3333. EBB to Arabella Moulton-Barrett
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 20, 87–94.
43. Via Bocca di Leone. Rome.
Feb. 2. & 1 [1854] [1]
My beloved Arabel, your reproaches go to my heart– Certainly if I waited a month in order to write that letter I was very wrong—the time had passed without my taking account, and I had been under the impression of having written to [you] very soon after the first wretched news I was forced to send. Well—do forgive me. To do myself justice, when I am amused & happy I am more apt to write to you than in times of anxiety & heaviness. That proves how I dont forget you after all– Never can I be bribed away from you .. though I may be slow to write through the feeling that I have not much to say which would gladden you.
One of my objections to Rome is the enormous time of a letter coming and going. We used to complain of our seven days at Florence—& here we have to wait ten– [2] It’s insupportable nearly. I have the reputation, you must know, of “disliking Rome,”—and of course people set me down as insusceptible & unpoetical in proportion to this flagitious taste. Now it’s wrong to say I dislike Rome– If I may have leave to stand alone with Robert & look at the Campagna, the far opal mountains, the forum, the blue sky flowing in full tide through the rifts of the Coleseum [sic], I can enjoy it intensely– Also the climate is much warmer & more suitable to me during the winter months than the climate of Florence is. On the other hand, the place is not comparable as a residence to Florence, .. & considering that I have with me what is more precious than myself according to my own valuation, I would far rather have to stay in the house during the three winter months, than be thrown into panics reasonably or unreasonably every second day about Penini or Robert– For instance Penini caught cold yesterday .. a simple cold in the head .. & because “colds generally turn to fevers in Rome” I was wretched last night & could scarcely sleep for it. In England or Florence it would’nt have ruffled a thought of me, you understand. Well—today, after taking a little senna, he seems convalescent—but still the fact remains that I was wretched last night & that I would willingly have given up some beautiful sunshiney walks last week to have forgone last night’s fear– Edith is well .. playing with her hoop on the Pincio .. & comes today to dine with Penini– There’s an immense friendship between them though she has twice his years,—and his attention to her when she was ill was really touching. Once he said to the Miss Thackerays with a consequential air .. “I sint you mate a glate deal too mush noise for Edith” .. & there he sate by her, kissing her & patting her! Somebody asked him the other day if he liked May Sartoris– “Not velly mush”—said he—“she tumbles up mine turls!” Then (with emphasis and stretching out his arm in his characteristic form of gesticulation) “I love only one dirl; (girl) and lat’s Edith!” I am glad to see such an ideal of constancy in him already .. are not you?
With all my faults, Arabel, I have written a long letter to Henrietta & another to George .. I certainly send more letters home (more pages of letters) than ever reach me, and I hope you become aware of this by receiving what I send. You will hear from Henrietta of Mr Kenyon’s generous kindness [3] —without that I dont know how we should have reached England .. we were waiting for the heavens to fall .. and here’s a lark, [4] observe!– Yes, Arabel, the months pass swiftly– Soon if it shall please God, I shall hold you in my two arms—dearest dear! Try to be looking as well as you can! So much we shall have to talk about. I feel .. I begin to feel .. a little .. what Penini calls ‘sy’ .. in talking of my Spirits .. & perhaps presently you will taboo the subject & bid me speak of something more reasonable. It is even possible that you may have all been vexed about what I told George in my last letter [5] .. yet it was right, I think, to tell it– Whatever the theory may be, (spirits or mesmerical reflex of the mind) the physical facts are undeniable, & worthy certainly of some consideration with all thinking & feeling persons. I mean the fact of the pencil moving in the hand in a quite abnormal manner, & of words being produced,
<…> [6]
class of the actual manifestations as evil– Now the logic of that I cant understand– If there’s access to the spiritual world, there must be access to both evil & good .. it’s a matter of course– That there are many blaspheming spirits, is patent– (How any man of sense & piety could publish such words as you sent me from Dr Dibdin’s pamphlet, [7] I cant understand by the way.) That there are still more adoring & christian spirits, is also patent. Because you hear Tom Barke damn somebody’s eyes in the street, do you conclude that James Stratten does not pray devoutly in his chamber? You are not so illogical. Why therefore reason one way respecting the spirit-world & another way respecting this natural world?—— As to what I said about .. “few having come from the interior Heavens” .. I meant simply what I said——“few”– I did not say .. “none”– Then, you must understand what I mean by the interior Heavens. Many blessed spirits remain, rejoicing & learning, in what is called “the spiritual world” as opposed to the three Heavens, for years & years before they enter into the “angelic societies.” [8] You see “the tendency of my writings being to Swedenborgianism[.]” [9] I use phrases sometimes of which you have not the Key. It is supposed that scarcely one soul since the beginning, has entered immediately into the interior Heavens, though sometimes the interval is very short– When Christ spoke of “paradise” it is supposed he meant the spiritual world– You are not to confound. Spirits are in a state, not a place.—— As to the manifestations, Dr Prynne, (quite an unbeliever) told me that, on paying a visit on official business to General Thompson, [10] a member of congress, late ambassador to Mexico, .. when the talk upon business was over, the General began thus .. “Dr Prynne, you are a minister of the gospel”– “Yes.” “Then you will have pleasure in knowing that I, who have been a professed atheist all my life, recognize now in peace & joy, not only God’s Being & the immortality of my own soul, but this book .. this word of the Lord” .. placing his hand upon a bible which lay by– “And” (after a pause) [“]all this has come to me through the instrumentality of what are commonly called the rapping spirits”– “That was a conclusion which startled me” said Dr Prynne– “And the general went on & discoursed for two hours on the communications he had received from the spirits of his wife & daughter [11] and on his own profound & rapturous conviction of all the truths of Christianity”—. “Also,[”] continued Dr Prynne, [“]it is right to confess that the New York spiritual-conference-people will tell you they have testimonies of this kind flowing in to them by hundreds & thousands from all parts of the country week after week.” If this is Satan’s work he is scarcely as shrewd as has been commonly supposed.
