513. EBB to Lady Margaret Cocks
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 3, 151–154.
Sidmouth.
Wednesday. [?4] [November 1835] [1]
What can my dear Lady Margaret think of me all this time, if indeed she has thought it worth while, to think of me at all?
Not, I do hope, that I have not thought of her. Her kind letter made me wish to answer it, immediately upon reading it: and then again, we were at that time in a state of most metaphysical doubtfulness about whether we should go, or remain at Sidmouth; and I determined not to write until I cd at least send some kind of “doubtful solution of doubtful doubts” [2] to dear Lady Margaret, who, notwithstanding the absence of person & worthiness, has (or had—I must not assume too boldly!) preserved so kind an interest in the destiny of her friend. And now, my confession must go on to say, how the doubtfulness continued, & the silence with it: and silence has a spell, which, when it has lasted long, requires an effort to break. But, am I forgiven? and, not thought ungrateful? Let it be so, dear Lady Margaret; and let me hear from you that it is so. If I do not, soon, I shall not, at Sidmouth. Last Sunday I had a letter from Papa, now in London; and he desires us to make everything ready, in preparation for a summons to a change of residence; and I believe his intention is to settle us in London, where one at least of my brothers is to be dedicated to the law. [3] So far, living there, will be desirable; but my own eyes cannot (for myself) look thro’ the November fog of leaving this dear sea & still dearer quietness for that place of many houses & many faces. I cannot perforate it. The only way is, to trust my way to God—to Him who leads by still waters & in green pastures, [4] even when every leaf & sound of earthly wave are departed from us. The psalmist has a striking expression—“in their hearts, are the ways of them” [5] —or, as it should be rendered––“the stairs, or elevations of them”: and in whatever low & dismal places the feet of the christian may tread, his heart being full of God is full of glory, & walks upwardly, towards the summits of those glorious mountains from which cometh our help, [6] yes! & our happiness. After all, I shall not be pained in leaving Sidmouth, as some time ago, I should have been. And had I heard that we were finally settled here, I should not have been quite pleased. You see how human I am! Nothing will please me quite. And after all, I would rather go to London, than to an hundred places I could mention. You see still, how human I am! how inconsistent! When we are to go, I am not at all sure. Very probably, in the week after next. Possibly at the end of next week. Shall I hear from you?
I wish so much to hear that you, my dear friend, are well, and able to enjoy the wellness. It is not always that the soul & body are in concord with each other: and when they are, they make much music in the ears of those who care for us: and some very silent people may care for some people towards whom they are silent! And may I ask, what is being read & studied all this time? I should be half ashamed to give an history of myself. It wd sound so very idle, & so very industrious. I have been reading, & writing too, miscellaneously; much more so, than usual. The Bridgewater treatises have come to me at last: & Dr Brown’s philosophy, & Bulwer’s Student, [7] and Dr Payne’s manuscript Theological Lectures, [8] and Dr Wardlaw’s Treatise on Baptism—and the younger Godwin’s Transfusion [9] —“I blush & hide my” [10] … reading. I wont go on with the catalogue; but I will go back & tell you something about it. The Bridgewater treatises seem to me (I have not read them all) very unequal, & not generally speaking, as valuable as they might have been. They are not consistent in their character. For instance .. Kirby! [11] Who, except a man of science, has understanding for everything in him; and how, on the other hand, can a man of science add to his understanding by him. What I mean is, that he is not comprehensive & profound enough for knowledge, nor simple & untechnical enough for ignorance. Confiteor [12] —it was all I could do to get thro’ with him, & more than I could do to make out his meaning in many places. His introduction interested me above all the rest, in its subject: [13] but, if I might venture to say so in the closet, it is written in a very superficial manner, & indicates that he has touched Hebrew as the Mahometan did Paradise, with one foot. Kidd’s book, [14] is not the book of a clever man—now is it? I was going to say with too much severity, that all its common sense is commonplace: but I really might say that its writer is apt to diverge into an absurdity whenever he attempts an originality. Sir Charles Bell is admirable & interesting––in his sphere. [15] Prout is an able man. Will you give me science enough to understand him? I cant without it. Chalmers, I do not,—as you told me that you did not,—agree with, everywhere. He unconsciously—it must be unconsciously—in the high zeal of his imagination, loses sight of human corruption, & the necessity for the regenerating influence of the Spirit: but his book is, notwithstanding, very very beautiful! And notwithstanding, besides, its multitudinous tautologies!– So multitudinous, that if the beauty & the glory of the eloquence had upon them one shade the more, we shd be obliged as critics to shake our heads & look very grave. As it is, the repetition of an idea, only seems to wring from us, an additional admiration of the variety in its mode of conveyance. I could not reproach such a beautiful book. We regard it, as the Arch Enemy was supposed to do, the face of one of Burns’s arch-beauties––“And say .. I canna wrang thee”!– [16] Have you seen (or did I ask that question before?) Dr Wardlaw’s Christian ethics? [17] In them, is a most admirable clearness, on the important subjects, where Chalmers is cloudy.
