SD1018. Henrietta Moulton-Barrett to Samuel Moulton-Barrett (brother)
Published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 4, 354–355 (in part).
Torquay 3 Beacon Terrace
July 14th & 15th 1839
My beloved Sam,
It does indeed seem strange & painful to me that I should again so soon have to write to you in your old quarters– I can hardly yet believe that you are out of England, & that seas once more separate us—but it is so—& not all my wishing can make it otherwise—as all events in this life are controuled by Providence, we must believe that they are wisely arranged– May He enable us only to conform our will more & more to His Will which we know to be full of love towards us– The letter that came to tell us of your departure did not arrive until the Saturday after you went– Bro was out fishing & did not come in till nine o’clock which kept us in terrible suspense—for Ba after examining the exterior of it had terrible for[e]bodings that it was going to bring us some bad news, which for[e]bodings I tried to laugh & scold her out of—as the subject had never been hinted at for so long a time, we did not think such bad news would have come to us—but Bro soon came in, & then we heard, all we had to hear—& our dearest Stormie too gone with you but this is what he has been wishing long for– May both his & your going be for the happiness of each of you dearest Sam, & then it must be for ours—altho it has cost us so much to part from you!– Don’t forget Papa’s injunction to send Stormie back again if he be not well & happy, & do the same I beg for yourself—shd you have any return of that ague, pray do not think of remaining– I hope you will take every care of each other– Stormie will be a great comfort to you & you will be the same to him—I should not have liked you to have gone out by yourself again, therefore I was both glad & sorry that you should have such a companion—& we would much rather have Stormie in Jamaica, than in Australia, where at one time he wished to be– I fear he will not feel the drudgery of bookkeeping very pleasant at first—however I hope he may soon be raised to a higher office—it must indeed be a great change after the idle life he has been leading at home—but that was one I know that did not please him– I was grieved dearest Sam to see by your letter to Bro off Plymouth that you were disappointed—as we had understood from Arabel such a very different account of you that Papa had granted you the attorneyship of Cinnamon Hill & had been most kind to both of you in every way—i.e. you were to be made attorney immediately on the return of Mr Carey to England, & he was coming very soon– We were much disappointed when he found you looked upon it in such a different light—as your going out with such happy prospects was the greatest comfort to us in the midst of all our trouble– However I still hope in due consideration you may be better pleased– I think Papa must really mean it for you—& more than this you do not wish for—as to the absence of his approval of your management dearest Sam, you know it is not his way to commend, if he had disapproved of it, you would most assuredly have heard enough of it– His silence on the subject shd have made you quite comfortable on this account– We all know that dearest Papa is not like other people—he has his peculiarities & with them, we should remember how much he loves us all– Do not fear for the attorneyship, you may depend upon it, it will be yours—& with our Aunt Clarke’s, you will soon make your fortune, & will be ready for a wife in a year or two when you visit us again my beloved Sam– It seemed hard upon us indeed that during all the time you were in England—you should only have spent one short fortnight with us– I did not think when we parted with you here that we should not have seen you again– I have been very angry about it, but I find it of no use—as to you & dearest Stormie just coming here to wish us good bye—it would have been a very painful pleasure—& it was better for Ba that it should not be—therefore we must not repine—she expressed many regrets when she first heard it, that she had not obliged me to leave her to go to London to be with you– I felt very sorry, she shd have had any feeling of the sort—for that under such circumstances I could not have done, no, not even to see you– We sometimes very selfishly wish, that your visit had been postponed, until next year, but it has been all arranged for the best we may be assured of– You have been a great comfort to dearest Arabel & all dear to us at home—who at this time, separated from Ba had need of cheering!—thank you a thousand times for your letter—they did not send it to me till it was too late to obey your order contained in it that I was to write to you on the 1st Arabel tells me she did so, therefore I hope you did not miss my pen—you may depend on my regularity in future, for I can measure your anxiety about our beloved Ba, by what my own would be!! Since you left us, she has been out on the sea several times, & lately had performed it with less fatigue to herself—it is still of course attended with much exertion, for you know how weak she is—but this is the means, shd it please God for her to gain strength, so I hope she may be able to continue it– Papa hearing how very tired it made her, wrote a day or two ago to Bro, to beg that she might not go out two days consecutively—now I hardly know how this is to be arranged for Dr Barry does not like her to miss a fine day, & when we tell him of this order, I fear he will not approve of the interference– Dr Barry has treated her well, & the least we can do I think is now to confide in him– I fear Mr Hunter is conducting some mischief in this respect—for he used to abuse him very unsparingly here—you know that he (Mr Hunter) arrived in Wimpole St. the very day you left it, & is there now, I know not when he returns home, but I suppose sometime during