Well– I have not convinced you– I might as well talk of something else. You only think. “Ba is a little mad, & presently she will be very mad as poor Wilson is already. These nervous excitable people always have some fancy or other—we must be patient & turn away our heads”. It is just for this that I want you to feel the pencil or pen move in your own hand. Tell Henrietta to try too.
What is this new medical friend of Papa’s? Has he given up Dr Elliotson? Tell me of Papa, Arabel—for I fear much the effect of the dreadful winter upon him. A cold wind has got up for the last week & put a stop to my walkings out here. We have invitations heaped upon us .. for everyday of the present week, one a night at least—but I can go nowhere. I make Robert represent me. Excellent music is to be had liberally—and as for the society, it rains lords & ladies for the especial benefit of Thackeray perhaps .. see how ill natured I am! But his friends will have it that he has a weakness for marquises, … remarking it tenderly, as friends will. The Duke of Northumberland gave a dinner the other day to the Duke of Wellington, when it was found, curiously enough, that the Duke of Wellington was not of rank enough to take down to dinner any lady there, he was so exceeded & preceded in dignity by rows of cardinals & civil princes. Some of our friends have come to us on their way to the Duke of Northumberland’s, and had Wilson’s knead cakes … or rather Ferdinando’s—(for Ferdinando makes the knead cakes now as if “to the manner born” [12] —) & I assure you, I think they may have lost something in going to the Ducal saloons from our cozy warm little sitting-room. These rooms are very comfortable, & I have nothing to say against the Roman houses as far as my own experience goes– Thankful I am for having been driven up so high .. to the 3d piano .. for Pantaleone the physician gives it as his opinion that every first floor in Rome is more or less damp– You can see it in the discoloured staircases—very unlike the Florence staircases!– The person who interests me most in Rome—next to Mr Page .. is Mrs Kemble .. a noble creature really! She spends the evening alone with us tonight, which always I enjoy.—— Oh, dont let me forget to tell you .. I always do forget .. that this second winter I have been wearing the Carmelite dress you gave me & that my opinion is it never will wear out. For the rest I have had my brown Paris merino trimmed with black velvet, & I wear it in the evenings when it is cold & I am at home to anybody– Going into society I have been rather restricted, with the black satin & the plumcoloured silk, so I am forced to buy a Roman silk, .. which is pain & grudging to me, .. forced by Robert & the necessities of change. Two pounds English will have to go to it—everything here being expensive more or less. Our weekly expenses are three pounds instead of two– (Let nobody who cares for economy come to Rome!) We live very comfortably however—nobody can live more comfortably .. liberally without waste .. than we do. Ferdinando is well-conducted in every respect & we get to like him more & more—a nice-looking servant, a good cook, & kind & amiable in all his ways– He gives us all sorts of northern soups, from pea-soup to Scotch broth .. ‘broda Scozzese’ .. to the admiration of occasional lookers-in. He did not dare to bring his Italian bible with him .. & Wilson left hers from a like fear– I am sorry now we had not more courage, for we were not vexed by the police at all on the road. He wants us to take him with us to Paris & England .. but nothing is decided, or even much considered. Penini’s love for him (deserved by so much goodnature) is an argument in his favour with me always– “Dear Papa—you will tate Ferdinando wiz us to Pallis”? “I know nothing about it yet.” —“Betause, if you dont tate him, I’ll be velly untappy.” There’s a threat!——
We went to the Clives, that evening .. Robert would have it that I should go. [13] Well—it was dull according to the most excellent English provincial pattern. Madame Braun came & sate by me– “I have grown so disused to English society,” said she, “that I feel strange in it– Still there’s a pleasing atmosphere of decency and propriety–” “Ah–” I exclaimed .. “I am afraid I have no taste for decency.” I do assure you it was altogether intolerable to me. Relays of young ladies at the piano singing & playing in that sixth rate amateur-manner which neither gods nor men should endure, .. while the lady of the house exclaimed at regular intervals, “Very pretty—thank you.” “Beautifully sung .. thank you”. “V” [14] is not inspired in her poetry .. but in her talk she seems below par, & people call her common-place & fond of fine society– I have seen too little of her to have much of an opinion, but my impression is scarcely favorable. We had ordered the carriage that evening at eleven, and before ten Robert came up to say to me that he could’nt bear it any longer. “I cant walk,” said I .. “I have only my thin shoes”. Five minutes after, however, I was ready to walk at all risks,—& where it was wet, Robert carried me, (for the instruction of the police) & we finished the evening with the Storys who sent us home in their carriage very kindly. [15] That’s what people call “society,” in this world. People with souls!– The pink crape meeting the blue silk, & the white net coming into intercourse with the black satin!– Which is getting egotistical.
