1747. EBB to John Kenyon
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 9, 203–205.
[London]
October 29. 1844
The moral of your letter my dearest cousin certainly is, that no green herb of a secret will spring up & flourish between you & me.
The loss of Flush was a secret. My aunt’s intention of coming to England (for I know not how to explain what she said to you but by the supposition of an unfulfilled intention!) was a secret– And Mr Chorley’s letter to me was a third secret [1] – All turned into light!–
For the last, you may well praise me for discretion. The letter he wrote was pleasanter to me than many of the kindnesses (apart from your own) occasioned by my book—& when you asked me once “what letters I had received,” if ever a woman deserved to be canonized for her silence, I did! But the effort was necessary—for he particularly desired that I wd not mention to “our common friends,” the circumstance of his having written to me,—& “common friends” could only stand for “Mr Kenyon & Miss Mitford.” Of course what you tell me, of his liking the poems better still, is delightful to hear,—but he reviewed them in the Athenæum surely!– The review, we read in the Athenæum, was by his hand,—could not be mistaken. [2]
Talking of that journal, it reviewed the poems of Frances Brown whose name you may recognize as subscribed to some lyrics which have appeared from time to time in its pages, .. last week, & with a kindness worthily shown. [3] Think of her being quite blind since she was eighteen months old, & with no recollections of light & form—& poor, & in humble life,—the daughter of an Irish postmaster. The energy of a mind that could struggle through difficulty & darkness, & attain enough to produce those graceful poems, is a noble example, & will, I hope, be extensively considered & respected.
Well,—but Flushie! It is too true that he has been lost,—lost & won——& true besides that I was a good deal upset by it meo more, [4] —& that I found it hard to eat & sleep as usual while he was in the hands of his enemies. It is a secret too—we would not tell Papa of it. Papa wd have been angry with the unfortunate person who took Flush out without a chain,—& wd have kicked against the pricks of the necessary bribing of the thief in order to the getting him back. Therefore we did’nt tell Papa—and as I had a very bad convenient headache the day my eyes were reddest, I did not see him (except once) till Flush was on the sofa again. As to the thieves you are very kind to talk daggers at them,—& I feel no inclination to say “Dont.” It is quite too bad & cruel– And think of their exceeding insolence in taking Flush away from this very door, while Arabel was waiting to have the door opened on her return from her walk,—and in observing (as they gave him back for six guineas & a half) that they intended to have him again at the earliest opportunity & that then they must have ten guineas! I tell poor Flushie (while he looks very earnestly in my face) that he & I shall be ruined at last, & that I shall have no money to buy him cakes—but the worst is, the anxiety! Whether I am particularly silly or not I dont know,—they say here, that I am,—but it seems to me impossible for anybody who really cares for a dog, to think quietly of his being in the hands of those infamous men. And then I know how poor Flushie must feel it– When he was brought home, he began to cry in his manner, .. whine, .. as if his heart was full! It was just what I was inclined to do myself: “& thus, was Flushie lost & won.” [5]
But we are both recovered now, thank you,—& intend to be very prudent for the future. I am delighted to think of your being in England,—it is the next best thing to your being in London. In regard to Miss Martineau I agree with you word for word,—but I cannot overcome an additional horror, which you do not express, or feel probably–
There is an excellent refutation of Puseyism in the Edinburgh Review, .. by whom?—and I have been reading besides the admirable paper by Macauley in the same number. [6] And now I must be done,—having resolved to let you hear without a post’s delay. Otherwise I might have American news for you, as I hear that a packet has come in.
My brothers arrived in great spirits at Malta, after a three week’s voyage from Gibralter [sic],—and must now be in Ægypt, I think & trust.
May God bless you my dear cousin–
Most affectionately yours
EBB–
Dear Miss Mitford talks of coming to town for a few days,—but it is not definitely arranged. Shall you go to Hastings, I wonder?
Publication: LEBB, I, 207–209 (in part).
Manuscript: Wellesley College.
2. For the text of this review, see pp. 320–324.
3. EBB is referring to a review of The Star of Attéghéi; The Vision of Schwartz; and other Poems (1844) by Frances Browne (1816–1879?) which appeared in the 26 October issue of The Athenæum (no. 887, pp. 963–965).
4. “According to my custom.”
5. Cf. Macbeth, I, 1, 4.
6. According to The Wellesley Index, Henry Rogers was the author of an article entitled “Recent Developments of Puseyism” in The Edinburgh Review (October 1844, pp. 309–375), and Macaulay wrote “Early Administrations of George the Third: The Earl of Chatham,” which appeared in the same issue (pp. 526–595).
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