Life and Letters of Robert Browning [8]
of old French, Spanish, and Italian literature was wonderful.
The old man went smiling and peaceful to his long rest,
preserving his faculties to the last, insomuch that the physician,
astonished at his continued calmness and good humour, turned to his daughter,
and said in a low voice, "Does this gentleman know that he is dying?"
The daughter said in a voice which the father could hear, "He knows it;"
and the old man said with a quiet smile, "Death is no enemy in my eyes."
His last words were spoken to his son Robert, who was fanning him,
"I fear I am wearying you, dear."'
==
Four years later one of his English acquaintances in Paris,
Mr. Frederick Locker, now Mr. Locker-Lampson, wrote to Robert Browning
as follows:
==
Dec. 26, 1870.
My dear Browning, -- I have always thought that you or Miss Browning,
or some other capable person, should draw up a sketch of your excellent father
so that, hereafter, it might be known what an interesting man he was.
I used often to meet you in Paris, at Lady Elgin's. She had a genuine taste
for poetry, and she liked being read to, and I remember you gave her
a copy of Keats' poems, and you used often to read his poetry to her.
Lady Elgin died in 1860, and I think it was in that year
that Lady Charlotte and I saw the most of Mr. Browning.*
He was then quite an elderly man, if years could make him so,
but he had so much vivacity of manner, and such simplicity
and freshness of mind, that it was difficult to think him old.
--
* Mr. Locker was then married to Lady Charlotte Bruce, Lady Elgin's daughter.
--
I remember, he and your sister lived in an apartment in the Rue de Grenelle,
St. Germain, in quite a simple fashion, much in the way that most people live
in Paris, and in the way that all sensible people would wish to live
all over the world.
Your father and I had at least one taste and affection in common.
He liked hunting the old bookstalls on the `quais',
and he had a great love and admiration for Hogarth; and he possessed
several of Hogarth's engravings, some in rare and early states of the plate;
and he would relate with glee the circumstances under which
he had picked them up, and at so small a price too! However,
he had none of the `petit-maitre' weakness of the ordinary collector,
which is so common, and which I own to! -- such as an infatuation
for tall copies, and wide margins.
I remember your father was fond of drawing in a rough and ready fashion;
he had plenty of talent, I should think not very great cultivation;
but quite enough to serve his purpose, and to amuse his friends.
He had a thoroughly lively and HEALTHY interest in your poetry,
and he showed me some of your boyish attempts at versification.
Taking your dear father altogether, I quite believe him to have been
one of those men -- interesting men -- whom the world never hears of.
Perhaps he was shy -- at any rate he was much less known
than he ought to have been; and now, perhaps, he only remains
in the recollection of his family, and of one or two superior people
(like myself!) who were capable of appreciating him. My dear Browning,
I really hope you will draw up a slight sketch of your father
before it is too late.
Yours,
Frederick Locker.
==
The judgments thus expressed twenty years ago are cordially re-stated
in the letter in which Mr. Locker-Lampson authorizes me to publish them.
The desired memoir was never written; but the few details
which I have given of the older Mr. Browning's life and character
may perhaps stand for it.
With regard to the `strict dissent' with which her parents have been taxed,
Miss Browning writes to me: `My father was born and educated
in the Church of England, and, for many years before his death,
lived in her communion. He became a Dissenter in middle life,
and my mother, born and brought up in the Kirk of Scotland, became one also;
but they could not be called bigoted, since we always in the
The old man went smiling and peaceful to his long rest,
preserving his faculties to the last, insomuch that the physician,
astonished at his continued calmness and good humour, turned to his daughter,
and said in a low voice, "Does this gentleman know that he is dying?"
The daughter said in a voice which the father could hear, "He knows it;"
and the old man said with a quiet smile, "Death is no enemy in my eyes."
His last words were spoken to his son Robert, who was fanning him,
"I fear I am wearying you, dear."'
==
Four years later one of his English acquaintances in Paris,
Mr. Frederick Locker, now Mr. Locker-Lampson, wrote to Robert Browning
as follows:
==
Dec. 26, 1870.
My dear Browning, -- I have always thought that you or Miss Browning,
or some other capable person, should draw up a sketch of your excellent father
so that, hereafter, it might be known what an interesting man he was.
I used often to meet you in Paris, at Lady Elgin's. She had a genuine taste
for poetry, and she liked being read to, and I remember you gave her
a copy of Keats' poems, and you used often to read his poetry to her.
Lady Elgin died in 1860, and I think it was in that year
that Lady Charlotte and I saw the most of Mr. Browning.*
He was then quite an elderly man, if years could make him so,
but he had so much vivacity of manner, and such simplicity
and freshness of mind, that it was difficult to think him old.
--
* Mr. Locker was then married to Lady Charlotte Bruce, Lady Elgin's daughter.
--
I remember, he and your sister lived in an apartment in the Rue de Grenelle,
St. Germain, in quite a simple fashion, much in the way that most people live
in Paris, and in the way that all sensible people would wish to live
all over the world.
Your father and I had at least one taste and affection in common.
He liked hunting the old bookstalls on the `quais',
and he had a great love and admiration for Hogarth; and he possessed
several of Hogarth's engravings, some in rare and early states of the plate;
and he would relate with glee the circumstances under which
he had picked them up, and at so small a price too! However,
he had none of the `petit-maitre' weakness of the ordinary collector,
which is so common, and which I own to! -- such as an infatuation
for tall copies, and wide margins.
I remember your father was fond of drawing in a rough and ready fashion;
he had plenty of talent, I should think not very great cultivation;
but quite enough to serve his purpose, and to amuse his friends.
He had a thoroughly lively and HEALTHY interest in your poetry,
and he showed me some of your boyish attempts at versification.
Taking your dear father altogether, I quite believe him to have been
one of those men -- interesting men -- whom the world never hears of.
Perhaps he was shy -- at any rate he was much less known
than he ought to have been; and now, perhaps, he only remains
in the recollection of his family, and of one or two superior people
(like myself!) who were capable of appreciating him. My dear Browning,
I really hope you will draw up a slight sketch of your father
before it is too late.
Yours,
Frederick Locker.
==
The judgments thus expressed twenty years ago are cordially re-stated
in the letter in which Mr. Locker-Lampson authorizes me to publish them.
The desired memoir was never written; but the few details
which I have given of the older Mr. Browning's life and character
may perhaps stand for it.
With regard to the `strict dissent' with which her parents have been taxed,
Miss Browning writes to me: `My father was born and educated
in the Church of England, and, for many years before his death,
lived in her communion. He became a Dissenter in middle life,
and my mother, born and brought up in the Kirk of Scotland, became one also;
but they could not be called bigoted, since we always in the