4417. EBB to Arabella Moulton-Barrett
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 26, 163–170.
Casa Guidi–
June 3— [1859] [1]
My dearest ever dearest Arabel, here we are, safe and unslain, in spite of expected banditti & possible charges of Austrian cavalry– In fact (though we heard of a carriage being stripped on the Perugia road a few days previous to our leaving Rome) we found the whole country like a solitude, between Rome & Siena– On entering the Tuscan states, we had sight of the Tricolor, & Peni in a succession of shrieks proclaimed them all—“There’s a flag—& there & there!—dear papa, dear mama, do look”– It was a delightful journey—though we paid rather dearly for it .. twenty napoleons for the conveyance alone, besides three nights on the road & stopping at Inns in the day for two or three hours– But the carriage was a German barouche quite new, & very easy,—a covered seat in front for Annunziata & Ferdinando, & plenty of room for luggage– Four horses all the way—and eight in the hilly country: we left Rome with six– I assure you we drove fast. At Siena, on the fourth day, we took the railway, for between three or four hours. The Eckleys travelled with us. They pressed on us the carriage we went in, but we refused because it would have been difficult in these times to have separated ourselves from our luggage & from Ferdinando– [2] The rush & pressure on board the packets, made the taking of places uncertain. I really wonder no accidents at sea have taken place. So mad has been the panic, that three hundred passengers with scarcely sitting or standing room, have gone in one steamer from Civita Vecchia to Marseilles—three nights & two or three days—& you could get a berth only by bespeaking one three weeks before– Certainly the English are the most cowardly of nations except in a battle—when they fight well, to do them justice. If you knew the effect of the yearly panic about the “invasion” .. upon foreigners .. or upon any one who sees these things from a distance—& then the rück & run of them in the case of such disturbances as the present—! As it was in fortyeight, so is it now– [3] But our journey was very pleasant, & when we came in sight of the Florence station, there were the French, encamped close by on the Cascine meadows. Robert (& Peni, as you may suppose!) put out his hat from the window, & waved it with a ‘Viva’– As we entered the city, it was winged with tricolor flags, from every window, & there was quite a murmur of festivity & triumph in the streets. For the rest, perfectly tranquil—in the calm that comes from contentment. The people have behaved with a wonderful nobleness– This time we know our own minds, we distract none of our friends, we see our objects distinctly, & our hands will not shake in accomplishing them– The feeling towards France & the Emperor is beautiful to see– It is an enthusiasm of gratitude– Prince Napoleon sitting in an open carriage, up to his waist in bouquets [4] —the French officers saying that they had walked three miles of the way in flowers– Young children employed in giving cigars to the soldiers—and ladies of rank taking up into their carriages any lame or overtired veteran who loitered by the road– Shouts, songs .. the national hymn sung by thousands of voices—Viva la Francia, returned by Vive l’ Italie– The unanimity among the Italians could be found in any nation only by the pressure of irrefutable circumstances– If there were room for doubt, there would be doubters– Here, there are none– Among all classes the sentiment is profound—the willingness to sacrifice, prompt– For weeks, papers prepared like those in England for the penny subscriptions for bibles among the poor .. pass from hand to hand among the peasants & servants of the country– Everybody gives what he can– It moistened my eyes to look at some of these papers– It might well have caused to tremble some of your hard English voices– For, oh Arabel, England has behaved ignobly– Government, parliament, press, people, .. you are all covered with dishonor—& now you have only to clench it & go on to fight on Austria’s side– And, observe, Arabel, unless the Derby ministry is turned out, [5] I have fears .. fears—yes, great fears–
My dearest darling Arabel, you are disappointed at not having us in England this year—but, dear, for every reason the thing was impossible– I should have much disliked being away from Italy at this crisis, as a matter of feeling—and then, .. you must remember that nearly all our property is in this country, & the most vulgar motives should keep us on the spot. To withdraw our funded monies at this time of excessive depreciation would be ruin of course—& indeed we have too much faith in ultimate events to be tempted to do any such thing– Still, to be in the neighbourhood of our coupons, & to be prepared as to house & furniture &c is an obvious piece of prudence– If the Grand Duke, the tender parental Grand Duke had bombarded Florence, as he desired, [6] or even if Austria came up now & bombarded us, the risk to coupons would be considerable, you see. Not that we are or have been in the slightest alarm. Only our interests are here .. just as our hearts are in this cause– You would think me extravagant if you knew what emotion I have felt all this spring, while the question was unsettled– I used to have literal physical palpitations over the newspapers—tears in my eyes, sobs in my throat– When Louis Napoleon accepted the proposition to disarm [7] my very faith in him turned to a doubt of anguish– That is, I feared that the opposition of all Europe was too strong for his courage– Now there is open war, I am not anxious