Rome
14 March
My Dear Henry
We had not heard of the Earthquake <1> at Palermo till your letter came, because the news must get from Sicily to London & then come to us through Paris. I cannot tell you our plans, because they entirely depend upon letting this house, Luigi Chiaveri thought he had disposed of it for us, to an English Family who took Lady Mildmay’s <2> apartment instead, this is our usual ill luck. If we do not get rid of it before the Holy Week there is no chance of it afterwards, then everybody takes their flight, and I am afraid when [illegible deletion] our term is out which is not till the 6th of May that it will be too hot to begin going South & that it will end in our not seeing Naples at all, which will disappoint me excessively.
Mr Labouchere <3> dined here yesterday he told me you enjoyed yourself with Strangways <4> & Nichol. <5> Lord Carnarvon <6> is returned, he tells me Wm <7> talks of coming here. I wish Jane <8> would write to me, why does she not? Why don’t you enquire for us the probably expence [sic] of living at an Hotel in case we go to Naples. We have had all sorts of bad weather. It is now very cold. yesterday [sic] we saw ten Cardinals made by the Pope in person & the Hat placed upon their heads with the ceremony of their kissing the Pope’s toe. Mr Buller is I believe gone to Naples, he was to go today. Lord Sheffield is arrived from Brundissium [sic] whe[re]<9> he was obliged to perform Quarantine after having met with all sorts of disasters. We have sent you several papers & brochures & letters that came by the post from all parts
Ever Yrs afftly
You see by Brougham <10> supporting Canning <11> on the Seaman bill <12> how ready the Opposition are to support what they think good measures Even when they originate on the Ministerial side, Vice Versâ cannot be said.
Caroline <13> is annoyed you have not answered her letter Why don’t you make William get you the English Papers to read that come to the Embassy, they must have all sides & you would find it all given more in detail than Galignani <14>
W.H.F. Talbot
Signor Inglese
Posta Restanta
Napoli
Napoli
Notes:
1. The earthquake took place on 5 March 1823. [See Doc. No: 01065].
2. Jane Dorthea Methuen, née Mildmay (1789–1846).
3. Rt Hon Henry Labouchere, Baron Taunton (1798–1869), politician.
4. Family relations of Henry Stephen Fox Strangways, 3rd Earl of Ilchester (1787–1858).
5. Probably Dr John Nicholl (1797-1853), MP, husband of Jane Harriot Nicholl, née Talbot (1796- 12 Jan 1874), WHFT's cousin.
6. Henry George Herbert, 2nd Earl of Carnarvon (1772–1833).
7. William Thomas Horner Fox Strangways, 4th Earl of Ilchester (1795–1865), botanist, art collector & diplomat.
8. Jane Harriot Nicholl, née Talbot (1796–1874).
9. Written off the edge of page.
10. Henry Peter Brougham, Baron of Brougham & Voux (1778–1868), Lord Chancellor.
11. George Canning (1770–1827), British statesman known for his liberal policies as foreign secretary (1807–1809, 1822–1827) and as prime minister for four months during 1827.
12. This probably refers to the Foreign Enlistment Act of 1819 that prohibited the equipping in British ports of ships intended to support belligerents in conflicts in which Britain was neutral. It was not repealed in 1823. [See Doc. No: 01063].
13. Rear Admiral Charles Feilding (1780–1837), Royal Navy; WHFT’s step-father.
14. Giovanni Antonio Galignani (1757–1821) was the founder of a newspaper, Galignani’s Messenger, which had a wide circulation among English residents on the Continent.