaty Krasinski (1795–1855), Polish historian, who had been sent to London in 1830 on a mission for the revolutionary government of Poland. He made his home in England after being sentenced to permanent exile from Poland. The Hobsons were the family of the Rev. James Hobson, of Merino Cottage. The Connels have not been identified. “Gutares’s” refers to the family of Moses Guteres, of Belle Vue, Mill Lane.

7. Charlotte Lea Peyton (1813–42), the eldest of the nine Peyton children.

8. Sir Anthony Hart, former Lord High Chancellor of Ireland, died in December 1831, leaving an only daughter as his heiress.

9. Eliza’s brother, the Rev. Robert Allen Cliffe (1806–97), Curate of Coddington.

10. The friends in Homeric legend whose names have become as proverbial as David and Jonathan for closeness.

11. “And can never again part from him.”

12. Charles Babbage, the inventor, was one of five candidates standing for two seats in the Finsbury constituency. He came third in the polling.

13. Charles Manners-Sutton, later Viscount Canterbury (1780–1845), was the Speaker of the House of Commons from 1817 to 1835. In the 1832 election he was returned unopposed for the University of Cambridge.

14. John Cam Hobhouse, later Baron Broughton (1786–1869), was a staunch supporter of reform. He was returned for the constituency of Westminster.

15. James Martin’s nephew, John Martin, was one of two candidates returned for Tewkesbury, following his father, John Martin, Sr., who had held the seat from 1812 to 1832.

16. Robert Biddulph (1801–64) was the eldest son of John Biddulph of Ledbury. He was one of the two members returned for the City of Hereford.

17. In November 1832 the French took Antwerp, to force Holland to recognize the independence of Belgium.

18. The children of Donatus O’Brien, of Somerden Cottage.

19. Thomas Medwin (1788–1869), who had published a translation of both Agamemnon and Prometheus. The New Monthly Magazine, 1 November 1832, pp. 479–480, said “Mr. Medwin has made his translation tolerably close, and has thrown considerable spirit into his version.” Bulwer-Lytton had assumed the editorship of the magazine in 1831.

20. After visiting America, Frances Trollope (1779–1863) had written her book Domestic Manners of the Americans (1832), which gave offence to many.

21. EBB must mean The Disowned (1828).

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