Now I am going to relieve your mind & George’s about my religious reputation. Yesterday Mrs Brotherton sent me a column from a Brussels English paper containing extracts from an article in the Church & State Gazette. Said Ch. & St Gazette has been extracting largely from poor Robert Hall’s distinguished American editor’s preface, & observing thereupon that the authors so commented on, should know what is said of them in the new world. Certainly nothing can be more absurd than what is said– The Howitts are “Unitarian, with a tendency to Swedenborgianism” [16] .. that is, bolt upright, with a leaning to the floor. Why, the central doctrine of Swedenborgianism is the Godhead of Jesus Christ—& no other sect insists on it with equal emphasis. I could prove to you if I had room. That the Howitts are Unitarian however, is true enough I fear. “Macauley [sic] is neutral .. & Talfourd writes no more”. [17] Talfourd writes no more—there’s a misfortune to the church, indeed! (when he wrote, he was a professed unitarian!) Let the seven churches mourn! [18] Talfourd writes no more. Selah. Then this instructed gentleman represents poor Frederica Bremer (read her book on America [19] & judge for yourself) as a Straussite .. and a disciple of Emerson’s. [20] A lie! What is said of me is like unto it.
But I wanted to tell you that a letter is subsequently addressed to the Church & State Gazette, & printed by it & reprinted in the Brussel’s paper, written by somebody “not authorized to vindicate Mrs Browning’s religious creed” [21] but who does it boldly, & ga<… [22] never>theless .. quoting <…> poems & appealing to <…> fervent and sympathetic recogni<…> expressed. Unitarianism <…> It is very kindly done .. with <… tell>s me it is by my old friend <Mr Westwood …> directly– Though I could not hav<…>aid cur-dog back-biting, I am <…>
I do hope Henrietta does’nt over-teach Altham—it is so dangerous, tell her—particularly during teeth-cutting.
He must be a darling & too forward. Do give dearest Bummy my best love—& to Arlette. How strange of Papa! Poor dearest Papa! Tell me of him. I am anxious thinking of the cold. Speak too of yourself. How is dear Minny? Your letter was 11d This will be more I fear. I write & write.
Your very own Ba
Will you give this homœopathical note to Messrs Palmer? [23] It’s to direct Reuben Browning to pay two pounds of kind dear Wilson’s to the bearer for her father– Oh, how grieved I am about our dear friend Mr Hunter. [24] Do tell me of him—& give him my love as ever.
How does dearest Trippy bear the cold? She does not leave the house you say—which is wise. Give her a batch of kisses from me, warm from the heart. Love to all round besides. Write, I do beseech you.
[Continued by Pen]
I will send St Peter’s [25] another time. Penini. Rome.
[Continued by EBB]
His own writing, perfectly unassisted, except in the spelling—& he has learnt to write only since the middle of December—not two months—about six weeks in fact. It seems to me as wonderful as the spirits writing.
Address: Angleterre. / Miss Barrett / 50. Wimpole Street / London.
Publication: EBB-AB, II, 59–66.
Manuscript: Berg Collection.
1. Year provided by postmark.
2. “The mail, by the land route, arrives every day, bringing letters from England in 9 days; if by steamer from Marseilles to Civita Vecchia, in 6 or 7 days” (Murray’s A Handbook for Travellers in Central Italy, 1853, part II, p. 7).
