Life and Letters of Robert Browning | Page 7

himself dying, and speculate on the nature of the change which was
befalling him. 'What do you think death is, Robert?' he said to his son;
'is it a fainting, or is it a pang?' A notice of his decease appeared in an
American newspaper. It was written by an unknown hand, and bears a
stamp of genuineness which renders the greater part of it worth
quoting.
'He was not only a ruddy, active man, with fine hair, that retained its
strength and brownness to the last, but he had a courageous spirit and a
remarkably intelligent mind. He was a man of the finest culture, and
was often, and never vainly, consulted by his son Robert concerning
the more recondite facts relating to the old characters, whose bones that
poet liked so well to disturb. His knowledge 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,