195. Mary Moulton-Barrett to EBB
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 1, 197–199.
Kiosk– [Hope End]
July 5th Monday. [1824] [1]
In calling to my minds eye the circle of ladies single & double in No 8., [2] Etiquette that grand mover of all my courtly manners, directs my pen to Miss Barrett, to whom my thanks are due for a most acceptable letter, or I should be puzzled to which of the attractive phalanx to pay my devoirs– All I suspect, are looking a little shy at my weeks silence, but if they knew how much I have thought of them I think I should be honored with a few gracious smiles!– My rustic sensibilities were much excited by being so affectionately thought of dearest Ba, in your gaieties, Inhanced as they are by all the kindness of which you boast, & which my imagination so readily apprehends, in union with your own devoted preference to the social charms of a Town, they might chanced to have turned that curly head of yours, & for a time driven Hope End & its homely appurtenances out of it; Your dear letter therefore made me hold up my head, & feel very proud, & Papa & I agree you really are a kind good girl– I can scarcely envy my own dear children any blessing or enjoyment, as has been fully proved by this test—for no happiness to me, can ever be so enviable, as that they enjoy at this moment—and scarcely secondary to it, is the delightful feeling, that they are with my beloved Mother & Sisters! Here are two letters for you, deartest Ba from two beaux .. one on Saturday, & of so interesting a character that I should have sent it off by express I believe, had not all my interference being checked by Papa’s saying he intended himself to write to you– I hope you have heard from him, but as the days may have been too temptingly dry, I had best tell you that the letter was from Sam, offering thro’ you the olive branch to Papa, & proposing to come here with Mary as soon as he can leave Town [3] – I opened the letter, thinking it was from Bro, & having read it, I felt it to be expedient to give it to Papa to read for which it was evidently intended– Nothing can be more like the writer than its kindness, expressing Marys desire to know Papa, & his own that the past should be buried in oblivion– Not much is said, as it is only a note, but it is kindness itself– Papas only observation was that he should write to you– My hopes I own are great, but they may be erroneous! Either way, I am sure it will be a struggle with dearest Papa, that I anxiously wish was over—should it end to our wishes it will indeed be joy! Sam & Mary have been at Hastings, where they are more & more pleased with her— The other letter is from Bro, with a scold for your not writing; he has had some strict examinations in Homer & Ovid from Dr Russel in which he makes a flattering report of his success, & of Sam’s in a no less strict examination— It is not true that they are not to go out on Saturdays—this I think is the pith of the letter— In the Globe & Traveller of 30th June appears Lines on the death of Ld Byron, which we beg to recommend as worthy your notice. As Papa took up the paper in the Dining Room a glance satisfied me whence they came, but I said nothing till he came into the Drawing Room, when taking the paper, with a becoming carelessness of air, I asked him what he thought of those lines, he said, “They are very beautiful indeed the only I have seen at all worthy the subject.” [“]I cannot help thinking,[”] replied I, [“]that we know something of the Author.” [“]They cannot be Ba’s” said he, taking the paper from me to read them again, [“]tho’ certainly when I first read them, they reminded me greatly of her style—had you any idea they are hers?[”] “I have a conviction of it,” said the conceited Mother, pouring out the tea with an air that threatened to overflow the tea tray—& thereupon followed eulogiums that must not appear here!