453. EBB to Hugh Stuart Boyd
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 3, 24–27.
[Hope End]
Saturday. June 9th 1832
My dearest friend,
So you have taken a house!—— But I do not begin to write to you, to write about that. I thought from the first, it would be so, altho’ Henrietta & Arabel from what Mrs Boyd had said to them, assured me to the contrary. I do not always make mistakes!——
As to my going to see you, I spoke plainly to you, when I told you that it was impossible. And now, it is impossible. What is done, is done—and may it prove well done for your comfort & happiness!– That I should have felt a little extravagantly the loss of society which was valuable to me, has been the fault of my nature, & punishes itself. Therefore every unreasonable expression in my former letters, I hope you will forgive. I have blamed myself for writing each of them, as soon as ever I had parted from each,—& can easily imagine what “damning proofs” you must have considered them, of that weakness in bearing anything adverse, & that much adoing about nothing, of which you once accused me.
To return to your proposal about Bath. Could you seriously suppose that Papa would go so far out of his way with all his family, & remain there, at a great expence, for days? And for what object?– That I might see you!! How could I ask or expect or dream of such a thing? And even if I could, what would be the use of going to see you, only to wish you good bye again, when it is settled, fixed, that we are not to live in the same place & are so very very unlikely ever to say another how do you do? No!—there would be no use or pleasure in it, even if it were possible—and it is not possible. As to Papa’s leaving me behind, indeed there is no chance of that, for many reasons, some of which I have told you—and I have written too long on this subject already. Writing on it, for ever & ever, would do no good. What is done, is done.
It appears probable that we shall soon leave Hope End. A report has reached me, a report which I have no means of doubting, that the place is sold. Papa has not yet spoken to us—he is likely to speak to us soon—& then, everything will be settled. I shall be glad when anything is settled; and when we are once gone & in some other less dear home, I must make up my mind to be tranquil & happy. To be either, here, & now, is not possible. The purchaser is said to be the gentleman who came here for the second time, while I was paying one of my last visits to you. Do not repeat to any person, what I have said to you. It will soon be known, if it is true enough to be worth knowing.
I have been reading thro’ the eight first chapters of Genesis in Hebrew, & after I have read the whole of that book, I mean to begin Job. As I knew the character[s] & something of the grammar before, I have not been fagging hard—or indeed at all—for Papa would not let me do so. Instead of fagging, I have read Corinne for the third time, & admired it more than ever. [1] It is an immortal book, & deserves to be read three score & ten times—that is, once every year in the age of man. Lord Byron hated Madme de Stael because she was always prominent in conversation & used to lecture him; but I believe he estimated her Corinne, & am sure that his writings were the better for his readings. It was as di°cult for him to touch fire & not be ignited, as it is generally, to touch pitch & not be defiled, [2] —& it is no new observation that Harold has often spoken with the voice of Corinne, & often when he has spoken with the most passion & eloquence.
The Bill has past. [3] We may be prouder of calling ourselves English, than we were before it past,—& stand higher among nations, not only as a freer people, but as a people worthy of being free. Lord Grey on the other hand, may be proud of the gratitude of such a people. He deserves that gratitude. House & lands & golden vases & civic statues are straw given in exchange for brick: they cannot repay his services—nothing can, except the approbation of his own mind, & that gratitude of his country, which is “more lasting than brass.” [4] The poor King, I cannot help being sorry for. He has been Cumberlanded [5] & Fitzclarenced [6] out of his popularity; and what will they give him in exchange? Yet we should remember that when he called the Duke of Wellington to office, he did so upon the sole condition of his passing the bill. Therefore the charge against him should not be, that he deserted the people, but that he was weak in serving them. The people however were not weak. They have presented a sublime spectacle. Did you read the account of the meeting of the Birmingham union upon the recall of Lord Grey, when a minister of the Gospel returned thanks to God, to whom the first thanks were due,—and the voices of thirty thousand persons, said Amen? [7] It must have been very fine. I do not wonder at the French being surprised at our bill having been past by the people & without bloodshed. We think before we fight,—& they fight before they think: exempli gratia, [8] what do you decide about the fighting which is going on now in Paris, where the fighters are still undetermined as to whether they would be republicans or Carlists? [9] There is to be a great dinner & procession in Ledbury in honor of the people’s triumph,—& a giving away of meat amongst the poor. Papa has contributed a very large cow, to the value of £20. There is also to be another public meeting, to vote the thanks of the people to Lord Grey.
If I were to finish my poem just now, I should make sad work of it—in every sense of that word. But if I could finish it properly, Papa would not let me do it. He does not know anything of my studying the little Hebrew which I do study, or I should be well scolded for it. Bro teaches Henry & Daisy their Latin, now.
Mr Curzon was here on Friday, & enquired about you, & seemed very much surprised at your not having settled at Frome, as he had understood that your object in going, was to live near Mr Clarke. I knew, & therefore could say, nothing about that. I suppose you are likely to have his society where you are, & a great deal of other persons’ society besides. There are some things in your disposition, which, when I knew you first, I thought to have no existence,—& which, now, I am much inclined to envy.
I began a letter to you, & wrote down two pages of it, a week ago,—but second thoughts prevented my sending it. It related chiefly to our leaving this place, & to wishes which are vain. You do not say one word about Annie. I wish you had. Arabel says that she wrote to her as kind a letter as she was capable of writing, of which no notice even by a line or word or message, has been taken. What can be the reason? That she wishes to obliterate even the recollection of our past acquaintance? Give our best love to Mrs Boyd,—& to Annie, thro’ her. You will write—will you not?—whenever you can. You do not know what a comfort it is to me, to hear from you!–
Ever affectionately yours
EBB.
Address, on integral page: H S Boyd Esqr / Bath Hampton / near Bath.
Publication: EBB-HSB, pp. 175–178.
Manuscript: Wellesley College.
1. Corinne, or Italy (1807) by Mme. de Staël (1766–1817).
2. Apocrypha, Ecclesiasticus 13:1.
3. The final debate, on the third reading of the reform bill, took place in the House of Lords on 4 June and ended with an affirmative vote of 106–22.
4. Horace, Odes, XXX, 1.
5. Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (1771–1851), 5th son of George III, was an energetic opponent of reform.
6. George Augustus Fitzclarence, Earl of Munster (1794–1842), the eldest of William IV’s children by Mrs. Jordan. He is thought to have influenced the King against reform, although he denied the charge (DNB).
7. The Times of 18 May reported a “grand spontaneous meeting” of upwards of 50,000 persons. At the end of an extemporaneous prayer by the Rev. Hugh Hutton, “thousands of voices re-echoed ‘Amen, Amen’.”
8. “For instance.”
9. Supporters of Don Carlos (1788–1855), son of Charles IV of Spain. As a direct descendant of Louis XIV, he was held by many to have a better claim to the French throne than the incumbent, Louis Philippe, whose descent was from Louis XIV’s brother.
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