SD1137. Edward Moulton-Barrett (father) to Septimus Moulton-Barrett
Published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 4, 369 (in part).
Torquay,
[20] Octr 1840– [1]
My dear Sept.
You admit the bad writing & the carelessness, & you make a promise of improvement, provided it can be done; but this to be done now, might as easily have been attempted, nay executed, long since, for you know very well my opinion both of one & the other, & whatever you may think, according to the desire to acquire, or to effect, what I may have suggested, so must be the conclusion in my mind of the respect, not to mention affection, you bear me. Besides, altho I must feel a natural pride & satisfaction in seeing those I love, even in the most minute things, doing well, I cannot have, exclusive of you, an advantage in it, for you must reap the whole benefit of every attainment, whilst my profit will be that my Children have been unto me a blessing in every way; & whether they be removed before me or subsequently by a mysterious Providence, I shall have the comfort of knowing that as much as in them lay they exerted themselves to please me, & thus to perform a most important duty before God, the very next they owe to Him. With regard to the motives you say I impute to you & on account of which you feel hurt, I can only say that I do not recollect having assigned any, but that I only mentioned the fact, which was since my remonstrance your writing had been worse & more careless, & had I not destroyed the specimens I would have returned them to you & left you to be your own judge in the matter– But as to means, if Mr Cross cannot help you, I beg that you will find out some Person, who would instruct you in the art: believe me that the acquirement will be of essential advantage to you in becoming, what I am sure you are desirous of, independent; so that, whatever may be the result of West Indian Affairs or of my removal before I have saved enough for your maintainance in a respectable way, you may be able to feel, by the blessing of God, you are competent to support yourself by your own abilities & acquirements, as to add unto what you may get from me, & thus extend your own comforts, as well as possess the means of helping others– I know that you have capital enough in your head, given by a kind Providence, which, if properly laid out, will bring in a very large interest; & therefore I am solicitous to see it brought out into use. You have always been a very dear & affectionate boy, & have ever been willing to sacrifice your own time & pursuits to my convenience & use; this I can with pleasure & in justice assert, & I have watched you, when taking you off from your own engagements to do any thing I wanted, that you gave to it not only as a duty, but making the act the more graceful, evidently with pleasure; but indeed all bear this testimony to the kindness of your manner, nevertheless individually I am not the less sensibly affected by it– Then, in what concerns yourself so importantly with respect to your future interests, as well as my happiness, overturn every hindrance which might operate against your future success. Whatever you & Ocky or indeed any of my Children need in the way of Masters or instruction only let me know, & they shall have it, for in getting rid of my pecuniary difficulties, after long exertion by the blessing of God, I want nothing for myself individually in addition, no indulgence whatever, not a horse even, for I have in a sense but one object in life, to live for my Children, & but one consolation, to see them walking in the ways |of| God’s commandments blameless–
I shall leave you & Arabel to settle the matter of dispute between you as regards the communication of the infinitessimal [sic] parts of your saying & doings in Wimpole St which she requires. Neither do I intend to unravel the meaning of the last observation, “the charm is broken, page four &c” this must be left for Arabel’s reply– If by Miss Louisa, you mean Louisa Butler I can give you the information; She is going to be married to Sir Carmichael Smyth very soon; much more of him I know nothing excepting that he was connected in some way with Lord Elringdon Establishment in Ireland– I am sorry to hear that Miss Minto is in the state you describe, out of which I hope she will soon escape, if the cause of it be not in every respect eligible to all concerned–
Tomorrow Harry will be in cash which will enable you to pay Mr Cross, £25-4s, Mr Stevenson, of whom I am still ignorant, but I presume it is right 3-1-0 & the Water Rates £4- which may be just. I have enclosed the account to be receipted. The Infant Orphan Asylum I think 2.2.0—but for whom I am to vote I know not, perhaps Harry or You would enquire; a person by the name of Davies has applied for his Nephew, John Eastwood; as the Vacancies in the Institution are limitted [sic], the most urgent case should be supported– Let me know if I am to vote by letter & if so what is the form– Oh I see the form here, I therefore only want the objects or object for whom I am to vote after paying my subscription– Mr D’Etree’s money is not due, until the 30 days after sight or 33 from its acceptance. I am sorry that you did not answer Mr Hunter’s letter; it was a want of courtesy not doing so, to say the least of it– He is I believe at Lowestoft, Suffolk– Mr Kenyon arrived on Saturday, & I saw him yesterday. He is looking very well, but how long he stays I know not. Our dearest sufferer is much the same; Horne has written to her giving her 10 days to modernize a portion of Chaucer, which he is going to publish. I hope it may not excite her too much.
I find that Henrietta has written to you also by this day’s Post, & therefore to avoid the chance of the double postage I have given her the two Cards to enclose to you. Give my best love to Treppy & all around you.
And I am, dear Sept
Yrs very affectionately
E M Barrett.
After paying the Bills, you will have plenty money to go on with–
I hope George will be more successful these Sessions.
I have splendid reports of yours & Ocky’s performance in the drawing way, dear boys go on improving in every thing–
Address, on integral page: Mr Septimus Barrett / 50– Wimpole Street / London.
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: Gordon E. Moulton-Barrett.
1. Day provided by postmark.
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