Correspondence

2901.  EBB & RB to William Surtees Cook

As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 17, 1–3.

Feb 1– [1851] [1]

To thank you, my dear Surtees, for your happy & affectionate letter, comes next after thanking God. I congratulate you from the bottom of my heart, I congratulate myself, & Arabel & all of us, .. I kiss that dearest Henrietta & her new little darling, and I try vainly to express the joy which filled & overflowed me when I heard the exquisite news. Everyday I have been anxious, of course, about the post. When Robert came in at the door, I could just say “Letters”? .. and he held up the Letter– The sight of your handwriting inside was enough for me. I had to stop & thank God before I read a word. Dearest, dearest Henrietta. How happy she must be! how happy you must be!—and how I understand the happiness of both of you!–

But the baby .. I expect a true, full, & particular account of his little body– His mind, I suppose, is at present inscrutable, .. though he does suck his thumbs. (So did Wiedeman! he began life with just that exalted propensity.) But with respect to the little body, I may ask to be informed in the detail—eyes, hair, mouth, nose—nothing too small for my curiosity! Does he cry much? does he suck voraciously? does he open his eyes & look at the candle? does he sleep well? Bid Arabel tell me everything. By the time you get this letter he will be more than a fortnight old, if it shall please God for all to go on happily—and oh, how I long for another letter to tell me more! Dont let Henrietta exert herself too soon in the way of putting her feet to the ground, because though she should be ever so well, it is not advisable that she should leave the horizontal position early. Madme Biondi told me that most of the ill health of women arose from imprudences of the kind. So right you were, dear Surtees, to have a physician, [2] & so much I thank you for it– Probably, as the case stood, there was no necessity, .. but there might have been a necessity, (tell Arabel who accuses me of prejudice) and it was against the possibility of a danger, that you guarded– Thank you for that. I assure you, the birth of your son has made a rumour here among the tombs of the Medici– Robert called on the Lindsays to give them the news,—& Wiedeman was made ambassador to the Peytons– The consequence of which was that we have had three relays of Peytons bringing addresses of congratulation .. I thought there never would have been an end of the procession .. to say nothing of various complimentary speeches from friends of ours not known to you. Wiedeman found the Peytons at dinner .. upon which the health of my nephew & son was drunk in union, to the great honour of the former. Mrs Peyton means to write herself, she says.

Also I endeavoured to impress upon Wiedeman the fact of his having attained to a “cugino ed amico” [3] in England,—but though he nodded his head & smiled in a most affected way, as if he felt conscious of some great accession of fortune or fame, I wont be quite certain of the idea of it being perfectly distinct in his mind. What friends the two darlings ought to be & will be! Only a year & ten months between them!–

I wonder if you & Henrietta feel as Robert & I did only a few hours after the birth of our child, .. that if it pleased God to take it even then, we should still desire to thank Him all our lives for His gift– Because a child is a gift for ever, whether it die or live– If it is taken from us, it is only taken to be kept for us, until we are ready too. The great joy of having a child is therefore a perpetual joy—as long, at least, as there is hope of its being God’s child also–

I dare say you condescend to be a nurse, dear Surtees, & dont affect, like some of your male peers, to be afraid of the brittleness of ‘the baby’. Robert was so fond of walking up & down our terrace with his, when it was in long clothes, that I used to accuse him of being vain-glorious, to the last degree, & ostentatious before the eyes of these Florentines, of his parental character– “Of course,” he answered, “he was proud of his child—he would’nt attempt to deny it.” And of course you are proud of yours. How pleased your mother must be,—while you, .. how glad of her pleasure, .. must you be!–

The name is to be ‘Altham Surtees,’ is it? So Arabel said: and you will call him Altham. I hope you will find a good steady nurse, & keep him warm & give him air: and then, for the vaccination– Wiedeman was vaccinated at six weeks old with perfect success: we would’nt let him stir out of the house till he was vaccinated, I assure you. Has Susan been with you to admire her nephew? My love to her. I envy you some things, Surtees!– Especially I envy you my Arabel, .. but there’s no use regretting– Bid her write to me directly because I do want a letter from her– Oh, I dare say she was “frightened” .. yes, I can believe it. Do all the ‘uncles’ come to see?

So now, my dear Surtees, I wont teaze you any more– I kiss again from my heart, my beloved Henrietta, commending her to God–

God bless both of you– When I think how happy you have made my sister, my dear dear Henrietta, for nearly ten months, I feel how much I am

your grateful & affecte sister,

Ba.

[Continued by RB]

My dear Surtees—I congratulate you & dear Henrietta with all my heart on the great acquisition you have made, thro’ God’s goodness, to your already large stock of happiness. You will soon find out how necessary a child is to furnish the complete sunshine of a house– I can only hope that your famous little fellow will in due time deafen you as pleasantly by crying “Papa” in your ears as my own boy is doing this very moment—thereby cutting short the postscript of

your very affectionate,

R Browning.

[Continued by EBB]

It is so mild that I was at church today– Wilson is so glad, she asks me to say– Tell Henrietta.

Address, in EBB’s hand, on integral page: Capt Surtees Cook.

Publication: None traced.

Manuscript: In private collection.

1. Year provided by EBB’s reference to the birth of Altham Surtees Cook, which occurred on 23 January 1851.

2. In his journal, Surtees referred to him as “Dr. Bennet, (the accoucheur of 9. Cambridge Square)”; see Surtees, 23 January 1851. James Henry Bennet (1816–91), highly-regarded physician-accoucheur, was a member of the Royal College of Physicians.

3. “Cousin and friend.”

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