this month—he has preached once at Mr Stratten’s & delighted them– Arabel walked through a violent thunderstorm to hear him, her admiration of his preaching, could not have been evinced in a stronger way than this– I cannot exactly say whether or not, he means to take Mary home with him, but I cannot help wishing he may, as her remaining in London I fear is a spoke in the wheel to Arabel’s coming here—& it is only fair that she shd come to be with Ba– We are still in hopes that Papa will bring them all here for a little, in spite of all our very broad hints, he says nothing of it– Of Georgie’s coming he speaks very positively & we expect him early in next week—that will be one very great pleasure at any rate if the others do not come Ba will be most dreadfully disappointed, she has so set her heart upon it—& dearest Arabel! She ought to have changed places with me long ago– What I should like would be that we might both be with Ba this winter– I shall dread the leaving her, but I suppose that time will come—as to her going from Torquay, I trust Papa never thinks of it for this winter– I believe it was settled about the dear Hedleys going to Southampton before your departure– Well! a few days before Uncle Hedley left us entirely, he proposed to Bummy one morning [(]when she was up to breakfast with him to consult with him upon her plans) that in case they should all come she should make room for them in this house, & occupy the rooms she should require in his, or the Braddons, until it is let—but as Torquay is so empty, he did not think that would be, until the wintertime– This was a very kind arrangement both for us, & her—& she immediately wrote to Papa to tell him of it, that the want of accomodation here, might be no excuse to him to bring them—to this letter, she has had no reply—& when he wrote to Bro he took no notice of it—therefore I sometimes fear (tho’ I would not say so to Ba) that he does not mean to bring th<em.> But he told Jane he would take them to Southampton to meet us—but what would be the use of giving Ba the fatigue of going there for this short remainder of the summer–
Dr Barry says she cd not possibly be there in the winter—for that reason, Hastings & Torquay are the only places for her, & the latter much better than the former—besides I do not think on many accounts that she wd be happy at Hastings, & here she has Dr Barry who she really likes, & has confidence in– Oh! I hope Papa may not think of moving her– The distance from London ought not to be considered in such a case—& there would be no difficulty in their all coming by the steam packet—on such an expedition Arabel would not care about being a little sick– I think Bummy intends to remain with us the winter—we have sometimes thought she would not—& Ba had determined not to ask her—for a little deficiency in temper (not in heart) has now & then given us reason to think, she was discontented here– I did not mention it in any of my letters, & be careful that you do not dearest Sam, but she has sometimes been disposed to scold me a little, & sometimes to look coldly upon Ba which has made her feel nervous & fidgetey [sic], but I hope that has quite gone by now—since dear Jane left us, we have seen nothing of it, & all is going on, in a very sunshiny way—there might have been a little jealousy!! but we all know the warmth of dearest Bummy’s heart towards us– We shd be ungrateful were we to doubt it– Uncle Richard is now staying here—a great happiness to poor little Arlette & Cissy! he has a bed room next door to us—so that we have another spare one for Georgie when he comes– He seems very much pleased & satisfied with his children—they take very long walks with him, & play & sing to him every eveng– Bummy does not think he will remain here very long, which I shall be sorry for—his life at Caen must be a very desolate one– How much happier he would be with his children with him—but they are well taken care of, & attended to altho’ they are kept a little strictly– We parted with the last portion of the dear Hedley party last Monday—the last lot of them who left us were Uncle Hedley, Georgie, & Madlle—their house is shut up, & I cannot express to you how much we miss them– Torquay is no longer like itself without them– Jane seems very delighted with “Merry Oak“ & all that she regrets is the absence from us– I do not think she would have left Torquay had they thought we should have remained here another winter– Uncle Hedley more than half repented it, before he went—they have both promised to come to pay Ba a visit for a week in September—it will be something very pleasant for us to look forward to—we have indeed every reason to love them, & to be grateful to them—for their kindness & affection, particularly towards our dear Ba—all their friends & neighbors here are quite in despair at their leaving– We have been a little disappointed about Papa’s not coming– We should have had him with us before I believe had it not been for the sudden death of poor Mr Richard Barrett—which I fear will rather retard the law business—but completed it will be I suppose in a very little time now– How awful the suddeness of that death must have been!! You of course would not hear of it, until you have reached Jamaica– Papa says only a part of his property was entailed the other part failing certain persons he has left to him—which he (Papa) is pleased at, not that it is ever likely to profit him—but because it proves that all kind feeling towards him was not extinct– Is Sam Barrett likely to feel it much? pray remember us to him & his wife shd they be within your reach—his sister is not arrived yet, but I hear she is expected almost immediately, & to remain here, should she not dislike Torquay—the plan of going abroad is relinquished– I am rather anxious to see her– I heard the other day that the cause assigned here for the Hedley’s leaving the place, was that they could not bear to be near Mr & Mrs John Dashwood—so averse were they to the match—what will people say!!