4214. John Forster to RB
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 25, 172–174.
46 Montagu Square
15th July 1858
My dear Browning. I suppose in all my hurried busy life, and its endless employes and distractions, I never passed such a week as this has been since your letter reached me. I received it on Monday morning last—it must have reached on Saturday night when I was away from home– And I have (most literally) not had a moment to myself since then. —I now only write a most hurried line, because you tell me that you remain where you are only “a week or so”—and write that you should hear from me before you leave. —What has most harassed me during this week has been this unhappy business of Bulwer’s wife. [1] I cannot go in to it even to you, in the brief space I have. Suffice to say that in the step he took he had ample justification. Though for his own sake it was most unwise & imprudent—and I warned him of all that has followed—it is really difficult to say that it was not forced upon him. I pray you, therefore, to form no judgment in the case till you know circumstances which at present you cannot know. Out of unspeakable misery, however, may come yet great good—and Robert Lytton has been behaving nobly all through. [2] I am not without hope that all will be well at last—far better than it has ever been. So much for that——but before I leave the subject, in giving my love to Mrs Browning, entreat her from me not to form any opinion till she knows all from me. All the horrible story she can never know—but enough may be told to render the rest intelligible.
—But that is only one subject. Without any previous intimation I received a letter on Monday morning from Landor to say that hed leave Bath by an early train & be in London before 12 that day. Since that time accordingly he and his younger niece—joined on Tuesday afternoon by his elder niece—have been staying with us in Montagu Square. [3] I am keeping him out of the way of a silly & monstrous action of libel brought against him. [4] None of that, either, I cannot here say–
—Then, thirdly—this day I receive intimation that our poor Macready has come suddenly to town to stay with us for a few days. I have not yet seen him. I am going home to do so as soon as I close this letter. I know nothing of what has brought him– Poor Macready! he left us only a fortnight since, after we had laid in Kensal Green Cemetery by the side of poor Mrs Macready, and Joan, and Nina, and Walter, and Henry—the loveliest, prettiest, most gentle & loving, most accomplished,—Oh Browning I cannot tell you what dear little Lily Macready was! “Little” I call her—but she was so tall—and the handsomest of all. [5] She was only 16. She was the pride of the whole house. Scarletina attacked her & she died in a few days. I doubt if Macready will ever be himself again. —This is a sad letter: but write to me again where you are, & I’ll try to be more cheerful. God bless Mrs Browning & you & the dear little Penini. My love– Our love to you all—for my wife heartily shares that wish. —Moxon fell into rapid consumption—quite extraordinary. [6]
I am ever—my dear friends—your affectionate,
John Forster
PS. I have done all I could for Mr Stuart– [7] And he is kind enough to think I may have done him some service. My best attempts have not been wanting.
Address: France– Affranchie / Monsr / Monsr Robert Browning / Hotel de Londres / Rue St. Hyacinthe St. Honoré / Paris.
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: Berg Collection.
1. Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton separated from his wife, Rosina, in 1836 after nine years of marriage. In the deed of separation, he claimed the children and left her an annual income of £400. Lady Bulwer-Lytton thought neither provision was just and spent much of the rest of her life presenting her case to the public, often in ways humiliating to her husband. “At the parliamentary election at Hertford on 8 June 1858 (which was to confirm him in the recently offered post of colonial secretary), in the midst of his address from the hustings Rosina pushed her way through the crowd and denounced him as a monster who should himself have been transported to the colonies long ago for mistreating his wife and murdering his daughter. Deeply humiliated and sorely provoked, he reacted by having her committed to a private asylum. He had, however, underestimated the influence of her friends, and of his enemies: mobilizing the anti-government press on her behalf, she was released within the month, whereupon Bulwer felt obliged to increase her settlement and pay off her debts” (ODNB).
2. In an attempt to quiet the controversy surrounding his parents (though more particularly, to exonerate his father), Robert Bulwer Lytton wrote a letter to the press on 17 July, enclosing certificates from Dr. Forbes Winslow and Dr. Conolly justifying Lady Bulwer-Lytton’s release. These appeared in The Observer the following day and were widely reprinted elsewhere.
3. Forster refers to Elizabeth Sophia (“Sophy”) Landor (1815–89) and her sister Catherine Mary (“Kitty”) Landor (1817–92), daughters of Walter Savage Landor’s brother Charles Savage Landor (1777–1849) and his wife, Catherine (née Wilson, 1777–1854). The following year, when RB became the old poet’s de facto guardian, the elder niece acted as liaison between RB and the Landor family in England.
4. In the spring and summer of 1857, Landor became involved in a controversy with Mary Jane Yescombe (née Crosbie, formerly Massy, 1816–78), of Bath. He felt that he had been slandered by her in regard to his relationship with a mutual acquaintance, a young woman named Geraldine Hooper, also of Bath. He retaliated with a satirical pamphlet, issued in June, that contained poems accusing Mrs. Yescombe of stealing from him and of having homosexual designs on Miss Hooper. Mrs. Yescombe immediately filed suit for libel but offered to withdraw it if Landor signed a statement of retraction. He eventually agreed to sign, thanks to the influence of John Forster. There the matter rested until the beginning of the following year when Landor published a book of poetry, Dry Sticks, Fagoted (Edinburgh, 1858). The new volume featured poems that renewed the attack against Mrs. Yescombe, and these were equally as vicious as the earlier ones. In May 1858, she again sued for libel. Advised by his lawyer that he would lose and be forced to pay damages of £5000, the old poet fled the country. His son Walter met him at Boulogne, and the two made their way through France and Italy, reaching Landor’s villa at Fiesole, where his wife and children resided, on 27 August 1858. Meanwhile, the case was tried at Bristol in Landor’s absence on 23 August, the jury finding for the plaintiff in the amount of £1000 (see R.H. Super, Walter Savage Landor, New York, 1954, pp. 438–462).
5. Lydia Jane (“Lily”) Macready (1842–58) died on 20 June. Lily’s mother, Catherine Francis (née Atkins), had died of tuberculosis on 18 September 1852, aged 45. The other Macready children who had died were: Harriet Joanna (“Joan”) (1837–40), Christina Laetitia (“Nina”) (1830–50), Walter Francis Sheil (1840–53), and Henry Frederick Bulwer (1839–57).
6. Edward Moxon (1801–58), the Brownings’ former publisher, died of phthisis on 3 June 1858 at Park Side, his home in Wandsworth. He had long suffered from lung ailments (see ODNB).
7. On 5 June 1858, RB had recommended James Montgomery Stuart to Edward Chapman as an “able” writer and lecturer (see letter 4187).
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