4484. EBB to Isa Blagden
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 26, 284–287.
Villa Alberti.
Tuesday. [6–7 September 1859] [1]
Ever dearest Isa,—yes, I am delighted–
Evviva il nostro ré—! [2] It is’nt a very distinct acceptance however, but as distinct as could be expected reasonably– Under conditions, of course.
On friday morning before noon up to our door came Mr Russell’s carriage. He had closed with Robert’s proposition at once—& we made room for him without much difficulty & were very glad to see him. I did’nt go in to dinner, & he & Robert went to the Storys in the evening—so that it was’nt too much for me—and then I really like him—he is refined & amiable, and acute & liberal (as an Englishman can be) .. full of ‘traditions’ or prejudices, .. to use the right word. To my surprise he knew scarcely anything,—and, as I modestly observed to Robert, “did’nt understand the Italian question half as well as I understand it.” Of course there was a quantity of gossip in the anti-Napoleon sense .. how the emperor told the King of the peace over the soup, twirling his moustache,—& how the King swore like a trooper at the emperor in consequence,—& how the emperor took it all very well .. did’nt mind at all .. & how & how .. things which are manifestly impossible, & which Robert tells me I ought not to repeat, in order not to multiply such vain tales. There is Meternich the younger (ambassador in Paris), [3] a personal friend of Odo Russell’s, in whose bosom Louis Napoleon seems to pour the confidences of his heart about that “coquin de Cavour [4] who led him into the Italian war” &c &c—but it simply proves to you & me how an Austrian can lie .. which we could guess before.
My facts are these– First, .. Ferdinando IV has an ambassador in Rome, [5] who has been received officially by the Pope,— .. (!!) (“The coolest thing that ever was”!) & is paid out of the private purse of the Royal Highness. [6] There is another ambassador at Naples, and another at Vienna on the same terms,—so let no one talk of ‘Déchéance.’ [7]
Then let me tell you what Mr Russell said to me– “Napoleon,” said he, “has been too fin [8] for the English government. He made us acknowledge the Tuscan vote– Now he has strictly forbidden Piedmont to accept—and Piedmont must therefore refuse– The consequences of which will be that there must be another vote in Tuscany, by which Prince Napoleon will be elected—and we, having acknowledged the first vote, [9] must acknowledge the second.”
Of course I protested: disbelieved in the forbidding, & believed in the accepting– He “hoped it might be so”—in the civil way with which people put away preposterous opinions—and left us on saturday night at ten .. just too late to hear of the ‘fait accompli’– [10]
Out of all that, I rescue my fact .. that ‘Napoleon made the English government acknowledge the Tuscan vote’.
Don’t let Kate put any of this into American papers [11] —because Mr Russell was our guest, observe, and spoke trustingly to us– He had just arrived from England & went on to Rome without further delay.
The word Venice makes my heart beat. Has Giudicci [12] any grounds for hope about Venice? If Austria could be bought off at any price! Something has evidently been promised at Villafranca on the subject of Venice, [13] —and evidently the late strengthening of the hands of Piedmont will render the Austrian occupation on any terms, more & more difficult & precarious.
I should agree with you on Prince Napoleon, if it were not that I want the Emperor’s disinterest[ed]ness to remain in it’s high place. We cant spare great men & great deeds out of the honor of the world. There are so few–
For the rest, the prince would have been a popular & natural choice at one time, & as far as central Italy was concerned.– Also he is very liberal in opinion, & full of ideas, I have been told.
But the fusion is a wiser step now, & altogether—even if we could spare the Emperor’s fame. Do you remember the obloquy he suffered for Neufchatel? [14] & how it came out that, if he pressed his conditions, it was simply because he meant to fight for the independence of the State? & how at last the Swiss delegates went to Paris to offer their gratitude for the deliverance he had attained for the people? His loyalty will come out clean before the eyes of his enemies now as then– We agree absolutely. And Robert does not dissent, I think. Facts begin to be conclusive to him.
You are an angel, dearest Isa, with the tact of a woman of the world. This in reference to the note you sent me,—and your answer. You could not have done better—not at all. Anyone but you, would have said, “Why, I [15] hear from her till I’m sick—therefore I can assure you she is’nt so utterly bad” [16] …
Except in heart. Oh Isa—you are slow to love, you say. Perhaps you think me quick to change in my loves, quick to forget– “Unstable as water I shall not excel.”? [17] And yet, god knows me that this is not my fault, among all the faults that are mine. I am sure I shall love you to the end of my life—yes, and beyond that end. Therefore if you ever observe me grow colder to others than there seems an obvious cause for, dont set it down as a caprice of temper or affection on my side—&, rather pity than blame me, Isa, believing that I am more likely to suffer than to be unjust–
Which is a solemn speech for such a small sheet of paper.
I envy you your ‘national assembly’ at the villa,—of Ulloas, [18] Dell’Ongreas, [19] and the rest .. not excepting dear Mr Trollope. Not in vain have you braved the Florence heats, to get so much interest out of the world–
Presently it will be our turn ..... I mean, when we get our visitors.
I am going out to drive tomorrow, to prepare for you, Isa.
