4215. EBB to Henrietta Cook
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 25, 175–178.
Paris—
Saturday [17 July 1858] [1]
My beloved Henrietta, your letter was most welcome and it was like light & perfume together when you said that Arabel was looking well– [2] Yet at the end came news of the cold .. which I did’nt like at all– What has she been doing to catch cold at this time of year– Dearest Henrietta, I might fret myself into a very reasonable state of vexation with that naughty darling Arabel notwithstanding all your apologies for her– Oh—that’s what she says, is it? .. that even if you were not there, she would’nt come to me—? Then I say .... no, I dont,—I rein myself in– Tell her I shall forgive her crime & almost forget my wrong, .. but only on the one condition that she stays with us at Etretat or wherever we go, and returns with us to Paris to stay here as long as we remain in France– We return here after about two months at the sea, & shall remain in Paris till the weather drives us out. October is sometimes a beautiful month here, and as a day’s journey carries us into shelter southwards,—we need not fear till the middle of that month at earliest, I should think. I have set my heart on demoralizing her a little in Paris, & she must be good & kind after all the accumulated disappointments I have labored under on her account,—for when I talk of “demoralizing” I dont mean that I shall insist on her going to the opera or ‘vexing her righteous soul’ [3] (dear & precious as it is to me) with the least uncomfortable crossing of ways & views—but there are quantities of things we could see & do together from which I, at least, should have infinite pleasure,—and by that time I shall be up to the top of my usual energies .. if it pleases God. As it is, I am like another being from what I was two months since, so much stronger & better in all ways am I, to sight as well as feeling. But still, I cant do much– I break suddenly like a stick at a certain point, & it comes early– The other day Mrs Jameson invited us to dine at a certain restaurant– After dinner we drove to the Bois de Boulogne which after the excitement of eating & talking, was beyond me rather—but then & there came a proposition to enter the Pré Catellans [4] (a sort of Cremorne Gardens [5] included in the Bois). We paid each, three francs, Robert & I, & Mrs J & her sister, [6] & the carriage drove round the Pré—very beautiful in the lamps, .. and worth visiting for anyone able to enjoy the concerts & various amusements for which the three francs are meant to pay—but as I was, by that time, perfectly extinct, & could’nt stir from the carriage or even speak as I sate, why I had the satisfaction of spoiling everybody’s pleasure & robbing them of their substance .. twelve francs having been given for just nothing! Robert was vexed with Mrs J. & I with myself, & so it ended. But we have had (Robert, Peni, & I) some very pleasant private drives in the Bois de Boulogne, & round about Paris—& we have dined, on our own account, twice at the Restaurant, & are going again today. As to other sights I put off everything .. even the ground floor rooms of the Louvre where there is a good deal to be seen in the way of new arrangements—so that really Arabel must come & help me—now must’nt she?—is’nt it reasonable that she should? Use your influence in a just cause– As to you my dearest dearest Henrietta, why if I cant have you, I cant. But the sea wd have been excellent for the children, & so wd the French—— Never mind– My grapes are not sour, though out of reach! [7] —let them hang! You will write to me, dear, wont you, to make that poor amends. And dear little Altham is better already, I hope & trust, & enjoying his ‘aunt Boo’ & visit to London– Wont he & Mary forget their music in travelling? for at Bryngwyn & Mr Cook’s [8] there will be no piano perhaps– Is there at Delamere Terrace? [9] I am glad you are so pleased with Arabel’s house, which must be very prettily arranged, from all testimony– Tell me more of Mr Eaton– [10] I like particulars you know– Ibbit’s choice was rather ‘for reflection’—was’nt it?– He is very high-church, of course—. By the way, mind you dont tell the Hedleys what I told Arabel of Mr Gurney’s heresies .. dreadful word!– It was in confidence that he delivered them, & he quoted ‘Origen,’ [11] & maintained that “the church” had left the subject an open question &c– What struck & interested me in the whole was .. not that Mr Gurney, the churchman, thought so & so .. (it was of small importance to me) but that there was such an extraordinary spread of light from unacknowledged sources to sequestered places, in relation to the nature of the spiritual world. People of all sorts hold more or less certain views, & they dont exactly know why. It is curious from my point of sight– For myself I should like much to be able to tell you all everything I know—but I cant yet at least– As might be supposed, all conventions (social conventions) perish—for instance French & Italian spirits will tutoyer [12] & call by the Christian name everyone in the flesh: but for the rest, minute individualities, ways of speech & manner, are as much untouched by what we call death, as by putting off a cloak. Also there is nearness & consciousness beyond what any of you have a notion—there is less separation, I stop myself—. A few years more, & these things will be received as a matter of common opinion—but, in the meanwhile, I who have been thrown into the earlier track of them by accidental circumstances, am unwilling to keep from you what is so inexpressible a consolation to those who are yet in the body– [13]
Did I ever tell you of the writings which have taken place in Paris through Baron Guldenstübbe [14] & others– I dont mean writings by the hands of mediums—but writings without the help of any earthly hand at all .. & without pencil, or ink– Papers are laid down, &, untouched by any medium, they cover themselves with written communications in different languages. Also, most beautiful drawings have been produced by these means. Smile Arabel—but such things are so indeed–
We have been very undecided about our sea-place there have been so many opinions for & against. But at present we seem fixed for Etretat which is said to be very picturesque & quiet, & not too dear—and we certainly leave Paris on monday– It is true that the œconomical & direct way for Arabel, would be from Newhaven to Dieppe—and I understand that fast & excellent new steamers are established for the passage since we tried it last– But it’s a voyage of five or six hours .. & I feared for Arabel– If she dares it, she must take a calm day & lie down instantly on reaching the vessel–
We have been most comfortable in this hotel & I shall regret the delicious arm-chairs when I get to the sea, it’s almost certain– Where is Harry now?– Oh, I am not glad about Lizzie– [15] On the contrary, much. Write & tell me of the children—& of all you do & say– Talk me a letter, dearest; (that naughty Arabel owes me one)—& I want to hear about her cold. <Only of course I must send you my address before you write.> [16] I knew the baby would be a first-class baby—I knew it– [17] Crown me for a prophetess– Love to you all—love, love. I like to think of you together, my beloved sisters.
