4249. EBB to Isa Blagden
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 25, 240–243.
6. Rue de Castiglione, Place Vendôme, Paris–
Oct. 2– [1858] [1]
My dearest Isa I am saddened, saddened by your letter– We both are– Indeed this last news from India must have struck—I know it did– [2] Still, to your generous nature, long regret for your dear Louisa will be impossible—and you so given to forget yourself, will come to forget a grief which is only your own– For she was in the world as not of it, [3] in a painful sense—she was cut off from the cheerful natural development of ordinary human beings—and if, as was probable, the conviction of this dreary fact had fastened on her mind, the result would have been perhaps demoralizing, certainly depressing more & more. Rather praise God for her therefore, dearest Isa, that she is gone above the cloud, .. gone where she can exercise active virtues & charities, instead of being the mild patient object of the charities & virtues of her friends– Perhaps she ministers to you now––instead of being ministered to by you—while the remembrance of her life on earth is tenderly united to you ever—a proof, before men & angels, that your life (whatever you may please to say of yourself) has not been useless, nor barren of good & tender deeds–
Now for the rest—Isa, it pains me to think of Villa Bricchieri given up– Could not Miss Alexander [4] make up her mind before you let it? Because you wont find equal accom[m]odation in Florence at so cheap a rate. However, it is done. Annette, of course, decides on her own plans—but, for yours, dearest dear Isa, I must think that this scheme about Madrid (which is to be carried out in the case of Miss Alexander’s not going to Italy), is a very hazardous scheme– Dear, consider the expense. If your friend really wants you and not a visitor & an amusement .. nay, in any case, .. she should pay your way to her– [5] The expenses of travelling .. especially in Spain .. are enormous, and, if you once get involved, you will never, with your reduced income, [6] have a calm sense of independence again– You go to Madrid, and then to England to Miss Cobbe—that, I see, is resolved on– And if you must go to England, I would go at once, if I were you .. & read out your dream & not complicate one difficulty with another till you fall absolutely down a precipice– For the rest, “dream” I say, because you might as well try to fly as do work in a hospital– I am as fit for nursing as you are– There are physical incapacities—and tell Miss Cobbe that I say so– Certainly you can teach children to read and spell—but if you are humble enough to do so, why not write books for children & teach them more?—& more children & with more success–?– There is every facility about sending mss, and you will find that personal access to the booksellers is far from being the key to the lock– I may say so, I who began & continued my career without seeing face or hearing voice .. entirely by letter, and entirely without an intermediate friend– Miss Power got m∙ss. accepted by letter also, you remember, & in a foreign country! [7] It’s quite an illusion the going to England in order to print books– Also, have you finished your novel? [8] no, I think– Therefore I cannot admit the reasonableness of your leaving Florence .. I cannot .. unless indeed, which is the truth perhaps, you are tired of the place & have an impulse on you to go—in which case go to England .. and not to Madrid– Dont plunge into difficulties, dear Isa .. dont– Rather use the handful of priviledges which God has certainly given you, and be sure that there is good to be done in Florence even, and better truths to be taught to men & women & children than any reached by Miss Cobbe– Say—would it not be wise to settle down quietly & give some two or three years to worthy literary work, something in which you might really try & prove your competency.
As far as I am concerned, and Robert, we are not a reason for anybody’s living anywhere or leaving any place—otherwise I might say that you give us up altogether by going to Madrid where we dont go, & to England where we wont, unless we cant help it.
In this letter & the last, (such depressed letters!) you compare your own fate with that of some others, with an injustice which God measures, & which I too have knowledge of– Isa, you speak you know not what. Be sure of one thing, however, .. that God has not been niggardly towards you, and that He never made a creature for which He did not make the work suited to its hand– He never made a creature necessarily useless—nor gave a life which it was not sin on the creature’s part to hold unthankfully & throw back as a poor gift– Your excellent understanding will work clear your spirits presently. Some of those whom you think enviable, if they showed you their secret griefs, unsuspected by you, would leave tears in your eyes for them, not you. Every heart knows its own bitterness, [9] and God knows when the bitterest drop is necessary for the heart’s health– May he bless you, love you, teach you, strengthen you, make you serene & bright [10] in Him, dear, dear Isa– I have spoken as to a sister– I have spoken as to my own soul in an hour of faintness. Let us take courage, Isa.
