4370. EBB to Arabella Moulton-Barrett
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 26, 103–108.
43. Bocca di Leone.
March 29– [–31] [1859] [1]
My ever beloved Arabel, put the enclosure into an enveloppe & send it to Occy– Dearest fellow I do hope, & believe that he will be happy. True love, good-temper, & good principles, make a good wearing stuff for marriage [2] —& he has them all in the woman he has chosen.– I am heartily glad he is married– We shall have an opportunity for sending some marriage-gift to them, & I shall use my recovered liberty to look out for it– We have had no fires through March, & I have been out to drive not infrequently. You see, Arabel, after the winter I am more sensitive about the chest– I can bear much more cold after the summer at the end of the year (as in Paris for instance) that [sic, for than] at the beginning, even in Rome– The least cold wind (threading the most burning sunshine) oppresses me horribly, & I have to avoid it, & accustom myself by degrees to the external air– But I have had a very good winter—shut up not more than six weeks at a time, & I am another creature as to strength than I was last spring. On the whole, there has been more repose to the spirit .. as well as a milder climate for the body—& this, in spite of a whirl of people coming & going. But I have had quiet evenings & mornings—besides the satisfaction of seeing Robert well amused, and Peni developping more & more as I would have him. He loses nothing, but gains– I dont think I flatter myself– You wrong me in saying that I exaggerate the qualities of my favorites– On the contrary, though—when pleased I may be over-pleased, with a somewhat absurd exaltation, I think I am very painfully quicksighted to the defects of persons I love. It seems so to myself. But, as to Peni, I heard of a lady saying the other day (not to me—) a lady who had seen him for the first time, that she could not sleep the night after for thinking of him,—he looked so lovely at Rackermann’s concert, [3] with his face lighted up by appreciation of the music. I have indulged myself in buying him a green velvet blouse, which (with the loose black velvet trowsers) suits him admirably– Everybody, .. all the artists .. are turning my brain with praises of him—& then he is so good, so sweet, so loving. Well—no more of Pen. But he means to write to you, he says– He writes quantities of dictation in both English & Italian everyday, & has improved much in spelling—only he spells rather better in Italian, curiously enough, though he has had so much less exercise in it. He writes long Italian letters to his little friend at Florence [4] .. entirely by himself, understand– French dictation, I have not teazed him with yet—there’s so little time.
Oh my dearest, dearest Arabel, I am uneasy about that face of yours– Is it possible that still it gets no better? That seems unusual, even for your troubles of the face,—I could teaze you much about warm-clothing, cod’s liver oil, & such things—but forbear, even to name homœopathy. Only I am so very, very sorry, my darling, that you should be so tormented. Yes—get down to the sea– Go to Hastings, where it is warm, & get a lodging with a sunny exposition—do it, dearest, dont merely talk of it,—do it—& stay longer than a fortnight, & get books & rest on them after the bazaar work, [5] which quite frightens me for you. I hope you will receive my contribution by the way (& Miss Heaton’s) safely– What I sent was unset—because the settings here are enormously dear, if they are not badly done. [6] If there were opportunities (occurring in time) of sending the things to you, I could send you more from different contributors.
I have written to Henrietta, & you will hear through her of Robert’s dinner with the Prince of Wales– [7] Oh no—Robert was right in not taking a step forward, till he could not help it– Nobody could mistake the motive of his reserve, on such an occasion.
As to the emperor Napoleon, if I talked of his “heart” I could mean nothing else of course than the morale of his policy. I dont pretend to answer for the hearts of public men—or even of many private men– But I speak of the tone & character of his European policy, which has a height & largeness, all these other small politicians (with their hands in their pockets for security) are inadequate to comprehend. No, Arabel—princes of Wales dont call upon Ba .. that’s not the way of the world—nor ought to be the way of the world—but I will tell you what greater honour I have received since I wrote last .. Massimo d’Azeglio has called on us– You know who he is, of course .. one of the very noblest men in Italy. As Piedmontese minister to London, you have heard of him: also, perhaps, as the son in law of the author of “Promessi Sposi,” [8] & himself the author of various celebrated books—a man high in rank, but higher in philosophy & politics—reverenced for his high moral sense throughout & beyond the peninsular—of moderate opinions too,—not so liberal as to be impracticable. He came here to bring the order of the Annunciada to the prince of Wales [9] —with other objects, of course. His door has been beset by all the young men of Rome—and guarded by the police, to take down the names of such as enter. Prince Ruspoli [10] observed a well known police spy in the antechamber, & walking up to him, exclaimed, .. “Yes—I am here to pay my respects to the Marquis d’Azeglio—&, that you may be able to report my name exactly, without implicating another by mistake, here is my card” .. throwing it in his face.
