SD835. Henrietta Moulton-Barrett to Samuel Moulton-Barrett (brother)
Published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 3, 334–335 (in part).
74 Gloster Place London
Novr 14th & 15th [1837] [1]
My beloved Sam–
I am quite sure that I write you many more letters than you send me, what is the meaning of it? I very seldom miss a packet except when Bro puts in a claim to my pen, & then of course with all sisterly affection I relinquish it, so let your scolding cease as I do not deserve them– We are most thankful to God for this continued good account of your own precious safe– May the same Merciful Providence ever watch over you, & then I know whatever may be the dangers surrounding you, you must nevertheless be safe– I trust your late movements may be of use to you ultimately, but I must acknowledge I shall feel happy when I hear they are ended—for I cannot bear to think of your solitude in that land of [illegible words]– Papa was much pleased by the account good Mr Farquarson sent him of your steadiness industry &c. & he says you promise well to be a first rate planter? Who knows but that you will make all our fortunes, & your own in the long run. Papa says that instead of German you should study Chemistry & Geology—they might be of great use to you in that country– I think if I was there, I should be employing myself in endeavoring to fathom for gold & silver mines. I wish Papa would let me pay you a visit, how very much I should like it– If our kind Uncle Sam would come to England, if it were only for a short time, I think it is not impossible that Papa would let me return with him to see you. How we would gallop about the country! I did not write to you by the last packet, as Ba wrote to your dear namesake to thank him for a most kind & splendid present, he had sent her of his shares in the David Lyon—with the sum they brought to him this year– I can assure you such kindness melted our dear Ba to tears, for she had thought from his long continued silence, that she must be forgotten—& I am sure she valued the affection that induced him to think of such an act, more than the present itself. Although it was most acceptable to her—Papa says he does not give a very favorable account of his own health. Why will he not come to our shores? tell him that I am sure even his old Jamaican nurse, of whom I hear he is so fond, could not nurse him better than we should– Do let us hear that you are returned to him?– I am glad to hear so good an account of next crop but Papa seems to think that you always promise well at first, & disappoint us afterwards, he always comes home now in capital spirits from the sugar market, they are looking up, & so are we—perhaps we may have to drive our carriage & two yet, what think you dearest Sam? & you are all pleased now with the law proceedings—it would indeed be a blessing if these were done with—but I fear this will never be– It appears to be our destiny always to be in the hands of those lawyers—& they, I believe now are going to rob us of 50 Wimpole Street, that Papa had all but taken—they cannot or will not find the title deeds belonging to it—if it had not been for them, it might have been painted, papered & furnished, & we comfortably settled in it, but Papa is at last out of patience with them, & has written to tell them that unless they directly conclude their business, he will retreat from his bargain & will have nothing more to do with it– We shall not now at any rate be in it before Christmas & all this time without a Piano– If our dear George were not among them, I should wish the whole race of lawyers to be extinct—I mean the profession–
I have something to tell you of George—that he has had the Small-pox—it is thank God passed now therefore you need not be uneasy about him– It attacked him about a month after William was cured of it, & from the length of the time we could hardly believe it to be the complaint—but Dr. Chambers was called in & immediately pronounced it to be the same, so consequently poor fellow he was imprisoned in his room & none of us allowed to approach him except Papa & Minny—even yet he is not deemed fit for our Society however in a day or two I suppose we shall admit him—& although he seems so fearful of looking at us lest he should infect us, he is not half so merciful to his fellow legal students, for when we were at breakfast yesterday morning he stole downstairs & out of doors to his chambers– I believe his rejection from them was his chief annoyance in catching this complaint– I am happy to say it has left no unseemly blemish to disfigure the likeness he bears of you– We have as a precaution all been vaccinated again & almost all effectively therefore I trust we are quite safe from any further attack—my unfortunate arms are smarting now from the effects—Daisy continues to go to the London University & I trust improves—he is very much grown– Papa was talking of sending Seppy & Ockyta to the school, but I hardly think it will be done– We have not heard from dearest Henry for a long time—I wish he would write– Mrs. Newdick writes again to say that your marriage was positively stated in the papers– I told her that I was not in the least uneasy about it– It is like the report that you tell us of, of Bro’s union to Mary Minto—& you of course have too much sensibility to believe that, & particularly after all my information on that subject– We have not seen the Tulks or any one else on account of this horrible small pox—but our quarantine will soon be over now indeed this evening Papa Bro & I are going to drink tea with the Mintos where dear Annie is staying for a few days– She I think is better than she was—stronger but still she coughs—why don’t you write to her dearest Sam—she has been much disappointed in not hearing from you– I believe she has a sincere affection for you—Mary Minto has really a great talent for music—she has the best masters Mrs Minto could procure for her & plays finely both on the Piano & harp– I like her very much—she has overpowering Spirits. Shall I bespeak her for you as a wife? —I continue to strum a little every day on the guitar, but I do long for a Piano– I am happy to tell you that your Rum is sold—at 4/5 they say it is not a bad price, as it is not very strong– Bro has not received the money for it yet but is going to the city to get it when he will pay Macdonald– Can this be a good speculation you are thinking of dearest Sam to become a Barton |brewer|—do not get yourself