4664. EBB to Isa Blagden
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 27, 314–319.
[Rome]
May 10. [1860] [1]
My ever dearest Isa I shall begin to write till Robert tells me of the cameo, [2] which from what we hear must be a much more expensive business than you suppose– He has gone however to ascertain the precise facts– Mr Story’s bust [3] too is not to be had for love, or without much money, & even so, there seem to be difficulties– But Robert takes upon himself, he tells me, to instruct you– I do wish you would make us useful somehow– Poor Mr Parker. I am very sorry. [4] Also, as a high noble intellect he will be missed in the world—though he himself misses while here, much spiritual truth, I think, & fails rather in that larger tolerance which ought peculiarly to belong to men of so negative a creed, yet often does not– He doubts less than he denies, & having shut himself up in a conclusion, cursed is the man on the other side– There is a temptation to this for the teacher by profession—clergymen & schoolmasters are nearly always narrow men, and in the grades far above them intellectually there is something of the same straitness– I saw Mr Parker three times, & was very much struck by him– The time before last he was here he gave me a masterly analysis of the Napoleon papal pamphlet, [5] —admirable: & the last time, when we were quite alone, I asked his opinion & listened to a most interesting expression of it during an hour on the subject of spiritualism– He believed a great deal in the trance & clairvoyant facts, but resolved them into the nightside of human nature in the body, excluding the supposition of another plane of being– He believed in the honesty of Davis & Cora Hatch, [6] for instance– Mr Hazard told me that his belief went much farther at one time & that he has letters of his to prove– Spiritualism had taken strong & extensive hold upon his congregation, .. the largest in Boston I understand, .. which may have naturally made him timid & averse, considering some prevalent absurdities– At least he certainly does not believe in a spiritual access at present–
His feeling about being made to deny his teaching by Hume or others, is curious, and very characteristic, I think– [7] What the Athenæum mis-stated about me, I should not have got up the steam to correct, [8] if it had’nt been for Robert’s fury—poor darling Robert!—& that I should spend a thought about possible mis-interpretations of my words & actions, by a wilderness of mediums, while stepping out myself into a larger atmosphere of truth & with a hope of looking back on all my faltering talk here as mere child-babble, I cannot really conceive of my doing it. Can you, Isa? While we are here, our business & desire ought to be, to speak, act, & influence, the nearest to the truth as we see it—but our strongest is so weak, our best so bad, our truest so partially true, that God may certainly be trusted with the development of His own verities when the wisest of us is made away with, crossed out, effaced .. or misrepresented by mediums,—& the world be none the poorer for the lack of us–
Observe—I have the greatest respect for Mr Parker– Whatever truth he has taught will live, even if the mediums bring against it the authority of his name twenty times over,—& he ought to feel that, and be glad to feel it–
And is it not a wrong too, when Mr Parker maintains as he did in Rome (though he is not a medium) that all learned persons of the present day who profess to believe in the divine inspiration of John’s gospel, are false & lie?–
But no—I dont like writing these things, when he is suffering, & passing from us perhaps, poor noble soul– May God love him & bless him– It will be hard to fill his empty chair–
How sad too for poor Miss Cobbe!– [9] He had a great horror of dying & being buried in the Roman states, & his desire to go away could not be resisted by his family & friends– For my part I had hoped that the end was not so soon– When I saw him his countenance & appearance had nothing in them of mortal sickness.
Dearest Isa, I send you my poem [10] for which your letter [11] supplied the Lucifer match, though Robert will scarcely let me, & insists that I should beg you not to give away a copy. He says “it’s just like a young lady, to send about MS verses”—& perhaps that’s another temptation to do it, “at my time of life”– “My last appearance as a young lady”, see! Seriously– The verses, which came out of your letter, belong to you, particularly as you thought it worth while to ask for them—only I dont give a copy to anyone (supposing that anyone cared to ask for it) because they go straight to my publisher at New York, to be printed in the first place in the Independent & then to subside into the next edition of ‘Poems before Congress’– [12] The editor of the Independent [13] offered me a hundred dollars for every poem which should pass through his hands .. as I think I told you—& so I shall give him this & another called ‘First News from Villafranca’ which describes the agitation of the early shock & will precede ‘The tale of Villafranca’ in my book. Tell me if the sword of Castruccio was given to the King at Lucca, & if he was really there. [14]
Oh no, no, no, my Isa– The article in the New York Times [15] is far above all Eckleyism. As to the motive of going to England, I never did much doubt it. I shall be curious to see the book– [16] I had a letter from her the other day—from York– Is it not wonderful how a human being with nerves, not to say sensibility, should go on in that way?–
I feel inclined to grind my teeth & stamp– She sticks, dear, like treacle,—or dissolved lollipop– Once I praised the sweetness—now I feel very sick at the adhesiveness. Oh—if I could believe in the honesty of an inch of her or if she said she hated me;—how much easier I should feel– But “my cooled love” is the cause of the illness which necessitated that change of air– “Grisonowski said she had no pulse & had been leading too sedentary a life,” but she knew & &c &c–
In the midst of this, Isa .. I am promised the earliest copy, & Robert & I are solicited to speak to our friends in favor of the book!!!! “See how plain I am!”—— Conceive of that complication–!
