746. EBB to Mary Russell Mitford
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 4, 258–261.
[Torquay]
Saturday. March 21. 1840
My beloved friend,
I waited to see if Howel’s letters wd come to me as I expected. [1] They have not—but in the case of your not having access to them, they shall. Let me know by a word. Wd this do for a motto
“I find you all record and prophecie”
Donne. [2]
or Ford’s
Thoughts fly away– Time hath passed them;
Wake now, awake! See and taste them [3]
or perhaps better than the rest Ben Jonson’s
“It hath been your ill fortune to be taken out of the nest young.”
Masque of Augurs [4]
The hint at the augury does’nt seem much amiss—but you may think of more pregnant sentences, mine being quite dismissible “at your pleasure, Lady”. [5] Pray do tell me the whole story long about the letters [6] ––I mean, how they succeed in London, & when they are to appear. And yet—dont! You must have so much to do. Only in writing the yea or nay about Howel, you might let fall one upon this subject also. I think very very much about you!–
Thank you for your wonderful tales of blunderful people—people without knowledge & feeling, or tact, to fill the place of either. The penny post [7] must let in a flood upon you, over & above your & Noah’s old one. Dearest, dearest Miss Mitford—there is the effect, you see, of wearing your heart upon your sleeve & walking through the village with it!– Daws will be daws! [8]
The only apparent way of deliverance for you is to set up a scarecrow—to set about writing something savage directly (the letters wont do), grinning horrible a ghastly smile [9] in the notes. Not that you cd do it by yourself—but you have friends who cd help you. I for instance cd tomahawk plenty of commonplaces for you, from … There! that will do!——
But now—(oh these obstinate people!—but we call ourselves firm!) be sure dearest dearest Miss Mitford that you dont convince me even against my will. I cant be convinced. I wont be convinced. I am in/con/vincible. [10] Your tales are very amusing tales, but have nothing to do with my geniuses. My genii dont wear velvet pelisses. Indeed they are generally in wings. My genii may be very idle people, & are in fact by no means as steady & regular & rational as Mrs Hoffland wd approve of [11] —but the besetting sin with them is very seldom meanness & dirtiness, such as the lady of the very clean pelisse displayed toward you. My firm conviction is, that the world is the world & a very dirty place at the cleanest—but still that the pure (to use a strange word) the pure, neat, unadulterated ladies & gentlemen in it are apt to be dirtier, by a very considerable degree, than all the “pen & ink” you revile, [12] cd make the fingers of others. Is it not that we unconsciously, & properly, & justly enough, measure high imagination with actions not high enough to touch that height—& that we are shocked by the contrast of the ideal & real, in the case of certain distinguished persons?. Oh—am I not firm?– And moreover—oyez oyez [13] —if I were to see you & hear you ever so much, you never could succeed in “disenchanting” me! How shd you, when your forte is, enchanting?
But lest you shd seriously suppose me capable of treating grave subjects with absolute levity, do let me gravely assure you that “I hate” & as Donne says, “I thank God for it—perfectly” [14] all these coteries, (as far as I guess their character) all these menials of literature, all these putters of noble things to vile uses, these desecrators of wisdom & greatness in the very eyes of the wise & the great. Here however I stop. Do let me! For I cannot choose but hold with rare Ben, [15] that “there goeth more to the making of a good poet than of a sheriff” [16] .. albeit the sheriff shd be Mr Sheriff Evans!– [17] By the way, the lion, the great lion of the Zoological gardens is said to have a bilious attack, and I am going to petition the House of Commons to let him out. Absolute freedom will be necessary—& we can have his picture afterwards—such of us as survive.
Did I tell you that I am going to write sometimes for the Monthly Chronicle. Mr Horne asked me. Not that he is editor– By the way, I must try to find the message which I received from him for you, the very day I sent away my last letter. Here it is “I received the same from the kind Miss Mitford. I never thanked her for it at the time—I had no time: and when it became too late, I did’nt know what to say “altogether”. When you next write to her pray tell her of my grateful predicament”.
