4493. EBB to Theodosia Trollope
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 26, 307–309.
Siena–
Sunday– [25 September 1859] [1]
My dear Mrs Trollope I feel doubly ungrateful to you .. for the music, (one of the proofs of your multiform faculty) & for your kind & welcome letter which I have delayed to thank you for. My body lags so behind my soul always, & especially of late, that you must consider my disadvantage in whatever fault is committed by me, trying to forgive it.
Certainly we differ in our estimate of the Italian situation, while loving & desiring for Italy up to the same height, & with the same heart.
For me, I persist in looking to facts rather than to words official or unofficial, & in repeating that “whereas we were bound, now we are free.” [2]
“I think,—therefore I am”—cogito, ergo sum, [3] was, you know, an old formula– Italy thinks (aloud) at Florence & Bologna, [4] —therefore she is– And how did that happen?– Could it have happened last year, with the Austrians at Bologna, & ready (at a sign) to precipitate themselves into Tuscany? Could it have happened previous to the French intervention? And could it happen now, if France used the power she has in Italy against Italy? Why is it that the Times newspaper which declared .. first, that the elections were to be prevented by France .. & next that they were to be tampered with, .. is not justified before our eyes?–
I appeal to your colder judgement. If indeed the Emperor Napoleon desires the restoration of the Dukes, is he not all the more admirable for being loyal & holding his hand off, while he has fifty thousand men ready to “protect” us all, & prevent the exercise of the people’s sovereignty? and he a “despot” (so called) & accustomed to carry out his desires? Instead of which, Tuscans & Romagnoli, Parma & Modena, have had every opportunity allowed them, to combine, carry their elections, & express their full minds in Assemblies, [5] —till the case becomes so complicated & strengthened that their enemies for the most part despair.
The qualities shown by the Italians, the calm, the dignity, the intelligence, the constancy, .. I am as far from not understanding the weight of these virtues, as from not admiring them. But the opportunity for exercising them comes from the Emperor Napoleon, and it is good & just for us all to remember this while we admire the most.
So, at least, I think– And the Italian official bodies have always admitted it—though individuals seem to me too much influenced by the various suspicions & calumnies thrown out by foreign journals, English, Prussian, Austrian, & others, which traduce the emperor’s motives in diplomacy, as they traduced them in the war. A prejudice in the eye is as fatal to sight as mote & beam together [6] —& there are things abroad worse than any prejudices—yes, worse!
It is a fact, that the emperor used his influence with England to get the Tuscan vote accepted by the government. Whatever wickedness he meant by that, the gods know, and English statesmen suspect .. (or suspected a very short time ago ..) but the deed itself is not wicked,—& you & I shall not be severe on it—whatever bad motive may be imputable.
So much more I could write .. about Villafranca—but I wont. The emperor, great man as he is, could not precisely anticipate the high qualities given proof of in the late development of Italian nationality: he made the best terms he could, having had his hand forced– In consequence of this treaty he has carried out his engagement to Austria in certain official forms, knowing perfectly that the free will & choice of the Italians are hindered by none of them,—& knowing besides that every apparent coldness & reserve of his towards this peninsula, removes a jealousy from England, & instigates her to a more liberal & human bearing than formerly.
Forgive me for all these words. I am much better, but still not as strong as I was before my attack,—only getting strength, I hope. Miss Blagden & Miss Field are staying still with us, & are gone to Siena today to see certain pictures. (Which has helped to expose you to this attack–) We talk of returning to Florence by the first of October or soon after in spite of the revival of fine weather. Mr Landor is surprisingly improved by the good air here and the repose of mind—walks two miles, and writes alcaics & pentameters on most days .. on his domestic circumstances, and … I am sorry to say .. Louis Napoleon– But I tell him that I mean him to write an ode on my side of the question before we have done.
I honor you & your husband for the good work you have both done in behalf of this great cause—but his book we only know yet by the extracts in the Athenæum [7] which brings us your excellent articles– [8] May I, must I not, thank you for them?—— And when does Mr Trollope come back? [9] We hope not to miss him out of Florence long–
Peni’s love to Bice. [10] He has been very happy here, galloping through the lanes on a poney the colour of his curls. Then he helps to work in the vineyards & to keep the sheep, .. having made close friends with the contadini, to whom he reads & explains Dall’Ongaro’s poems, with great applause– By the way, the poet paid us a visit lately & we liked him much.
And let me tell Bice’s mother another story of Penini. He keeps a journal, be it whispered– I ventured to peep through the leaves the other morning, & came to the following notice—— “This is the happiest day of my hole (sic) life, because dearest Vittorio Emanuele is really nostro re.” [11]
There’s a true Italian for you!– But his weak point is spelling.
Believe me, with my husband’s regards, ever truly &
affectionately yours
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Publication: Thomas Adolphus Trollope, What I Remember (London, 1887), II, 181–185.
Manuscript: Maine Historical Society.
1. Date provided by postmark of 26 September 1859, a Monday (see Thomas Adolphus Trollope, What I Remember, 1887, II, 180–181). The envelope is now missing.
2. Cf. Romans 7:2–3.
3. Postulated by René Descartes (1596–1650) in his Discours de la méthode (Leiden, 1637) as “je pense donc je suis.”
4. Romagna, one of the Papal States (consisting of legations at Bologna, Ravenna, Forli, and Ferrara), had fallen into Italian nationalist hands following the withdrawal of Austrian troops in June 1859. Like Tuscany, it had requested union with Piedmont. In November 1859, Romagna united with Modena and Parma to form a new province named Emilia (see Edgar Holt, The Making of Italy, 1815–1870, 1970, pp. 214 and 221).
5. As in Romagna and Tuscany, the nationalist assemblies of Parma and Modena had recently voted for union with Piedmont (see Holt, p. 221).
6. Cf. Matthew 7:3–5.
7. The Athenaeum of 17 September 1859 (no. 1664, pp. 359–360) included numerous and lengthy extracts in an appreciative review of T.A. Trollope’s Tuscany in 1849 and in 1859.
8. From 7 May 1859 to 28 April 1860, Mrs. Trollope contributed 27 letters on Italian affairs, mainly concerning Tuscany, to The Athenæum. Edited versions of these were later published in her Social Aspects of the Italian Revolution (1861). She continued to contribute letters and articles to The Athenæum, the last one appearing on 7 January 1865.
9. “From a flying visit to England” (What I Remember, II, 184).
10. Beatrice (“Bice”) Trollope (1853–81).
11. “Our king.”
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