Life and Letters of Robert Browning [68]
11
1852-1855
M. Joseph Milsand -- His close Friendship with Mr. Browning;
Mrs. Browning's Impression of him -- New Edition of Mr. Browning's Poems --
`Christmas Eve and Easter Day' -- `Essay' on Shelley -- Summer in London --
Dante Gabriel Rossetti -- Florence; secluded Life --
Letters from Mr. and Mrs. Browning -- `Colombe's Birthday' --
Baths of Lucca -- Mrs. Browning's Letters -- Winter in Rome --
Mr. and Mrs. Story -- Mrs. Sartoris -- Mrs. Fanny Kemble --
Summer in London -- Tennyson -- Ruskin.
It was during this winter in Paris that Mr. Browning became acquainted
with M. Joseph Milsand, the second Frenchman with whom
he was to be united by ties of deep friendship and affection.
M. Milsand was at that time, and for long afterwards,
a frequent contributor to the `Revue des Deux Mondes';
his range of subjects being enlarged by his, for a Frenchman,
exceptional knowledge of English life, language, and literature. He wrote
an article on Quakerism, which was much approved by Mr. William Forster,
and a little volume on Ruskin called `L'Esthetique Anglaise',
which was published in the `Bibliotheque de Philosophie Contemporaine'.*
Shortly before the arrival of Mr. and Mrs. Browning in Paris,
he had accidentally seen an extract from `Paracelsus'.
This struck him so much that he procured the two volumes of the works
and `Christmas Eve', and discussed the whole in the `Revue'
as the second part of an essay entitled `La Poesie Anglaise depuis Byron'.
Mr. Browning saw the article, and was naturally touched
at finding his poems the object of serious study in a foreign country,
while still so little regarded in his own. It was no less natural
that this should lead to a friendship which, the opening once given,
would have grown up unassisted, at least on Mr. Browning's side;
for M. Milsand united the qualities of a critical intellect with a tenderness,
a loyalty, and a simplicity of nature seldom found in combination with them.
--
* He published also an admirable little work on the requirements
of secondary education in France, equally applicable in many respects
to any country and to any time.
--
The introduction was brought about by the daughter of William Browning,
Mrs. Jebb-Dyke, or more directly by Mr. and Mrs. Fraser Corkran,
who were among the earliest friends of the Browning family in Paris.
M. Milsand was soon an `habitue' of Mr. Browning's house,
as somewhat later of that of his father and sister; and when,
many years afterwards, Miss Browning had taken up her abode in England,
he spent some weeks of the early summer in Warwick Crescent,
whenever his home duties or personal occupations allowed him to do so.
Several times also the poet and his sister joined him at Saint-Aubin,
the seaside village in Normandy which was his special resort,
and where they enjoyed the good offices of Madame Milsand, a home-staying,
genuine French wife and mother, well acquainted with the resources
of its very primitive life. M. Milsand died, in 1886, of apoplexy,
the consequence, I believe, of heart-disease brought on
by excessive cold-bathing. The first reprint of `Sordello', in 1863,
had been, as is well known, dedicated to him. The `Parleyings',
published within a year of his death, were inscribed to his memory.
Mr. Browning's affection for him finds utterance in a few strong words
which I shall have occasion to quote. An undated fragment concerning him
from Mrs. Browning to her sister-in-law, points to a later date
than the present, but may as well be inserted here.
==
`. . . I quite love M. Milsand for being interested in Penini.
What a perfect creature he is, to be sure! He always stands in the top place
among our gods -- Give him my cordial regards, always, mind. . . .
He wants, I think -- the only want of that noble nature --
the sense of spiritual relation; and also he puts under his feet too much
the worth of impulse and passion, in considering the powers of human nature.
For the rest, I don't know such a man. He has intellectual
1852-1855
M. Joseph Milsand -- His close Friendship with Mr. Browning;
Mrs. Browning's Impression of him -- New Edition of Mr. Browning's Poems --
`Christmas Eve and Easter Day' -- `Essay' on Shelley -- Summer in London --
Dante Gabriel Rossetti -- Florence; secluded Life --
Letters from Mr. and Mrs. Browning -- `Colombe's Birthday' --
Baths of Lucca -- Mrs. Browning's Letters -- Winter in Rome --
Mr. and Mrs. Story -- Mrs. Sartoris -- Mrs. Fanny Kemble --
Summer in London -- Tennyson -- Ruskin.
It was during this winter in Paris that Mr. Browning became acquainted
with M. Joseph Milsand, the second Frenchman with whom
he was to be united by ties of deep friendship and affection.
M. Milsand was at that time, and for long afterwards,
a frequent contributor to the `Revue des Deux Mondes';
his range of subjects being enlarged by his, for a Frenchman,
exceptional knowledge of English life, language, and literature. He wrote
an article on Quakerism, which was much approved by Mr. William Forster,
and a little volume on Ruskin called `L'Esthetique Anglaise',
which was published in the `Bibliotheque de Philosophie Contemporaine'.*
Shortly before the arrival of Mr. and Mrs. Browning in Paris,
he had accidentally seen an extract from `Paracelsus'.
This struck him so much that he procured the two volumes of the works
and `Christmas Eve', and discussed the whole in the `Revue'
as the second part of an essay entitled `La Poesie Anglaise depuis Byron'.
Mr. Browning saw the article, and was naturally touched
at finding his poems the object of serious study in a foreign country,
while still so little regarded in his own. It was no less natural
that this should lead to a friendship which, the opening once given,
would have grown up unassisted, at least on Mr. Browning's side;
for M. Milsand united the qualities of a critical intellect with a tenderness,
a loyalty, and a simplicity of nature seldom found in combination with them.
--
* He published also an admirable little work on the requirements
of secondary education in France, equally applicable in many respects
to any country and to any time.
--
The introduction was brought about by the daughter of William Browning,
Mrs. Jebb-Dyke, or more directly by Mr. and Mrs. Fraser Corkran,
who were among the earliest friends of the Browning family in Paris.
M. Milsand was soon an `habitue' of Mr. Browning's house,
as somewhat later of that of his father and sister; and when,
many years afterwards, Miss Browning had taken up her abode in England,
he spent some weeks of the early summer in Warwick Crescent,
whenever his home duties or personal occupations allowed him to do so.
Several times also the poet and his sister joined him at Saint-Aubin,
the seaside village in Normandy which was his special resort,
and where they enjoyed the good offices of Madame Milsand, a home-staying,
genuine French wife and mother, well acquainted with the resources
of its very primitive life. M. Milsand died, in 1886, of apoplexy,
the consequence, I believe, of heart-disease brought on
by excessive cold-bathing. The first reprint of `Sordello', in 1863,
had been, as is well known, dedicated to him. The `Parleyings',
published within a year of his death, were inscribed to his memory.
Mr. Browning's affection for him finds utterance in a few strong words
which I shall have occasion to quote. An undated fragment concerning him
from Mrs. Browning to her sister-in-law, points to a later date
than the present, but may as well be inserted here.
==
`. . . I quite love M. Milsand for being interested in Penini.
What a perfect creature he is, to be sure! He always stands in the top place
among our gods -- Give him my cordial regards, always, mind. . . .
He wants, I think -- the only want of that noble nature --
the sense of spiritual relation; and also he puts under his feet too much
the worth of impulse and passion, in considering the powers of human nature.
For the rest, I don't know such a man. He has intellectual