4828. EBB to Isa Blagden
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 28, 323–327.
126. Via Felice– Rome.
Tuesday– [12 February 1861] [1]
Ever dearest Isa, I wrote a long letter which you have received I do hope, [2] & am waiting for a long one from you to tell me that you are not suffering any more. This is on business merely—that is, it is merely to give you trouble,—the customary way for me to do business in these latter days. Will you, dear, without putting yourself to too much inconvenience by over-haste, direct the Nazione people to send the journal to which we must subscribe for three months, to S.E. le Général Comte de Nouë, Comandante della piazza di Roma. No other name. The General, who can do what he pleases, pleases to receive our paper (our kind Abbé mediating)—on condition that we do not talk of it—& so at last, I shall attain to getting out of this dark into the free upper air. It is insufferable to be instructed by the Giornale di Roma as to how Cialdini writes to Turin that his Piedmontese are perfectly demoralized, & that the besieged dance for triumph each time an Italian cannon is fired into the vague. [3] On the other hand, I hear regularly every morning from the Romans that Gaeta is taken .. with the most minute particulars .. which altogether is exasperating. The last rumour is of typhus fever in the fortress [4] —but I have grown sceptical—& believe nothing on either side now. One thing is clear—that it was’nt only the French fleet which prevented our triumph. [5]
I have seen the emperor’s speech. [6] That the Italian policy should not be given more in detail, has disappointed me—but the speech is very fine & very true, & implies, if it does not express. The Italians seem to be much satisfied with it—for instance the Duke de Sermoneta told Robert last night that he was so entirely—& I hear of Neri who gnash their teeth over it. Then the English, as you see, are extremely dissatisfied– Why? Because they find in it no assurance against war, but rather a probability of the non-intervention breaking through, by France aiding Italy against Austria,—with certain eventualities in Germany & Hungary &c .. developing perhaps on the Rhine—who knows? I see by the telegram that little Lord John in his small way talks big of “England’s approving the unity of Italy, while France, Austria Prussia objected …”—or as Robert saw it reported in an English journal .. “while France Austria Prussia &c did what they could to stifle liberty in Italy”– [7] Robert confesses that he could not help laughing while he read it,—not only because really it was “un peu fort” [8] even for the Briton in himself, but for the thought of the immense access of rage which was likely to sieze me in consequence. Lord John is always niggling at France’s intentions to Italy in order to prevent the possibility of gratitude for the past, alliance for the present, or application for aid in the future, on the part of the Italians,—but his talk will persuade nobody except the English—and “let them rave”. [9] Meanwhile this mode of antagonism is so ungenerous, that my soul rises in me for the disgust of it. In the case of a general war you see, England will only stir in defence of Belgium—who is’nt likely to be attacked.
There may be however complications in the east– And see how M. Post speaks of Syria.! [10]
Poor Mr Cartwright is still very ill with fever. Sir John Bowring is better. Mdme Swab brought me the day before yesterday a heap of letters from Cobden, which pleased me much. He said in one that his great reason for objecting to active interference on the part of our government on foreign affairs, was the certainty he had of its not being trusted to take the right side. The aristocracy in England would always oppose the progress of the democracy,—however it might wear the colours of liberalism on particular occasions. The Palmerston & Russell cries were noisy but meant in reality very little.
Robert came home this morning between three & four– A great ball at Mrs Hookers—magnificent, he says. All the princes in Rome, (& even cardinals) present. The rooms are splendid, [11] & the preparations were in the best taste. The princess Ruspoli (a Bonaparte) [12] appeared in the tricolor– She is most beautiful, Robert says.
So you see our Americans can dance even, while the Republic goes to pieces. I think I would not do it. Not that I despair of America—God forbid. If the north will be faithful to its conscience, there will be only an increase of greatness after a few years—even though it may rain blood betwixt then & now. Mr Story takes it all very quietly– He would be content to let the south go, & accept the isolation of the north as final. “We should do better without the south,” says he. I dont agree in this. I think that the unity of the state should be asserted with a strong hand, & the south forced to pay taxes & submit to law–
Mdme Swab told me that a friend of hers had travelled with Klapka [13] from Constantinople, & that K. had said, ‘there would not be war till next year—diplomacy would take its course for the present year.’ Perhaps he did not speak sincerely. I cant understand how the Austrian provinces will hold out in mere talk for twelve months more– Do you mark the tone of the Opinion Nationale on Austria, & about Hungary being a natural ally of France [14] —& also what is said in the Morning Chronicle which always more or less reflects the face of the French Government? [15] Then it seems to me that the emperor’s speech is not eminently pacific, though he “desires peace.” [16] I hear from rather good authority what I hope is impossible—that Teliki [17] accepted as a condition of his liberation .. not simply that he would not personally act against Austria, but that he would use his endeavours to prevent any action on the part of his compatriots. Men are base.
Mr Prinsep is here– Last autumn he made a walking tour into Cornwall with Alfred Tennyson, to tread in the steps of King Arthur. [18] Tennyson was dreadfully afraid of being recognized & mobbed, & desired to be called “the other gentleman” .. —which straightway became convertible now & then, into “the old gentleman,” .. much to his vexation. But Mr Prinsep is in the roses & lilies of youth, & comparatively speaking, of course, the great Laureat was an ancient. He is in considerable trouble too by their building a Fort, in front of his house on the southern coast of the Isle of Wight– [19] I could’nt help saying that he deserved it for having written “Riflemen arm.” [20] Its a piece of pure poetical justice, really–
Here I end.
Write to me my Isa—and do me good with your tender warm thoughts. Do you think I have no comfort in feeling them stroke me softly through the dark & distance?
May God love you, dearest Isa.
