2988. EBB to Arabella Moulton-Barrett
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 17, 208–215.
[Paris]
Christmas day [1851] [1]
Ever my dearest Arabel. I was sure I should have a letter from you today, or would have written yesterday myself. My thoughts & affections are with you most tenderly & gratefully, full of wishes & prayers. May God bless you, my beloved sister, & all with you.
I am glad that Henry has more discernment than the rest of you .. which he must have (modestly speaking) if he agrees with me! .. on the subject of the late revolution.
Remember—I do not bind myself for Louis Napoleon’s purity of motive, nor do I pretend to say that he will not make improper uses of his unparallelled position at this moment. What I say is, that the purest of patriots might have done & would have done, precisely what he did at the beginning,—and that if he had not done it, worse would have been done for France, worse was imminent. The election expresses the most extraordinary unity of national will almost ever manifested [2] —and as to your idea, Arabel, of the votes being prepared, why the thing is impossible physically, and, if it were not, would be unnecessary altogether. Observe—we see here the most furious of the anti-Napoleonites .. ex-writers of the leading journals now gagged, [3] .. and all these frenchmen, gnashing their teeth through their black beards, & foaming with rage, say every bad thing that can be said against the government & the people, .. only nobody says that the votes are falsified. Robert exclaimed some days ago, to a socialist in this room, “The government is capable of falsifying the votes.” “Oh–” was the answer—[“]they are capable of that or any other iniquity—but unfortunately it wont be necessary—they are too sure of their majority.” The fact is, the people were with Louis Napoleon from the first moment—the commercial, & the agricultural parts of the people—the army (which is essentially a popular element in France) & the peasants & owners of land– Say of them, as Lammenais does, that “they are a people of a putrified heart”, .. call them “des animaux,” [4] as I heard them called the other day by an animated compatriot,—say besides (which is true to a great extent) that they act under terror of a socialist regime, & a strong desire for tranquillity at any price. The fact remains, that the people, such as it is, & from whatever motive, are with the president, to a degree which is extraordinary. For my part, I am a democrat, & I respect the decisions of any people. Also, I believe this French people to be as noble, in their own way, as you are in England, however you may knit your brows at them across the sea. All these writers & talkers who have written & talked for the last three years about the glory of democracy & universal suffrage, now talk about the “intelligent minority,” the “minority which is France”, and “absolute” stuff of that sort. Which, I for my part, being consistent, cannot help smiling at. The people are to have their way only (observe) when Monsieur tel, of the ‘Presse,’ or Monsieur tel autre [5] of the ‘National’ [6] agrees with the people. Otherwise .. alas, for the “intelligent minority”! The rest are “des animaux.”
Monsieur Pellateau [7] (of the Presse) .. a great friend of Lamartine’s, by the way, though more liberal than Lamartine, as he gave us to understand .. furious against the coup d’etat, filled this room the other evening with invective against Napoleon .. not the nephew, but the uncle! Napoleon was “le plus grand scelerat du monde”—his empire, “le regne de Satan,”—& all his marshalls & all their sons, “des coquins infames.” [8] He told Robert that he himself belonged to one of the southern departments, which was wholly agricultural, & divided into those very small landed estates, which have been produced by the laws for subdivision of property in France, .. held by what we should call in England, small farmers, only farming their own land. He mentioned the number of these .. some thousands, but I cant remember numbers. He said that he had talked with them,—& here was the fact!—they were democrats to a man … and, to a man, Buonapartists. The truth is, the tradition of Napoleon is the one tradition still precious to the mass of Frenchmen. It is a sentiment—& I think it honorable. If Louis Napoleon does not abuse it, he will do well, & France with him– If he abuses it, and attempts to impose upon France any form of absolutism, the country will rise & throw him at once. We shall see. I hope more in his ability than in his virtue. I think that what others see he must see,—why not?
In the meanwhile you should hear these journalists talk. You know, the journalist in Paris is a power. All french statesmen have to pass through the journal—it is not as in England. Thiers & Guizot, as Lamartine & Montalambert, [9] have been journalists. The journalists console themselves after this fashion.
