473. RB to William Johnson Fox [1]
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 3, 73–74.
[London]
Monday Morning. [?4] [March 1833] [2]
Dear Sir,
Perhaps by the aid of the subjoined initials & a little reflection, you may recollect an oddish sort of boy, who had the honor of being introduced to you at Hackney some years back—at that time a sayer of verse & a doer of it, & whose doings you had a little previously commended after a fashion—(whether in earnest or not God knows): That individual it is who takes the liberty of addressing one whose slight commendation then, was more thought of than all the ‘gun drum & trumpet’ [3] of praise would be now, & to submit to you a free & easy sort of thing which he wrote some months ago “on one leg” & which comes out this week—having either heard or dreamed that you contribute to the Westminster. Should it be found too insignificant for cutting up, I shall no less remain, Dear sir
Your most obedient servt
RB
I have forgotten the main thing—which is to beg you not to spoil a loophole I have kept for backing out of the thing if necessary, [“]sympathy of dear friends,” &c &c, none of whom know anything about it.
Rev.—Fox
Address, on integral page: Rev—Fox.
Publication: Orr, p. 52.
Manuscript: Huntington Library.
1. For details of RB’s association with Fox, see letter 579 and pp. 313-314.
2. Dated by the impending release of Pauline, given by DeVane as ca. 7 March.
3. “With gun, drum, trumpet, blunderbuss, and thunder” (Pope’s First Satire of the Second Book of Horace, Imitated, 1733, line 26).
(In these notes, and some others relating to early letters of RB, we have drawn on material researched by Dr. John Maynard for his book Browning’s Youth. We here record our debt to his scholarship.)
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