I believe there is to be a new tragedy soon, but not for the stage. But it will be better perhaps not to mention this immediately. [18]
I am as well today as is possible after a sleepless night. The weather is very trying—& I have not been suffered by my Liege Lord physician, to have my bed made, for above a month. But altogether I bear up tolerably. What they mean to do with me this summer is matter of fidgetting. Here, I am sure not to stay, if I can move,—my own longing being for London—& my physician’s I see too plainly, for the torrid zone. Do not mention this to anybody, dearest Miss Mitford. May God bless you, & dear Dr Mitford!– May God bless you in health & strength & dearer blessings—& prosper you in those honorable & exalting labours which involve in them a happier means than rest, & a sweeter & prouder end than fame. In the truest esteem & attachment,
your EBB–
It has amused me to think of the assurance of the Athenæum: Be certain that it will never be looked at. [19] I am! At any rate you have given me the best “introduction to court” I cd have, in calling me your friend—a name & fame in one, & dear & grateful to me. Thank you.
Mr Merry has sent me a kind interesting letter which I am under a temptation, from a kind word, to answer. Not angry with me at all. Tell me about Howel.
Address: Miss Mitford / Three Mile Cross / near Reading / Prepd
Publication: EBB-MRM, I, 189–192.
Manuscript: Wellesley College.
1. Epistolæ Ho-Elianæ: Familiar Letters domestic and forren (1645–47) by James Howell (1594?–1666) author and Historiographer Royal to King Charles II. He also wrote Δενδρολογια. Dodona’s Grove, or the vocall forrest (1640). Later editions of both these works formed lots 772 and 773 of Browning Collections (see Reconstruction, A1260 and A1261).
2. “To the Countess of Bedford” (no. 2, 1633), line 52.
3. The Sun’s Darling (1657), I, 1, 11–12.
4. Lines 50–51.
5. Cf. Byron, Marino Faliero, Doge of Venice (1820), V, 1, 329.
6. Miss Mitford’s projected edition of letters (see letter 737, note 1). It seems probable that her request to borrow Howell’s Letters was connected in some way with this project.
7. See letters 719, note 2 and 738, note 4.
8. “Daws” used here in its figurative sense, meaning “simpleton” or “sluggard” (OED).
9. Paradise Lost, II, 846.
10. A play on “thou art invincible,” the answer given to Alexander the Great by the Oracle of Delphi.
11. Barbara Hofland (née Wreaks, 1770–1844) was the author of the popular novel The Son of a Genius; a tale, for the use of youth (1816).
12. See letter 737, note 16.
13. “Hear ye, hear ye,” the call to attention used by Town Criers.
14. Cf. Donne’s “Satyres” (1633), II, 1–2.
15. See letter 706, note 14.
16. Every Man in His Humour, V, 5, 39–40 (revised text of 1616).
17. A reference to a celebrated case involving parliamentary privilege. To help defray the cost of printing papers and reports for Parliament, Messrs. Hansard, the parliamentary printers, had been given authority to sell copies to the public. One such report, by the Inspector of Prisons, stated that “improper books” were finding their way into Newgate and mentioned in particular “a book of a most disgusting nature” published by Stockdale in 1827. Stockdale brought an action against Messrs. Hansard for libel, but the Attorney-General claimed that the publication, having been sold by order of the House of Commons, was privileged. A Select Committee took up the question, and held that no other tribunal could define parliamentary privilege, directly or incidentally. Because Hansard, on instructions from the Commons, did not appear in court, Stockdale was awarded £600 damages, and the Sheriffs of London and Middlesex levied that amount on Hansard’s goods. Ordered by the Commons to return the money, the sheriffs refused to comply, holding that, as officers of the court, they were bound to do the court’s bidding, whereupon they were committed to the custody of the Sergeant-at-Arms for breach of privilege. Apart from the matter of defining the relative powers of the courts and Parliament, the case attracted much attention, as it was felt by many that innocent parties were being punished for doing their duty. Evans was kept in custody for several weeks, and was finally released because his health was suffering.
18. These two paragraphs reveal the two secrets mentioned by EBB in letter 735. She provided two contributions to The Monthly Chronicle; “A Night-Watch by the Sea” appeared in the issue of April 1840 (p. 297) and “A Lay of the Rose” in the July number (pp. 13–17). The latter was included in Poems (1844) with its title changed to “A Lay of the Early Rose.”
Horne’s new tragedy was Gregory VII.
19. A reference to Miss Mitford’s plan of sending a copy of The Athenæum, containing EBB’s “The Crowned and Wedded Queen,” to her friend Miss Skerrett, in the hope that it might reach the Queen (see letter 735, note 6).
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