SD874. Edward Moulton-Barrett (father) to Samuel Moulton-Barrett (brother)
Published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 4, 334 (in part).
London
Feby. 14. 1838–
My dearest Sam
Your afflicting communication found me as little prepared to receive it as though I had never heard of the illness of my dearest, my most beloved Brother, so much had he gone through & such vitality had he displayed that I could not believe he was so soon after his most affectionate letter to me, dated the 8th Decemr to be removed from me for ever in time– Oh Sam, I can hardly credit the intelligence; Can it be true that one so full of spirits, of humour, of anecdote, of affection, of benevolence, of kindness on the right hand & on the left, as I knew him not many years ago, has left us to be seen no more among us; alas the tears I have shed for days past, the agony of my feelings, & the house of mourning in which I am, all confirm it, and is this all that man is made for, why then, with reverence be it said, better he had never been; no, as clearly is it only meant to be a passage to another, & only worthily & reasonably does that man pass his life, who is certainly preparing for the next, & laying up, as Scripture expresses it, riches in heaven against the change– I pity you for what you were called upon to go through, & yet I rejoice that you were permitted to be present to contribute to his comfort & to prove the affection & gratitude you bore him, & from what I hear from Sir J. Rowe & Mr Anderson faithfully have you fulfilled your duty; I thank you, I thank my God, who in his Providence disposed it thus. It was the mercy also of the Lord, who permitted so many kind friends to be around him to smooth his Pillow in all his sickness & above all to enable one, Mr Anderson to convey to me some observations which fell from him, proving his humility & the low estimation which which he held himself, whereas Christ was all– Thus dear Sam, in the midst of judgement my God has remembered mercy & has permitted this heavy dispensation, this severe bereavement to be accompanied with circumstances which have much mitigated the stroke– I trust what has been left to us, has been great gain to him, I trust he has gone to those who loved him here, & who fell asleep in Jesus, & I trust through sovereign Grace that I shall meet him ere long to sing the triumphs of redeeming love– I charge you, Sam, do every thing to the tittle that he commussioned you to perform; you will see from the accompanying Power to Mr Carey that I have religiously attended to his wishes on the subject; a letter, the last he wrote to me, he expressed his desire the Estates should be kept separate, under the care of two Attorneys, & by the 1st of this month’s Packet I promised him he should be obeyed should they unfortunately devolve on me; that letter of course is still at Sea on its way, but I am bound to comply, as well as in the appointment of the Gentleman he suggested & recommended Mr Carey– This Power I shall forward to you to deliver to Mr Carey, if he refuses you must request him to say nothing on the subject to any one, until I can send out another, neither do you– It is poor Annie’s & my desire that Junius be at liberty to live if he pleases either at Cinnamon Hill or Cornwall, & tell him I hold him in remembrance, & wish to contribute to his comfort, as well as to every one, who was kind & attentive to him I loved most dearly– The People have lost a Master, I fear that many of them did not value sufficiently, but I hope they will regret him now– Tell them it shall be my earnest effort to make them happy, as I know it was that of my most liberal Brother– Tell them of the exemplary conduct of the Oxford & Cambridge People, conduct so honorable to them in every way, & to exceed which on their part I have no desire– You wish to come home to us, the wish is reciprocal, I want to see you, I want to hear, whilst the circumstances are fresh in your mind, of all connected with this visitation & even if possible every word that fell from him– Come soon, & if you want money draw on me for supply, but first go round the Estates, view Oxford & Cambridge as well as our beloved Sams, take an accurate observation so as to be enabled to afford me a clear report—& what you cannot do, as Executor, retain for me to execute either as regards persons or things– Annie has been dreadfully cast down but I trust is resigned– Dear Ba feels it most severely, her weakened state was little calculated to bear up against the shock, but I trust in the Lord, she will get well, & that soon[.] Of course my wish is to comply with your desire to return to Cinnamon Hill & this you will tell Mr Carey– I cannot but appreciate the motives of my beloved Brother as to the disposition of his body, but I sincerely wish he had ordered otherwise & that his remains were now on Cinnamon Hill Estate, where any of the family might readily have had access to the turf over him– God bless you, my dear Sam & give you the comfort which He alone can afford for the Lord’s sake, is my fervent prayer–
From yours affectionately but afflicted
E M Barrett
I will write by the next Packet, after which I shall cease, supposing you to be on your way hither–
Address, on integral page: S. M. Barrett Esqre / Bloomsbury / Montego Bay / Jamaica.
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: Eton College Library.
___________________