– Papa seems to think that we are going down hill so fast, we shall soon reach the bottom—“The negroes won’t work & there is no crop.” I trust you may be able to send him better accts than this, or I think you will have us all in Jamaica before long—a result that perhaps you would not dislike– I quite expect that your presence will bring all to order again—for I know what a man of influence you are there– I hope dearest Stormie will write & tell us, how he likes the negroes– I conjecture that Arabel will write to him by this packet– It is so delightful to us to think that you will see each other every week—but pray neither of you ride about during the heat of the day– You know how dangerous it is—& for our sakes if not for your own you should not do it– Papa says in his letter after telling Bro of all these bad accounts—“I hope you are learning some trade, for to this you must come at last”– I wish indeed poor Bro were independent, but it is too late in the day for that I fear– He continues to amuse himself very well here—between drawing, fishing, & smoking—of the latter he has a great deal too much I am sorry to say—his hair remains as long & lanky as ever—there is no hope for it now, since Monti Garden expressed her approbation of it– She is very anxious to return to Torquay, but not more so I suspect than Bro is to see her– She will be here in the end of Sepr, but what Bro will do without a horse to ride with her—that will be a terrible privation—we miss Uncle Hedley’s horses, as well as himself—it is very provoking for me—when the Gardens were here, & while there were so many riding parties going on, it was a great distress to me often that I had no habit of my own, & could only join them when I was able to borrow one– When the Hedley’s were in London our dear kind Ba surprised me one day very much by presenting me with a new habit– I had not many rides in it, when I was obliged thus to give up my little pony– However I trust some day or other the pony & habit will meet again– I did not mention it in Wimpole St. as it was Ba’s particular request that I should not– She has finished her Ballad for Miss Mitford– It is certainly most beautiful– Bro who is a much better judge than I am is delighted with it– Very melancholy & about 3 pages in length– I hope it may not be too long for Finden– It was dispatched this morng to Miss Mitford, accompanied by some clouted cream—the title is “The Legend of the Brown Rosary”– I will write it out some day for you, & send it in one of the ships—the composition of it has done our beloved Ba no harm—but Dr Barry was very indignant when he heard of it—her cough I really think is better than it was—the expectoration the same—not much– Her spirits generally are cheerful & good– I am just going to take another sail with her today—neither Crow nor I can boast of being very good sailors– Bummy has not ventured to accompany us since the first time when she was in such trepidation– This place is rather dull just now—not many parties gong on– Fanny & her party left London a few days ago– I do not think it cost Arabel many tears to part with them all—they could not have been very attentive to her—but Fanny writes enthusiastically of her, & you all– I hear of no prospects of Louisa being married—the Gossets have taken a house at London for a year– To my great surprise, I met your friend Mr Charles Vivian, he is staying here with his brother—he appeared to me, more ugly than ever– Since I wrote the above dearest Sam we have had a letter from Arabel, she says Papa proposed to Georgie that he should walk here, he very wisely prefers coming by Southampton, as he said walking would <take> up so much of his time– We hope to see him on Wednesday—but it is very likely the Hedleys may detain him for a day or two– I hear he has bought two very fat & portly law books to meditate on here—which we shall not allow him to do if we can possibly avoid it– Not a word of the arrival of any of the rest– Bro desires me to give you his love & many thanks for your letters, he will answer them by the next packet– Bummy desires her love to both of you—& desires me to say how many regrets she had not to have seen you before you went– Ba unites hers to mine with our earnest prayers that God may preserve you both in safety– I would give much to be able to see you both, at this [illegible word] I fear I should not see you in Jamaica—but I hope you are far enough away from us to have escaped the winds we had last week—the last thing I do at night is to look out upon the sea, & think & pray for two so very dear to us– Keep your minds easy about our beloved Ba– She is going on nicely, & if it pleases God will I trust continue to do so– You desire me to write by every packet– Bro says this will be putting you to an emmense expense—but till you desire me to refrain I shall do so– I fear this change in the post, if it ever occurs would not affect you– Your patience will be quite exhausted I think before you get to the end of this– I must now wite my Bulletin to London– Dearest Sam do not fail to write to us– Make the same request to dearest Stormie—you are both ever in our hearts may we be in yours– God bless you—
Ever your most attached
Henrietta
We have had orders from Papa to send the Chronicle to you, the Examiner & Athenaeum to Stormie– While Mr Hunter is in London we have the Paper–
Bro desires me to add here that he would be obliged to you if you could send him by one of the earliest ships a few plants of what is called the Semper Vivum—it is an air plant, Which you hang up to grow–
Address, on integral page: S. M. Barrett Esqr / Cinnamon Hill / 2d St James’ / 1st Little River / Jamaica.
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: Eton College Library.
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