4418. EBB & RB to John Ruskin
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 26, 170–172.
| [In EBB’s hand] | Casa Guidi– |
June 3— [1859] [1]
My dear Mr Ruskin, we send to you every now & then somebody hungry for a touch from your hand, [2] .. we who are famished for it ourselves. But this time, we send you a man whom you will value perfectly for himself & be kind to from yourself, quite spontaneously– He is the American artist, Page, an earnest, simple, noble artist & man,—who carries his Christianity down from his deep heart to the point of his brush. Draw him out to talk to you, & you will find it worth while– He has learnt much from Swedenborg, & used it in his views upon art. Much of it (if new) may sound to you wild & dreamy:—but the dream will admit of logical inference & philosophical induction, and when you open your eyes, it is still there.
He has not been successful in life—few are, who are uncompromising in their manner of life– When I speak of life, I include Art, which is life to him– I should like you to see what a wonder of light & colour, & space & breathable air, he put into his Venus rising from the sea .. refused on the ground of nudity at the Paris exhibition this summer. The loss will be great to him, I fear.
You will recognize in this name Page, the painter of Robert’s portrait which you praised for its Venetian colour, & criticized in other respects– [3] In fact, Mr Page believes that he has discovered Titian’s secret .. & what is more, he will tell it to you in love––and indeed to anybody else in charity– So I dont say that, to bribe you–
Dear dear Mr Ruskin, we thank you & love you more than ever for your good word about our Italy– Oh, if you knew how hard it is, & has been to receive the low, selfish, ignoble words with which this great cause has been pelted from England, .. not from her Derby government only, but from her parliament, her statesmen, her reformers, her leaders of the liberal party, her free press, .. to receive such words full in our faces .. nay, in the quick of our hearts, .. till we grow sick with loathing & hot with indignation—if you knew what it was & is, you would feel how glad & grateful we must be to have a right word from John Ruskin. Dear Mr Ruskin, England has done terribly ill—ignobly ill, which is worse– That men of all parties should have spoken as they have, proves a state of public morals lamentable to admit– What .. not even our poets, with clean hands?– Alfred Tennyson abetting Lord Derby? [4] That, to me, was the heaviest blow of all.
Meanwhile, we shall have a free Italy at last, for everything goes well here. Massimo d’Azeglio came to see us in Rome, & he said then, .. “It is forty eight with matured actors”– Indeed there is a wonderful unanimity, calm, & resolution everywhere in Italy– All parties are broken up into the one great national party– The feeling of the people is magnificent– The painful experience of ten years has borne fruits in their souls– No more distrust, no more division, no more holding back, no more vacillation– And Louis Napoleon .. well, I think he is doing me credit—and you, dear Mr Ruskin .. for you, too, held him in appreciation long ago– A great man–
I beseech you to believe on my word, (& we have our information from good & reliable sources), .. that the Times newspaper builds up its political ideas on the broadest foundation of lies– I use the bare word– You wont expel it, in the manner of the Paris exhibition, for its nudity– Lies—not mistakes. For instance, while the very peasants here are giving their crazie, .. the very labourers their day’s work (once in a week or so) while everyone gives, & every man almost (who can go) goes .. the Times says that Piedmont has derived neither paul nor soldier from Tuscany– [5] Tell me what people get by lying so?– Faustus sold himself to the Devil– Does Austria pay a higher price, I wonder?
Such things, I could tell you .. things to moisten your eyes .. to wring that burning eloquence of yours from your lips—!– But Robert waits to take this letter– Penini has adorned our terrace with two tricolour flags, the Italian tricolour & the French. May God bless you, dear friend– Speak again for Italy– If you could see with what eyes the Italian speaks of the “English.”! Our love to you—Mr & Mrs Ruskin .. if we may .. because we must– Write to us, do.
Ever affectionately yours,
RB & EBB
Publication: LEBB, II, 315–317.
Manuscript: Armstrong Browning Library.
1. Year provided by EBB’s reference to Page’s “Venus” (see letter 4291, note 9).
2. EBB had recently given Frederick Bridell a letter of introduction to Ruskin (see letter 4395).
3. Presumably, in conversation with the Brownings during the summer of 1856, the year Page’s portrait of RB was rejected for exhibition by the Royal Academy.
___________________