I have never told you– We live in a haunted house here– Silks rustle in the doorways, voices speak in the windows, footsteps shuffle across the floors, and watches are wound up without hands– Annunciata has been so frightened that she gets the contadina to sleep with her–
Pilade is well again– Wilson was going, but I made her stay a few days more on his account, and as I knew you would’nt come before the fifteenth–
The day before yesterday, think of Philipson, the sainted, and his whole ‘cloud of witnesses’ [20] (including wife, daughters & son!) dropping upon us in this room– [21] I am sure they thought me much worse than I was, from the stroke of terror which prostrated me– They stayed half an hour. They had come to Siena for the day, & were goodnatured enough to look out for us.
Dearest dear Isa, may God bless you– Love me as I love you
Yours in true love–
αει– [22] Ba–
Our kind love to Kate—and mind you give our regards to Dr Grisanowsky– Also to Mr Jarves—poor Mr Jarves—how sorry I am about the pictures– [23] Robert will write another time, he says, “with kindest love.”
Publication: B-IB, pp. 241–244.
Manuscript: Fitzwilliam Museum.
1. Dating supplied by EBB’s remark that she is “going out to drive tomorrow.” In letter 4486, dated 9 September 1859, RB tells Isa Blagden that EBB went out for a drive “yesterday,” the 8th. Since the 7th was a Wednesday, this letter may have been written over two days.
2. “Long live our king—!” a cry that was heard during festivities held in Florence on 4 September 1859 in celebration of Victor Emmanuel’s response to the Tuscan delegates the day before at Turin. The delegates hoped that the king would accept Tuscany’s offer of union with Piedmont. The Morning Post of 5 September carried the king’s answer: “We have received your wish as a solemn manifestation of the will of the Tuscan people, who, after having made the last vestige of the foreign domination in Tuscany to cease, desires to contribute to the constitution of a strong kingdom, which shall defend the independence of Italy. But the Tuscan Assembly will have comprehended that the accomplishment of its wish can only take place by negotiations which are about to begin on the affairs of Italy. I will second your desire, becoming myself strong by the rights which are given me by your wishes. I will support the cause of Tuscany before the Powers … and especially before the magnanimous Emperor of the French, who has done so much for the Italian nation” (p. 4).
3. Richard von Metternich (1829–95), son of the powerful Austrian politician, was named ambassador at Paris after his father’s death in 1859. Upon Odo Russell’s return to Rome, he reported to his uncle: “In Paris I saw the friend of my youth Prince Richard Metternich, the new Austrian Ambassador, and I found him, like Lord Cowley, strangely under the influence of the French Emperor, who had succeeded in persuading him that no one regretted more than he did having undertaken the Italian war, that he had been deceived and led into it by ‘des intrigants’” (The Roman Question, ed. Noel Blakiston, 1962, p. 48).
4. “Rascal Cavour.”
5. Marchese Scipione Bargagli (1798–1868), the Grand Duke’s minister to the papal court. After the annexation of Tuscany by Piedmont, he continued to be recognized by the papal government and remained at the Palazzo Firenze (the residence of the Tuscan legation in Rome) until 1866.
6. Ferdinand IV (1835–1908), eldest son of Leopold II, was the Hapsburg-Lorraine successor to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. However, he was considered unacceptable because he had fought on the Austrian side at Solferino. The Holy See continued to recognize the Grand Ducal legate in Rome as if Leopold II were still in power.
7. “Downfall” or “forfeiture.”
8. “Shrewd,” or “clever.”
9. i.e., the vote in the Tuscan Assembly on 20 August for union with Piedmont (see letter 4476, note 6).
10. See note 2 above.
11. Kate Field had been contributing letters from Italy to the Boston Daily Courier since February, signing them as “Straws, Jr.” But the newspaper ceased publishing her work in August because “she was too outspoken, too partisan, too committed to the cause of Italian independence for its editors” (Gary Scharnhorst, Kate Field: The Many Lives of a Nineteenth-Century American Journalist, Syracuse, New York, 2008, p. 19). In January 1860, she began contributing letters to the Boston Evening Transcript and the Daily Picayune (New Orleans).
12. Paolo Emiliani Giudici (1812–72).
15. Underscored twice.
16. Here and in the following paragraph, EBB is more than likely referring to her relationship with Sophia Eckley, who had evidently written Isa for news of their mutual friend.
17. Cf. Genesis 49:4. This paragraph further alludes to EBB’s alienation from Sophia Eckley.
19. Sic, for Dall’Ongaro.
20. Hebrews 12:1; sometimes used to describe believers in spiritualism.
21. EBB refers to Abramo Philipson, the Brownings’ Florentine banker (see letter 2751, note 8). He and his wife, Cesira (née Luzzatti), had three children: Virginia (afterwards Goldsmid, 1843–92), Giulia (afterwards Sarfatti, 1844–1920), and Edoardo (1853–1916).
22. “Always,” or “eternally.” This Greek word is inscribed on the ring that Isa gave EBB (see letter 3950, note 2).
23. We are unable to explain this remark. At this time, Jarvis was attempting to sell his extensive collection of Italian paintings to the Boston Athenæum (see Francis Steegmuller, The Two Lives of James Jackson Jarves, New Haven, Conn., 1951, pp. 169–178).
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