Dear, I had just folded up your parcel for Miss Alexander, that my brother George should take it tomorrow. It has been my first opportunity for England—at least for London. But now I will carry it back to you–
I have set out once or twice for the Tentation & have never got there—but I shall– I have seen a pretty Grisaille at sixteen francs– Things here are not cheap– I have bought a warm dress for forty three francs .. a thick sort of ‘velours’ (they call it—but it is’nt a bit like velvet) with a ribbed silk in it– I shall have it made up by somebody– Tell me if you want anything I can carry to you–
Arabel stays with me till we go, which will be in a fortnight perhaps from now– We have an apartment in an exquisite situation, two paces from the Tuileries Gardens, first floor, three best bedrooms & two servants rooms, a closet of a diningroom, a salon .. all small but exquisitely comfortable & Parisian—looking into a court though, & we are not tempted to stay the winter– No—we return to Florence faithfully– Write again,—and be happy, Isa,—it is as if I said Be good– Tell me—can it be true that Lytton is in Florence with his mother, as Father Prout assures us on the authority of Lady Walpole? [11] And talking of fates, would you choose to be, rather than Isa, Mrs Dickens,—with husband & children turning round on her like serpents. There’s a family nest for you! She fell in a dead swoon when her husband’s message came that she must go– As to Landor, you are tender. He has acted atrociously, it seems to me– Printed words are deeds Isa– Write to your ever, in word & in deed, [12]
loving Ba–
Publication: B-IB, pp. 170–173.
Manuscript: Fitzwilliam Museum.
1. Year provided by reference to the Brownings’ return address; 1858 was the only year they stayed at 6 Rue de Castiglione.
2. Louisa Emma Alexander died on 22 July 1858, aged 19, at Calcutta, from congestion of the brain. Her father, Major James Alexander, had died only a few weeks earlier on 14 June 1858, aged 54.
3. Cf. John 17:16.
4. i.e., Ellen Louisa Alexander (see letter 4240, note 6).
5. Henrietta de Bertodano y López (née Pattison, 1816–69), eldest daughter of James Pattison (1786–1849) and his wife, Hannah (1792–1855). She married at London in 1837 Ramon de Bertodano y López, Marquis del Moral (1801–65). In the Brownings’ address book for this period (AB-4), EBB listed Isa Blagden’s Madrid address as “care of M. de Bertodano, Casa y calle del Duque de Alba.” Mrs. Bertodano’s father was a silk merchant who became a director and later governor of the Bank of England. At the time of his death, he was M.P. for the City of London. EBB later reports in letter 4273 that “a connection of” Isa’s paid for her trip to Madrid. The “connection” may have been her uncle, William Bracken (1809–91), who was one of the administrators of the £150 annuity she received from her late father’s estate.
6. Apart from her annuity, which presumably remained constant, Isa evidently had other sources of income. Bessie Rayner Parkes, in a letter dated 16 May 1857, noted that Isa had “handsome rooms in a villa high above Florence … the use of a carriage … & every comfort in life for £250 a year” (ms at Girton). Perhaps one or more of Isa’s sources had fallen off.
7. A reference to Marguerite Power (1821–67), who, while living in Paris, continued to publish articles and books, as well as edit The Keepsake.
8. Agnes Tremorne, Isa’s first novel, which was published in 1861.
9. Cf. Proverbs 14:10.
10. Cf. Wordsworth, “To a Young Lady” (1802), line 16.
11. Harriet Bettina Frances Walpole (née Pellew, 1820–86), the wife of Horatio William Walpole (1813–94), eldest son of Horatio Walpole (1783–1858), 3rd Earl of Orford. Horatio William succeeded his father as the 4th Earl in December 1858. The Walpoles were often in residence in Florence, where they knew Lytton when he was there from 1852 to 1854. Lytton and his mother never went to Florence together.
12. Cf. Colossians 3:17.
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