3956. EBB to Anna Brownell Jameson
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 23, 199–201.
Florence.
Jany– 9. [1857] [1]
Dearest Madonna, I heard by a mere accident of the legacy to you, [2] just before you wrote, and both Robert & I were very glad, only wishing it had been more– Also, it was great pleasure to know about the Procters. [3] Of ourselves my previous letter has spoken enough—but in taking account of the addition to our income, you must remember to deduct the hundred a year which we received from our lost friend’s generosity– We are relieved from money-pressure:—and it remains hard to feel as a benefit what involves such a grief .. such a loss—while, through the mischance of the Athenæum statement, [4] (not due to Mr Chorley) come troops of acquaintance with mouths full of smiling compliment, to confront one’s heart full of sadness. Of course people think that a good fortune has fallen to us from the stars, as a literary distinction, & that we pay no price for it in pain. In reply to your question .. no I hear of no bequest to my sisters—not to Henrietta, to whom it would have been important– Arabel is not likely to require it– [5] The other side of the house had no sort of claim. Our beloved friend died, as he lived, with the desire of diffusing good, and with hands full of gifts– May the divine Goodness & Grace have received & satisfied him. We shall all miss his face & his voice very long, meantime–
Is it true then, really, that you will come to Florence in January? Then you dont mean to go to Rome at all? Tanto meglio. [6] Only, mind you dont arrange to go to Rome for the spring,—because that would be a topsy turvy sort of arrangement, & quite wrong both for health & pleasures. Springs belong to Florence, remember,—never forget that. Also, if you have Rome in your head (as I fear you have) you save both time & money in crossing straight to Civita Vecchia, & letting us catch & hold you in the rebound– Any way I am very, very glad that you are coming—glad for you, & glad for us. You will be better & lighter out of all the din & kin, & in a state of pure abstraction, such as one arrives at in leaving England for Italy– It is a real satisfaction to me to think of your sisters’ being settled in Brighton, & on the road to make themselves independent [7] —and you should be glad of it (may I dare to say so?) for the sake of their moral dignity, were that the only reason– Forgive me if ‘daring to say so’ is very impertinent.
Will you, while I think of it, & since you ask whether you can do anything for me, .. will you bring me at the cost of one shilling, a pair of sugar-tongs– I have seen heaps at the bazaar for that price. Anything will do—only sugar-tongs– Though I am unEnglish people say & I partly believe, yet I am too English still to use my finger & thumb with the true continental frankness. I have the ‘Morgue Britannique’ [8] somewhere at my finger-tips you see. Also, there’s a disinterested friend [9] who has lent me her sugar tongs here, & wont be persuaded to take them back till obviously I dont want them.
I have very extravagant letters about ‘Aurora,’ which really I could laugh or cry over .. with more reasons for crying, perhaps– It surprises me that the book should’nt have given more offence in various quarters—but, I dare say, Blackwood will make amends for any shortcomings in this respect. [10] You tell me that the ‘form’ is objected to—meaning, probably, the modern effects &c, of which dear Mr Procter has spoken to me– [11] But “the form,” in this sense, is my experiment, & I dont “give it up” yet, having considered the subject much & long. Chapman seems very long in getting out the new edition [12] We have not received yet Mr Procter’s volume [13] which he gave us. So slow they are at Chapman’s.
Ah, dearest Madonna, it is really a pity to contradict the story about Dante’s hands– [14] What a pity! I should have been enchanted to have had such a coronation. Alas,—we never had but one séance with Hume, at Ealing, two summers ago, [15] & I think I told you the particulars. Nobody thought of Dante on that occasion: the ‘hands’ were perfectly anonymous: and the ‘Spirits’ intended me, in what they did, no manner of distinctive compliment– We arrived at Mr Rymer’s by daylight & Hume, showing us the pretty garden, said that he would prepare a garland of flowers, & that afterwards he would ask ‘the spirits’ to put it on my head– You know (or peradventure you dont know) the Americans’ knack of making beautiful wreaths of flowers, .. with a skill & grace quite peculiar. A very pretty wreath was made then, and laid upon the table; &, when the ‘spirits’ gave sign of presence, Hume solicited one of them to place it on my head,—which was accordingly done, and the “spiritual hand” passed slowly over my lap so that I steadily perceived it & formed a strong opinion on the subject of it. I took the wreath with me as a memorial of the seánce, & hung it on my dressing-glass; &, when it was nearly withered to dust, Robert, with an exclamation of scorn at my keeping it, threw it out of the window into the street. That was his share of reverence towards the phenomenon. So contradict, contradict, as fast as you like– A male friend of mine [16] came here the other day to enquire seriously of me whether the report which was going through Florence had any truth in it .. viz .. that ‘Aurora Leigh’ was written by the spirits & that I was, in the most mechanical sense, the mere instrument! This story is nearly as good as yours. People are very foolish, but certain facts are very undeniable, or will not be denied long–
Be well, be gay, and love me, as I do you—whether you are gay or sad
yours always
Ba
Address: Angleterre viâ France– / Mrs Jameson / Ealing / London.
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: Berg Collection.
1. Year provided by postmark.
2. £100, as set forth in John Kenyon’s will (see SD1993).
3. Bryan Waller Procter received £6,500 (see SD1993).
5. Kenyon left £100 to each of EBB’s sisters.
6. “So much the better.”
7. Mrs. Jameson’s sisters living at Brighton were Eliza Murphy, Charlotte Alicia Murphy, and Camilla Sherwin (née Murphy), whose husband had died in 1849.
8. “British arrogance.”
9. Presumably Isa Blagden. She had lent “tongs” to EBB the year before (see letter 3751).
11. See the second paragraph in letter 3931.
12. i.e., the second edition of Aurora Leigh.
13. Dramatic Scenes, with Other Poems (1857).
14. As indicated by EBB in the following letter, the “story” came from an article in The Court Journal for 13 December 1856 that reported on Daniel Dunglas Home’s presence at the French imperial court and that included a fanciful account of the Brownings’ séance at Ealing (though implying the séance took place in Florence): “One of our greatest English poets, being in communication with the medium, asked for the summons of Dante. The presence of the latter was immediately made manifest … and Mr. B-- then asked the medium to request the great Italian to make himself visible! Presently there arose, as if from the ground beneath the table, two long, thin, yellow hands. … While the assembly were yet gazing in breathless awe, and maybe something of terror likewise, the hands floated away … and rose to the marble console opposite, upon which stood a vase containing an orange tree in blossom. The hands slowly and softly, without noise, but visibly to all, plucked from the stem a sprig of the orange flower with its leaves and buds, and, returning to the table, paused above the head of Mrs. B--, the poet’s wife, herself an exquisite and beautiful poet likewise, and, placing the sprig upon her raven hair, disappeared gradually from sight. … The sprig of orange blossom is religiously preserved by Mr. B--, whose honour and truth are unimpeachable” (p. 805).
15. On 23 July 1855 at the home of John Snaith Rymer. See RB’s description of this séance in letter 3587.
16. James Jackson Jarves; see the second paragraph in letter 3957.
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