any longer—except about England, Arabel– The war must end well—the victories have begun already, & the Austrian troops begin by being demoralized– [8] Meanwhile it grieves me that you & others are warped in your opinions by the infamous lies of the Times– I say, lies .. Arabel .. I dont say mistakes—I dont even say hallucinations. I say simply, lies. Every fact is turned inside out—or rather changed to the thing most unlike itself– For instance—for one in a thousand—it was stated the other day that Tuscany had not given a soldier or a sou to the cause [9] —whereas, the people are stripping themselves of necessities in order to help—& those who cant fight, pay– Workmen elect together to give one day’s work out of so many days—the very women scrape lint, or give what they can spare– A linendraper’s daughter sent a volunteer the other day out of her own private savings– Then the Times has a “correspondent” [10] at Austrian quarters who denies the “cruelties” &c &c. Now I will tell you what the Austrians do besides pillaging & cutting down trees through mere spite & brigandage .. they have put the Piedmontese prisoners in front of their advancing army– The Italians had to fire on their countrymen therefore, who fell crying Viva l’Italia– It was sublime on both sides—but measure the barbarity of the Austrians. On one occasion they even placed Italian women & children in this post of peril. It was twilight .. the Piedmontese attacked without being perfectly aware of the situation, & only the shrieking of the children proved it– This is the power which England is morally abetting in all ways– The English here, as a body, have behaved in a manner worthy of their government. There was a small conspiracy the other day (English, observe!) to bring back the Grand Duke!—headed by a Mr Sloane a catholic. [11] The Tuscan government sent him word that he must look to himself, for that they were not out in ammunition– Certainly such a man deserves to be shot– A party of English a few days since, drank Success to Austria .. & only Count Cottrell, who happened to be there, refused the toast. I heard an American girl [12] say last night that she was afraid of being taken for an Englishwoman in the streets. She said it quite earnestly. The insult offered to the Italian flag at Leghorn, is bitterly felt– [13] Robert met in the street our friend Busacca [14] (minister of finances) who used to be much attached to England in the old time– He was trudging along with a book under his arm– Robert put out both hands & grasped his & congratulated him on the prospects of Italy– “Yes,” said he—“but England—oh, England has done ill.” —And I saw a letter written from London by that great & noble man, Massimo d’Azeglio, who passed so melancholy a judgement on the low moral state of the English nation & statesmen, that it made one sick–
I tell you all these things, because they are in my heart. I did not think I could feel so much pain about England—it proves that I am more a patriot than I thought.
We have put up three flags on our terrace—two large ones—one with the Italian tricolor & one with the French– [15] Then Robert has subscribed ten scudi (a little more than two guineas) a month, as long as the war lasts– It is as much as we can very well afford– Do read all the particulars of the war—for in every way they are vital to us—but the Morning Post and Daily News are the only honest historians– The Times Correspondent from Rome [16] had too much truth to keep his position long, I think– He was assisted by his cousin, [17] a woman of much conscience & ability, who was here the other day & had awakened in a sort of honorable panic to the disrepute into which England had fallen everywhere. And these people began, observe, by the usual anti-Gallican distrust– I have had it repeatedly said to me by others this spring, “We thought you hard, in saying some things—but now we are forced in much pain to agree with you entirely”–
And to think of Alfred Tennyson!– His brother is not of the same mind– Oh—your rifles, your rifles .. to defend yourselves, when nobody thinks of attacking you—while a nation is actually struggling here between life & death! [18]
Internal government is not to be considered until national independence is achieved– But some things are changed already– Rights of conscience—equality of religions before the law—legality of mixed marriages—& the legality even of the marriages of priests, in a civil point of view—are gained actually for Tuscany– And your ships of war refuse therefore to acknowledge her flag!
Robert said this morning at breakfast to Peni—“Would you like to contribute to the cause, Peni–” “Yes,” .. with sparkling eyes, & red cheeks. [“]Well—you have no money of your own—but if you like it, you can do it– Everyday that you do your lessons perfectly, you shall have half a paul– If you put it in a box, it will be fifteen pauls at the end of the month—for I will pay you even for the little you do on sundays—supposing it is well done.” Agreement accepted at once. And today we have had superb lessons: it was an excellent idea of Robert’s– The motive is a high one too, & kept alive by the intense interest of all about us in the living circumstances–
If we had a liberal ministry in England (so called—it is the difference between twiddledum & twiddledee somebody said—but twiddledee is better) the war would be restricted to Italy, & over perhaps, in a good measure, before the autumn closed, & then you would keep your promise & come here with George– I wont talk of it & teaze you—but I shall dream of it, my beloved Arabel, as a golden dream for holidays or festive nights rather.