“Patience. Let the election be unanimous, yet his difficulty will be to come. The difficulty in the way of his government will surely come– At this moment great expectations are entertained of him, & it is impossible that he can satisfy all. The country-people expect the reduction of the taxes. If he reduces the taxes, he cant make popularity as he does just now, by carrying out public works. There, will be the financial difficulty. On the other hand, if he puts himself at the head of liberalism, which is the only position he can hold for a moment, the bourgeoisie will start back before the phantom of socialism. Patience.”
Upon which I say softly to myself, that every possible government in France must be exposed to such difficulties. That’s no argument against the specific chances of Louis Napoleon, I say.
As to the gagging of newspapers & various suppressive measures, why no revolution was ever carried without such means. Every newspaper was gagged in –48, I can assure you, which did not praise the republic. And Lamartine broke the letter of an oath as deeply in rejecting Louis Philippe as Louis Napoleon can be said now to have done. Also, two assemblies were illegally dismissed & destroyed then. [10] Yet, we all clapped our hands—at least I did, and you did, I think, together with various other stainless moralists– Justice, Arabel! I cry out for justice.
And you, for some other subject to talk about– But I know you are under the influence of that horrible Times, which, precisely because it loathes democracy, is always in a state of chronic hatred against France, & I cant help trying to distrust it. Lamartine does not make adhesion. But he explains that his reason for not doing so, is peculiar to himself—he is the man of the 24th of February!– [11] How characteristic of Lamartine. “Il se doit à sa gloire.” [12] For my part, I should be sorry to be a mere man of a date– That’s not greatness as I conceive of it–
Yes, the Hedleys have invited us to dinner, & Robert by himself to dinner, again & again,—but neither together nor separately will we dine out—we have resolved against it. They wanted him very kindly to dine with them today, & he compounds by going to them in the evening. They have really been as kind as possible to us. The dinner is to be seventeen deep. Not a temptation, indeed!
As for me I am dumb—though you might’nt think so by this talkative letter. Oh yes. We had a terrible three days last week—much more terrible as far as I am personally concerned, than any coup d’etat in the world .. fog & frost together .. not a London fog indeed, but a cold mist which was killing—and my cough came siezing me like a wolf .. and I lost my voice, & looked like a ghost, & felt weak & miserable. If the weather had lasted, I dont know what I should have done—but it did not last, thank God. Desirée told us that “it would not pass the third day—it never did here,”—& it did’nt—& the temperature became mild again. Today is colder than yesterday, but is beareable nevertheless, .. & my cough has been much better for some days—and my voice seems to begin to struggle through again– Still the voice is absent .. there’s no denying. One must wait to recover oneself after such a knock-down blow. Enough that I am a great deal better in all essential respects, feeling much better & stronger. Oh—I yearned towards Italy, those three days. But even there, they have had cold weather. Besides the Peyton testimony, I have a letter today from Mrs Ogilvy, who talks of cold and even fog, & of having suffered herself through the unusual weather. If we stay in Paris, it wont be in the Champs Elyseés, though the situation pleases us on most accounts. But it is decidedly warmer on the other side of the river .. in the St Germain quarter. Here we are on an elevation, you see. When Robert went to Lady Elgin’s or Madme Mohl’s .. I forget which .. he said it was like another temperature: while we were freezing, they were thawing that night. At the same time we must acknowledge a great advantage here in the warmth of our house. Do you know, Arabel, I never was in so warm a house in my life. In fact it is apt to get too warm—there’s the danger. This morning we have been forced to sit with the doors open:—it’s warm in the very antichamber .. or entrance-passage, .. to use the less dignified word.
You are quite wrong about England. When we went to England last year for instance, whom did we go to see? Certainly not Robert’s family. If we had considered only them, we should have infallibly stayed away, seeing that their visit here was a settled thing. Oh, you are wrong, Arabel.
Robert likes Paris excessively, and I dont much wonder, because people pay him great attention. Miss Mitford writes to me that a relation of Count Molé [13] told her of his having had “un grand succes,” at Paris—and Madme Mohl said the other day .. “We are all so fond of him! It’s well for him, that he has’nt a jealous wife, Mrs Browning.” Which when I repeated to Robert, I could’nt help adding, “But it is not certain that he has’nt a jealous wife, Mr Browning.” Indeed I always maintain that I could be tremendously jealous upon occasion, though he will have it that I dont care a bit for him, now,—he said so this very day. “Women never care for a love they are sure of—not they.” A magnificent apophthegm that makes me laugh.