—suffice it to say, my beloved child, that Papa is quite delighted with these feeling & beautiful lines, & thinks them superior perhaps to any you ever wrote– Sam gives hopes that he shall be equally successful with the others– I write in the dear Kiosk, while George & Stormy are cleaning the walks, A. scuffling up Henttas walk to the Cottage & Henry helping Emma [4] to spread out the Nursery tea on the grass– a busy but very quiet school day we have had—the Boys attend to your directions– The only events since your departure are visits from your friends Mistresses Drummond, Webb, & Watts, & the Wigrams [5] – My visits have been to Mrs Barker & old Jonathan, [6] where we had a delightful walk in last nights sun shine—let your gaieties hide their diminished heads. A. availed herself of dearest Hentta kind permission & gave us a gay cottage breakfast [7] on her birth day, under Minnys directing taste—it rained the rest of the day– Delighted are we in the hope of seeing dearest Jane on Wednesday—tell her so with a kiss—& Tell dearest Lotte that she must not move without my dearest Mother & Bum under her arm—she must bring her whole heart with her, or mine, will only half welcome her– I cannot let her be seperated from them while she remains in England [8] — Bummys appetite is to be sure rather alarming, but dearest Grandmama will not I think, considerably thin the flock of sheep, & dearest Bum, perhaps may eke out her dinner with Lottes share—indeed they must come!– The bell rings, Papa is come in, & away I run— Kisses innumerable to my loved Children, Mother, Sisters, & Nei[c]es—(who ever was so rich as I am) kindest loves too to your Uncles [9] — Seppy [10] is sneezing with a little cold—he often talks of you, & is as sentimentally melancholy during your absence as the strawberries will permit– Papa will eat no salad now, & it [is] a remarkable fact, that we miss you & Addles greatly– Papa says he is sure you are crowding Grandmama unconscionably– Pray when are you coming back?——
Margte has been for a day at Mrs Blizard & wrote a note of regret that she could not come here, or find time to write to Bell before she came away– She has taken 95 Glouc[este]r Place for the present & gone–
Ever my dearest childrens
Most affecte Mother—
You must bring all with you— tell Bum to write to me— all my gardeners & scufflers send you H. &c &c a thousand kisses– the roses are begin<ning> to be <beau>tiful No hay cut yet, the weather has been so wet.
A vile pen!
Address, on integral page: Miss Barrett / Cambray Street / Cheltenham. [11]
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: British Library.
1. Dated by the reference to EBB’s “Stanzas on the Death of Lord Byron,” which appeared in the London Globe and Traveller on 30 June 1824.
2. EBB and Henrietta were in Cheltenham with their maternal grandmother, at No. 8 Cambray Street.
3. Samuel Moulton-Barrett had married at Gloucester, 20 March 1823, Mary Clementina, daughter of the late Rev. Henry Cay-Adams, of Painswick. What caused a break in the brothers’ relationship has not been determined; possibly it related in some way to this marriage.
4. Thought to be Emma Mathews, daughter of the man mentioned in letters 53, 168 and 228.
5. Members of the local social circle. The Drummonds lived at Underdown, the Richard Webbs at Donnington Court, the James Watts at the Ledbury Vicarage. The Wigrams are unidentified.
6. Mrs. Barker lived in a cottage by the south gate of Hope End, and acted as gatekeeper. In a juvenile poem (Reconstruction, D418) EBB described her thus: “And Madam Barker with the sallow cheek / The lanky shape and the long slim neck / Sweet Madam Barker!” Jonathan has not been identified.
7. There was a summer cottage in the grounds of Hope End. A sketch of it by Henrietta is reproduced in Diary, facing p. 112, and there are numerous references suggesting that it was acknowledged to be her particular domain.
8. Mary Moulton-Barrett’s sisters, Jane Hedley and Charlotte Butler, were staying in Cheltenham—the latter on a visit from her home in Ireland; she had married her brother-in-law, Richard Pierce Butler, in 1822. He was Vicar of Trim, 25 miles N.W. of Dublin.
9. John and James Graham-Clarke, Sir Thomas Butler and Richard Pierce Butler. A copy of Burns’s Works (1821), was a notation by EBB: “Elizabeth B. Barrett, kindly given to her by the Rev. Richard Butler, Cheltenham, July, 1824” formed lot 533 of Browning Collections (see Reconstruction, A539).
10. Septimus, EBB’s seventh brother.
11. Near the address appear notations: “opened”; “opened twice.”
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