Your own loving Ba for ever.
Love to dear Minny– Lady Elgin, wonderful to say, is better, much better– Robert fed her with spoonfuls of soup yesterday—& her poor dumb face was full of smiles to have him there. She is a wonderful woman for life—life intellectual as well as spiritual– It’s a third stroke of paralysis—& the bones have penetrated the skin through lying. But there she is, not only calm & radiant with Christ’s promise, but interested in everything in earth as well as in Heaven—the Galignani at her side—lighting up at a word about Milton– We should’nt wish to keep a woman of such energy, tied up here—for it is not likely she should ever speak again.
Publication: Huxley, pp. 296–299 (in part).
Manuscript: British Library.
1. Date provided by EBB’s reference in the third paragraph to leaving “Paris on monday”; that is, on 19 July 1858, a Monday.
2. Henrietta and her family had arrived in London from Taunton on 13 July to stay with Arabella at 7 Delamere Terrace. The Cooks remained there until 4 September, when they left for Bryngwyn (see Surtees, 13 July and 4 September 1858).
3. Cf. II Peter 2:8.
4. Sic, for Pré Catelan. It is described in Galignani’s New Paris Guide (1856) as “a charming garden, just opened by private speculation for music and other diversions. It comprises a restaurant, a brasserie, or beer-house, a lecture-room, a small theatre for legerdemain, etc., and a telegraph-office” (p. 499).
5. Located in Chelsea, on the former site of a sporting club, the Cremorne Gardens opened in the 1840’s and featured “pleasure gardens with a banqueting hall, a theatre, an American bowling-saloon, an orchestra, grottoes and ‘delightful lavender bowers’ which could accommodate 1,500 people” (The London Encyclopædia, ed. Ben Weinreb and Christopher Hibbert, 1983, p. 208).
6. Probably, Camilla Sherwin (née Murphy, 1797–1886).
7. An allusion to Æsop’s fable of “The Fox and the Grapes.”
8. Surtees’s brother, John Aubone Cook (1811–59), rector of South Benfleet, Essex.
9. Evidently not; see the third paragraph in letter 4235.
10. Charles Ormston Eaton (1827–1907), eldest son of Stephen Eaton (1780–1834), of Tixover Hall, Rutland, and his wife, Charlotte (née Waldie, 1788–1859). He was engaged to EBB’s cousin Elizabeth Jane (“Ibbit”) Hedley (1834–1909), and they were married on 9 September 1858 at West Monkton, Taunton. Eaton was the manager and a partner in the banking firm of Eaton, Cayley, and Co., Stamford, Lincolnshire.
11. Origen (ca. 185–ca. 254), Greek scholar and theologian of the early church.
12. “Address familiarly, with ‘tu’ and ‘toi’.”
13. Cf. II Corinthians 12:2.
14. Ludwig von Guldenstubbe (1820–73), sometimes referred to as a count, of Scandinavia or Germany, had in 1857 published La Réalites des esprits et le phénomène merveilleux de leur écriture directe. It details his method of leaving pen and paper on a grave or in a crypt, then returning to find a message written by the spirit of the entombed. A number of messages are reproduced at the end of the book. Biographical accounts of Guldenstubbe variously dispute or confirm his title, name, and country of origin.
15. Perhaps, a comment on Lizzie’s pregnancy. She was three months pregnant with her and Alfred’s first child, Edward Alfred Moulton-Barrett (1859–1932), who was born at Leamington, Warwickshire, on 17 January.
16. The text in angle brackets has been inserted as an afterthought.
17. Presumably, Henrietta’s youngest child, Edward Altham (1856–1943), whom EBB had seen at Taunton in September 1856.
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