4175. EBB to Jane Wills-Sandford
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 25, 117–119.
Casa Guidi–
[11] May– [1858] [1]
Yes, I believe, my dearest Jane, I must confess to it, .. I was “waiting to write a letter.” And that’s so foolish—it is so much better, as you say, to write between washing one’s face & hands, a word, a line, any fresh thing which drops from one to witness of one’s life & one’s heart. Well—I shall behave better now, be sure–
But I have been unwell & am still weak, very, & have come to diet on quinine & to arm “in complete steel” [2] (pills) in order to get a little strength for summer plans. At present I only plan to drive an hour, or two, at farthest, & at the risk of feeling very tired afterward. We have not however given up getting to Paris this summer– Robert ought to see his father, it seems to both of us– Otherwise, what I would give to be let alone quietly in my Italy for the next … as much of the century as I shall live!– You make such a noise in the north, all of you. As to England, I shut my eyes & cover my head for what I take to be immoral & ignoble in late movements there– I who am a democrat to the roots of my nails & hair, can see only one noble man in Europe (except a few in Piedmont) & that is Napoleon the third– He has shown extraordinary magnanimity on the conspiracy & Bernard question– [3]
Robert & Penini are well—the latter all roses & lilies. He loses nothing of the infantine from his face, & when he comes behind me (as I lean back on my low chair), & drops his lips on my forehead with his emphatic “Pet,” so full of love, it seems like a benediction from Swedenborg’s “celestial angels.” [4]
If you were here & looked through our open windows, you would find the “brown wall” almost shielded from your sarcasms, in green leaves & roses .. we have so many shrubs & trees on the terrace– [5] Only there’s noise still in the streets, & I agree with you it’s a drawback–
For books, I am reading a great deal of German chiefly– Auerbach’s ‘Neues Leben’ [6] —do you know it? Hackländer’s ‘Sclaven Leben’ [7] .. have you read it? But Hackländer combines two faults of being round-about like a German, & dislocated in his scenes like Boz in a monthly serial– In French, .. you know ‘Salvator’ by Dumas–? [8] I shall think over some more books for you.
Write. Tell me of yourself– Try to be cheerful & to get rest of the soul– This life, this earth is symbolic– Let us look beyond the symbol.
My love to your sisters—our regards to your father– Our heart’s affection to you.
May God bless you says Robert & your EBB.
Such divine weather since the early days of March!
Address: Angleterre viâ France– / Miss Wills Sandford / Hove Place / Dyke Road / Brighton.
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: Armstrong Browning Library.
1. Day and year provided by postmark.
2. Hamlet, I, 4, 52.
3. Dr. Simon François Bernard (1817–62), a former French naval surgeon, expatriate, and socialist, was arrested on 15 February at his London home and charged as accessory to murder in the deaths of two persons killed in the 14 January assassination attempt on Napoleon III in Paris. He was tried by the Special Commission of the Central Criminal Court, based on the allegation that he acquired materials for the bombs used in the attack. The defence, led by Edwin James, argued that the trial was illegitimate because Bernard was not an English subject and furthermore that there was insufficient evidence to prove him an accessory to murder (see The Times, 17 April 1858, p. 12). Bernard was acquitted on 17 April 1858.
4. The highest order in Emmanuel Swedenborg’s hierarchy of angels (see letter 3343, note 2).
6. Neues Leben: Eine Erzählung (“New Life: A Tale”) by Berthold Auerbach (1812–82) was first published in 1852 at Mannheim. A revised version appeared in 1858 with a different subtitle that began, “Eine Lehrgeschichte”; literally, “A Teaching Story.”
7. Europäisches Sklavenleben (Stuttgart, 1855), which depicts the social/economic “white slavery” of Europe, including that of writers (publishers’ slaves). In letter 4145, EBB mentioned reading Eugen Stillfried by the same author.
8. Alexandre Dumas (père), Salvator (14 vols., 1855–59), a sequel to Les Mohicans de Paris (19 vols., 1854–55). The two novels “form a loosely collected series of scenes representing Paris life from 1827 to 1830” and feature “young artists and actors, spies, criminals, Carbonarist conspirators, and so forth” (Arthur F. Davidson, Alexandre Dumas (père): His Life and Works, Philadelphia and Westminster, 1902, p. 300).
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