Tunbridge Wells
June 6th
My Dear Henry
Do not you think the instrument called le méridien sonnant, invented by Rousseau, must have been very ingenious? It is an Iron mortar which holds 4 pounds of gunpowder, it is loaded every morning & exactly at noon the Sun discharges it by means of a burning glass so placed that the focus at that moment fires the powder in the touch hole.<1>
Si vales bene est, ego quidem valeo - <2>
Yrs
E F
I have just received your Letter <3> with a description of your gaieties at Brighton.
I wonder how that Letter came so roundabout a way as it was inclosed to me by Mr Lemon <4>.
Tunbridge Wells June eight 1811. G. Eden <5> -
Heny Fox Talbot Esqr
Dr Hookers <6>
Rottingdean <7>
Brighton -
Tunbridge Wells June 6. 1811 - <8>
Notes:
1. The sounding meridian. 'It is an iron mortar which holds four pounds of gunpowder; it is loaded every morning, and exactly at noon the sun discharges the piece by means of a burning-glass, so placed that the focus at that moment fires the powder in the touch-hole...It is said to have been invented by Rousseau. Small meridians of this sort are sold in the shops; these are dials of about a foot square, engraven on marble, with a little brass cannon and a lens.' Richard Twiss, A Trip to Paris in July and August 1792, (London: Minerva Press, 1793), p. 44. Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778).
2. If you are well, I, indeed, am well. This was a frequent way of beginning or ending a letter in Roman times.
3. Letter not located.
4. Sir Charles Lemon (1784-1868), politician & scientist; WHFT's uncle.
5. George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland (1784-1849), Governor General of India.
6. Rev. Thomas Redman Hooker (1762-1838), WHFT's tutor at Rottingdean and a most interesting character. His career prospects were seemingly cut short when his father lost his fortune to an industrial accident. Hooker became the private secretary to the Duke of Dorset, learned French, took Holy Orders and through the Duke's influence established an influential school. His pupils included the nephews of the Duke of Wellington and of Napoleon Bonaparte. He was also active in the local smuggling ring. See Arthur R. Ankers, revised by Michael Smith, Sussex Cavalcade (Sevenoaks: Hawthorns Publications, Ltd., 1992), pp. 97-100.
7. Rottingdean, East Sussex, 4 mi SE of Brighton: WHFT attended school there from 1808-1811.
8. Written in another hand at the back of address panel.