1313. EBB to Mary Russell Mitford
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 7, 222–224.
[London]
July 6. 1843
I cannot help the oozing forth of my Io triumphe [1] ... although it is by no means my dearest friend, my turn for writing. Mr Kenyon came yesterday—& he had just been reading, he said, “Pride & Prejudice”, .. driven into making an acquaintance with Miss Austen in despite of his anti-novelism, by the buzz of admiration which beset him from Mr Harness, and others. Mind, he was quite unaware of your & my ever quarrelling on the subject: he spoke to me of his impressions therefore innocently & freely, not knowing but that I myself might be wearing out the knees of my soul before her statue. And these were the words he said … “I am astonished! absolutely astonished! There is excellent, nay, admirable good sense—distinction of character, sufficient if not subtle—(I do not think it is very subtle!)—an under-current of humour,—a natural & flowing style—that is all!– I am astonished beyond expression that she shd be praised as some persons praise her. I like the book very much—I could read a hundred such books .. I like these correct pictures of middle life. But the class, whatever her excellence in it, is low—& I am much struck with the narrowness .. the want of all aspiration towards, or instinct of the possibility of, enlargement of any kind .. the want of elevation .. the poverty in what is called intellect”– I do not pretend that this is a verbatim report; but as far as the sense goes it is a very fair piece of Boswellism, & I cannot refrain from sending it to you. And do, my dearest Miss Mitford, consider that if I who lie under the disgrace with you, or at least under the disadvantage, of an imputed & acknowledged tendency to mystical & out-of-the-world distractions, may be suspected of a prejudice involved in my own faults, against such writers as Jane Austen, .. Mr Kenyon is not subject to any such suspicion .. Mr Kenyon is a man of the world, & no dreamer, .. acute, studious of life & character .. disinclined to vague speculations .. averse from theological ecstasies!– And yet he uses words as nearly as possible as I should select them to express my own opinions. I was struck as he uttered them. I could almost have clapped my hands, with a “By heaven, he echoes me”! [2] Only that where he missed the “intellectual” I missed the “spiritual” besides .. the latter being the worst want, .. because “intellectualism” as the word is used, is not common to all men, whereas “spirituality” more or less is common to all men. “Man is a religious animal”, [3] & has instincts beyond this conventional life, let him own or disown them! And now you will be for disowning me! Ah forgive me—& remember the infirmity of human nature, & how impossible it wd naturally be for me to help quoting Mr Kenyon when I had the opportunity!– He is going to read all the other works .. so as to be sure of his impressions. Is it not true that Persuasion is the best, & Sense & Sensibility the worst of them? It always seemed so to me.
Mrs Dupuy had the goodness to send me a very kind little note two days ago, which I have answered. She is in better spirits I am glad to hear from Mr Kenyon.
Oh—and I must tell you, that he was particular in enquiring about what you were writing. “Mr Chorley” said he, “always says that she has thousands in her yet”——a very moderate calculation by my arithmetic!– Indeed I think I shall dun you about writing– You ought to write. There is a writ out against you in every work you have heretofore produced .. & you ought to pay the debt of your own promises. What does the bay-tree stand there for .. but as a reminder? [4] And besides .. you told me months ago to expect an advertisement, & I have expected it in vain, .. it has all been vanity & vexation of spirit [5] up to this moment. Will you use your Bath letters? [6] There will be something original & picquant in the catastrophe of the improvised return from Bristol, [7] through fear of the simoom & serpents of the deserts of Devonshire .. a step backwards which Nature took upon herself to justify, by the miracle of turning spring into winter,—because she could not do less for the author of Our Village—!! Seriously I think you might make a playful ending to an attractive book by using this material– What do you say?
You must not, you shall not give up “pen & ink”—use & abuse them!– And the pleasure, the pleasure!– What pleasure is like the pleasure of pen & ink work—when you are in the heat of it? Is it not the intense consciousness of Being—twenty senses instead of the natural complement—a doubling & tripling of the powers of life? And then, the great priviledge of throwing work between Life & its shadow: & between yourself & all natural trouble & sense of frailty, Art & its ideal!– Who could forgo such a grace, having once received & exulted in it? Surely not you. Nay, certainly, & positively not you—& there’s an end of it!——
Mr Rogers talks of travelling with Eastlake to Munich—which for eighty years & more, is very well indeed.
& [8] Mrs Coleridge (Coleridge’s daughter) has written a controvertial appendix to a new edition of her father’s ‘Aids to Reflection’ which is longer almost than the work itself, [9] & consists of a treatise on Baptism & subjects appertaining to it, directed against the Puseyite views. Although controvertial it is singularly impartial & gentle; & with some dulness & lengthiness, is very honorable to our sex through its learning integrity & dexterity in reasoning. I think you are acquainted with her?
How is your Flush? I do not hear from you .. & groan within myself as the post comes & goes, making no sign from you to me!——
May God bless you ever!
Your EBB.
Have you heard from Mr Horne about the geranium? He declared to me that he wd write directly to you, to beg you to individualize the honor by modifying the name to the Horned Orion, instead of leaving it among the stars vaguely. Did he write?
Address: Miss Mitford / Three Mile Cross / near Reading.
Publication: EBB-MRM, II, 262–264.
Manuscript: Wellesley College.
1. The seduction of Io, a priestess, by Zeus incurred the wrath of Hera; changed into a heifer and pursued by a gadfly sent by Hera, Io fled to Egypt, where she was eventually restored to human form, married the king, and after death was worshipped as Isis. EBB is apparently equating this triumph over adversity with Kenyon’s support for her opinion of Jane Austen, whom EBB could not praise as highly as did Miss Mitford.
2. Cf. Othello, III, 3, 106.
3. Reflections on the Revolution in France (Burke: Select Works, ed. E.J. Payne, II, 107).
4. i.e., as the bay was sacred to Apollo and poetry, the one in Miss Mitford’s garden should be a constant stimulus to her.
5. Ecclesiastes, 1:14.
6. As the basis of a new publication.
7. See letter 1255, note 2, for an explanation of Miss Mitford’s premature return home.
8. The ampersand was an afterthought.
9. Sara Coleridge’s lengthy essay, “On Rationalism,” formed Appendix C to the 5th edition (1843) of Aids to Reflection, edited by Henry Nelson Coleridge (pp. 335–556).
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