4157. EBB to Euphrasia Fanny Haworth
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 25, 84–86.
[Florence]
[3 April 1858] [1]
My dearest Fanny, How sorry I have been for you (& for me),—how very, very sorry I have been for you. Of all the ills to which you have looked in melancholy moods, catching the meazles has not probably been one. But here is the effect, you see, of exercising Christian virtues, & visiting the sick! I am not likely to “go & do likewise”, [2] even if I were able to go & see you—for I am horribly & ignobly frightened for the sake of Penini, I confess humbly as I ought– I do hope you feel a little better today, & that in another day or so, you will be up & about again. The malady is said to be milder here than in England. But oh, naughty, naughty person, to have seen, spoken with, & touched, a patient under meazles—! What could be in your head?
Let me tell you however what is in mine– I fancy that perhaps, perhaps, .. by a possibility, .. the evil may turn to a good,—& that from the revolution in the blood caused by this illness, you may lose some of your habitual suffering– I have a sort of hope.
We have heard of Hume—first, that his power has returned tenfold & that he has held a remarkable seânce at Rome, at Mrs Phipps’s– [3] 2dly that he has written from Rome to say he is going to be married, .. to a girl of 18, of family, fortune .. daughter of a Russian general [4] .. (not stainless in reputation, says an enemy) thirdly,—that, after his marriage, he goes to Naples, & comes here– Meanwhile, Robert has just read in the ‘Globe’ that ‘Hume the conjurer,’ is at Lyons, [5] & about to exhibit at the theatre there— Which is morally impossible of course, but which Robert believes firmly because it is discreditable to medium & spirits–
Mr Jarves doubts the marriage taking place, on the ground that Hume changes his mind every two hours. We shall see. But if it is true, would you not rather be thrown to lions than be the bride? Think what a position! Between epilepsy & an influx of black spirits– For black spirits there certainly are, among them–
Major Gregory was here yesterday, & talked of the water-cure establishment [6] to which he has begun to have recourse twice a day with the greatest advantage. It is’nt a bad idea, is it, to live comfortably at home, & visit the establishment? Think of it. He says the arrangements are excellent for bathing, but impossible for living. You might drive there every morning.
Yesterday evening a great party went from here, .. all the Perkins, Mr Inchbold, Robert, Isa Blagden & Annette, in two carriages, .. to Prato, to see the grand festa there [7] —which was striking Robert says– He was at home before one in the morning, in time for some chocolate– As for me, I was in bed before nine– I am wretchedly weak in spite of cod’s liver oil, & must be patient to be stronger.
Do you know that Lord Normanby is removed from the ambassadorship in Florence, & that a Mr Howard (first secretary in Paris) reigns in his stead? [8] He is a widower–
We have had a letter from Ruskin, [9] but no news—except that Spurgeon has “emptied himself,” & wants more reading, or thinking out of doors– He (Ruskin) cries aloud too, just in my sense, over the desolation of all the churches in all lands!– After all, he has not taken off his shoes before Spurgeonism–
Robert persists in homœopathy, & is more & more satisfied–
Dearest Fanny, I wont let Robert go to see you, nor Peni .. but short of that, if I can do anything for you, bid me do it. Wilson will bring any message– Dont send Trautchen– I am a coward, a coward– But as you get better you will like broth or soup or jelly, or something that Ferdinando can make for you– So prove your love for me by using him as if he were yours—will you? Ask freely for anything you can fancy, & please me really, really.
Your very affectionate Ba.
Address: Miss Haworth.
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: Fitzwilliam Museum.
1. Date provided by EBB’s reference to the “grand festa” of “yesterday evening,” which took place on 2 April 1858 (see letter 4155, note 3).
2. Cf. Luke 10:37.
3. Maria Louisa Phipps (née Campbell, formerly Norton, 1809–88), who married in 1838 Edmund Phipps (1808–57), younger brother of the 1st Marquess of Normanby. Mrs. Phipps’s first husband, Charles Francis Norton (1807–35), was the brother-in-law of Caroline Norton (née Sheridan, 1808–77) and uncle of Thomas Brinsley Norton (1831–77).
5. The Globe and Traveller of 1 April 1858 carried the following item from its correspondent in France: “Hume [sic, for Home], the magnetic Thaumaturgus, has arrived at Lyons and his ‘playbill’ lies before me; he appears to-morrow at the local theatre, and numerous experiments are announced. The programme is headed by a testimonial from the famous Abbé Lacordaire, who professes his own conviction that magnetic influence is an ascertained fact, and that the visual power of clairvoyance cannot be called in question, whatever M.D. or D.D. may urge to the contrary” (p. 2). EBB contradicts the story in letter 4159.
6. Water cure therapy took two forms: hydropathy (ingesting large amounts of water, usually upon rising) and hydrotherapy (therapeutic bathing). Evidently, Major Charles Gregorie (1791–1858) was engaged in the latter.
8. Henry George Howard (1818–79), youngest son of George Howard, 6th Earl of Carlisle (1773–1848), had served in diplomatic posts at Paris, The Hague, and Lisbon before his appointment as envoy-extraordinary and minister-plenipotentiary at Florence in March 1858, a post from which he resigned in May of that year. His late wife was Mary Wellesley (née MacTavish, 1826–50), daughter of John MacTavish (1787–1852), British Consul for Maryland, and his wife, Emily Jane (née Caton, 1793–1867).
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