Wednesday
My dear Henry
I am vexed at Moores <1> stupidity, he having told me he had written to you fully. – There is not however a great deal to say – I do not think there was any objection on the part of the Farmers to the people being employed on the road, & no jealousy that I could hear of about with respect Nash Hill <2> <sic> – what they did object to, or I should rather say the Rate Payers in the Village, was, the having to pay a man for teaching what they think they know, about £2 a week – I understood from Harman <3> that he did not require large wages, but he told Moore that his Bill at the Inn could not be less that 21/– pr week, & his wages in proportion – it is useless though discussing this part of the business for what with Harman employing so many men, & Barley sowing & other Jobs coming on – there are no men to put on the roads – I talked to Awdry <4> Monday he told me he had written you his ideas about the Cottagers land, & I agree with him in thinking the plan should be proceeded on experimentally, & not on a large scale at first. My own feeling is very strongly in favor, of encreasing <sic> the gardens of those cottagers which have them – or in other words, letting the land the man has to cultivate be as contiguous to his dwelling as possible – because one great recommendation of the system is that it encourages the parents to bring up their children industriously, from there being always something for them to do in the garden, which they do under the Mother’s eye well, & are encouraged & rewarded for their exertion, but when the land is at a distance, all this good is lost. The young children cannot be trusted to go alone, & when they are there, probably play with the other children, & only learn idle Tricks. – It is no doubt impossible to do this by all the Cottagers in the Village, but some might have them & to those on Bowden Hill, <5> Folly Lane &ca it would be very easy – I met Mr Harman the other Day at Paleys, <6> but he had no plan to propose & only dealt in generalities & the advantages of a work House, which is indisputable if we had the money to build one, furnish it &ca – that however is what we must at last turn our minds to – To return to McAdams <7> man – if a person of that sort was really wanted there would be no difficulty of procuring some of the many who have been working for years under his direction in the Neighborhood of Bristol, & who would glad <sic> come for 12/ a week – It is quite impossible to satisfy O’Connel <8> for discontent & agitation are the breath of his Nostrils & the consequence – moreover, his only means of existence – there is no Hope therefore of that – but I should hope the Irish Members who are not immediately under his Influence, will be more amenable to reason if any thing can pacify the Irish one should suppose the full measure of relief They are about to receive will produce that effect –I have no expectation myself of their ever being quiet under any circumstances – Without more data neither Gwynne <9> can answer your Question – If you will send us a couple of weeks Bills we will report on them – or as you cannot be spending much now if you will bring them with you we can talk them over – whichever you please – I hear Edd <10> used to pilfer small things matters desert <sic>, sugar, that sort of thing, when the Valletorts <11> were in House Keeping – now of course the temptation is greater so make Franklen <12> look out –
Yr aff
C.F.
It is raining as if it had never rained before.Notes:
1. Thomas Moore (possibly d. 1854), member of the Lacock Parish Vestry.
2. Nash Hill, also Naish Hill, a hill and farm 1 mi NE of Lacock, Wiltshire.
3. Ezekiel Harman.
4. Probably William Henry Awdry (1778–1847), solicitor, Chippenham.
5. Bowden Hill, Wiltshire, 1 mi SE of Lacock.
6. Rev James Paley (1790–1863), Vicar at Lacock.
7. John Loudon McAdam (1756–1836), Scottish engineer, inventor of process for consolidating the road surface with small stones, especially when bound by tar (Macadamisation; hence tarmac).
8. Daniel O’Connell (1775–1847), politician, Irish nationalist.
9. Mrs Gwynne (d. winter 1841/1842), lady’s maid, cook and housekeeper to Elisabeth Feilding.
10. Probably a servant.
11. Ernest Augustus Edgcumbe, Lord Valletort, 3rd Earl of Mt Edgcumbe (1797–1861), WHFT’s brother-in-law and Caroline Augusta Edgcumbe, née Feilding, Lady Mt Edgcumbe (1808–1881); WHFT’s half-sister.
12. Franklin, servant.