3428. EBB to Eliza Anne Ogilvy
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 20, 234–239.
[Florence]
June 8– [1854] [1]
My dear friend I begin at once to answer your letter, with a throb of selfreproach for not having answered the one before– I took for granted too much that you were all well & happy again .. dear little Marcia having escaped the danger as I seemed to understand. How grieved I am that more trial should have fallen on you– [2] Heavy & grievous, indeed! I pity not least, dear Mr Ogilvy in the course of that dreadful journey from London with the weight of all that anxiety. Will it not be wise to take the children into a mild climate for next winter? I would not, if I were you, risk keeping them either in England or Scotland, while they may not yet have outgrown the tendencies to delicacy of chest. And I too have had my anxieties .. which is the only good reason I can give you for not having written before, & which is a reason beside for my being able to feel for you in yours– I told you how frightened I was, without cause, all the winter long, my Penini keeping his radiant looks through the disastrous casualties of the season in Rome. Some seven weeks ago, however, he had an attack .. diar[r]hœa attended by feverishness, .. & immediately afterward—two others .. so that we had to call in a physician three times which was extraordinary for us– The symptoms yielded at once to the treatment, but the child (I never saw him so unwell before) fell away in looks & strength & flesh, grew nearly as pale as this paper, with blue marks under the precious eyes– Oh, I was so thankful to bring him away from that fatal Rome! He rallied as we travelled—yet it is humiliating to hear from our Florentines .. “Come é cangiato questo bambino! Dio mio, come é divenuto secco e pallido!” [3] Too true indeed– As if a rose had shaken off its leaves—so has all his brilliancy & prettiness gone away! He is much grown but has not shot up—there has been no irregular growth to account for the thinness & delicacy which are traceable clearly to past illness– Now, he is perfectly well, with a voracious appetite, (for him)—sleeps well & shows his usual volatile spirits– Also, considering that he has only been a week in Florence, it is surprising how he has improved already .. the little arms getting firmer, & the dreadful blue marks under the eyes vanishing fast—but oh Rome, Rome, step-“mother of orphans” [4] (having murdered the fathers & mothers!) I shall find it difficult to forgive thee!
Wilson & I are meditating, only from today, the putting my Penini into a blouse– I did’nt think I should bear it .. but she tacked up a pattern & dressed him in it .. low in the neck & with short sleeves .. and I bore it pretty well– As for you .. yes you “horrified” me, just as you thought—! Alexander is six months older than Penini, & he is six years before him in costume—I hope it will be at least six years before Penini wears a tunic & cloth trowsers .. save the mark. (on the knees!) And you a poetess! Well, I cant make you out. If you “drew an angel down” [5] like St Cecilia, you would equip him directly in “pants and vest” like an American—to say nothing of cutting the ‘hyacinthine locks’ [6] into a ‘crop’. And you have’nt even the fashion in your favour—boys are kept in high blouses now till they are twelve or fourteen. Mrs Sartoris’s boy at Rome, who is eleven & manly enough to ride fifteen miles and read Latin, wears the blouse & embroidered trowsers & collars– And we used to see great boys of ten & eleven in Paris walking out in the morning with their hair in curlpapers to secure the afternoon’s ringlets– Not that I admire such a process as the last. I would avoid that other extreme too– I confine myself to hoping devoutly that by the time Penini is twelve years old, (the age for entertaining the idea of cutting off ringlets) the fashion of the day for men may be to wear long hair parted in the middle like Milton & the Germans & himself.