So Azeglio came to us. A chivalrous, noble head. You feel the moral grandeur of the man, in a moment. He sate there, in the chair by me, and talked very frankly, and as if he were no diplomatist, of Italian politics,––we did not do much more than listen. He said some things sadly, but moderately, of England—that the English policy was arrieree, [11] & narrow—in the hands of men of the past, with whom the prejudices of the vulgar weighed. He spoke of France—said that Napoleon had made himself great simply by comprehending the time & putting himself at the head of civilization– That the question now was not, who should have the best gun, or a ship of war more or less, but who should act most largely on the principles of national justice, & most closely to the rights of humanity– He perfectly disbelieves in any thought of territorial aggrandisement on the part of France. The jealousies on the part of England struck him as small in themselves, & without foundation in fact. As to Italy, he is full of hope. “Never in the history of the peninsula has the unity of the peoples been so complete”– (We know this from other sources.) [“]And an ample instalment at least, of justice, they must have.” He is inclined to accept for the present something less than all .. but as to guaranteeing Lombardy to Austria .. he shook his head .. “meglio la guerra”– [12] In fact, the manifest leaning of the man was for war—but everything spoken by him sounded great, simple, without passion– Robert said afterwards to me—“Yes,—it wd be well if we could all think & feel largely & nobly like that man!” Robert was as impressed as I. In fact, I must tell you that though Robert, as you know well, sympathizes in general little with me in my “Napoleonism” so called, thinks entirely with me on this Italian question,—& considers the position assumed by England very disgraceful—. Which it is, Arabel. And history will write it down so. We have done all Austria’s dirty work for her, both here, and in the Danubian principalities [13] —and my only dread about Napoleon is, that he will sacrifice too much to the English alliance. That is the real danger to the world.
As to the Times, for the last two years, it has been a tool of Austria .. preparing for this Italian question, which was known by the instructed to be imminent–
For the Congress, [14] I cant hope for much real good out of it, & I would rather have accepted it after a few battles. Yes, I dont see, & nobody here sees very clearly, how it is possible to get on without war– I have letters from Tuscany .. one even from Villeri, the author of the Life of Savanarola, [15] a very moderate liberal, who used to be Anglomane, .. & there is only one report– People keep quiet there for the present, simply not to complicate the difficulty for Napoleon—but all are agreed—& the youth drift away to Piedmont, by fifties in the night. [16] And the Tuscan funds, [17] you ask? Believe me, Arabel, I thought of that for the first time the day before you bade me remember it– I said to Robert, “Really I never thought of our money till this moment.” “But I did,” he returned. We are neither of us uneasy. I wish pecuniary loss were all the evil to be feared. Still .. be easy for us even there—we shall not sell out in a hurry—we shall hold on—& funds like peoples, will rise again. “It is 48 over again,” said Azeglio, “with matured actors.” And nobody lost funded money in 48, except by their own folly & fears,—by prematurely “realizing,” as it is called.
You were entirely right about Miss <Heaton> [18] —who nevertheless is so kind & goodnatured, yes, & generous, that my conscience pricks me in saying so– But her ill-breeding & want of delicacy are hard to bear– Robert swears that she makes me ridiculous all over Rome, by publishing her ‘friendship’ with me .. to which the fact of the portrait contributes something. Then she comes here everyday though not for long, I must admit, just when people come! I find it trying sometimes. Only of course you wont repeat this. She has made herself famous in Rome by “pushing” here & there & everywhere—& people laugh—they laugh!– She gave twenty pounds for my picture—partly for me, & partly for the artist—& I am afraid we are both of us “des ingrats”– [19]
When Azeglio came, Robert told Ferdinando to admit nobody while he stayed—& in the course of that less than half an hour came Lord Falkland, the Gubbins[’]s [20] (he is brother of the Duchess of St Albans, & she, the daughter of Hume the economist) and Miss <Heaton>. They all went away of course without making a revolution—all except Miss <Heaton> who came back again in three quarters of an hour, very thirsty for the causes of her exclusion—“Azeglio”—“Who was Azeglio?” (She did’nt know of course—not she.) “But where could she see him? in what street did he live?—to what church did he go?—” One laughs when one’s by oneself—but sometimes, when people are by, one feels disgraced somehow– Its the flesh, Arabel!– Ill-breeding which is nobody’s crime, observe “riles” one, as the Americans say, more than it ought—more than many real vices do.
Thank you, darling Arabel, for your advice about the engraving. [21] Certainly Mr Chapman must yield the point—I cant possibly be represented so. I have not modesty enough for it– Leighton has finished an exquisite penciled drawing of Robert [22] —(& is to try me)– If photographs can be taken you shall have one. [23] As to Talfourd’s, you shall have yours by the first opportunity. [24] Perhaps you wont think it like– It is idealized. It may be my spiritual face.
The spirits show themselves more still—& I am not “going mad” Arabel. Oh no—it’s the wickedness & falseness of men that make one mad– Intercourse with the unseen, makes one calm & happy—full of hope & understanding of the two worlds.