3. See the third to last paragraph in letter 3310.
5. Concerning her attempt at automatic writing; see the sixth to last paragraph of letter 3320.
6. Two or more pages are missing.
7. Robert William Dibdin (1805–87), an Anglican minister, was the author of Table-Turning. A Lecture. Delivered in the Music Hall, Store Street, Nov. 8, 1853 (1853), as well as Swedenborg, and Electro-Biology: A Lecture by the Rev. R.W. Dibdin, M.A., delivered in the Music-Hall, Store Street, on Tuesday Evening, December the 6th, 1853 ([1853]). In both lectures, Dibdin echoed a number of fellow clergymen in declaring magnetism, spiritualism, and Swedenborgianism all to be diabolical.
8. EBB touches on various subjects discussed by Emanuel Swedenborg in A Treatise Concerning Heaven and Hell (Baltimore, 1812). Of “angelic societies,” he writes: “The angels of each heaven are not all together, but are divided into Societies, greater or smaller, according to their degrees of difference with respect to the good of love and faith” (p. 68). Swedenborg describes the “three heavens” as “distinct from each other; the highest or inmost, called the third heaven; the middle or second; and the lowest or first heaven” (p. 60). Regarding “the spiritual world,” or, “World of Spirits,” it is “neither Heaven nor Hell, but a place or state betwixt both, into which man enters immediately after death, and after staying there a certain time, longer or shorter, according to what his past life had been in this world, he is either received up into Heaven, or cast down into Hell. … In the World of Spirits is always a very great number of them, as there is the first resort of all, in order to their examination and preparation; but there is no fixed time for their stay there for some are translated to Heaven, and others consigned to Hell soon after their arrival, whilst some continue there for weeks, and others for several years, though none more than thirty. … The World of Spirits appears like a valley between mountains and rocks here and there sinking and rising. The doors and gates opening to the heavenly Societies are only seen by those who are in their preparation for Heaven” (pp. 331, 334, and 335).
9. As EBB described one of John Newton Brown’s comments in Modern Infidelity Considered; see the third paragraph in letter 3320.
10. Waddy Thompson, Jr. (1798–1868), congressman from South Carolina (1835–41) and minister to Mexico (1842–44), had been made a brigadier-general of the South Carolina militia in 1832. EBB undoubtedly misheard Prynne for Prime (see letter 3286, note 6).
11. Eliza William Thompson (1823–51), only daughter of Waddy Thompson and his first wife Emmala (née Butler, 1800–48), daughter of Major General William Butler (1758–1821), of South Carolina, and his wife Behethland Foote (née Moore, 1764–1853).
12. Hamlet, I, 4, 15.
13. In letter 3320 EBB wrote: “We are invited to the Clives on wednesday [i.e., the 11th]– I shall not go, I think.”
14. Caroline Archer Clive’s pen name.
15. The Storys at 93 Piazza di Spagna were midway between the Clives’ apartment in Via San Sebastianello (see AB-3) and the Brownings’ rooms in Via Bocca di Leone, the total distance being a short walk.
16. In his introduction to Robert Hall’s Modern Infidelity Considered (Philadelphia, 1853), J. Newton Brown followed his remarks on EBB (see letter 3320, note 2) with similar commentary on the Howitts: “William and Mary Howitt are called Quakers, but they have long ceased to be connected with the Society of Friends. They have no definite creed. They never attend any place of worship. If any thing, they are Unitarians, with a leaning toward Swedenborg” (p. 24).
17. Modern Infidelity Considered, p. 25.
18. The seven churches of Asia Minor to whom the letter of St. John is addressed in the opening chapters of the book of Revelation.
19. Fredrika Bremer, The Homes of the New World; Impressions of America, trans. Mary Howitt (3 vols., 1853).
20. “And what has been the influence on Fredericka Bremer, whose writings Mary Howitt first introduced to the British public? Miss Bremer is filled with a Swedish dilution of Straussism. She takes Emerson to be a prophet indeed” (Modern Infidelity Considered, p. 24).
21. The letter in the 13 January 1854 issue of The Church and State Gazette is signed “T.W.”—i.e., Thomas Westwood. Referring to the notice in the 30 December 1853 issue he wrote: “though in no wise authorized to enter the lists in vindication of that lady’s religious creed, I may, perhaps, be permitted to show, by reference to a brief passage or two from her published works, that this alleged Unitarianism is a gross error, if not a gratuitous invention, on the part of the American writer” (p. 27). He goes on to quote from The Seraphim, “Cowper’s Grave,” and “A Drama of Exile” to support his statement.
22. This portion of the letter is written on the flap of the envelope, half of which is torn away, resulting in loss of text here and below.
23. Unidentified.
24. We have been unable to explain EBB’s concern for George Barrett Hunter.
25. A sketch that EBB mentioned in letter 3299.
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