Dr Brown’s philosophy! No philosophy is like it. Poetry knows the place of his soul, even when it is at the bottom of the well with truth. [18] Even!! You know it is one of my struggling points, that poetry & truth are one. Dr Brown is a wonderful writer,—and I have gone thro’ every sentence of his ‘philosophy of the human mind’, making clear to mine that he is so. With regard to cause & effect, I do not believe him,—and on some other questions–. But in his work are deep truths & high––? most glorious imaginations. “Here is his throne”––let all modern metaphysicians “come bow to it” [19] —Stewart amongst them!——
We have lately received a great & dear happiness from the hands of God, in the return of my eldest brother from the West Indies. He spent nearly two years in nearly a solitude—abstractedly from the negroes,—and seems to be very very glad to get back to the light of white faces again; more especially when those faces are ours. His accounts of the scenery of Jamaica are as bright as the plumage of the humming birds: but when he talks of man––he changes his hand, & checks his pride. He would rather be a stone breaker in our roads, than reside there, in palaces. The negroes are likely to work, under the new regulations; but require rather subtle management. [20]
Mrs Hemans, dead! ‘There, cracked a noble heart’! [21] Did you see Miss Landon’s Stanzas upon her death, in the new Monthly Magazine, this summer? [22] and an address to Miss Landon on the subject of those stanzas, in the next number but one of the same Magazine? [23] I should have liked to hear your opinion of both poems. And did you ever observe that the two poetesses of our day, Felicia Hemans & Lætitia Landon are “lætæ cognomine ambo”?—— [24]
Altho’ I do not deserve to hear from you, dear Lady Margaret, yet,—being so used to be treated above my deservings in all things,—I shall persevere in expecting a letter. When it comes, may it contain good news of your own welfare & happiness, & those of all dear to you. I must remember the ‘kind regards’ of my sister.
Ever affectionately yours
E B Barrett.
When I count upon my fingers the advantages of living in London (they may all be counted on the fingers of one hand!) one is––the opportunity of seeing you a little, sometimes!—& dear Mrs Martin!– Are the Commelines quite well?– I never hear of them.
Address, on integral page: The Lady Margaret Cocks.
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: James Hervey-Bathurst.
1. Dated by reference to Bro’s return from Jamaica. He sailed from England on 13 November 1833, and EBB said he was away “nearly two years.” EBB herself supplies the month.
2. A reference to David Hume’s An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding (1748). Section IV was entitled “Sceptical Doubts concerning the Operations of the Understanding” and Section V “Sceptical Solution of these Doubts.”
3. i.e., George.
4. Cf. Psalms, 23:2.
5. Cf. Psalms, 84:5.
6. Cf. Psalms, 121:1.
7. The Student (essays from The New Monthly Magazine) by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, later Baron Lytton (1835).
8. George Payne (1781–1848) published these as Lectures on Divine Sovereignty, Election, the Atonement, Justification, and Regeneration in 1836.
9. Transfusion (1835), a novel by William Godwin (1803–32).
10. As You Like It, II, 7, 119.
11. William Kirby (1759–1850), entymologist, contributed The Habits and Instincts of Animals (1835) to the Bridgewater Treatises.
12. “To confess.”
13. Kirby’s introduction deals with the proposition that “the Works of God and the Word of God may be called the two doors which open into the temple of Truth … they cannot, if rightly interpreted, contradict each other, but must mutually illustrate and confirm … the same truths.”
14. John Kidd (1775–1851), physician, contributed On the Adaptation of External Nature to the Physical Condition of Man (1833) to the Bridgewater Treatises.
15. The Hand: its Mechanism and Vital Endowments as Evincing Design (1833) was the Bridgewater Treatise of Sir Charles Bell (1774–1842).
16. “Bonnie Lesley,” v. 4.
17. Published in 1832.
18. Numerous variations of this saying exist, but Democritus is generally credited with its authorship (Pyrrho, IX, 72).
19. Cf. King John, III, 1, 74.
20. The Act emancipating slaves provided for a seven-year transitional period to prepare them for liberty. Children under 16 were to be freed at once, but adults were bound to continue to work for their present masters for three-quarters of the day, and were liable to punishment for refusing. In return, they were to be provided with food and clothing. The House of Commons later reduced the period of waiting to five years, giving slaves full freedom in 1838.
21. Cf. Hamlet, V, 2, 359.
22. Mrs. Hemans died on 16 May. The “Stanzas on the Death of Mrs. Hemans,” by Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802–38) appeared in the July issue of The New Monthly Magazine (pp. 286–288).
23. EBB’s “Stanzas Addressed to Miss Landon, and Suggested by Her ‘Stanzas on the Death of Mrs. Hemans’” appeared in the September issue (p. 82).
24. “Felicitously together in name.” (The Latin word laetitia means joy or delight.)
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