Always your loving Ba–
Robert’s true love—& Pen’s.
The weather is wonderfully warm– In fact the winter has been very mild—milder than usual for even Rome.
Publication: B-IB, pp. 409–413.
Manuscript: Fitzwilliam Museum.
1. Date provided by reference to EBB’s remark in the second paragraph: “I have seen the emperor’s speech.” In letter 4824 she mentioned hearing a report of the speech, but thought that she might like it “at full length, better.”
3. In the issue of 4 February 1861, p. 111.
4. In his journal entry for 14 February 1861, Gregorovius cites a dispatch from Gaeta reporting “an outbreak of typhus, of which Generals Ferrari and Sangro died” (The Roman Journals of Ferdinand Gregorovius: 1852–1874, ed. Friedrich Althaus, trans. Mrs. Gustavus W. Hamilton, 1907, p. 123).
7. Possibly The Daily News of 8 February 1861. Commenting on Napoleon III’s “detailed account of ‘the situation of the empire,’” that “was laid upon the tables of the Senate and the Corps Legislatif,” the Paris correspondent reported that “France wanted at one time to interfere by force to prevent the action of Garibaldi in the Neapolitan states, but that the plan was abandoned in consequence of the opposition of England. This admission entirely bears out the statement of Lord John Russell, as I read it in the latest telegram from London, that the principal moral support of Italian unity comes from England; and that France joined with Austria, Russia, and Prussia against Italian liberty” (p. 5).
8. “A bit strong.”
9. The refrain in Alfred Tennyson’s “A Dirge” (1830).
10. The Morning Post for 1 February 1861 (pp. 4–5) carried an editorial and a dispatch concerning the French proposal to extend their occupation of Lebanon (see letter 4751, note 27). The Post saw no reason for the great powers to grant an extension, arguing that a continued French presence would cause more hostility between the Maronites and Druses than it would prevent and that it would also constitute “a virtual repudiation of the independence solemnly guaranteed by France to Turkey in 1856” (p. 4).
11. As indicated in the Brownings’ address book of this period (AB-4), Elizabeth Temple Hooker (née Winthrop, 1832–1912) and her husband, the American banker James Clinton Hooker (1818–94), resided in an apartment on the second floor of Palazzo Bonaparte. Situated “at the corner of the Piazza di Venezia and Corso … it was formerly the property of Madame Mère, the mother of Napoleon … and at present belongs to her great-grandson, Prince Joseph Buonaparte” (Murray’s A Handbook of Rome and Its Environs, 1862, p. 263).
12. Princess Maria Cristina Ruspoli (1842–1907), daughter of Prince Giovanni Nepomuceno Ruspoli (1807–76). She had married Prince Napoleon Charles Bonaparte (1839–99), grandson of Napoleon’s brother Lucien, on 25 November 1859.
13. Georg Klapka (1820–92), Hungarian soldier and officer, lived in exile in England and Switzerland after working for Hungary’s independence in 1854. He eventually returned to his homeland after the war between Prussia and Austria of 1866.
14. An editorial by F. Mornand in L’Opinion nationale of 3 February 1861 listed four points presenting reasons why the dissolution of the Austrian Empire would be favorable to France. Point three contained the following: “In case of a possible rupture with Germany, an independent Hungary, natural ally of France, and taking Austria or its allies on their flank, would be an immense help” (p. 1).
15. EBB may have in mind an editorial in The Morning Chronicle of 2 February 1861 that discussed Hungarian desire for independence from Austria: “In the French Senate and Legislative Corps—though the Hungarian question has never been so fully ventilated in France as the wrongs of Italy and Poland—every word spoken on behalf of Italy will be a good word for Hungary, and it is impossible to believe that amongst the Senators and Members orators will be wanting to plead the cause of an ancient kingdom and an oppressed people” (p. 4).
16. Napoleon III’s speech, opening the French Assembly the day before, was reprinted in The Morning Chronicle for 5 February 1861 with an English translation that contained the following: “Abroad, I have endeavoured to prove in my relations with foreign Powers that France sincerely desires peace; that without renouncing a legitimate influence, she does not pretend to intrude anywhere that her interests are not at stake; and, finally, that if she entertains sympathies for all that is noble and grand, she does not hesitate to condemn whatever tends to violate the law of nations and justice” (p. 5).
17. László Teleki (1811–61), Hungarian patriot and revolutionary, had been living in exile since the fall of Kossuth’s republic in 1849. On 17 December 1860, he was arrested in Dresden by the police, turned over to Austrian authorities, and transported to Vienna for trial (see The Daily News, 27 December 1860, p. 5). However, the trial never took place. On New Year’s Day, Teleki was given an audience with Emperor Franz Josef. According to a report in The Daily News of 8 January 1861, the Emperor told him: “I am ready to restore you to full and entire liberty on three conditions, which you will promise to observe, on your word as a man of honour and a gentleman. These conditions are, that you break off all political relations with foreign countries, that you fix your residence in my states, and that you abstain from all political agitation” (p. 4). Teleki accepted the conditions and was freed. Five months later, on 8 May 1861, he was found shot through the heart in his room, an apparent suicide.
19. Named Golden Hill Fort, it was to be built about one mile from Tennyson’s home on Freshwater Bay. Construction began in 1863 and was completed five years later. In a letter to the Duke of Argyll of 10 November 1861, Tennyson wrote: “I am sure the Duchess will sympathize with my disgust at having my Freshwater (where I had pitched my tent, taken with its solitariness) so polluted and defiled with brick and mortar, as is threatened” (The Letters of Alfred Lord Tennyson, ed. Cecil Y. Lang and Edgar F. Shannon, Jr., Cambridge, Mass., 1981–90, 2, 283).
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