4827. EBB to Arabella Moulton-Barrett
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 28, 319–322.
126. Via Felice. Rome.
Tuesday– [11–12 February 1861] [1]
Ever beloved Arabel, your letter seemed to lag very much behind, and I was getting quite uneasy. It pains me to find that you have caught cold—& a bad cold certainly—while the bitter weather was not favorable of course to shaking it off. Now that you can get out, my darling, you must for my sake be lavish upon the cabs, & take long drives into the country so as to revive yourself in body & soul. And write soon, & say particularly how you are– I dont like to think of your being alone—but the visit to the Strattens is an excellent opening for good, & I do trust in their kindness & in your wisdom to let the visit expand as far as possible. It is the society you like best, & which is most qualified to help you into the sunny side of the street again. Nothing is more true to me than that gloom is an immoral thing. As to the irreligion of it, that is still surer– That dancing is better for the soul than fasting, I believe—and as to solitude, I know it to be full of temptation. So wrong, in my mind, have ascetical religionists been,—so fatally wrong– It would have been better for Francis Newman if he had gone three times a week to the opera, & worked all day at law, than with his devout nature & susceptible conscience & subtle intellect have spun round & round on the heel of his soul, till in the dizzy darkness he lost the face of God. [2] Well—this only means that you should go to the Strattens, beloved. I mean no harm more than that–
And can it be true that my dearest Storm has by this time left England again?—and, if true, how sorrowful! He is always on the sea. What you said of him in relation to me touched me in the quick of the heart. I love him so, I love him so!– But he must not be cheated into thinking too well of me– Am I humble indeed? Sometimes one gets self disgusted & rolls oneself in the dust,—but with me it’s chiefly perhaps when I am tired (from one rough reason or other) of sitting up– Sometimes I feel as if I had ever so much light on my face & saw more than most people—& that’s not humility,—is it? What vexes me again is, that light or not, I stumble & fall, as certainly as others whom I have taken on myself to call blind. So it is. God’s providences make me humble I fear, .. rather than His internal grace,—& therefore it is’nt the virtue of humility, but the misery of humiliation, after all, it seems. What an amusing letter this is– “Full of news,” as you bade me write it– Dear, my news is low just now. I see few people. Since the door is open, a few come, but there’s no crowding, I am happy to say—a gloomy lioness with a wounded paw is not as agreeable to strangers as a good, carnivorous roaring lioness—so, often the day passes in an unbroken silence. Robert has taken to modelling (did I tell you) & is hard at work at Mr Story’s studio,—finishing his third bust– I am a little jealous for the poems—but he takes so energetically & enjoyingly to the new art that I must sympathize– Also, he has a good deal of bodily energy which it is wholesome to occupy, & sculpture exercises mind & body too. Think of standing for five hours, to begin! Sir John Bowring has been dangerously ill so that I have not seen him since—& he was a man I wanted to wring out dry, being full of information of a kind interesting to me. Mdme Swab was here yesterday with packets of letters from Ary Scheffer & Cobden—& that was pleasant. Perhaps you never heard of her—but she is a “personage” at Liverpool, & a celebrity among the ‘exiles’ of all countries, German, but settled in England,—of immense fortune, & using it to encourage art & … patriotism—the widow of a merchant-prince in fact. [3] We met her originally in Paris– She is a woman of a certain age & stoutness, but with one of the most radiantly benevolent smiles I ever felt the light of– She went to Naples to enquire into the charge against Jessie White Mario of disposing of the Garibaldi funds in favor of Mazzini, in consequence of which Mdme Swab, Lady Shaftesbury [4] & others had withdrawn from the subscription for the wounded. The charge proved absolutely untrue, I am happy to hear, & the names were restored– But observe Garibaldi’s want of judgement, in selecting a woman like Jessie, (sold body & soul to Mazzini) to be the recipient of subscriptions of this kind– The least touch of common sense would have suggested the embarrassment of the association—to say the mildest word– Mdme Swab received disheartening impressions at Naples—but I tell her that all is not as bad as appears, & moreover that it is bettering itself day by day– The Neapolitans are not equal to the other Italians & the corruption of the government has left stains. Poor dearest Storm does not owe me much as far as the cleverness & liveliness of the M. Chronicle go in comparison with the Times– All I said or meant to say was that the right interpretation of French policy will be always found in the Morning Chronicle, for excellent reasons– It is used as a French organ– Which is well to know, in the universal cry of calumny & mis[s]tatement throughout the English press. I am rather learned in the colors of most of the journals of Europe, .. German, Russian, French– Till one knows the motive for saying a thing one can scarcely know either the meaning or the truth of it. Half the lies against France are born in Austria or Rome & the other half among the French opposition, whether clerical, legitimatist or orleanist,—then England takes them all in to nurse, & fosters them in her maternal bosom.
