Correspondence

719.  EBB to Hugh Stuart Boyd

As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 4, 211–213.

1 Beacon Terrace Torquay

Wednesday. Novr 27– 1839

If you can forgive me my ever dear friend for a silence which has not been intended, there will be another reason for being thankful to you, in addition to the many. To do myself justice, one of my earliest impulses on seeing my beloved Arabel & recurring to the kindness with which you desired that happiness for me long before I possessed it, was to write and tell you how happy I felt. But she had promised, she said, to write herself—& moreover she & only she was to send you the ballad—in expectation of your dread judgment upon which, I delayed my own writing. It came in the first letter we received in our new house, on the first of last October. An hour after reading it, I was upon my bed,—was attacked by fever in the night, & from that bed, have never even been lifted since .. to these last days of November .. except for one hour a day to the sofa at two yards distance. I am very much better now, & have been so for some time,—but my physician is so persuaded, he says, that it is easier to do me harm than good, that he will neither permit any present attempt at further exertion, nor hint at the time when it may be advisable for him to permit it. Under these circumstances, it has of course been more difficult than usual for me to write. Pray believe my dear & kind friend in the face of all circumstances & appearances that I never forget you, nor am reluctant (oh—how could that be?) to write to you,—& that you shall often have to pay “a penny for my thoughts” [1] under the new Postage Act [2] ––if it be in God’s wisdom & mercy to spare me through the winter. Under the new act, I shall not mind writing ten words & then stopping. As it is, they wd scarcely be worth eleven pennies.

Thank you again & again for your praise of the ballad,—which both delighted, & surprised me .. as I had scarcely hoped that you might like it at all. Think of Mr Tilt’s never sending me a proof sheet. The consequences are rather deplorable, & if they had occurred to you might have suggested a deep melancholy for life. In my case, I, who am, you know, hardened to sins of carelessness, .. simply look aghast, at the misprints & mis-punctuations coming in as a flood, & sweeping away meanings & melodies together– The Annual itself is more splendid than usual—and its vignettes have illustrated my story, angels devils & all, most beautifully. Miss Mitford’s tales (in prose) have suffered besides by reason of Mr Tilt—but are attractive & graphic notwithstanding—and Mr Horne has supplied a dramatic poem of great power & beauty.

How I rejoice with you in the glorious revelation (about to be) of Gregorys’ 2d volume– The ‘De virginitate[’] poem will, in its new purple & fine linen, be more dazzling than ever. [3]

Do you know that George is barrister at law of the Inner Temple—is [4] !? I have seen him gazetted.

My dearest Papa is with me now, making me very happy of course. I have much reason to be happy—more to be grateful—yet am more obedient to the former than to the latter impulse. May the Giver of good, give gratitude with as full a hand! May He bless you!—& bring us together again, if no more in the flesh yet in the spirit!——

Your ever affectionate friend

E B Barrett.

Do write—when you are able & least disinclined.

Do you approve of Prince Albert or not?– [5]

Address, on integral page: H S Boyd Esqr / 3 Circus Road / St John’s Wood / London. Redirected: 11 Mile Walk / Hampstead.

Publication: LEBB, I, 77–79.

Manuscript: Wellesley College.

1. John Heywood (1497?–1580?) included this phrase in his Proverbs (1546).

2. The Postal Duties Act of 17 August 1839 instituted reform of the postal system. As a temporary measure, postage in the London district was to be reduced to one penny, and general inland postage to fourpence, with effect from 5 December 1839, to be followed by the introduction of a uniform, prepaid, penny rate throughout the kingdom on 10 January 1840. Franking was abolished. For some details of postal charges prior to this Act, see vol. 1, p. xxxvii, note 6.

3. Apparently nothing came of this project; the British Library catalogue lists nothing by Boyd later than 1835.

4. Underscored three times.

5. Prince Albert and his brother, Prince Ernest, had returned home on 14 November, after a five-week visit to England. The following day, the Queen informed members of the Royal Family privately of her engagement to Albert, followed by her official declaration to the Privy Council on 23 November.

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