The Sun.
London, England, 1861-07-05 00:00:00

TAS. ELZZAB.

DEA2'II- OF

'Tli BARRETT

The death of Mrs. Browning, announced yesterday in
a letter from Turin, will be felt as a deep loss not only by a
wide circle of attached friends but a host of sympathising
readers of her true and noble poetry. She was, beyond all
doubt, a born poet. It is not enough to say that—regard
being had merely to the artistic qualities of her works—

it would be difficult to name more than a few of her sea

who has equalled or even approached her ; it is perhaps
higher praise to affirm, as it may be safely affirmed, that she
had in larger measure than usually belongs to poets of either
sex, the si rong and noble inst nets towards freedom and

humanity, the deep compassion for suffering, and the burn-
ing hatred of cruelty and wrong, that transform what is else

a mere intellectual accomplishment into a source of power
to the best efforts and aspirations of society. Such poems
as her " Cry of the Children," and Tom Hood's " Song of
the Shirt," can scarcely be overvalued for their power to,
stir a nation's heart and clear its eyes from the slowly-
gathering film of apathetic routine.

The following description of Mrs. Browning is taken
from " Men of the Time" :

A reference to the various works which have given lustre
-o the name of this lady can scarcely be better introduced
than by a slight sketch of her personal characteristics and

history as afforded in the " Literary Recollections" of Miss
Mitford. " My first acquaintance," writes this authoress in

852, " with Elizabeth Barrett commenced fifteen year&

ago, and she was then certainly one of the most interesting
persons I had ever seen. Of a slight, delicate figure, with a.
shower of dark curls falling on either side of a most expres-
sive face—large, tender eyes, fringed with dark lashes—a.
smile like a sunbeam, and such a look of youthfulness,
that I had some difficulty in persuading a friend, in whose

carriage we went to Chiswick, that the translatress of the
' Prometheus' of lEschylus, the author of the ' Essay on.
Mind,' was, in technical language, out.' During my stay-
in town we met frequently, and after my return to the
country we corresponded very regularly; her letters being
just what letters cught to be—her own talk put upon paper.
The next year was a painful one to herself and all who loved
her ; she broke a blood-vessel in the lungs. If there had.
been consumption in the family, that disease would have.
supervened ; but, happily, she escaped this fatal English,
malady. The vessel, however, refused to heal; and after
attending her for a year at her father's house in Wimpole-
street, Dr. Chambers, on the approach of winter, ordered
her to a milder climate. Her eldest brother—a brother in
heart and talent worthy of such a sister—together with
other affectionate relatives, accompanied her to Torquay ;
and there occurred that fatal event which saddened her
bloom of youth, and gave a deeper hue of thought and feel-
ing, especially devotional feeling, to her poetry. Nearly a •
year had passed, and the invalid, still attended by her corn•
panions, had derived much benefit from the mild sea breezes.
of Devonshire. One fine summer morning her favourite
brother, together with two other fine young men, his friends,
embarked on board a small sailing vessel for a trip for a
few hours. Excellent sailors all, and familiar with the
coast, they sent back the boatmen, and undertook them-
selves the management of the little craft. Danger was not
dreamt of by any one—indeed, after the catastrophe no one
could divine the cause ; but in a few minutes after their
embarkation, and in sight of their very windows, and just
as they were crossing the bar, the boat went down, and all
who were in her perished. Even the bodies were never
found. This tragedy nearly killed Miss Barrett ; she was
utterly prostrated by the horror and grief, and a natural
but most unjust feeling, that she had been in some sort the
cause of this great misery. It was not until the following
year that she could be removed in an invalid carriage, and
by journeys of twenty miles a-day, to her afflicted family
and her London home. On her return began the life which
she continued for so many years—confined to one large and
commodious, but darkened chamber, to which only her own
family and a few devoted friends were admitted. Reading,
meanwhile, almost every book worth reading, in almost
every language; studying with ever-fresh delight the
great classic authors in the original ; and giving herself
heart and soul to that poetry of which she seemed born to
be the priestess." We learn from the source whence the
above remarks are derived that Miss Barrett's vocation
displayed itself very early in life; that she wrote largely
at ten years old, and well at fifteen. Her first important
essay in authorship was a translation of the " Prometheus'
of 2Eschylus, published anonymously in 1833 ; her own
maturer judgment pronounced this attempt a failure, and
it was, therefore, replaced in the collected edition of her
works by an entirely new version. Five years later ap-
peared " The Seraphim,"—a poem holding, as it were, an.
intermediate position between an ancient Greek tragedy
and a Christian mystery, the idea of which had suggested
itself during the progress of her labours on the " Prome-
theus Bound." With it were associated some miscellaneous
poems, a portion of which had already appeared in the pages
of periodicals, where they had won (in spite of some obscu-
rity of manner and expression) high appreciation for their
poetic beauty and earnest tone of feeling. Though chieflY
known to the multitude by these productions, Miss Barrett
also wrote many admirable and erudite prose articles on the
Greek Christian poets and other subjects, which were con-
sidered to afford evidence of unusually keen insight, and
extended intellectual attainments. After a long continu-
ance of that secluded life which has been referred to in the
words of her intimate friend, a gradual improvement took
place in her state of health ; and the beauties and pleasures
of the external world, from which she had been debarred
for years, once more became accessible to her. Several
years ago she became the wife of Robert Browning, the
poet, and immediately after her marriage accompanied him.
to Pisa. They subsequently removed to Florence, which
has continued to be their permanent home, although occa-
sional visits to England have afforded opportunity to Mrs-
Browning's friends of rejoicing with her in the possession
of a lovely boy, and a renewed measure of health and
strength. The publication in 1850 of her collected poems,
in two volumes, gave a great impetus to her reputation, and
obtained very general acknowledgment of her title to rank,
in many points of view, as the first female poet of the age.
A small number of unpublished poems appeared in this
edition, and among them was " Lady Geraldine's Court-
ship," which was cited as one of her happiest inspira-
tions. An inspiration it might indeed be called, inasmuch
as it was written in twelve hours, having been required at
the last moment to complete the uniformity of her volumes,
and composed in haste to save the packet which was to
convey the proof-sheets to America. In 1851 appeared
" Casa Guidi Windows," a poem, the theme of
which was the repeated struggle for liberty which
she had opportunities of witnessing from the windows of
the Casa Guidi, her own Florentine residence. Although
critics have not failed to do full justice to the generous im-
pulse, fine imagination, and social and political wisdom of
this production, the fantastic and rugged forms in which
the ideas are frequently clothed w, uld be likely to render it
only partially acceptable. It is probably by such poems as
the " Poet's Vow," " Catharina to Camoens," " Bertha in
the Lane," " Cowper's Grave," and a host of others which
throng upon the memory, that Mrs. Browning will touch
the hearts of her readers most closely, and it will be from
them, therefore, that she will derive her most enduring re-
nown. In 1856 Mrs. Browning published " Aurora Leigh."
Since " Aurora Leigh" the only published work of Mrs.
Browning's, we believe, is a small volume which appeared
last year, entitled " Poems before Congress," and which
was briefly noticed in our columns at the time. One or two
little pieces of hers have still more recently adorned the
pages of the Cornhill Magazine. In her later poems curious
and loving students of her verse fancied they could detect
some unconscious reflection—very pleasant to see—of her
gifted husband's thought and style. It is less doubtful that
her love of Italy and her desire for its freedom and indepen-
dence were intensified by its well-known passionate strength
of sympathy for that country and that cause. It takes
away something from the pain which those who love and
honour her memory must feel at her loss to remember that
she lived to witness the regeneration, and breathed her last
on the enfranchised scil, of the nation whose redemption
had been one of the strongest aspirations of her noble heart.