Why you know, Isa, with all my love for you, close as you are to me, I am too honest to promise to speak in favor of your book, [17] till I have read it– And that she [18] should take this opportunity of making such a request! Wonderful.
I get a little ease by hearing that they go to Lucca– Where did you hear it? & when do they go? If they are fixed to go, it need not be a mystery that we mean to go to Siena—that’s our idea, at present– What do you mean by its being “unhealthy” my Isa? Why, you object to Lucca on that ground—you leave us no city of refuge– I thought Siena was even cholera-safe, it was so healthy– The people vaunt it for health– There’s a smack of sulpher in the air, but there’s more than that at Naples, you know– Come & spend the summer by us like an angel & an Isa– You see one of our reasons is, that our abbé is to go there for two months & catch up his two scholars—& he gets them on so well that it’s an object– Pray dont whisper a plan of ours till the others have fixed their’s– I had faintly hoped they might be returning to America– And then Miss Verini [19] wrote to Mrs Story that she was about to leave them on account of their meaning to go to Switzerland to put Dody to school– Who teaches that boy now, I wonder? They surely dont mean to leave him in his elemental state–
Dont you mean soon to get an answer from Chapman. [20] He’s the slowest of men—we find it hard to extract a letter, & when it comes it has been overdue as a matter of course– Then he is not clever as a man of business– So absurd it was to set such a price on my poems, & he told us himself that he had wished to charge five shillings, till his nephew (in a sane state of mind) persuaded him against it– [21] And not a word has he written since––supposing probably that I am under syncope from the fists of the critics–
Forster did not name Lytton’s book [22] —but we heard from Chapman that the proofs passed through his hands– And, by the way, let me acknowledge the same kind offices, although I never asked for them: it was very kind of Forster. Lytton’s poem we saw reviewed in the Athenæum with long extracts– [23] There seemed to be much beauty, but I dont like the measure for a long work implying variety of situation & sentiment—neither does he manage it without defects even in these extracts. His prayer to you is very amusing! [24]
Dearest Isa, I have your letter & thank you & Dall’Ongaro also. As he cant read English, there was’nt much to expect, you see—but his views of humanitarianism always delight me. Not quite so, however, am I pleased with the perpetual reference to Rhine frontiers &c––& it vexed me to have to show the thing to Robert who began straightway to rage in the English key– I know that something better must be meant as the ultimate object of Napoleon—otherwise he is just as bad as other heads of governments. This Fauvety does not understand everything– For instance—the talk about Sicily & England’s intention is off the mark to an absurd degree– Yes, Lord John is tied up tight in red tape—has no soul to call his own– English & American ships allowing Sicilian fugitives to be siezed on their decks—while Russia acts the liberal part– Oh, shame on the Anglo Saxon race for it!– The insurrection lasts you see. And if Garibaldi has landed, [25] there may be hope. May God grant it. Would that the Neapolitans would be men & rise–
And will the French go away from Rome & leave Southern Italy to the mercy of Napoleon’s personal enemies? [26] That will be a most extraordinary move– And it is said that they go in June. The emperor must complete his work here– There is a necessity on him to do it– What does Dall’Ongaro think, himself? The annexation between Savoy & France, must surely be the annexation in principle & affection, between France & Italy– Surely Cavour said as much– We are “not to consider it an isolated fact”. The popular vote was very satisfactory & has overcome all my scruples– [27] Garibaldi is not wise,—but I compassionate him as a man, & can pardon him some natural bitterness. [28]
Isa dearest, be careful not to give a copy of the enclosed—because, Robert says, as it goes to America on saturday & will be paid for, the small worth of it must not be farther diminished–
But Mr Parker cant be so very near the end, or they would not move him—would they? If a chair should be wanted from our rooms, or anything else, let them take it–
May God bless you, dearest dear Isa– Your tenderly affectionate
Ba–
I cant [29]
Publication: B-IB, pp. 338–343.
