4924. Sophia Landor to RB
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 29, 171–173.
Tachbrooke. Leamington
2nd July. ’61.
My dear Sir
Thank you most cordially for the letter [1] which accompanied that from my Uncle Walter to his Brother: it was truly acceptable, for it conveyed the hope that my Uncle was less excited by the communication he had received from his Brothers, [2] than we feared he might have been, & also the hope that your trouble has not been increased by it. We are sincerely glad he yielded so quietly to you. I hope this warning will prevent any further attempts to obtain money by such untruthful representations & that he will go on well for a time, but we must not flatter ourselves that he will so easily relinquish the fair object of his pursuit: it is no easy matter to turn him from any object on which he has once set his mind & I greatly fear he will persist in his endeavours to follow these good ladies; [3] I am sorry for them, it is hard that their kindness shld have brought upon them such an annoyance, I can only hope that they have no fixed residence & can get out of the way of their tormentor without any great inconvenience. I took the liberty of sending your letter to my Uncle Robert, who had returned home, tho’ he was here when the letter to his Brother Walter was written, & I knew that the perusal of your letter wld afford him satisfaction on several points. In reply, after some remarks upon your exceeding kindness & forbearance, he expresses fears that even your patience may be worn out by these continual demands upon it & the fear of we know not what other extravagances: alluding to your expression “Unless you sent out somebody specially authorized to take my charge out of my hands,” my Uncle proceeds to say that he is apprehensive you may calculate upon some such relief & he is desirous you shld be fully aware that such a measure is impossible; we have no relative, no friend from whom we cld expect such a service, the ages of his Brothers, as you know, put them entirely out of the question in such a case, & there is no younger member of the family who cld undertake such a charge; he rests entirely on your kindness, if he throws himself out of your hands or if unhappily you shld find it needful to relinquish the arduous self-imposed task he must fall back upon his own family, they must undertake that which it is their bounden duty to perform: & I hope my Uncle Walter now perceives the firm determination of his Brothers not to place any money at his disposal or controul. My Uncles entirely approve of your discretion in not rendering to Uncle Walter any explicit accounts of his expenditure or of the amounts at your disposal; only increased trouble wld accrue from any such explanations. There is one point more on which we are anxious. Pray do not let this little episode induce you to harass yourself in any way regarding these accounts: the abundant proof we have of the comforts, nay much more than comfort with which you have surrounded my poor Uncle, is surely an amply sufficient account to render; he is far better off than his Brothers ever expected he cld be, whatever money they might supply; it is not possible he wld be so well cared for upon a less income than they provide: what need have we therefore of any details! I read them as I read your letters, they give me news of my Uncle & how he is living; & they are proofs of your incessant care & kindness. I confess I do not, myself, feel any fear of that kindness receding, on your part, or of my Uncle casting it off, unless, perchance, his fickle temper is drawn aside, by something that seems for the moment more attractive; but he will be careful on that point, he never casts off one friend until he thinks he has secured another.
I wonder whether the sad news of good, kind Mr Empson’s death [4] has reached him yet: it occurred just a week ago, after only one day’s illness: he was in London, on business & was taken suddenly ill. I am sure that very many will feel, as we do, that they have lost a true & sincere friend; he was a good benevolent man, continually employed in acts of kindness, & a truly pious man too. God grant we may meet in a better world. I am sure my Uncle will grieve seriously for his death, tho’ probably they might never have met again. My Uncle Robert was very ill during his visit here, but I trust is now almost recovered. My Uncle Henry has been pretty well of late. I am concerned to hear of Mrs Browning’s weakness: I fear it must be a cause of much anxiety to you. I had a letter a few days ago from Mrs Forster, who gave a good report of her self & her husband: his new appointment takes him much from home, [5] which I shld think will be better for his health than the continual work in an Office, which he had before. My Uncles desire me to say all that is respectful & grateful from them: I trust you do indeed feel assured of our gratitude for all your great kindness & of our entire reliance upon it. I beg to offer my kindest regards to Mrs Browning & to remain
Your most sincerely obliged
Sophia Landor
Address: Robert Browning Esqre / Casa Guidi / Florence / Tuscany.
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: Yale University.
1. RB’s letter has not surfaced.
2. See SD2449.
3. Kate Field and her mother, Eliza (née Riddle, 1812–71), who had moved to the Piazza dell’Indipendenza in May (see the last paragraph in letter 4845).
4. Charles Empson (1774–1861), fine art dealer, died on 25 June at 60 Doughty Street, London.
5. John Forster was appointed a Commissioner of Lunacy on 19 February 1861, after having served as secretary to the commission since December 1855. “Commissioners had three main functions: inspecting, licensing, and reporting. Forster, as one of the legal Commissioners, had, with a medical Commissioner, ‘to visit each hospital once a year, each licensed house in the metropolis four times a year, and each licensed house in the provinces … twice a year’” (James A. Davies, John Forster: A Literary Life, Leicester, 1983, p. 116).
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