C OUNT CAVOUR.--Some time before his death it
was understood that Count Cavour manifested the strongest
desire to promote all those improvements of the means of
internal and coast communication throughout the
Kingdom of Italy which appear essential to its rapid conso-
lidation. A system for a complete postal and passenger
steam service in the Mediterranean was among the prin-
cipal of these objects, and negotiations for its establish-
ment on a sound and influential basis had been some
time in progress. His successor, it now appears, has
adopted
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services,
and
concession has been definitively granted to an English
which are to have the advantage of being freci, from all
police and passport regulations, the company likewise
being allowed to erect wharves and landing places, thus
avoiding for the first time on the Mediterranean the use
of small boats for landing goods and passengers
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liari, two calling at Terranova, and two calling at Tortoh ;
two voyages perm math between Leghorn and Cagliari, touch:
ing at 'Terranova ; two voyages per month between Cagliari
and Naples ; four voyages per month between Genoa and
Porto Torres, touching Caprara four times every month'
and Maddalena twice per month; four voyages per month
between Leghorn and Porto Torres, touching Hestia and.
Maddalena ; eight voyages per month between Leghorn and
the Isle of Elba, extending twice every month to Pianossy
the island of Giglio, S. Stefano, and Piombino."
OCEAN TELEGRAPHS.—The number of sub'
marine cables that have been laid in shallow water is 31,
their total length being upwards of 3,000 miles ; the deep
sea lines, 14 in number, total length 8,290 miles. Of these
latter the Atlantic, 2,209 miles, is entirely lost; the Red
Sea and India, of 3,499 miles, only two sections are in work-
ing condition ; and the Sardinia ant Corfu, 700 miles, is not
available from some unascertained cause. Of the shallow'
water cables, that from ingapore to Batavia, of 550 miles,
is also defective. Thus, out of 11,361 miles laid, little
more than 3,000 miles are in working order,--lifechanos
Magazine.