664. EBB to Mary Russell Mitford
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 4, 81–86.
[Torquay]
Tuesday– [25 September 1838] [1]
I sit down in the ashes my beloved friend to grieve that I shd have allowed you to be uneasy about me. Oh yes!—I have indeed received the three the four letters which your kindness sent, & also the separate delight from each which that kindness intended. And many many times on every day (the ‘many’ does not express how many!) I have thought of & thanked you in my heart, & felt that I truly loved you. But after all I did not write until now—and after all this silence can your affection for me make an effort & believe & understand how it was that I did not write yet did not forget you—yet did not remember you less often & affectionately than I always must? Do let it try at least!——
The physician attending me here was anxious for me to have as much air as possible before the cold came [2] —& would not allow me to keep up my late London habit (very useful in enabling an invalid to get thro’ a good deal of writing without fatigue) of lying in bed until two. I was made, on coming here, to get up at ten & am always subject to a certain lassitude in the morning after little exertions—even the exertion of dressing. Then at one or two out I was sent in the chair, & seldom failed to come back quite exhausted & fit for nothing better than reading nonsense. In this way––by these little things––I have been––not prevented from writing to you––but tempted on from hour to hour & day to day into procrastination. You shall not hear of them again. To write to you is one of my best pleasures—do believe that—and to read even a little note from you is better than writing. Tell me if Mr Sergt Talfourd is at all likely to think me a bold person in doing what you suggest. My position with regard to him, not being that of an ordinary stranger (as we have had a very little intercourse by one or two notes)—nor of a personal acquaintance, makes me more scrupulous & fearful of intruding upon him than I could otherwise be. But if you really think that he would have nobody in his remembrance except yourself, in receiving & forwarding my letters to you, I would gladly avail myself of your suggestion. [3]
Indeed my dearest Miss Mitford, I do believe that I am better in some respects. The stethoscope was tried on Sunday for the second time since my arrival, & the report is more favorable. Dr Barry seems to be quite sure that the respiration is clearer on the affected side—& the spitting of blood is very little,—almost less than it has been at all since the first appearance of that unpleasant symptom. At the same time the last ten days have been dreary, uncomfortable ones to me, haunted throughout by weakness, an oppressive sense of weakness, & a lowness of spirits from which I am generally free. Such lowness of spirits, that I could have cried all day if there were no exertion in crying!—and feel the consciousness of there being no cause for gloom, just as a new mortification instead of as a comfort, the whole time!—— This was the result of taking digitalis for three weeks instead of one! & now I am reviving, & rising again to the ‘high estate’ [4] of common sense & cheerfulness.
Dr Barry takes Dr Chambers’s view of the case exactly—which is satisfactory to me who trust so very much in Dr Chambers. The opinion given to Lady Sidmouth [5] is quite mine—as far as I am able to judge of ‘the physicians of the world’. But what I value in him more than even his ability, is the combination which exists in him, of frankness & feeling. Abernethy had one without the other. [6] Dr Chambers never attempts to deceive you as to your state, and yet never by a word appears to forget .. I will not say your feelings, but even your preferences & prejudices. Did you hear the cause of his dismissal from Holland House? He told [7] Lady Holland that she had a desease of the heart. [8] That was the crime. I have no Tyburn for it:– Have you?–
I am considered likely to recover; at least such recovery is not considered by any means either impossible or improbable. The locality of the complaint is very small—& the right lung perfectly unaffected. I tell you these things because I know you will care to hear them. There is a favorite psalm of mine—[‘]‘The Lord is my Shepherd, therefore I shall not want”. Therefore I would not fear to want! The lovely succeeding images of ‘green pastures’ and ‘silent waters’ are surely meant to make very green the hopes & very calm the depths of the soul!– [9]
You are not, or have not been well my dearest Miss Mitford—and have lost one friend by death, & are about to lose her whom you name another, by marriage. [10] Do believe how I sympathize in the last two griefs—the first is my own! Take it away from me as soon as you can by writing to tell me that you are really better. Punish me in any way except by not writing to me––or by not loving me––or by not believing that I love you.
