SD725. Edward Moulton-Barrett (father) to Henrietta Moulton-Barrett
Published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 2, 367 (in part).
[London]
[Postmark: 2 June 1830]
My dearest Daddles.
Your kind & most affectionate letter was received by me with grateful recollections to God for the manifold blessings He had been pleased to afford me from the Event, for the returning Anniversary of which your congratulations were sent to me, untill now; and altho’ in the midst of them many dark clouds have come over my otherwise bright day & especially that most black one to which you so piously allude, I am called upon to offer nothing but Thanksgivings to the Giver of all good for mercies unnumbered, for the least of which I can only say I am altogether unworthy; and I would hope whatever his wise Providence yet may have in store to try me with, I may be able to say in faith, thy will be done; hitherto has the Lord helped me, and if I can trust him for eternity, surely I may for time, therefore let us fear as well for Thou Lord art with us & according to the trial of our day, so Thou will give the strength to bear up against & support the burthen of the day whatever it may seem best in thy wisdom to lay upon us. My dearest Loves had I not immense treasures in your love & affection towards me & grounds of rejoicing in the hope that God has begun the good work in you, which is the knowledge & faith of Him, who hath abolished Death & restored us to the image of the divine Nature with its attendant communion with the God & Father of all, and in the full confidence that He who has begun this good work will carry it on & perfect it in himself. Then let us rejoice & move on, knowing that this is no abiding place, neither is it a fit place for immortal spirits sprinkled with the blood of Jesus, nothing but seeing him face to face & being always with him can satisfy a redeemed Soul, & even now the Gates of Heaven are suffering violence & the violent take it by storm, two of our Party have passed on before us & are now within the walls, we who are left fighting under the Captain of our Salvation shall attain unto the same high honor, if we faint not May God in his mercy grant it for Christ Jesus sake–
Pray remember me to Miss Price and say how much I feel obliged by her kind pardon—that the information was necessary to me as otherwise I must have been doomed to despair ignorant however I should have been able to forgive [illegible words], & that this disinterested & uncalled for generosity on her part has given me spirit to presume when occasion offers to prove to her that I can write altho’ I have often regretted that I ever was taught– Poor Bro must be infatuated either with the fiddle or comic Songs, the latter of which I heard something of, as performed by him at the Theatre Home House, otherwise He would surely have told me something directly or indirectly of my farm & my concerns there, or perhaps he is asleep, if so do not disturb him but send out Stormy to collect information & forward it to me, for not a word have I heard of agricultural proceedings for a fortnight except it be that the rest of the Sheep were to be washed this week, perhaps when this necessary operation is done or doing they may do the like to Bro & so discharm him, if so good let me know.
I beg Bro’s pardon upon reference to your letter I find he has opened his mouth at last with somewhat apparently of a yawn, “The Port Wine is almost gone”– I will remember it for his sake– I have asked I think three times with respect to the Cider; is it spoilt all or any? say- Speak to Mr Curzon about the Bible, and say I think they cannot or ought not to <…> your request– Thanks to my own Ba for her affectionate effusion– Bless you all my own loves, I wish I could be amongst you not to tell you for that I cannot but to prove to you how I love you– If Miss Boyd is with you, remember me to her– Trepsack had a letter from Sam by the last packet, he was better & in hopes from his disuse of physic to be continually improving in health– Tell Jane I have not forgotten her or ever can– And now dear Addles good bye
yr ever most affectionate
E M Barrett
You said I think there would be no Apples– Are the Pears gone also? d[itt]o Hops——?
The Dogs are all go[i]ng mad & Granny desires me to say that you must not suffer one within sight of you; pray desire Bro to be very careful, for there is some hidden cause operating on the canine race that in its effects, as you may see by the Papers, is really alarming– The place he keeps his in & the number together are worth consideration; we are bound conscientiously to guard as much as in us lies against an event which Providence has not yet enabled the Faculty to discover a specific for——
God take care of all of you—
Address, on integral page: Miss H. Barrett / Hope End / near Ledbury / Herefordshire.
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: Armstrong Browning Library, Altham Archive.
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