4722. EBB to Sarianna Browning
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 28, 98–100.
[Siena]
[mid-August 1860] [1]
My dearest Sarianna, you will be kindly glad to hear that my poor Henrietta though essentially much in the same state, alarms me less—as I have come to understand the chronic nature of the disorder, & am able to resist any sudden accesses of terror with more patient hopefulness– Arabel thinks there is real cause for hope, as there must always be motive for patience. Still the dear sufferer does suffer much– There is no operation before her– Why should you have thought there was? It is an internal tumour which has suppurated. The pain is not incessant (thanks perhaps to opiates) and she sleeps well—but it recurs, & she is in low spirits about herself & absorbed in the thought of her malady—which is nearly always to be reckoned on in persons of usually strong health who fall into sickness. She looks well still—& this is considered favorable as a symptom—and in fact, the like case, & worse cases have terminated quite happily. To keep her quiet & in good air is considered the best remedy,—& we must trust God & be quiet ourselves. Such cases often go on for years!– Think of that– Its a very black spot in my life of course—& think what it must be to her husband, with his three young children, the last three years old! [2] ——
As for me, Arabel forbids my going to England,—and as, if she did’nt, Robert perhaps might; I have nothing more to say. In fact, I suppose it is reasonable. Henrietta has every attention,—& offering a Ba to Arabel for use, is much like offering a wine-glass (to cut her dear fingers) when she wanted a hammer. Arabel says, that to begin, the cold would abbreviate me! Such cold as they have had in England is remarkable. Up to the ankles in snow at Leeds. And even about Taunton where the climate is peculiarly mild, there has been no sort of attempt at summer, & Arabel has chilblains she says, on her feet & hands– With you too it has been cold–
And, in fact, the weather here has been so exceptional, (never was such known in an Italian summer, that we all turned to expecting an earthquake– For a fortnight & more, we had whirlwinds rather than winds, torrents of rain, a succession of thunderstorms by day & night—& a coolness which was almost (at moments) cold, & led to a shutting of the windows & doors, & even, in some distracted cases, to the putting on of flannel petticoats– In fact we have had a fortnight or more of English summer weather—very pleasant as a change to our ordinary heats, but not healthy, I think, for Italy. The contadini were said to be all “matti” [3] with headache .. & people generally have felt nervous & restless– Robert was wretched in his feelings for some days, & had to plunge into ‘nux’– And our poor Abbé has been ill with intermittent fever. Now, though not over-warm, it is warm—& we shall have our share of strong heat presently, I dare say, in time to rescue the grapes & do us all good– It has been no peculiarity of Sienese weather– At Florence & even at Rome there have been the same ‘fantastic tricks before high heaven.’ [4]
Let me tell you that one thing has relieved me much. Safe from the whirlwinds & the sea, has come in that old rotten David Lyon with my brother on board .. my eldest brother. I had not been very easy about him lately, since hearing of his folly in choosing to sail by that ship. But he arrived safe (as foolish people generally do) and is now with my darling Henrietta at Stoke Court,—helping Arabel to help–
Robert & I had fallen violently on Milsand’s article in the ‘Deux Mondes’ before you mentioned it. [5] By an accident we came to see the review, & his name & his word are always precious to us. Very clever, very pregnant writing——but tell him with my love (beg him to forgive me for saying it) that never is he more French than in carrying out his system of the “races”– Unfortunately facts are there! For instance .. municipal institutions lie as deep in Italy as in England. It is as difficult to centralize in Italy as it could be in the northern state—& this presents to us here in the present crisis of reconstitution both advantages & disadvantages. Then with regard to the so-called “individuality” of Englishmen .. you find more of the characteristic among Englishmen abroad, because they are generally in revolt & reaction, & removed from their special public—but at Rome!– If he could live in our societies, & observe our Mrs Grundyism, he would think otherwise. As to literature & art, individuality means just genius,—& our men of genius may be counted on our fingers– The rest are mere sheep.– No, it will not do. But I want very much to see the next article, which must not be lost for the sake of a bookseller’s copy– By the way, I wish I had extracted, & sent to you (for M. Milsand) Ruskin’s own opinion of his own countrymen as a body—because it made me seem to myself a martyred patriot in comparison to him. [6]
The emperor’s letter to Persigney is worthy of him. [7] There’s a great individuality! He is magnanimous too in proportion to his large intellect. I never will forgive Lord Palmerston for his speech on the fortifications. The sky darkens—not for Italy though, thank God. I observe in our papers here a strong feeling about a too probable coalition against France, (with Austria in it)—and there’s a cry on all sides that the “viva ed imperitura riconoscenza” [8] of Italy for her “solo alleato” [9] will carry her to his side. We are not ungrateful, tell M. Milsand, nor shall be. But may God avert a European war—& that most people desire peace everywhere is a reason for it I hope. I am very glad you all liked Pen’s letter. He says to me so tenderly sometimes “How are you, darling?” that it goes to my heart. Bathe & walk & be the better for Dieppe. Best love to the dear Nonno & let him & you love us too. Robert has a horse & rides sometimes for three hours—which is pleasant for him & Pen.
Your ever affectionate sister
Ba
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: Lilly Library.
1. Approximate dating based on EBB’s reference to the “exceptional” weather lasting “for a fortnight & more.” In letter 4720 she writes of the “extraordinary” weather: “For a fortnight we have had no heat.”
2. The Cooks’ youngest son, Edward Altham (1856–1943), was four years old.
3. “Mad.”
4. Measure for Measure, II, 2, 121.
5. The Revue des Deux Mondes of 1 July 1860 carried the first of Joseph Milsand’s two articles on John Ruskin, “Une nouvelle théorie de l’art en angleterre,” which discusses the ideas expressed in The Seven Lamps of Architecture (1849) and The Stones of Venice (3 vols., 1851–53). The second article, “De l’influence litteraire dans les beaux-arts,” appeared over a year later on 15 August 1861 and is primarily a study of Ruskin’s theory of painting in Modern Painters (5 vols., 1843–1860).
7. A translation of a letter from Napoleon III to Comte de Persigny, French ambassador to England, was published in The Times on 1 August 1860. Dated 25 July, the letter is, in part, a response to Palmerston’s speech on coastal fortifications that was delivered in the House of Commons on 23 July (see letter 4719, note 9). The French emperor addresses Palmerston indirectly: “Affairs appear to me to be so complicated—thanks to the mistrust excited everywhere since the war in Italy—that I write to you in the hope that a conversation, in perfect frankness, with Lord Palmerston will remedy the existing evil. Lord Palmerston knows me, and when I affirm a thing he will believe me. Well, you can tell him from me, in the most explicit manner, that since the peace of Villafranca I have had but one thought, one object—to inaugurate a new era of peace, and to live on the best terms with all my neighbours, and especially with England” (p. 9). He went on to declare that France had far fewer than the 400,000 men under arms claimed by Palmerston.
8. “Ardent and imperishable gratitude.”
9. “Sole ally.”
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