into a scrape by it—do not become too fond of speculating—by the bye Mrs Newdick wrote to me to say there were two casks of all that you had requested her to purchase for you, to give to a friend of yours (at some agent’s house whose direction she gave me that she wished to have sent by Capt. Sughrue) her directions arrived too late for them to be executed, I therefore said nothing to Papa about it, but I have written to Mrs. Newdick to say that we could ask Capt. Selby to take it out if she likes it—he sails I believe about the end of December– The Newdicks I fear cannot let their house & consequently give up the idea of going abroad– Mrs. Maling is still at Calais & seems to like the place– I heard from her this morning, she tells me that Charles is in a scrape having got into debt with nothing to defray it—a debt of £30—some time ago– About seven o’clock in the evening we were sitting in the drawing room with Papa after dinner, when we heard a cab stop at the door—presently William came in with a letter for me, from Charles—to say that he again injured his hip & on account of his indisposition he was going into Worcestershire to his uncle’s there for a fortnight—but that unfortunately he happened to have no money, & he did not wish to write to Mrs. Maling for any there as he was unwilling to apprise her of the accident, lest she should be uneasy, & this was to ask me to send him by his friend (who was then waiting at the door in the cab) for £5—promising to pay it as soon as he returned to London– Now I, of course had not 5 pounds or 5 pence in my possession, & Papa did not like to send it to him. I therefore had the disagreeable task to perform of saying that I could not send it to him, as I had it not—& until this morning I have heard no more of Charles– Poor Mrs. Maling appears to be in great distress about it, so fearful lest he should lose his appointment by it– He is now somewhere in London– He was to leave Addiscombe on the 1st of Dec & then to spend the remaining time with Mrs. Maling in Calais before he went to India—do not on any account dearest Sam mention this—our dearest Bummy is still at Frocester, & seriously talks of coming very soon to London to see us—but I suppose it will not be until we are in our new house– Uncle John & Mrs. Clarke are now paying her a visit—& strange to say John Junr. with them, he with Leonard have been staying some time at Ballin Temple, where I suppose some of Fanny’s wise counsel induced him to write a letter of apology to Bummy for his past conduct– She of course received & accepted it & much to her surprise she heard he was coming with Uncle John to see her—we have not heard from Bummy since their arrival there– It is a happy thing that he has recovered from his madness—it must have been such– They have been the gayest of the gang at Ballin Temple—dinner parties of 50 with balls in the evening– How I should have liked to have been there– We have been more sober here than ever lately—we have not been out to a party for an |immense| time—we are not half so gay in London as we used to be at Sidmouth. Old Mrs. Dunn is still alive & is likely I think to live longer either than Miss Simpson or Miss |Tulk|—they are both in a very delicate state of health– Mrs. Dunn always desires her kind love to you her great favorite when she sees me–
A very smart Irish waistcoat has just arrived for Bro from Fanny brought by Mr. Gosset who has returned to London on his parliamentary duties– He has left Arabella behind him in Ireland– Think of Fanny being the grandmother of three children– Arabella had two & Richard one– He has purchased a place very near Ballin Temple, & is become quite a country sportsman– The Hedleys are settled at Torquay for the winter, & very gay there—it is very likely that they will be in London in the Spring—Bummy says that Uncle James must be here very soon upon business—but I certainly shall not expect him until I see him– Mrs. Orm still keeps a school with her daughters at Hampstead. She often comes on Saturdays to London, dines with us, & sleeps at Treppy’s. She looks as well as ever she did—& often enquires after you– Treppy is as well & gay as ever—on the whole we go on very harmoniously together– Sometimes we do happen to offend her, but it soon blows over again– Our dear Ba talks of publishing shortly again– A poem entitled “The Cherubims” with some other minor poems—do you not admire her poem in Finden’s Tableaux that Papa sent to Uncle Sam? Lady Dacre considered it the best production in the book—& do you not like Mr Kenyon’s. How would you like him to be your brother in law? I w[oul]d very much—a kinder-hearted person & one more agreeable never existed– You must know that he is in great esteem of our dearest Ba—we torment her most terribly about him– Papa has presented Ba Arabel & me with a magnificent present of 3 large sable furr tippets & cuffs of the same for the winter– I am sure they must have cost him a great deal—it is very kind of him– I hear that Miss Webb of Ledbury is married to a surgeon & apothecary, I expect to Mr. Selwyn & now living in Ledbury—her sister is gone out to India– The Peytons are really kind friends they never forget us, they are always sending us game or something they think we would like– Papa is going to give them a keg of tamarinds he has bought—ours with my box is still at the custom house– We have a terrible account of Mr. Cliffe—they call him a ruined man—a little adversity may be of use to him– Mrs. & Miss C. ride, talk & laugh just as they used to do– Mr. & Mrs. Hayes with the old Uncle Mr. Browne are gone to Paris for the winter, & do not return until February– Mr. Boyd is in the same house in St John’s Wood has had visitors staying with him ever since his daughter’s marriage– Minny quite well & sends her love. I am much afraid that you will not be able to decipher all this– Such a wretched pen!!– Write to me soon my beloved Sam, fully & satisfactory– Do not forget too to write to Annie—for she is very anxious to hear from you– Our best love to dearest Uncle Sam—may every blessing be yours & his <prays> your fondly attached
Henrietta
What a short letter this <is.> Myrtle sends her love.
Address, on integral page: S. M. Barrett Esqr. Junr. / Cinnamon Hill / Little River / St James’ / Jamaica / Per Packet Novr 15th 1837.
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: Eton College Library.
1. Year provided by postmark.
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