Meanwhile I long to hear about you, & that you have not lost time in getting down to the sea– If you went to Hastings you would avoid winds, consider– Probably the spring would be trying in any case, wind or no wind, to that dear face of yours—but oh Arabel, remember that any open air life without fatigue is the necessary thing for you, & dont fancy that by avoiding cold you take the only step essential to your well-being– You ought to go to Hastings– I am anxious about you, darling– You sacrifice yourself too much—always did—and perhaps I ask you to sacrifice yourself now, in teazing you to get out of that London house as soon as possible– But this is your duty plainly. I hate to think that this swelling of the face came on when you were with me.
I found Wilson delighted to see us, & with all her former bad ideas about poor Ferdinando’s exposure to Syrens, out of her head [19] —but in a very nervous state, & thin. Dont mention this to her sister, mind. I shall not like leaving her alone any more—& if we go presently into the country, I shall ask Robert to let her come with us, I think– Yet it’s a good thing for her to be paid for taking care of this house during our absence—only she is morbidly sensitive, poor thing. Some mental strength is necessary in this world–—— No, I must tell you the whole truth, my darling Arabel– Robert wisely forbade my speaking of it, but I have prayed him to let me tell you, & here’s the truth! Imagine my horror when after a cheerful meeting with Wilson the night of our arrival, she came to me afterwards in my room & I discovered her to be quite mad. It was all I cd do to help screaming, & dropping on the floor in a fainting fit—the blood left my cheeks cold. But I commanded myself, & heard her out– In a quiet composed manner, frightful to witness, she told me that she had been continually reading the bible, & receiving intimations from above—that she cd not live any more with Ferdinando as a husband, because he was too near in blood to her—that Orestes & Pilades were the first fruit of the first resurrection—that Robert & I were the olive trees, & Penini the lamb—that Ferdinando was to marry someone else—& there was work for her to do—also that a Virgin was again to produce a child—that the revolution & the war meant something very different, & I must know what it meant as well as she?—looking at me with her poor insane eyes! You cant mistake the sort of look & manner. She said she saw everything plain in the Bible, & she would show the whole to me. I confess to you, one of my first questions was, whether she had been writing with the spirits– But no, she relieved me by saying .. no, she had not been inclined to that—the things she knew she knew & felt directly from Heaven .. she could’nt explain the process– I spoke as calmly as I could, & as kindly—and never did I do anything with such an effort .. think coming home unprepared & weary!–– I told her she was evidently very nervous, & had been too much alone & brooding, .. that she had ideas which were merely nervous fancies, & which it was her duty to put away from her with resolution– So suspiciously she looked at me .. “Ah—but you must know that the world is coming to an end!—you must feel that everything in it is changed”– —Robert had to tell poor Ferdinando, to put him on his guard. She is better however evidently—& yesterday I found her in conversation, less alarming, though by no means right. She has slept better, she says, which is a good sign– She told Ferdinando that she had changed her baker, because she thought he was trying to poison her– And she told me that she could’nt go out because the people stared so. Nobody here has the least suspicion of her state of mind– She has talked to nobody, she says, except to me, & she promised that she would’nt. Of course it would be a fatal disadvantage to her as a letter of an apartment, if such a thing were suspected– I am in hopes that being with Ferdinando again & with us, she will get over it. Perhaps weaning the baby this winter was partly the cause—& then Ferdinando is told (though she denies it) that she was dreadfully frightened about the war, & talked of going away to England to save herself. I told her yesterday not to read the new testament for a fortnight—but to read the psalms instead—“Oh,” but she said, “all was just as clear in the psalms as in the new testament”– Then I begged her to put away the whole bible for a time, as she had not physical strength to prevent God’s words from getting entangled with her own nervous fancies. Was I wrong, Arabel? She seemed to think so–
It will pass, I dare say—but of course the notion of it disquiets me, .. & sometimes when Peni is with her!——
I am so sure this is a double or treble letter that I shall prepay it for once. But I had so much to tell you– I shall wait anxiously for news from Storm—& from you, my Arabel—my darling– Love me dear, dearest, & put your faithful heart to pray for me sometimes–
Love to dear Minny– However you can tell her—but dont let a word be whispered to Wilson’s family I entreat you. Tell how George’s headaches are. Dear George.
I hope you opened the little gift for Charlotte. [20] Was it pretty enough? Etruscan gold after antique patterns—so vexed I am to have sent that photograph of Pen’s! which is a caricature of him in every way. [21]
Address: Angleterre– / Miss Moulton Barrett / 7– Delamere Terrace / Harrow Road / London.
Publication: EBB-AB, II, 408–414.
Manuscript: Berg Collection.
1. Year provided by postmark.
2. When the Brownings travelled to Rome the previous November, they sent their luggage with Ferdinando by steamer.
3. In letter 2722 EBB wrote: “Robert is quite chafed by the cowardice shown generally by English residents. Florence is as quiet as Wimpole Street.”
