763. EBB to Mary Russell Mitford
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 4, 281–283.
Torquay.
June 3d 1840.
Ever dearest Miss Mitford,
I long to hear about you– May I? I am gathering strength (stick by stick) myself—but the movement to the sofa from the bed for the first time last sunday produced such fainting & exhaustion that it is not to be repeated immediately. Still the strength comes—however slowly—& I am able to write & read pretty much as usual—& Papa is here still—so that there is nothing to repine about. Dreaming of going to London which is my dream, whenever my spirits rise into sight, in relation to myself, is a dream unpartaken I fear by my physician. I do long, naturally & fervently to be at home—but he says there are two reasons against it—one being that I could’nt go, & the other, that Dr Chambers wd send me back again if I cd– Well! I dream.
And my dreams involve much of you my beloved friend & dear Dr Mitford! Oh do let me hear of you. It seems lately as if the mountains & rivers between us had grown higher & broader. Whose fault is this? I dont feel as if it possibly cd be mine. How are you? How is he? How are the letters?—in the press?– [1] How is the garden?—& Flush?– And what summer plans have you all taken up?–
Thank you for the beautiful geranium which held its colors fast, and let me look at them entire! So that is I! Bearing my name, its bloom put me to shame,—in my thinness & ghastliness! The contrast suggested a very “pretty moral” [2] —only I chose rather to think of the graceful compliment implying the dear kindness!–
Have you given up the idea of ever seeing Mr Darley’s book again?– [3] It chaperons or is chaperoned by some Devonshire cream—but I beg you to remember that the stains upon its back came to me as they go, & proceeded from neither cream nor me– The chronicle is very clever & spirited—picturesque & racy—& the character of Becket appears to me developped with no ordinary power: at the same time I confess myself disappointed in the absence of tragic passion & concentration, & in the baldness as to poetry generally. Is it a work of talent merely—or of genius? Of high talent, I shd say .. if I might. The want of imagination rather than its exuberance is manifest in Dwerga who is simply nasty. I shd like to lift her out of the book with a pair of tongs! [4] Not without them—notwithstanding my earnest wish for the triumphant speeding of Mr Darley’s indubitable powers–
Oh yes! I have often attended religious branch meetings, in country towns, whose roots are in Exeter Hall. I never was at a meeting in Exeter Hall, [5] on account of the crowds—& never read the book you speak of. The book may be vulgar enough—but surely there is nothing vulgar in that gathering of mighty sympathies in order to a mighty end—God’s end as well as man’s—which we find embodied in our Bible society & the various missionary societies. Dont let anybody prejudice you, dearest dearest Miss Mitford. Some of those exposition books whether in relation to religious views in the abstract or habits founded upon such, often do the very greatest harm with the very best intentions. Save me from friends of that class–
Have you seen Mr Horne’s Gregory VII? It is a work of surprising power—altho’ it does not, to my mind, reach the tragic heights of his Cosmo.
Love to dear Dr Mitford– Forgive my abruptnesses. I have written myself quite tired.
Your ever attached
EBB–
Publication: EBB-MRM, I, 197–198.
Manuscript: Wellesley College.
1. A further enquiry about the progress of Miss Mitford’s project to publish some of her letters (see letter 737, note 1).
2. Shakespeare, Pericles, Prince of Tyre, II, 1, 35.
3. Miss Mitford’s copy of Thomas à Becket, the loan of which EBB acknowledged in letter 757.
4. In Darley’s play, Dwerga was Queen Eleanor’s female dwarf. As EBB indicates, she was not a pleasant character; in act I, sc. 2, she says “Have I not eat live mandrakes, screaming torn / From their warm churchyard-bed, out of thy hand?” Queen Eleanor, well aware of the dwarf’s evil nature, apostrophizes her in act I, sc. 2: “Venomous spider! I could pierce it through / With a witch’s bodkin, but it does me service.”
5. Exeter Hall, erected in 1831, with accommodation for over 4,000, was largely used for annual meetings of religious and philanthropical organizations. The Strand Palace Hotel now occupies its site.
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