As to Martha, I shall be very glad to hear of her happiness, and yet I do hope that the beginning of it will be put off until you have quite made up your heart to lose her. You certainly will. And for all that you say about tragedies I wont believe that anybody’s happiness can be at last in the least degree tragical to you—I wont indeed! The thought of a successor will not be a pleasant thought—notwithstanding which, pray think about it in time– Otherwise you will be vexed & disturbed more than you need be. It is quite right that your Martha shd marry a gardener. I like that very much. There is symmetry in it!––
Mr Townsend too is married. [11] My particular sofa in Wimpole St most properly derives its genealogy from the tripod. Dont tell him so—now mind you dont—but really a vision of his Ladye love when I knew nothing of the existence of one, did pass between my eyes and the verses of his lady-poet! [12] Have you seen her?—and what are your thoughts? A spirit, pleasant to meet with, moved thro’ those verses, besides the poetic feeling assuredly contained in them—but they failed in proving to my mind the being of the poetic faculty—and this I confessed to Mr Townsend, nothing daunted by the vision! I was going to praise him for not being angry—but I wont. Perhaps he was—and at any rate a Tempter of his order deserves no praise. Just the same ploughshare had I walked over twice before. First in the case of a cousin of mine who asked me what I thought of a gentleman whom we both knew. I said—“Very amiable & of no common ability—but of a fidgetiness both in conversation & manner which spoils everything with the idea of littleness”. A like question—something like—came to me from a friend whom I esteemed .. ‘What do you think of Mr Newnam’s [sic] preaching’—and my answer was to the effect that if I were he I wd not preach at all. In both these instances was my innocence abused!—the fidget & the preacher being betrothed at the time of the questions to the questioners. [13] Was’nt it too bad dearest Miss Mitford?—yes, and just as bad in your Mr Townsend as in the rest!——
Will you tell me what I have been doing? Indeed I mean what I say. Mr T. K. Hervey of whom I know nothing except that he sometimes writes very sweet & rather effeminate verses, wrote to me a little time ago in very great haste & equal courtesy, to request a contribution from me to some imperial quarto, splendidly illustrated, which he further described as of an annual character & yet no annual, & graced with a noble train of contributors– All this he said—without naming its name. I sent him a little poem ‘A Sabbath on the sea’, too grave for an annual– Nevertheless a proof sheet of it arrived in company with his thanks. And now I only want to know what I have done. Can you tell me the title of this mysterious imperial volume? [14] If it is worth anything you are probably a contributor. I do trust you are—just for my sake!
Dont laugh at me for not knowing what I have done. Do you always know what you do?– Is there anybody in the world likely to say ‘no’ when you offer them flowers from your garden? What with the flowers & what with the associations, there is no escape for you—and to illustrate all this, Mrs Hedley is quite delighted & ready to be grateful for any seed or cutting which your kindness grants to her. And as for me I shall delight in seeing them in her garden—& do thank you again & again for this exercise of your art of giving pleasure, She is very kind & affectionate to me, and has a countenance & a character like one another in being full of sweetness. Her little daughter Ibbit Jane as she calls herself, is the Elizabeth Jane H—of some verses in my book—and the very dream of a lovely child—with golden hair drooping in long ringlets below her waist, & cheeks reddened with their own smiles. [15] Yesterday she was four years old—and when many more years were wished to her, she said with great animation “You are very welcome!” Such an imaginative little talker I never listened to—& she cant move her lips to say a word, without two or three smiles at least! And yet when the other day she brought me a miniature of her brother [16] at school, asking if I did not think it like her, & when I (of course) thought it “far too pretty for that”, she did stand grave for a moment, & incredulous besides– “Why Ibbit! do you think you are as pretty as Robin is?” “Yes! I think me is the prettiest”— “But how can you judge? you cant see your own face”— She looked in mine with a very droll expression .. “Tant I look in the glass, Ba”—and then turning away with a smile half sly & half penitent, her aside was “Vain Wady”!!——
We are going from the kindness of this house next week—to 3 Beacon Terrace which is considered the warmest situation I could occupy—& there my aunt from Frocester will come to pass the winter with my sister & myself.
Dearest Miss Mitford, I send—I venture to send—a little Devonshire cream, although you wont tell me whether you & Dr Mitford like it at all. If either of you do I shall be so glad.
If ignorant people are allowed to think, I think that Wisdom Barrett was the son of Papa’s uncle. [17] I think he was.