Shall I tell you whom I care for in the meanwhile? Little Wiedeman. He’s really a darling more & more, the sweetest little Peninni of a child that ever was seen. Wilson, in bringing him home yesterday, was telling me how good he had been out of doors—how he had walked, how he had run, how he had not once asked to be carried. He listened earnestly to all these compliments, & then looking up in her face, said with most ingenuous gratitude .. “Grazie, Lili.” Thank you, Lili! He was very much obliged for her good word.
He did not like the cold last week at all. One day we sent him down to the door, & Wilson brought him back again, because he coughed .. which he always does, when he does’nt like anything—it’s quite affectation—but when he thinks it “fweddo” [14] it seems to him right to cough. He said .. “Dio vento, Lili– Peninni hom.” God had sent the wind, & Peninni wd rather stay at home. Peninni’s language is something really remarkable. Anything, the taste or the smell of which he likes, he calls sugar .. & what he does’nt like, he calls pepper .. using the Italian words. You ought to listen to Desirée & him, talking together. She talks french, & he answers her in his peculiar dialect .. ‘Detitée,’ as he calls her. Very fond of her he is—and sometimes when he wants to stay with her in the kitchen, he intimates condescendingly to Wilson that she has Peninni’s leave to go to church. He has no idea of Wilson’s wanting to go anywhere else but to church without him.
Robert & I fight about Louis Napoleon—true: but we fight also about the great Fitton cause, & now I shall tell you what that is. Miss Fitton gives a new year’s eve child’s party, which is to be inaugurated with a Christmas tree, & round games, with thirty children & a christmas gift for everyone. Most goodnaturedly she has pressed Wiedeman to go. The hour is seven, and Wilson is invited to carry him there, if only for a half hour or two. Robert says in his wisdom—“the child is too young for anything of the sort—he goes to sleep at six—and you are a great deal too fond, Ba, of pulling open rosebuds, & anticipating maturities. It is not good for the child, & it’s very foolish of you.” To which I answer– [‘]‘Foolish! but I want to show him off. We’ll put him to sleep at three, & at seven he’ll be wide awake again—& he’ll enjoy it as much as any child there.” So I shall have my way. And Robert has been really goodnatured about it, for he has let me give twenty two francs for a black velvet frock for the occasion– It will make the child look lovely. A yard & three quarters, at thirteen francs a yard. It sounds extravagant, but we have bought him no frock this year & black velvet endures—& he will look like a picture in it, with his fair skin & bright golden ringlets. He seems to me to grow much prettier than he was, when you saw him. He is to have cherry coloured shoulder-knots, & shoes, and a tucker of my best lace.
Wiedeman had a great shock the other day, out walking. He came suddenly upon a dead cat. Wilson said he grew very pale & could scarcely speak. Then, after a long pause, having left it at some distance, he proposed to Wilson that they should buy it a stick of sugarcandy, which he finds extremely efficient in his own case—he thought a stick of sugarcandy would do the cat good directly. “Oh no”—said Wilson—“the poor cat cant eat—the cat is dead.” Peninni could’nt understand that– “Would’nt dinner do it good”? No—neither dinner nor candy sugar. It was a desperate case indeed. Wiedeman, directly he saw me, told me the lamentable story of the “gatto,” lying down on the carpet & beating his own forehead to show the nature of the misfortune– He could’nt get over the idea of that cat for some days.