4. As reported in The Daily News of 9 June 1859, Prince Napoleon arrived in Florence on 31 May, bringing with him 15,000 French troops. A welcoming crowd greeted him with “deafening hurrahs and endless bouquets of flowers” (p. 5).
8. Ten days after the battle of Montebello (see letter 4390, note 3), Piedmontese forces, under the command of King Victor Emmanuel II, took possession of Palestro, a small village east of Vercelli. The next day the Austrians attempted to recapture the village, but “the attack … was repulsed with heavy loss” (EB).
9. EBB refers to a report in The Times of 26 May 1859, filed by its Turin correspondent from Florence on 20 May, that criticized the inaction of the Tuscans in general and the Tuscan provisional government in particular: “In short, the Italian war was the only aim of the Tuscan movement, and all Tuscany had to give to the war was men and money; yet never a man has yet crossed the Tuscan frontier to Piedmont, and the little money that has hitherto travelled from one country to the other has decidedly been made to go the wrong way” (p. 10).
10. Alexander Blakely (1827–68), retired Royal Artillery captain, who, according to The History of The Times (1939), “had a strong pro-Austrian bias” (p. 227). In one of his early dispatches, sent from “Austrian Head-Quarters, Mortara,” Blakely wrote: “I see a Turin paper asserts that Novara was threatened with a general massacre by the Austrians in default of certain contributions. I can assure you that the orders to treat the inhabitants well are peremptory, and that they are obeyed willingly. … As an example of the high state of discipline in the Austrian army, I may mention that General Benedek had two men shot for stealing property worth only a few francs. From other sources you may hear different accounts, as 20 or 30 imitations of Austrian uniforms were captured at Novara. They had been made by certain parties for the purpose of committing robberies and atrocities, and of throwing the odium on the Austrians” (The Times, 19 May 1859, p. 10).
11. Francis Joseph Sloane (1794–1871), born possibly in Rome or Civitavecchia, the son of an expatriate Scottish banker and art collector. In 1837, the Grand Duke turned over his copper mines in Montecatini Val di Cecina to Sloane’s management, under which the mines became the biggest and richest in Europe. He is known for having financed the façade of the Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence, completed in 1863.
12. Probably Kate Field (see letter 4402, note 14).
13. In reply to a question put to the foreign office by Massimo d’Azeglio on 8 May 1859 regarding this “insult,” the foreign secretary Lord Malmesbury stated: “Her Majesty’s ship Conqueror, lying at Leghorn for the protection of British subjects, was directed by Her Majesty’s Government not to salute the flag of the Provisional Government of Tuscany” (The Times, 18 June 1859, p. 12).
14. The Marchese Raffaello Busacca (1810–93), economist, journalist, lawyer, and later senator, continued as minister of finance in the provisional government until March 1860.
15. The third was “a moveable little flag between them” that Pen could take out on carriage rides (see letter 4422). The subscription EBB mentions was reported in the Monitore Toscano of 21 June 1859: “Donations for the War of Italian Independence … Mr. Robert and Mrs. Elizabeth Barrett Browning, L. 66 13 4 a month during the war from the beginning of the current June.” The Brownings’ contribution was received by Giovan Pietro Vieusseux, owner and founder of Vieusseux’s reading rooms.
16. Henry Wreford; see letter 4368, note 2.
17. C.T. McIntire states that both Wreford “and his sister sent reports” to The Times from Rome (England Against the Papacy, 1858–1861, 1967, p. 44). Mary Reynell Wreford (1799–1866) was Wreford’s only unmarried sister.
18. EBB refers to Alfred Tennyson’s “The War,” a 28-line poem, calling for an armed citizenry, that appeared in The Times on 9 May 1859 (p. 10). Three days after its publication, Parliament authorized the official organization of the Volunteer Rifle Corps, which enrolled 180,000 men by the end of 1859. A proposal for a rifle corps had been discussed in 1852 as well, after Louis Napoleon’s coup d’état. A letter of Coventry Patmore’s to The Times of 22 January 1852 (p. 3) led to the formation of a rifle club, to which Tennyson sent a donation. He also sent patriotic and pro-armament poems to The Examiner and Fraser’s Magazine at that time. His “Rifle-Clubs!!!” (alternately titled “Riflemen Form!”) of 1852 was reworked into the 1859 “The War”—a less incendiary piece. In October 1859 EBB writes to William Allingham: “I confess to you that I took very much to heart Alfred Tennyson’s invocation to the Riflemen, at the beginning of the war” (letter 4501).
19. This remark refers to charges made against Annunziata by Wilson’s sister; see the beginning of letter 4308.
20. i.e., Charlotte Moulton-Barrett, Octavius’s wife.
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