My God bless you my beloved friend. I must not write any more, though with a hundred reasons for wishing to do so. You shall not be uneasy again on account of a silence of mine!– And you—whenever writing to me is not an unkindness to yourself do remember that there is no other way so good of being kind to your
EBB–
I “remind you” to tell me all about Miss Landon’s husband. I have a full conviction that he is the author of Duty & Inclination, of which I could only read the first volume. The reason of my conviction is, that it is unaccountable otherwise how Miss Landon could consent to edit & praise such––trash. [18] I tried in vain to think of some softer word which was also true. And besides there is a trace of Scotland in it. Is Dr Mitford quite well?– Forgive my trash––that is, wherever you can read it. Have you heard anything of dear Mr Kenyon & his fellow tourists? I quite quite agree with you about him—& with my full & grateful & admiring knowledge not only of his intellect but of his heart, I often look at him in a sad wonder, that he shd use & wear both as if they were common clay!—— I do not say––“how can he choose it?”—but “how can he endure it?”
I shd indeed like very much to see Miss Anderdon’s sketch of your garden. Dearest Miss Mitford, why dont you understand that it is for your sake that your friends wish kindly about me. But I should not be, & I am not, less grateful to them on that account.
Here are four letters in one!——
Address, on integral page: Miss Mitford / Three Mile Cross / Near Reading.
Publication: EBB-MRM, I, 92–97.
Manuscript: Wellesley College.
1. Dated by EBB’s reference to the proof sheet of “A Sabbath on the Sea,” mentioned in SD945.
2. The physician attending EBB in Torquay was Dr. Robert Fitzwilliam de Barry Barry (1817–39).
3. From the context it is apparent that Miss Mitford had suggested that EBB approach Talfourd and ask him to frank her letters to Miss Mitford. He was M.P. for Reading.
4. Dryden, “Alexander’s Feast” (1697), line 78.
5. Mary Anne, Viscountess Sidmouth (1783–1842), the daughter of Lord Stowell, was the second wife of Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth (1757–1844). She was a friend of Miss Mitford.
6. John Abernethy (1765–1831) was an eminent surgeon and medical author. Despite a “vigorous and attractive personality,” he was notorious for his “rudeness and even brutality of manner” (DNB).
7. Underscored four times.
8. Elizabeth, Lady Holland (née Vassall, 1770–1845) had formed an adulterous relationship with Henry Richard Fox, 3rd Baron Holland, which led to her divorce from Sir Godfrey Webster; she and Lord Holland were then married. Holland House, a centre for literary and political figures of the day, had a wide reputation for brilliant conversation and sumptuous entertainment.
9. EBB has taken “therefore” from the version of the 23rd Psalm contained in The Book of Common Prayer (“therefore can I lack nothing”) and added it to the biblical text (“I shall not want”). However, neither version uses the adjective “silent”; The Book of Common Prayer has “the waters of comfort” and the Bible “the still waters.”
10. We cannot identify the first of these friends; the second was Martha, her maid, who was about to marry Miss Mitford’s gardener, John Lediard.
11. “Mr. Townsend, too is going to be married—a second marriage—he being a widower of seven and thirty—and to a poetess—a Miss Shepherd, of the neighbourhood of Frome” (Chorley, I, 157). Townsend and Emma Martha Sheppard (1813–94) were married on 21 May 1839 at St. Peter’s church, Frome.
12. We have been unable to identify these verses.
13. Francis William Newman (1805–97), the youngest brother of John Henry, Cardinal Newman (1801–90). His religious beliefs were not in sympathy with those of his more famous brother: after first embracing Calvinism, he later abandoned that in favour of Theism. He was the author of several religious and philological works. His betrothed was Maria Kennaway, whom he married in 1834. The cousin of whom EBB speaks was probably Arabella Butler, who had married Ralph Allen Gosset in 1835.
14. Thomas Kibble Hervey (1799–1859), poet and editor, had contributed to magazines and annuals. EBB’s “A Sabbath on the Sea” appeared in The Amaranth: A Miscellany of Original Prose and Verse, which he edited. Although dated 1839, the volume was published on 12 October 1838.
15. Elizabeth Jane (“Ibbit”) Hedley (b. 1834). EBB had addressed “A Song Against Singing” to “My Dear Little Cousin Elizabeth Jane H____” (The Seraphim, pp. 318–320).
16. Robert (“Robin”) Hedley (d. 1912).
17. Wisdom Barrett (1729–98) was EBB’s father’s great-uncle; his son was Samuel Wisdom Barrett, to whom EBB probably is referring.
18. Duty and Inclination (1838) was advertised as “A New Novel Edited By Miss Landon,” but the author was Mme. de Grandrion, not Miss Landon’s husband George Maclean.
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