Decr 26. friday. Robin Hedley & Ibbit came yesterday & prevented my finishing this letter in time for the post. Robert went in the evening to them. I am afraid he did’nt enjoy it, though everybody was very kind– Cards & commonplaces .. everybody playing cards. He has not seen such a thing in Paris before. Came home very much out of sorts, & hoped that I would’nt insist on his going often there. Certainly association of minds is a different thing from association of manners—& society means the first & not the last. Observe, it is’nt at all that Robert cant breathe on the outside line of the literary classes. He likes knead cakes & nonsense as well as any child in the world can—but he cares supremely for earnestness, & detests artificialities. Dont tell Robin this, for Heaven’s sake. Is it possible that I never told you about uncle Richard, [15] who <is ill> again! <& unable to> get on with his business? Tell me of them all. Dear George, one must deal with personally– I wont try to persuade Henrietta to come here. You have a right to her after all—and she & Surtees have evidently horrific ideas about the “carnage” in our streets & the shootings under “military despotism” which go on in the back alleys– See ‘Times.’ [16] But I hope Henry will come some day & see for himself. Uncle Hedley is a Napoleonist, & aunt Jane a legitimist & furious against the President .. which does’nt prevent her going to his first reception next monday!!–
I shall write to dear Trippy. Love on all sides.
Your own Ba.
Write, Arabel! Yes—dont I tell you everything?
Address: Angleterre. / Miss Barrett / 50. Wimpole Street / London.
Publication: EBB-AB, I, 440–447.
Manuscript: Berg Collection.
1. Year provided by postmark.
2. On 20 December the French electorate were asked to vote either yes or no on the following proposition: “The French people desire the maintenance of the authority of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, and delegates to him the necessary powers for establishing a constitution upon the basis proposed in his proclamation of Dec. 2, 1851” (The Daily News, 22 December 1851, p. 5). Early returns showed an overwhelming majority for Louis Napoleon. The Morning Chronicle published the final results on 2 January 1852: “Ayes—7,439,216; Noes—640,737” (p. 4).
3. On the morning of the coup d’état (2 December 1851), the Paris “police took possession of the offices of all leading newspapers … . The more notorious opposition journals, among them Presse and Opinion publique, were obliged to cease publication until further notice, and the rest could only appear if they agreed to refrain from comment on the coup d’état. On 12 December newspapers which had been suspended were allowed to reappear, but they remained under strict surveillance” (Irene Collins, The Government and the Newspaper Press in France: 1814–1881, Oxford, 1959, p. 115). Le National was shut down and never again published.
4. “The animals.”
5. “Mr. So-and-so … or other Mr. So-and-so.”
6. See the preceding letter, note 4.
7. Sic, for Pelletan. Pierre Clément Eugène Pelletan (1813–84), journalist, politician, and long-time friend of Lamartine, was for many years a literary critic for La Presse. He is listed in the Brownings’ address book of this period; see Appendix IV. From the Charentes Inférieur region of southwest France, Pelletan had been tutor to George Sand’s son Maurice more than a decade earlier.
8. “The world’s greatest villain—his empire, the kingdom of Satan,—& all his marshalls & all their sons, infamous rascals.”
9. Charles Forbes René de Montalembert (1810–70), had written for L’Avenir, the journal founded by Lamennais in 1830, and had served in the Chamber of Deputies from 1848 to it’s dissolution in December 1851. Thiers founded Le National and wrote for the Revue des Deux Mondes; Guizot founded Le Publiciste in 1828, and he also wrote for Revue des Deux Mondes; Lamartine’s writings appeared in various journals and newspapers, including La Presse, Le Siècle, Le Bien Public, and his own paper Le Conseiller du Peuple.
10. EBB refers to the assembly in place before the 1848 revolution and the one that replaced it, the Constituent Assembly, which in turn was dissolved in favour of the Legislative Assembly in May 1849.
11. The day in 1848 when Lamartine stood on the balcony of the Hôtel de Ville and declared the beginning of the Second Republic.
12. “He owes it to himself for his glory.”
13. Count Louis Mathieu Molé (1781–1855), a relative of de Tocqueville, had served as the French prime minister from 1836 to 1839.
14. Pen’s pronunciation of “freddo,” Italian for “cold.”
15. Richard Pierce Butler, (1784–1855), EBB’s uncle by marriage to Charlotte (née Graham-Clarke, 1787–1834), had resided in Paris for the last eight years (see letter 2992). EBB indicates in letter 2655 that Butler was living abroad in order to avoid his creditors. On his daughter Arlette’s marriage certificate, his occupation is given as ordained minister.
16. The Times of 24 December 1851 ran an editorial advising Louis Napoleon that after he “has succeeded in the worst part of his undertaking, it is certainly desirable that his present military despotism should, if possible, be modified by a greater regard for popular interests” (p. 4).
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