3443. EBB to Sarianna Browning
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 20, 253–255.
[Florence]
[Postmark: 1 July 1854]
<***> exceptionally cool as to prove what your abnormal cold must have been. Punch says the summer has been put off on account of the war. [1] We are all well, & our blessed Penini blossoming like a rose .. not yet looking as robust as he did before Rome, but gaining flesh & making progress everyday. We are entirely comforted about him– The child is in a delirium of good spirits—& Wilson’s opinion is that he must exhaust himself by singing from morning to night .. that “it must be very bad for him.” Every two or three days he goes to spend the day with dear Miss Blagden, at her villa among vineyards & olivegrounds about three quarters of a mile from Florence.
Well– I dont doubt that your Anglo [2] -french chemist has reasons for saying “there is much vitality in the thick air of England.” It is excellent for persons of strong constitutions who are used to it—other persons it puts quietly out of the world .. which may sometimes be an advantage also. We, on our side, at Florence, have advantages, not to be despised– Mr Powers who is learned on such subjects & has a large family of all ages, holds it to be the “healthiest city in Europe, without any comparison”; & I hear of persons who bring delicate children from America & England, who consider the air “miraculous in its effects.” With regard to our Penini who though entirely & thoroughly healthy thank God, is not of an iron or too robust make & habit of body, & who was born here, observe, & has spent nearly all his life here, England never could be as generally favorable as Florence is—it is not possible– He looked a different child in London from what he became after a month or two of Florence. The Thackerays will have told you how completely changed in constitution he seemed to them—and they saw him just after he left England, you remember– He cries & wont walk in a very cold wind even in Italy—and then the great advantage here is, the possibility of being in the open air from morning till night for months & months together. Now, the external air must be better than a shut up room, according to every system—he is on the terraces in this house when he is not in the gardens & the Cascine, & the windows are never closed till eleven oclock at night. Also .. it is a statistical fact that all the fatal child-deseases of England are a mere play here .. measles, hooping-cough, croup &c; scarlet-fever even,—though inflammatory disorders are more common of course, on the whole. The little Ogilvies have nearly died of measles & lung-complaints since they went north, & their parents are intent on bringing them back again as quickly as possible.
At the same time, excessive heat is not good for children, &, although the heat of Florence is perfectly free from malaria, we should not be justified in keeping Penini here whenever it shall become too warm, as I suppose it must soon. Then, we shall have to go somewhere for his sake—& probably (supposing the sufficient money does not come) this will be to the Baths of Lucca again where Mrs Sartoris will take us a house– Robert says that we have’nt means enough even for Lucca at present– July & August are usually the excessively hot months in Florence—but it begins to be too warm for me in general towards the end of June. Not now.
With all this, I should have liked to give Penini a cold bath of English air this summer– Dr Harding did not suggest it. I told him we were going, & he said we could’nt do better for the summer, as the change would be so complete & the bracing so stringent after Rome. He did’nt advise London though, but an English seaside place. He thinks Penini going on beautifully now–
Ah—dearest Sarianna, you have not been more deeply vexed than I, after all. My very heart has ached about it—for you, & Arabel, & me too—it has been horribly disappointing. Also, I wanted to see dearest Trippy, who is more infirm, Arabel says. Life at her age is awfully uncertain. Robert has been “put to his mettle,” I assure you, to console me, & has generally implied some immense compliment to your superior “reasonableness” over the heads of myself & the universal womanhood, before he has been able to finish his discourse. Ah well—we must try & bear up as well as we can, all of us, against fatality, income-tax & the carelessness of our friends,—the last being the most vexatious of the three.
Penini is grateful, tell the dearest nonno, for the pretty verses– My poor Flush– I cant speak of him, but think of him the more. Penini who has singular theories, (& may write a second part to Mr Delaage’s “Eternité Dévoilée,” [3] one day) observed to me when his tears were dry, with a soothing air of consolation, that “in a year” Flush would be “a velly pretty little dog”. He never doubts the prolonged existence of the dog-soul, & may be right after all—who knows?
Think of Robert taking up mesmerism, & ‘practising’ with a stupendous degree of success. He threw a child of thirteen into a deep trance, nostrils contracted, pupils of the eyes convulsed, in half a minute this morning. He is to do me one of these days, but is waiting in order to obtain a greater facility in awakening … which is rather necessary after all.
You see nobody is to be despaired of– Robert’s scepticism is vanishing like a cloud.
Penini’s English vocabulary is increasing, & he comes out with tremendous words sometimes. He’s fond of considering a question “genlally,” for instance. Sometimes the knowledge of the English tongue seems still restricted– He was talking the other day of the propriety of “putting a locket” to one of the doors. I assure you he talks of you as if he did’nt forget you .. “Sayanna” & “my nonno”. The other day he asked me ‘who my papa was’– I was struck dumb for a moment, when he said .. “Oh, I sint I know. My nonno is your papa.” “Yes,” said I—“but he is’nt quite my real papa. I have another real papa.” He asked a great many questions .. and then broke in upon my hesitation with his .. “Now, I know tuite well. George is your papa.” He remembers George perfectly. There was a guess for you!– So ludicrous & so melancholy, that it set me laughing rather hysterically– May God bless you both– Love us—hold us to your hearts, & in your prayers.
Your ever most affectionate Ba–
Address, in RB’s hand: France. / Mademoiselle Browning, / chez M. Byrne, / Avenue des Champs Elysées 138. / Paris.
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: Lilly Library.
1. A brief item in the 17 June 1854 issue of Punch reads: “Another Postponement.—People are wondering at the absence of the Summer; but the fact is, it has been postponed in consequence of the War” (p. 259).
2. Underscored three times.
3. L’éternité dévoilée ou vie future des âmes après la mort (1854) by Henri Delaage (1825–82), French author who had earlier published L’initiation aux mystères du magnetisme (1847).
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