366.5. Edmund Henry Barker to EBB
Addendum to The Brownings’ Correspondence, vol. 2.
Paetus & Arria:—
“I think your criticism on the Epigram on Paetus & Arria, not only correct, but expressed with great felicity of language. I see no incompatibility in the union of tenderness and fortitude in the character of Arria, & I deem both the sentiment & style of this morceau as doing great honour to Martial. I know not on what hinges your controversy with Miss Barrett in relation to this poet; but I easily conceive that Martial may be justly & peculiarly obnoxious to a female; for though frequently commendable for terseness of diction, & occasionally for pathos of sentiment, as in the Epigram before us, yet how frequently is he the patron of grossness & indecency. In a literary point of view too, I cannot but consider him as not seldom laboured & artificial. Were all his indelicate Epigrams omitted, however, & a few which are inefficient, the residue would form an elegant & delightful little volume. Pitman in his Excerpta has given us a selection of nearly 200, & in his address to the reader justly observes, speaking of the mixed character of the Epigrammata: ‘Existimavi igitur me non inutilem operam praestiturum esse, si futilioribus abjectir, meliora in unum farciculum collegerim.” Dr Nathan Drake, Hadleigh, Oct. 27, 1829.
“I have often read the Letter of Pliny, to which you allude, & have always admired it. Perhaps I may go so far with Dr Jortin as to admit that the words, Paete, non dolet, cannot be paraphrased without losing much of their beauty.”
The Rev. E. Cogan, Walthamstow.
I happen by accident to have now under my eye the following passage from one of the Greek Fathers: it is, I suppose, in Mr Boyd’s book, which I do not happen to have at hand; but as it is short, & may not be in his book, I will transcribe it. I think it very simple & sublime:— “Who is or what is my God? I asked the Earth, & it said, I am not; I asked the Sea, & the Deeps, & all living Creatures, & they answered, We are not thy God: look above us, & inquire after him; for here he is not. I asked the Air, & all its inhabitants, yea the Heavens, Sun, Moon, & Stars, & they confessed, We are not he, whom thy soul seeketh. In short, to an attentive inquirer everything discovers its own emptiness, & its maker’s fulness, its own inability, & its maker’s sufficiency.”
Since I wrote the above, I have examined Mr Boyd’s Translations, & I do not find this passage in it.
Thetford,
Febr. 1, 1830.
My dear Madam,
You have, no doubt, read the ancient Poet, who says that silence best becomes a woman! Or else why this long interval in our correspondence? Are your faculties frozen up, as well as your ink? Or have you taken leave of human nature, & passed into the world of spirits? In November I heard from Mr Boyd that you had two Poems on the anvil, & I have had no later communication from him. Several months have elapsed since you informed me of your intention to write to <me> about various points; but I have heard <noth>ing from you. Then I sent to you the 2d volume of the Parriana, but even that could not tempt you into an exercise of penmanship. I am going from home for a week, but I shall be glad to hear from you at any subsequent time, when you may be in the right mood to write.
I lately published a reprint of a very elegant little book, full of sense & wit, very attractive to young persons, with highly finished Wood-cuts, pr. 2, Mr Whittaker of Ave Maria Lane, Paternoster Row, has purchased the entire impression, 2040 copies, so that I have none for presentations. Yet I could wish you to get a copy of the book, not only because you will be amused by it, but bece you will see in my Preface the passage from Dugald Stewart, to which you drew my attention. Pray see too whether you cannot write a little story, or a series of tales suitable for young persons, & calculated for books of that description. If you will furnish me with a little volume or two of that kind, I will send it forth in the same attractive form, in which the Toyshop appears: only let what you write, be worthy of your talents & virtues, & a great improvement on the general run of such books, because it is part of my charity to send forth a series of excellent books for the pretty little Masters & Misses.
I have completed for Mr Valpy’s School & College Greek Classics an edn of Demosthenes, (Select Orations, pr. s8/6.) It is his book, & therefore I have no copies for presentations; but you will find in the notes several articles to interest you; & you must take courage to purchase the book. I particularly invite your attention to the notes on πζοπίνω & σπεζμολόγος, whose meanings I have traced with lexicographical accuracy: there is also a long note on ἐκπεζιουσίας, the true meaning of which I have fixed beyond all further controversy.
You have perhaps observed in some of the periodicals my Prospectus for the reprint of Dr Webster’s American Dicty of the English Language, of which the 1st No will appear on Febr. 15. It is an admirable work full of learning, containing explanations of technical & scientific terms according to the present principles of art & science. The English Grammar prefixed is the best in the language. You must not subscribe from mere goodwill to me, but if you desire to possess a cheap & excellent Dicty for use, I would invite your attention to this work. I remain, my dear Madam,
Most truly yours,
E. H. Barker
Address, on integral page: Miss Barrett / Hope-End / Ledbury.
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: Armstrong Browning Library.
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