4462. EBB to Henrietta Cook
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 26, 241–244.
Villa Alberti. Siena. Toscana–
Monday– [8 August 1859] [1]
My ever dearest Henrietta, I write to you today, because that naughty Arabel did’nt send me her new address—also, I owe you a letter—I owe everybody letters,—& am a little afraid that the silence made by one cause and another may have induced some wondering among you– Not a line have I written since the peace. I fell that day from the mountains of the moon where I had walked hand in hand with a beautiful Dream—now fled away– The grief, the despair which overwhelmed us, none of you can imagine of—only—I never will forgive England for her part in these things—never—in helping Prussia & confederated Germany, by a league of most inhuman selfishness, to prevent the perfecting of the greatest Deed given to men to do in these latter days. So, we have lost Venetia– There remains however much gain—and we begin to be hopeful about ultimate conclusions, on account chiefly of the stedfast mind & admirable feeling of the populations of Central Italy– Nothing can have been finer than the bearing of all these peoples– On the day of the notification of this peace, the portraits & busts of the Emperor Napoleon disappeared throughout Florence—Florence where scarcely a man would have refused to die for him the day before!– We were all blind, incredulous, dizzy with grief– But that passion of the moment passed, & we returned to justice,—and to the admission that after all the emperor’s first duty was to France– Most magnanimous in their sense of gratitude have the Italians been– Probably, nay, certainly, the emperor felt himself constrained by the highest motives– But oh, to what? [2]
Well—I cant write of it– I have not been at all well, I am sorry to say, & have lost my advantages of a Roman winter which was the cause to me of so many personal compliments– So wonderfully well people thought me looking– The great mental agitation coming on me when the ferocious heat of the weather had rendered me peculiarly susceptible,—combined with some cold-catching, I fancy, brought about an attack on the chest of a very unpleasant character—so that, I am only now getting over it– As soon as I was able to move from Florence, we came here, where it is comparatively cool—we stayed for two days in Siena at the Hotel, & then settled ourselves at this beautiful villa, in the midst of the hills & vines– Soon, I expect to be quite strong again– The cough is very much better, or even better still, & I can sleep at nights—and I am stronger in all ways– If this had happened in the winter, or in the north, it would have gone hard with me—& it has’nt gone very soft even here—.. only I speak of things of the past, and by the time you get this letter you must fancy me in my usual condition .. looking as like Mr Talfourd’s portrait as possible, and loving you beyond every sort of probability, remember.
Of course you all think me mad upon politics—but you, from your point of view, cant judge of what I see & feel from mine–
Think of me, in my first anguish, making Peni put off his Napoleon medal from his blouse—poor Pen resisting, & insisting that his emperor had “not done a bad thing, he knew”!– Afterwards I grew just, & seemed to understand better. Yet Napoleon had done so much, risked so much, .. his dynasty, his life––that one was not prepared for his retreating before the risk of a general war– One was not prepared– It was an intimation from Russia that she could not support him beyond a certain line, which decided everything at last—but the whole onus & shame of failure rest upon England, Prussia & Germany– There! I will not talk of it any more. Of course the whole of Italy is a volcano just now– We are quiet here—(in Florence, that is) that is, we keep quiet .. but any attempt at imposing the grandducal dynasty will be repulsed by the sword. That is determined– Not that France has ever had such a notion for a moment. Only, the Duke & his party may–
Mr & Mrs Story have a villa here,—& Mr Landor who has run away from his family (persecuted by their rough usage) has rooms in a little house not far off. I will tell you his history one of these days—not today. Wilson is coming to pay us a visit with Pilade,.. as the change of air is likely to do her so much good, & we have room– She is quite herself, I am thankful to say, & my uneasiness about her comparatively at an end–
Now we are beginning our country life, my darling Henrietta—not like your’s, but pleasant– Such a reach of purple hills, crowned with such coronets of golden sky towards evening! Such silences—& such stretches of solitude– The country in Italy is really country. Pen is very happy .. taking drives in the oxen carts, between heaps of pomi d’oro [3] —& we have brought books with us from Florence, .. & we get newspapers .. the Galignani, the Times, and the Italian journals of course– Presently Robert means to hire a little carriage that we may go out day after day & explore the neighbourhood. We stay two months–
What are you doing, my dearest Henrietta, you & yours? Our drawing room too, is up stairs—but then, all our rooms are up stairs—only the kitchen & servants rooms on the ground floor– We have comfortable enough sofas & armchairs—but tread the bricks, of course, as everywhere in Italy in the summer.
Oh– I ought to try to give you an idea how good & devoted Robert has been to me through my illness—and it was wearing work at nights– I am very grateful to him, & may God enable me to prove it–
I wish I had a little scratch of a sketch by which I could fancy your new paradise–
Scratch me one at the top of a letter–
This you wont be able to read–
Where is Arabel? [4] At Minehead? & where’s Minehead?
Tell her to write to me, that I may write to her—and do you write to me dear dear Henrietta—& tell me all the dear little things about everything yours–
Love to Surtees– Love to the darlings– May God bless & keep you all—
I want so to hear that Arabel has gained by the sea–
Yours always in tender love
Ba—
Robert’s true love as ever.
Publication: Huxley, pp. 317–320 (in part).
Manuscript: British Library.
1. Date provided by EBB’s remarks concerning her improved health, imminent carriage rides, and the coming visit of Wilson and Pilade, which subjects also occur in letters 4463 and 4464.
2. According to Edgar Holt, the various factors that compelled Napoleon III to ask for an armistice included the following: the great loss of French lives at Solferino (not only from the battle, but also from typhus); Austrian forces were “now secure in the fortresses of the Quadrilateral … he [Napoleon III] would need 300,000 men to attack or invest them, and after the army’s losses he could not be sure of putting more than 100,000 men into the field.” Meanwhile, Prussia had mobilized 350,000 men, and “French troops left in France numbered little more than 50,000” (Risorgimento: The Making of Italy, 1815–1870, 1970, pp. 217–218).
3. “Tomatoes.”
4. We have been unable to confirm that Arabella was in Minehead, a small town in Somersetshire on the southern coast of the Bristol Channel. She evidently summered elsewhere, as Surtees Cook indicates in his journal: “Arabel, Ocky, and party left us—taking baby Edward, and his nurse with them for the benefit of sea bathing. They went to Clovelly, N. Devon, but not liking it, removed to Dawlish” (Surtees, 18 July 1859). Dawlish is situated on the south coast of Devonshire between Exmouth and Teignmouth.
___________________