Manuscript: Fitzwilliam Museum.
1. Year provided by EBB’s reference to her poem “King Victor Emanuel Entering Florence, April, 1860.”
2. RB provides the information in letter 4665.
3. Of Theodore Parker. He wrote to Joseph Lyman on 14 April [1860]: “Story has made a fine bust of me; to-morrow it will be put into plaster. My wife and Miss Stevenson think the likeness perfect, and they are perhaps the best judges” (John Weiss, Life and Correspondence of Theodore Parker, 1863, II, 436). Later executed in marble, the bust was bequeathed to the Boston Public Library in 1881 by Parker’s wife, Lydia (née Cabot, 1813–81).
4. Parker was in ill health and died in Florence on the day this letter was written. He was buried in the English Cemetery.
5. Identified as Le Pape et le Congrès in a letter from Robert Apthorp to Joseph Lyman, dated 16 January 1860, in which he describes visiting the Brownings with Parker (see SD2325).
6. Cora Hatch (née Scott, 1840–1923), American medium, and Andrew Jackson Davis (1826–1910), a noted American mesmerist.
7. We can shed no light on this remark.
10. A copy of “King Victor Emanuel Entering Florence, April, 1860.”
12. Never issued.
14. The following report appeared in Galignani’s Messenger for 4 May 1860: “The King of Sardinia arrived at Pistoia on the 30th ult., and was received with the accustomed enthusiasm by the population; but his Majesty’s visit was marked here by an interesting incident which deserves to be mentioned. The name of Castruccio Castracani, the nobleman of Lucca who, in 1300, was exiled as a Ghibeline, and, after serving in France, England, and Lombardy, at length returned to place himself at the head of the Ghibeline party, is well-known to history. Louis V of Bavaria ultimately recognised him Duke of Lucca. The sword of this brave general and prince, who died in 1328, had descended to the family of the late Count Niccolo Puccini of Pistoia, one of the wealthiest landed proprietors of Tuscany, who, at his death, which occurred about ten years ago, bequeathed it ‘to the Italian soldier who should one day deliver Italy.’ His executors, considering Victor Emmanuel to be within the meaning of the will, entrusted the magistracy of Pistoia with the duty of presenting it on the solemn occasion of his Majesty’s visit, which was accordingly done amidst loud acclamations” (p. 2).
EBB commemorates this event in “The Sword of Castruccio Castracani,” which appeared in The Independent (New York) on 30 August 1860 and was later published in Last Poems (1862).
15. The review of Napoleon III in Italy; see letter 4657, note 7.
16. The Oldest of the Old World; see letter 4478, note 3.
17. Agnes Tremorne (1861).
18. Underscored three times.
20. Regarding Agnes Tremorne.
21. The price of Poems Before Congress was set at four shillings. EBB had hoped for “two shillings & sixpence”; see letter 4627. Frederic Chapman was not Edward Chapman’s nephew, but rather his cousin.
22. Lucile (see letter 4537, note 4).
23. In the issue of 21 April 1860 (no. 1695, pp. 537–538). The reviewer is given as H.F. Chorley in the marked file copy of The Athenæum now at City University (London).
24. EBB refers facetiously to one of the passages extracted from Lucile in The Athenæum, where the speaker bemoans the loss of the title character:
“O return; I repent!”
He exclaim’d; but no sound through the stillness was sent,
Save the roar of the water, in answer to him,
And the beetle that, sleeping, yet humm’d her night-hymn:
An indistinct anthem, that troubled the air
With a searching, and wistful, and questioning prayer.
“Return,” sung the wandering insect.
25. Garibaldi sailed from Genoa for Sicily on 5 May 1860 with a group of volunteers, later known as “The Thousand.”
26. On 11 May, Odo Russell reported that an agreement had been signed by the Duc de Gramont, the French ambassador, for the withdrawal of the French garrison to commence 1 June and be completed by the end of August, assuming Lamoricière could raise an international papal army of 20,000 (see The Roman Question, ed. Noel Blakiston, 1962, pp. 102–103). Because of Garibaldi’s successful campaigns in Sicily and southern Italy, the French troops remained in Rome.
29. The letter ends abruptly as given.
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