Rome made me amends in one thing. It seems to me that I mentioned to you Page the great American artist, & his wonderful portraits. Well– he painted a picture of Robert like Titian, & then like a prince presented it to me– I resisted long, & at last yielded to a generosity so earnest & delicate that it was worthy of the nature of the man– He told me that I should frustrate his intentions in painting the picture if I did not accept it– It is a head the size of life, exquisitely painted & literal in the likeness, & might take place, as to colouring, with the work of any Venetian master. The artist has discoveries in colour which will presently make him an acknowledged power in Art. Fisher the English artist also achieved a successful portrait of Robert this last winter, and a cartoon of Penini, not quite so happy– He said that the infantine character of Penini’s face made him a beautiful subject—but he never offered me a sketch even of the finished cartoon which I thought rather hard but very reasonable of course– If Pages were common (even on the point of the moral nature) the world would be nobler & pleasanter, but commerce would’nt flourish. By the way, Mr Page is a Swedenborgian——and, by the way, again, Maurice [7] whom you admire so much & whose last essays I have been reading with deep interest, entertains precisely the view against the commonly received one of the resurrection of the body which Swedenborg teaches, [8] & which I held unconsciously before I knew him. Does Mr Ogilvy remember how he called me “very heterodox” on the subject, when we discussed it once in this room? I was struck with surprise & pleasure at Maurice’s adhesion—though from his non-reception of the Swedenborgian philosophy of the spiritual world, he does it at the risk of certain inconsistencies & difficulties. By the way, I dont agree with all Maurice’s theology– For instance his view of regeneration seems to me contrary to the world’s experience to say nothing of the Christian’s. [9] I hold the necessity of the “new birth” in every individual, as much as Methodist or Calvinist does—& I can see the fact as clearly as the fact of sin. So it seems to me at least–
We find our beautiful Florence more attractive than ever, green with vineyards & vocal into the very streets as we walk along them, with nightingales. Both of us are inclined to stay on here & not go northwards—but there appears a duty in the case, & we should give too much pain by changing our plans. Therefore we shall probably go in about a fortnight, to London through Paris where we shall remain only a few days. Robert has a book to see through the press in London—mine is not ready. You say nothing of the two volumes, in prose & verse, you once spoke of. [10] I am afraid you would find it difficult if not impossible, to make a publisher print verse for you at his own risk. Frederick Tennyson did—but then there was the Tennyson name. Alexander Smith was an exception everyway– I dont understand that case. My edition before the last I received about a hundred pounds for as ‘half profits’—a large edition of above a thousand copies!—and if that is “all right” I cant conceive how either publisher or author can make fortunes & live in villas at Wimbledon. The present edition is out on the same terms only– Poetry makes a bad metier, one must confess. Have you anything in the “Book of Beauty” of this year? We have—both Robert & I [11] .. Mr Procter having written & entreated us at Rome to give a little help to the editress who has had the smallpox & is more straightened than usual in her circumstances. Tell me what you think of Frederick Tennyson’s poems. He is a dear friend of ours—he has the poetical element, the melody, the richness of vocabulary—but he seems to me to see, feel, think, speak nothing distinctly. It’s all haze—a golden haze certainly. The war is lamentable, but I am considerably comforted by the fact of the Anglo-french alliance which is good for each nation, & for the general civilization of the world. Our poor Italians are in despair at the adhesion (such as it is) of Austria [12] —and I, for my own part, am sorry at the pretext being so withdrawn for a blow over the clenched jaws of the beast that holds Lombardy.
We had some delightful days on the Roman Campagna .. one exquisite day in Villa Adriana at Tivoli, with the Kembles– That’s the best part of our visit to Rome. Since our return we have spent a few pleasant evenings at friends’ villas– Mr Lytton’s for one. We are going today to turn tables at Mr Kirkup’s with certain “models” who are model ‘mediums’ as well, it seems. I say that Robert is prepared to bear with the “spirits” for the sake of the bad earthly company (out of pure masculine curiosity) and he retorts that it’s vice versâ with me. Mr Kirkup is deep in the subject of tables &c just now, and so is his friend Mr Knox the maker of rubies & elixirs. [13] Mrs Stuart has gone to England & Scotland with her eldest boy, and Mr Stuart having heard of a foreign correspondentship in a mercantile house at Manchester, says he will go there for a hundred & fifty pounds a year if they will give it. [14] Manchester & a hundred & fifty a year, in change for Florence! .. “and nothing’[’], you will add. No, he gets fifty from the Wises [15] for reading three hours four times a week with the two boys, and then he has literary work & other occupation more or less certain. I think I would hesitate before accepting England & the expenses of an English life on such a pittance– But England looks well at a distance. For my part Florence seems to me preferable as a place of residence to all other places, especially now when the completed railroads bring it nearer to the north–
Do write soon & give me better news of yourself & all of you—dear Mr Ogilvy among the rest. It must be very injurious to you to have such long trains of sadness & anxiety. May God bless & take care of you all.
As to the Ruskin mystery, if I understand at all, (and it was only an awful whisper which came to us at Rome) the woman must be .. what shall I say? .. a beast .. to speak mildly. [16] This, at least, according to my own views of what human nature & bestial nature are severally.