My darling Arabel, the plan about Emma being a mistake from the first, you will be right in being decided at last & not renewing. If you had been very fond of the child, & acted out of the fulness of your inclination instead of the thing’s being pressed on you, it would have been different– But to be called to the duties & responsibilities of a mother without a mother’s love, is hard—& there is no reason why such a tax should be laid on you– At the same time, I will honestly tell you that I cant blame the parents for being extremely disappointed .. I am sorry for them & for the child. How can I blame them, when I myself am surprised? Yes—it was explained to be a “visit”—but then you know, it was a visit on trial, & everything seemed to prove … For instance, Emma went to her family on a visit, & never doubted that she would return—did she? So I dont blame them for being pained– “Angry” is not a word for them to use of course—it being the purest obligation on their side & kindness on yours. You were generous—& the very idea of generosity excludes the idea of a necessity– All that I am sorry for in this business, observe, is, that you should ever have taken Emma—in spite of the advantages of all kinds which she owes you in consequence of it. If I were you I should now stand perfectly firm, & take the ground (which under the present circumstances is indisputable) that it is right for you to hold yourself free to receive Mary in case you can attain to having her—also that you may have to fulfil certain promises to a certain Ba .. who is an unpleasant creditor .. & may force you to the continent against your will– Hold fast, Arabel. It is sure that you have an opening to new duties, in all probability. Poor Surtees will give up that darling child, & her place with you, should not be filled– You have not the means for making two adoptions. Hold fast therefore. Be kind, but firm. Of course the poor child Emma, was very happy with you, & it would be strange indeed if the decision should not pain her.
I have been able to bear no fire these two days .. & Mr Prinsep, [5] who called here yesterday, complained of the detestable hot weather. It has been a singularly mild winter for even Rome—which is curious, considering the extreme condition of the north in another way. Write & tell me that you are pretty well, my darling– I confess to you that I look with a languid fear towards the summer & time for action– Dont forget the photograph—Peni says—& I– They are precious, these things. In return I will send you a new one of Robert, which I consider beautiful. [6] My book grows, [7] & will be very interesting & valuable– It relates to political men—I mean to have another for artists—then another, for friends. At present Pen holds the friend-book.
May God bless & love you, beloved– I cant write any more– <Tell me– Do you fancy George capable of marrying on a sudden?–> [8] <***>
Publication: EBB-AB, II, 517–520.
Manuscript: Gordon E. Moulton-Barrett.
1. Dating provided by reference to EBB’s remark: “Mdme. Swab was here yesterday with packets of letters from Ary Scheffer & Cobden.” In letter 4828 EBB mentions the same letters, noting that they were brought to her “the day before yesterday”; that is, 11 February, a Monday.
2. EBB may be alluding to Francis William Newman’s Phases of Faith; or, Passages from the History of My Creed (1850), which she had discussed in letter 3217. In Newman’s account of a religious crisis, following an estrangement from his eldest brother, John Henry Newman, he writes: “The resolution then rose in me, to love all good men from a distance … I desired therefore to creep into some obscure congregation, and there wait till my mind had ripened as to the right path in circumstances so perplexing” (pp. 63–64).
4. Emily Caroline Catherine Francis Cooper (née Cowper, 1810–72), eldest daughter of the 5th Earl Cowper. She had married in 1830 Anthony Ashley Cooper, who became the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury on his father’s death in 1851.
5. Valentine Cameron Prinsep (1838–1904); see letter 4492, note 5.
7. i.e., her carte-de-visite album.
8. Passage in angle brackets is reconstructed, having been obliterated after receipt, probably by Arabella.
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