<…> [25]
Still Italian politics are the chief thing with me just now—which you may wonder at! but, if you were here, you would not wonder. I am sorry we shall have to wait so long to hear of dearest Storm—but it is well to know it. Give my love to dear Minny–
What a good thing, that Emma [26] should get on so nicely with her music. I hope she may be some comfort to you after all, dear dearest Arabel– I love you & pray for you tenderly. Name yourself particularly when you write. How I wish I had you here, darling!–
Your own Ba.
<Pe>ni will write, he says.
Address: Angleterre. / Miss Moulton Barrett / 7. Delamere Terrace / Harrow Road– / London.
Publication: EBB-AB, II, 398–403.
Manuscript: Berg Collection.
1. Year and ending date provided by postmark.
4. Presumably, Alessandro (see letter 4108, note 4).
6. Perhaps, EBB sent the “violet brooch” mentioned in letter 4365. We have been unable to identify Ellen Heaton’s contribution.
8. Alessandro Manzoni (1785–1873); Azeglio had married in 1831 Manzoni’s daughter Giulia (1808–34).
9. “The Order of the Annunziata, the highest order of knighthood of the Italian kingdom, was instituted in 1362 by Amadeus VI., count of Savoy, as the Order of the Collare or Collar, from the silver collar made up of love-knots and roses … from it hangs a pendant enclosing a medallion representing the Annunciation” (EB). According to Ronald Marshall, Azeglio was in Rome officially “to present the Collar of the Annunziata to the Prince of Wales. … Azeglio himself admitted in confidence that his mission was to renew contact with the Roman liberals. This was not difficult: they in fact contacted him, large numbers of them calling to leave their cards on him” (Massimo d’Azeglio: An Artist in Politics, 1966, pp. 261–262).
10. Giovanni Nepomuceno Ruspoli (1807–76), Prince of Cerveteri.
11. “Outdated.”
12. “Better war.”
14. As reported in The Daily News of 22 March 1859 (p. 5), a congress had been proposed by Russia “to prevent further difficulties upon the Italian question”; that is, to avoid open hostilities between Austria and Italy. It was “to be composed of the plenipotentiaries of France, Austria, England, Prussia, and Russia.” The English government received the official proposal from the Russian minister the following day. The five countries readily agreed to meet but failed to agree on the terms. Austria was particularly demanding. Two conditions for its attendance were that Piedmont disarm and that Piedmont be barred from the congress.
15. La Storia di Girolamo Savonarola e de’ suoi tempi (2 vols., Firenze, 1859–61) by Pasquale Villari. Volume one was published on 22 October.
16. In the past few months, Piedmont had been preparing for war with Austria. The army had been mobilized, Garibaldi “given the rank of general,” and aggressive recruiting in the other Italian states had “brought nearly 20,000 volunteers to Turin” (Edgar Holt, Risorgimento: The Making of Modern Italy, 1815–1870, 1970, pp. 208–209).
17. RB had invested a large part of the bequests he and EBB received from John Kenyon (£6,500 and £4,000, respectively) in Tuscan securities (see the second paragraph in letter 4005).
18. Here and below, the name has been obliterated after receipt, probably by Arabella.
19. “Ingrates.”
20. Charles Gubbins, second son of General Joseph Gubbins, married on 12 September 1843 Maria, eldest daughter of Joseph Hume, M.P. Gubbins’s sister, Elizabeth Catherine Beauclerk (née Gubbins, d. 1893), was the Dowager Duchess of St. Albans. She married Lucius Bentinck Cary (1803–84), 10th Viscount Falkland, on 10 November 1859.
21. For the frontispiece to the fourth edition of Aurora Leigh (1859). Arabella had seen an early proof of the engraving and found it objectionable, which she communicated in a letter to William Michael Rossetti (see SD2257). Rossetti had volunteered to supervise the engraving process (see letter 4267).
22. This drawing was signed and dated by RB, “Rome, March 28. ’59.” Whereabouts of the original is unknown. It was reproduced as the frontispiece to Mrs. Sutherland Orr’s Life and Letters of Robert Browning, new ed., rev. F.G. Kenyon (1908) and as the frontispiece to volume two of the Centenary Edition (The Works of Robert Browning, ed. F.G. Kenyon, 10 vols., 1912). A photograph of the drawing made by Robert Macpherson (see note 23 below) is reproduced facing p. 112.
23. We have traced three photographs of Leighton’s drawing of RB—all were produced by Robert Macpherson, probably sometime after 9 October 1859 (see letter 4503). The one given to Arabella eventually came into the possession of Octavius Moulton-Barrett. It is now in a private collection.
24. This photograph of Field Talfourd’s portrait of EBB, produced by James Anderson (see letter 4346, note 12) has not been traced.
25. Seven lines have been obliterated after receipt, probably by Arabella.
26. Emma Barrett (see letter 4100, note 2).
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