With best love from Robert & myself to the whole round of you, believe me dearest Mrs Ogilvy
your ever affectionate
Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
Write at once or we may miss your letter, our movements being quite uncertain, & I long to hear of you quickly besides. I sent Gigia’s letter, & will enclose back to her any answer I may receive. It will be a great loss if you have to lose her– Do the children keep up their Italian? Has Alexander begun to read yet, and to write? And Marcia? I teach Penini about half an hour a day. He reads easy books, and writes remarkably well– He is not as keen just now about his drawing– The military tasks are in ascendency, though he told me the other day that he would’nt go into a battle till he was seven, which is satisfactory for the present. He is emulous of the dignities of the earth, & confided to me when he was at Rome, that he would like very much to be the Pope. “What,” said I, “would you rather be the Pope than Louis Napoleon?” After a pause of consideration—“No– I would much more lather (rather) be Napoleon. Lat’s tlue”. (That’s true.) Penini, too, has a certain interest about the war,—& observed the other day with proper contempt that he “sought at first lose naughty Lussians were more stlong.” (thought them stronge<r.)>
Publication: EBB-EAHO, pp. 119–125.
Manuscript: Eton College Library.
1. Year provided by EBB’s references to the Brownings’ experiences in Rome.
2. In letter 3443 EBB writes: “The little Ogilvies have nearly died of measles & lung-complaints since they went north.”
3. “How this child has changed! My God, how thin and pale he has become!”
4. Cf. Byron, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (1818), IV, lxxviii, 1–3.
5. John Dryden, Alexander’s Feast; or the Power of Musique. An Ode, in Honour of St. Cecilia’s Day (1697), line 180.
6. Milton, Paradise Lost, IV, 301.
7. Frederick Denison Maurice (1805–72), Anglican clergyman, theologian, and author of Theological Essays (1853), to which EBB refers. Maurice had been professor of theology at King’s College, London, since 1846, but a few months after the publication of Theological Essays he was dismissed for his heterodox denial of “the eternal punishment of impenitent sinners” (ODNB). A self-avowed Christian Socialist, Maurice helped found the Working Men’s College in London, which opened in October 1854.
8. In Theological Essays, Maurice refers to scripture to show that body and spirit are resurrected as one (see p. 179). Swedenborg believed that after death man would perceive no change in his outward appearance (see letter 3190, note 22).
9. Maurice sees Regeneration as the restoration, through Christ, “of Humanity to its true and proper condition,” both socially and spiritually (Theological Essays, p. 248). The prevailing Christian view is that Regeneration means spiritual rebirth, that the one regenerated becomes a new person through the acceptance of Jesus Christ as the savior.
10. Apparently Mrs. Ogilvy abandoned whatever plan she had for “two volumes, in prose & verse.” Her next published book was Poems of Ten Years, 1846–1855 (1856).
11. See letter 3355, note 1. EBB has confused The Book of Beauty with The Keepsake, both edited by Marguerite, Countess of Blessington, until her death in 1849.
12. England, France, Austria, and Prussia had signed a protocol on 9 April 1854 in Vienna that declared “the determination of the Four Powers to guarantee the integrity and independence of the Ottoman Empire, and to obtain the evacuation of the Danubian Principalities. Austria and Prussia approve the coercive measures adopted by the Western Powers—that is, the declaration of war—which they considered founded en droit. The contracting parties pledge themselves not to treat separately with Russia, and to persevere in their exertions to bring about the conclusion of peace” (The Times, 21 April 1854, p. 8). Until this point, both Prussia and Austria had remained publicly neutral regarding Russian aggression towards Turkey.
13. Probably George Knox (b. 1808?), an alchemist. His obituary in The Dubuque Herald of 10 December 1898 (p. 7), reprinted from The Sun (New York), states that “he died the other day in London at the age of somewhere about 90 years.” As a young man, he journeyed to the East “seeking information concerning the recondite and occult.” He inherited “three small fortunes” at various times in his life: “One fortune went in the making of a few small rubies and a commercially valueless diamond. The elixir of life swallowed up the second.”
14. Nothing, evidently, came of this scheme. In his Reminiscences and Essays (1884), Stuart states: “After an absence of eight years, I revisited England in the summer of 1858” (p. 20).
15. Unidentified.
16. The marriage of John Ruskin and his wife, Euphemia (“Effie”) Chalmers Ruskin (née Gray, 1828–97), was not a happy one. “On 25 April 1854 … Ruskin was served with a legal citation … claiming the nullity of the marriage. Following an undefended hearing in the ecclesiastical commissary court of Surrey on 15 July 1854, the marriage was annulled on the grounds that ‘the said John Ruskin was incapable of consummating the same by reason of incurable impotency’” (ODNB). Ruskin later denied this. Effie told her father, in a letter of 1854, that Ruskin had been “disgusted with my person the first evening” (ODNB). Speculation has led to various interpretations of that statement and to various alternative explanations for the failure of the marriage, none of which has been substantiated. About a year after the annulment, Effie married John Everett Millais.
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