3129. EBB & RB to Eliza Anne Ogilvy
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 18, 235–237.
15 Bentinck street
5th October [1852] [1]
My dear friend, we are still here .. that is, in London. We have had a revolution in our house from the insolence of the landlady, & at half an hour’s notice had to remove .. which was nearly as much trouble as going to Paris. We remain in England till next saturday, & then we go. Here is the scheme. We stay in Paris one, .. two, weeks .. as it may happen; proceed to Italy by Marseilles & Nice, along the coast, by Genoa & Spezzia,—stay at Florence (if our house should be unlet) till the beginning of December, then, go to Rome, & after Easter to Naples– A most delightful prospectus, I think, and one rendered possible only at the ninth hour .. for we had quite given up Italy this year for financial reasons, when our dear generous friend Mr Kenyon insisted on modifying them because of having strongly in his head that Italy would be better for me than Paris for a second winter. So we go– We are in spirits about it, & are prepared to enjoy ourselves as far as God will permit– For my part, this England (after the pain of leaving my sister Arabel passes) will be, as ever, a load thrown off, & heart as well as lungs will be the better for crossing the sea. We mean to be extravagant & cross at Folkestone, & have no more water-voyage afterwards. The coast-travelling by Nice will be delightful,—will it not? I forget if you ever went that way–
We intended to have left England today, but a letter came to ask us, with so much earnest kindness, to be present at the christening of the Tennyson-baby at Twickenham, that we resolved to stay till saturday– After all, today comes with a bleak, bitter wind .. & when I had my bonnet on, Robert took fright & insisted that I should not run the risk of it– So he went alone– There’s to be the christening at one oclock, and the christening breakfast at three—and I am vexed, for I should have liked to have seen the baby, to say nothing of the poet– But Robert was undeniably wise. For the last ten days I have suffered much from a teazing cough, & cannot leave the house except at intervals– Such a climate! We are much too late, & have been caught in the fogs & winds. Wilson was three weeks away, & although I wished that, there was a great deal of accumulated work to do on her return– We could’nt get away earlier. Then came the Tennyson christening–
I must tell you that my sister Henrietta has a little girl .. which fills me up to the brim with covetousness. She was ill only three hours, & is now as well as possible; thank God for it! Such joy it is to know of her safety before we set out on our journey. Her boy is beginning to walk alone.
How I should like to see your Walter. But I thought he was to be called Napier– [2] How is that? I am writing while Arabel & Peninni are in full conversation & I cant help listening to what they say, to the manifest deterioration of my letter-writing. Peninni has learnt heaps of English words, & discourses fluently now .. for him! Whether he talks Italian or English, you might take him all the same for a chinese or Ætheopian. Always he uses the third person when speaking of himself—and he tells you, or would tell you, that “Peninni knows plompity poems” .. (a quantity of poems.) .. He does really know .. learned, during the three weeks of Wilson’s absence, .. some two hundred nursery rhymes– “Baa, baa, black-sheep” & such like. The child’s intelligence for such things seemed to take a sudden shoot. He insisted on all manner of such classics being repeated to him, & after one or two times of hearing, he could repeat them himself to the surprise of all of us, using the most dramatic intonation & gesture to make up for the imperfect articulation. He means to have his father’s memory. We could just as soon teach him a “Latin verb” as anything else—but we would not—oh, not for the world! Nobody thinks of giving him a lesson. Robert would be furious if they did. I assure you, I rather try to keep him from drawing & writing too much .. he is absorbed in his drawings for hours together, very often .. the industry being incited a good deal by a prodigious quantity of self-approbation & aspiration– Oh, he had the modesty to present one of his drawings to Mr Ruskin & another to Mr Millais the head of the Pre-Raffaellites! [3] just as I have the conceit to send one to you– The autograph accompanying the drawings is absolutely genuine, unassisted by push or pull of a finger, & I am about as vain of it as the child himself (it must be confessed) who accomplished the various great works contained in this paper, with shouts of triumphant laughter. Oh—such a darling he is! So good & sweet! There was some regret in me after all, when Wilson came back, & I missed the clinging arms round my neck at six oclock in the morning while the darling voice said “De-ar Ba! Mama! apro occhi.” [4]
The account you send me of the children is delightful, but of yourself, not so good– Do take care of yourself this winter, & get away from Perth if it does decidedly disagree. And dont be sorry that Alexander has not yet begun the Latin grammar—I would as soon regret that he was’nt up to the three per cents & such like valuable knowledge .. useful enough at a mature age. Grammar & dictionaries “will come when they will come”. [5] We say the same of wrinkles.
Peninni prayed the other day that the soap-bubbles might’nt “tomber.” [6] Did I tell you that before. He continues to use extempore prayer, & really it is pretty sometimes to hear him. Once I heard him say (after the usual supplication for Papa, Mama, Lili & Flush) [“]Peninni ama bene Dio– Dio ama bene Peninni– Amen”– [7] Was’nt that sweet of the child.
October 6.
The pressure of business on me just now is so great, that I am at my wits’ end fairly– Forgive that I cannot write more–
Tennyson’s child was christened Hallam Tennyson– There was a brilliant breakfast, Robert says, & the Laureate was very kind. The Tennysons talk a little of Rome for the winter & I shall be glad if they more than talk.
Much there is to say, but I cant say it. Write to me under cover to my sister, 50 Wimpole street, till I can send you a better address. God bless you. Our united love to all of you, not omitting dear Mrs Ogilvy– Kiss the darlings for me. Remember us with a little love, & believe in the sincere affection of
R– & EBB–
Mind you keep Paris in thought & prospect.
Address: Mrs David Ogilvy / King’s Place / Perth. / N.B.
Publication: EBB-EAHO, pp. 86–89.
Manuscript: Eton College Library.
1. Year provided by postmark.
2. The maiden name of Mrs. Ogilvy’s mother-in-law.
3. John Everett Millais (1829–96), painter, was one of the founding members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848. In the spring of 1852 he had exhibited “Ophelia” and “A Huguenot” at the Royal Academy, to which he was elected a member the following year.
4. “Open [your] eyes.”
5. Cf. Julius Caesar, II, 2, 37.
6. “Fall.”
7. “Peninni loves God well– God loves Peninni well– Amen.”
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