1st January. 1835
My dear Henry,
I begin the new year by wishing you, & your dear Constance <1> all possible joy & happiness, in the ensuing & many subsequent years, with most heartfelt-sincerity – & proceed to tell you, what I am sure will at least give you some, that we are all flourishing Horatias <2> joints becoming every day nearer to their usual size – your mother <3> enjoying herself very tolerably & improving in Health & strength, which I may also say of myself – my first 3 weeks were passed in a state of great depression of spirits, consequent on a disorginazation of the department of the Interior which I could no how regulate – Time & fine dry Nice weather, have done for me what Dr Herrington could not, & excepting that some cold winds have caused slight pain in my Feet I am as well as I Ever expect to be – The living comedy which is daily performed for our amusement by the Company assembled here is very entertaining but I do not think my description of it would produce the same affect [sic] on you – our great card as to agreeableness is a Prince de Wrede, son of the Bavarian General <4> who did good service at the end of the war – he is very agreeable, he travelled much in the East & elsewhere, & we have all taken a fancy to him – I hardly ever venture on Politics – speculations from foreign Parts are so stale by the Time they reach Engld but this much I will say, that it is inconceivable that a Cabinet so formed as the present, <5> where likes & opinions are in direct contradiction to the Profession of the Head, should stand – & also if they dare not meet the present Parliament I believe it to be impossible to obtain one which will be so little hostile to them – but do not fancy because I feel how uninteresting my Political opinions must be to you. But yours are therefore all of the greatest importance to me. I want to know all you think, hope, fear, or expect – I have a great Notion of taking your advice as to Genoa, & shall easily find companions several people here being ready to do the same thing – I am much pleased to think of your having your Neighbors [sic] & seeming to enjoy yourself – If we had known you were likely to do so more comfortable arrangements might have been made for you – I am very sorry Mother said so much as I understand she did about the Locks – At our next Ball we are to have a Quadrille costume to Caroline <6> & Horatia’s great delight, & your Mothers also – They are all so busy with Prints, & Patterns & Millenary & M[?] making that they have not Time for a message even. We heard yesterday from William <7> at Vienna, but he does not tell us much – he says he has materials for a Botanical Letter which he will not waste on Ignorami, but intends delivering to your ever willing Ear – Pray thank Mr Bowdry very much for his 2 Last Letters one of which I have this instant recd – he has done everthing exactly as I could wish – don’t forget as it will save me the trouble of writing to him – I have been in active correspondence with Brougham <8> – who has been detained at Antibes, owing to the Cholera being at Marseilles at least 2 or 3 cases, you may imagine his rage at not being allowed to Pass – I did all I could for him but could only obtain a diminution from 30 days to 15 & so he is gone to Hyeres – it is very unlucky for he could have been a great card in our Pack – I am delighted the work Harp[?] is likely to answer & That the nuisance of the Gravel Pit is removed – Tell Moore <9> I hope he has recd my last letter. I want much to hear his opinions on the state of things – Here can never a word or above a word of Politics, & bien je m’en trouve <10> –
God bless you Ever your
C. F.
W.H. Fox Talbot Esq.
Angleterre
Lacock Abbey
Chippenham
Notes:
1. Constance Talbot, née Mundy (1811–1880), WHFT’s wife.
2. Henrietta Horatia Maria Gaisford, née Feilding (1810–1851), WHFT’s half-sister.
3. Lady Elisabeth Theresa Feilding, née Fox Strangways, first m Talbot (1773–1846), WHFT’s mother.
4. Prince Karl Philip Von Wrede (1767–1838), Bavarian field-marshal.
5. Prime Minister Lord Melbourne’s brief first administration (July – November 1834) ended with his dismissal by King William IV, who was offended by Whig plans for church reform. But Sir Robert Peel’s Conservatives failed to win a parliamentary majority, and Melbourne took office as prime minister once more on 18 April 1835.
6. Caroline Augusta Edgcumbe, née Feilding, Lady Mt Edgcumbe (1808–1881); WHFT’s half-sister.
7. William Thomas Horner Fox Strangways, 4th Earl of Ilchester (1795–1865), botanist, art collector & diplomat.
8. Henry Peter Brougham, Baron of Brougham & Voux (1778–1868), Lord Chancellor.
9. Probably Thomas Moore (possibly d. 1854), member of the Lacock Parish Vestry.
10. I am feeling well.