4423. EBB to Robert Browning, Sr.
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 26, 179–180.
[Florence]
[5 June 1859] [1]
Yes, indeed—I missed the revolution in Tuscany, dearest nonno, .. which was a loss—but perhaps in compensation (who knows?) I shall be in for an Austrian bombardment or brigandage, or something as good or bad. But, after all, you are not to be anxious about us because of a jest of mine. We have Tuscan troops on the frontier, & French troops in the city, and although the Duchess of Parma has graciously given leave, they say, to the Austrians, to cross her dominions in order to get into Tuscany, we shall be well-defended. [2] We are all full of hope & calm, & never doubt of the result– If ever there was a holy cause, it is this—if ever there was a war on which we may lawfully ask God’s blessing, it is this. The unanimity & constancy of the Italian people, are beautiful to witness. The affliction of ten years has ripened these souls. Never was a contrast greater than what is today, & what was in forty eight. No more distrust, nor division, nor vacillation. And a gratitude to the French nation, which is quite pathetic.
Peni is all in a glow about Italy, & wishes he was “great boy enough” to fight. Meantime he does his lessons for the fighters—half a paul a day when he is good.
Mr del Bene thought him much improved in his music—& I hope he gets on in other things, & that when we bring him back to you (crowned with Italian laurels) you will think so too. Meanwhile think of us, love us, dearest nonno. I always think of your kindness to me.
Your ever affectionate daughter
Ba.
Address, on integral page: R. Browning Esqre
Publication: LEBB, II, 314–315 (as [about May 1859]).
Manuscript: Lilly Library.
1. This letter accompanied letter 4422.
2. Louise Marie Thérèse de Bourbon (née d’Artois, 1819–64), Duchess of Parma, was the only surviving daughter of Charles Ferdinand, Duc de Berry (1778–1820). Her paternal grandfather was Charles X, King of France, and her younger brother, Henri, Comte de Chambord, was the Legitimist claimant to the French throne. Following the assassination of her husband, Charles III, Duke of Parma, in 1854, she served as regent while their eldest son, Robert (1848–1907), was still a minor. According to Edgar Holt, Louise Marie “preserved an uneasy neutrality while war raged on Parma’s borders” but “withdrew from her duchy after the battle of Magenta [4 June]” (Risorgimento: The Making of Italy, 1815–1870, 1970, p. 214).
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